Topps Cards That Should Have Been: The Pat Neshek Chronicles

 Pat Neshek collects, so this one's important.

That's something in itself. While being one of the few MLB players to actively collect baseball cards, Pat Neshek became one of the most people TO collect on baseball cards. Just look at the Lowell Palmer homage card in 2019 Heritage. Look at the number of fun cards Topps gave him from 2017 to 2019. Look at all the stars who apparently signed autos for Pat during ASG games. Neshek was the real deal, and it was a joy to have him in Philly for his last 3 seasons.

Topps generally was good at producing cards of Neshek, honestly, but they missed on two occasions. One was in 2012, coming off an okay year in San Diego. The A's signed him to a two-year deal, but a pretty low-key one. As Topps wasn't exactly rushing to make A's cards in 2012, Neshek's 24 games and 1.37 ERA went unaccounted for in update, which is a shame. This was the season where Neshek flirted with a soul patch before eventually going for the full beard in subsequent seasons.

From 2013 to 2017, he was in good shape. Topps missed his Phillies signing in 2017 Topps, righted it in Update, but...

By that point, Neshek was already in Colorado. Yes, Pat Neshek was one of the many traded players absolutely screwed over by Topps' early print date for Update. Hooray.

Neshek's time in Colorado after his strong, ASG-caliber start to the season with Philly was also pretty good. Yeah, slightly raised ERA because Denver, but a 2.45 ERA and 24 Ks in 28 games isn't bad at all. And it was a strong finish that'd lead Philly to re-sign him for 2 more years, with...eventual diminishing returns in 2019. 

Still, Neshek was a fun reliever to collect, and I'm thankful that Topps, for the most part, had his cards sorted out. 

Uncustomed Heroes of 2018: Phillies

This was my first year living consistently in the Philly area since high school, so I got to witness the Phillies' rise and fall first hand. They rose in May, thanks to Herrera, Nola, Arrieta, and some amazing bullpen work. They fell in September, thanks to the Braves, the Nats, and the failure of the lineup to do anything. But in between, it was definitely a fun season, as the Phils added a ton of bullpen talent from the get, and a ton of trade deadline pickups as well.

But...seeing Pat Neshek back as a Phillie after the sad departure last year felt...right. Neshek's 2018 wasn't as good as his 2017, but he was great whenever he was on the mound. Still had a 2.60 ERA in 30 appearances. Not bad at all.

Zach Eflin was the fifth man of the rotation, and while he came nowhere near the awesomeness of the Nola-Arrieta-Velazquez-Pivetta combo, he still posted solid numbers, with an 11-8 record and 123 strikeouts.

 Scott Kingery, seen here in a very cool custom with a very cool sabermetrics-inspired graphic tank top, didn't especially live up to expectations as 'shortstop of the future', but still got 102 hits, and played over 140 games, so...got your playing time in, rook. Good luck backing up Jean Segura.

 Another fun rookie from this year who'll likely be covering the bench is Roman Quinn, who finally hit well in the majors, with a .260 average in 50 games. I still expect him to get some starting time next year, even if it'd be shared with Nick Williams.

And then there's Seranthony Dominguez, who FINALLY took the reigns from Hector Neris in the ninth, after posting great middle relief numbers, and came up with 16 saves in 20 opportunities, a .93 WHIP, and some closing dominance that hasn't been seen since Papelbon. Hope he keeps it up.

...Then there's the deadline additions...

 Asdrubal was the first to make an impact, giving modest but not Mets-level numbers, and being a definite upgrade at shortstop. He hit .230, with only 17 RBIs. Not great, but for a rental, not terrible.

 Wilson Ramos' acquisition took a bit to kick in, as his injury left him out for a lot of August, but when he got here? Even if we didn't really NEED an upgrade from Jorge Alfaro, he was pretty fantastic, hitting .337 in 33 games, with only one catching error compared to Alfaro's...11. We will miss Ramos, no matter where he lands.

 Then, after the deadline, we snuck Justin Bour out of Miami, which must have been nice for him, but...he could have done better than his .224 average. He was basically a classy bench addition, and notched 5 RBIs when he could. He mostly deferred to Santana though, which...may not have ULTIMATELY been the goal, but...kinda was.

And then...there's Joey Bats.

Bautista's not one of my favorites, so to see him suit up for one of my teams was...odd. Very odd. And even if it was for a month, I still couldn't really wrap my head around Jose Bautista in Phillies colors. He only hit 2 of his trademark homers over 27 games, though he hit a fine .244 average. I'm not sure if he's done after this year, but...I'm glad his Philly tenure wasn't a complete disaster (as his Atlanta tenure was).

Coming Tomorrow- They were listless, then for a while THEY WERE FANTASTIC...and then suddenly they were in fourth again. Fun team, though.

Uncustomed Heroes of Baseball: Rockies

Big year for the Rockies. The youth and power they'd been building the last 4 years finally paid off and brought them a playoff-caliber squad. Hell, they barely relied on established star Ian Desmond, who they signed a multi-year contract for.

Tyler Chatwood, as the sole veteran presence in the youth-led rotation, did an admirable job, and won a rotation spot in Chicago for his good graces.

Pat Valaika was a solid rookie backup for Trevor Story, but as Story's playing time increased, and as his bat returned, Valaika's role lessened. I think the Rox are gonna try and plug him into the lineup somehow, but his prospects for 2018 are a bit less guaranteed than...

This guy's (Ignore the pitcher marking).

Raimel Tapia had a great rookie season, despite the initially crowded Rockies outfield that cleared up once David Dahl decided to sit the whole season out. Tapia will definitely be in the mix for the starting spots next season, as the Rockies are figure out how to deal with a sinking CarGo, a gaining Gerardo Parra, and the aforementioned Dahl.

This guy had a pretty decent end to the season, helping Jake McGee hold up a pretty impressive front in the bullpen. He's gonna be back in Philly this year, but he still helped bring his career back by giving great numbers for the Rockies.

Coming Tomorrow- Not necessarily playoff-caliber anymore, but with a high number of bats they still tried their damnedest this year.

The Collector Finally Gets His Due

Pat Neshek's one of the most legendary card-collectors in baseball right now, and I didn't get to make a custom card of him until he joined my hometown team. Man, if he actually knew about my blog he'd be really, really pissed.

I actually do have a ton of respect for Neshek. The guy'd done a ton of work in odd places, making an All-Star team as a Cardinal but still getting all of Minneapolis to applaud, and being among the unsung heroes of the 2012-2013 Athletics. He's been one of the most unlikely heroes of baseball, and the fact that he's made two All Star Games is a great sign for baseball, in that it doesn't always have to favor overpaid stars.

Neshek's been one of the best players on the Phillies, and one of the insanely bright spots on one of the worst bullpens in baseball. The guy's got a low era, a ton of strikeouts, and already has a fan following in Philly, which proves that even doing well for a few months can get you one there.

I imagine Neshek's probably gonna get traded in a week or so, because...I mean, he's one of the few great things about the worst team in baseball, and someone's gonna have to want something of his. I hope he's traded somewhere really nice (like maybe back to Houston), and I hope his star can stay semi-high for a little while.

(Part of me thinks he's gonna get a kick out of having a custom. Just a part of me, though.)

Coming Tomorrow- A hard-hitting rookie for the well-faring defending AL champs.