Sometimes it seems like there is one player each year who is in each pack of cards I open. Base cards, hits, parallels – it doesn’t matter – I’ll frequently end up with a stack bearing the name and image of one player above all others. Some years are better than others, but most end up squarely in the “Allen Craig, again…” column. Which for me is less than inspiring.
On occasion, this phenomenon expands to hits and autographs, particularly on the prospect side of collecting. This is where the fickleness of our hobby becomes apparent. While prospecting is seen as the sexy side of collecting, its also undeniable that a huge percentage of those prospects would kill to have the career (and earnings) of hobby ho-hums such as the aforementioned Craig.
So what happens when one prospect emerges from packs over and over again during the course of one year? If you’re me, this becomes an instant PC and a player whose cards will now be sought out, for better or worse – mostly worse. I’m no economics whiz, but even I can sniff the hallmarks of the sunk cost fallacy in this behavior of mine, but I know I’ll keep doing it – because sometimes it works, dammit.
But not always. Here’s a few of the bad to mixed examples.
Braxton Davidson – Joliet Slammers – Highest level reached – High A (three seasons)
In 2014 I pulled several Braxton Davidson autos from packs – a blue refractor from Bowman, an Elite Extra Edition, two varieties of Prizm Draft autos, then the next year a Pro Debut auto. Hell, I even had the blue refractor graded. And why not? He was a first round compensation pick (32nd overall) out of high school who had projectable power. Of course, in pro ball the inability to identify balls and strikes has stopped many a power prospect in their tracks, which is what has seemed to happen to Davidson, currently of the Joliet Slammers of the independent Frontier League. The Braves released him ahead of last year’s draft, following a 2019 season lost to injury (a foot injury suffered during a walk-off homer in the Arizona Fall League). Davidson’s last (to date) affiliated season saw a whopping 44% of his plate appearances end in a strikeout. That’s down to 33% this season with Joliet, so who knows – maybe some team will take a chance on a power bat that’s still only 25.
Ashe Russell – Free Agent – Highest level reached – Rookie Ball (17 games over three seasons and six calendar years)
Russell is a small PC I chased after pulling an Inception auto and a Bowman chrome Asia Black Auto in 2015. A high school pitcher selected in the first round (21st overall) by the Royals, Russell stepped away from the game after two short outings in 2016 while battling mound confidence issues, only to return in spring of 2020 and nearly immediately need Tommy John surgery. He rehabbed and made his first appearance in five years just a few weeks ago, at the age of 24. The Royals released him last week after just four innings pitched over four games in the Arizona Complex League for “Royals Gold,” which sounds like an AAU team. Those outings resulted in eight walks, six strikeouts, and seven runs, three of them earned. I was always pulling for Russell and will continue to do so, but I’m guessing there won’t be more cards of his to chase.
Grant Holmes – Las Vegas Aviators – Highest level reached – AAA (20 Games, 19 this year)
Another 2014 prospect debut, I pulled two Holmes autos that year – a die cut Elite Extra Edition numbered to 75 and a Bowman Chrome, followed by a Bowman’s Best in 2015. The focus on this collection came at the trade deadline in 2016 when he was traded to the A’s in the Rich Hill/Josh Reddick deal. In the years since he has slowly advanced through the A’s system, where he is now having a really rough season in the worst place to pitch in the minors, Las Vegas. “Rough” may not be strong enough – he’s been getting absolutely rocked – 70 hits in 42.2 innings, surrendering 49 earned runs, meaning his ERA is currently north of 10. He’s on the A’s 40-man roster, so he may still get a chance to prove himself in a less terrible pitching environment, but it’s not looking good for this PC at the moment. Like a true optimist (or gambling degenerate) I will probably keep adding to this collection – he is an A’s prospect, after all.
Touki Toussaint – Atlanta Braves – Highest Level Reached – MLB (1+ year of service time from 2018-2021 )
The last player I’ll show here today is also the most accomplished of the bunch. I pulled four of the five shown cards from packs during Toussaint’s journey through the minors, and I bought the Under Armour card for less than a buck at a show a few years ago. After some initial success as a starter in his first stint in the bigs, 2020 was a disaster for Toussaint and it looked like he may soon be in need of new scenery. 2021 has been a resurgence of sorts, and he recently posted two solid starts after being recalled from AAA – although the Brewers worked him over in his most recent turn. Due to consistency or health setbacks Atlanta seems to always need starters, despite having a surplus of young arms, so I’m hoping Touki is able to stay up the rest of the year and get in some good reps. I mean, he’s got a grade 80 name. It would be great to see the game match it.
In the future I’ll share a few more positive accidental PCs, as this is one of my favorite little corners of my collection – the totally random players I end up following and rooting for. For me it really adds to the experience of being a baseball fan, which is how I want to enjoy my hobby. Thanks for stopping by.