My First Zoilo!

In this Year of the Puig and season of distress for Yankee Nation, any bright spots for hope have been a much welcome occurrence.

Don't get me wrong, the Yanks are truly holding their own in what I consider to be the toughest division in baseball.   Considering the onslaught of injuries, slow recoveries and even setbacks for a majority of the traditional offensive producers - we're doing alright.

But it's still great to see a youngster come up through the system, report for duty and provide some excitement!   That's what Zoilo Almonte has done for the Bombers and I hope he gets a chance to continue as long as possible!

I was able to obtain my first card of Zoilo, this 2010 Topps minor league card.   Almonte is featured playing for the Yanks' Class A affiliate, the Charleston RiverDogs.   A team I desperately need to take a drive and go see!

The light is kind of poor to make out the foil print, but overall it's a really sharp, colorful card.   As you can see, Zoilo is a lefty, which will undoubtedly come in handy from time to time as long as he manages to see at-bats in Yankee Stadium.   The design is right in line with that used for the big league release but it's always a lot of fun to enjoy the minor league mascot logo's.   From my time in various places across the country, I've always found them to be a lot of fun and pretty imaginative.
Since being called up, Zoilo is batting .342 with a respectable .881 OPS.   He's only gone deep once but has scored four times and shown tremendous patience at the plate ( 2:1 K:BB) with a flair for clutch hitting, netting him 7 runs batted in.   As an extra bonus, he's also swiped 3 bags!

Here's the back of the card:

The offensive boost he's provided has been fantastic for our box scores but the intangible contribution of youthful excitement on a team of aging veterans and injury "fill-in's" has been a breath of fresh air.   I wonder if he'll be included in the Update Series from Topps?

Welcome to the Show, Zoilo and welcome to the Ryan's Pitch Yankees collection!

Thanks for reading.

2013 Prospect Parade Continues - Zack Wheeler

The combination of my fantasy baseball research and improved dedication to simply following the game we love has allowed me to follow the wealth of prospect debuts this season.

The Year of Shelby Miller, The Rise of Oso Blanco for the Braves, The Wonder of Wacha, The Legend of Puig, The Colossal of Cole and the......Zest o' Zunino?

:)

They've been a lot of fun to follow and, no matter what uniform they wear, it's easy to cheer for a player as they realize a dream they've worked so hard for, for so long.

The prospect parade continues today with the major league debut of the much anticipated, potential ace for the New York Mets, Zack Wheeler.   I have been very closely following Zack's progression since I have him on the staff of my dynasty fantasy baseball team.   He'll take the bump in game 2 of the doubleheader today at Turner Field in Atlanta.

And there's a problem right there - he's playing the Braves!   Oh, the agony......how about 8 innings of no-hit ball with ANOTHER (did you see Freddie last night?!) Freeman walk-off in the 9th inning for the no-decision?   Is that too much to ask?

In all honesty - good luck, kid.   And congratulations.

I've been lucky enough to pull a couple of Wheeler's cards over the past couple of years.   Here's the first one I pulled - his 2012 Bowman Platinum Prospect card:

Shiny. Is this a ___fractor?

Pretty standard, shiny card.   I didn't think much of it when I pulled it from Platinum last year.   I was undoubtedly hoping for autographs and such.....but now, this card has some cool meaning.   Cardboard appreciation!   I'm not sure if I'll hang on to it permanently.   Here's the back:

The "Platinum Report" makes me chuckle.   Sounds like a Gentleman's Club newsletter!   Good news, Mr. Wheeler.....you compare to Phil Hughes.   WHAT?   I didn't know he came to New York from the Giants?  Was it the Beltran deal?   Quick google check.....yep.   The Beltran deal.   Winner TBD.

Here's the other card of Wheeler that I've pulled from a pack - his 2013 Bowman Cream of the Crop Mini (subset of Yasiel Puig fame).   It's a sharp looking little card but, again, pretty standard:

And here's the back....let's see if it mentions Phil Hughes:

Awful lighting.....but I can vouch that there is no mention of Mr. Hughes.   Perhaps the stars are aligning for Mr. Wheeler after all?!

First pitch in about 6 hours.   Good luck, Zack!   Just not today.   You'll have plenty of time for your first career win next week.

Thanks for reading!