#266 Zack Wheeler

#266 Zack Wheeler

First impression of what’s going on: Like earlier with the Ernesto Frieri of the Angels, I think Wheeler is sporting an alternate jersey. And like most of the cards this year so far, cropped too close. Eventually I might stop mentioning it, but in fairness to the cards I've already dinged on it, it’ll still get counted. Although the Future Stars logo isn't very legible, Wheeler is one of 15 players in Series 1 to get it on his card.

 

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 30: Zack Wheeler #45 of the New York Mets in action against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field on June 30, 2013 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. The Nationals defeated the Mets 13-2. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

The Reality of the Photo: Yep, plenty of uncropped elbow in the original photo and the ball/hand doesn't have to be obscured by the Topps logo. Getty hasn't been real specific with the pitchers on their captions as to the batter or situation.  But it does let me know that this was a 13-2 drubbing. This won’t be good for Wheeler. Let’s go to the BOXSCORE to see just how bad it was.

Well, it looks like most of the runs came late in the game, probably off the bullpen. I’d be surprised if Wheeler made it much past those first five runs. And if he did, certainly not all the way to the 8^th when the Nationals unleashed a half dozen more runs.

So Wheeler did make it a little further but started to get into trouble in the 5^th and got the hook. Wheeler was involved in all five of the Top 5 Plays, although as a pitcher, that’s rarely a good thing. Case in point:

Another thing that caught my attention about this game, and it has nothing to do with Wheeler or this card. Former Cub, Anthony Recker pitched the 9^th inning. And that’s only notable because, with the Cubs, Recker was a catcher. He must have gotten some whiplash from his inning though as you’ll see from the inning summary:

Walk. Home Run. And then three fly balls hit to the outfield. Luckily, they stayed in the field of play. I don’t know how hard they were hit, but with the wind on any given day at Wrigley Field, those could have been gone!

Back to Zack Wheeler. The Mets uniforms were one of seven they used in 2013. See the chart below courtesy of sportslogos.net for the results while wearing this one.

And Rawlings is getting a little Free Advertising with two prominent logos on Wheeler’s glove. And I guess he’s advertising himself too as his name is written on the glove.

On to the back:

Rookie Fact: Zack is the only Mets rookie to have won his first five road decisions.

Aha! The bludgeoning at the hands of the Nationals was a home game. Sorry season ticket holders, in 2014, Wheeler is only pitching on the road!

The blurb mentions that the Mets won 10 of Wheeler’s first 14 starts. By the end of the season, they had still only won 10 of his eventual 17 starts. It doesn't mention in the five games that Wheeler is credited with “losing” that the Mets scored two runs twice, one run twice and were shutout the last one.

Yes, there was the lopsided game against the Nats depicted on the card, but how about some run support, Mets?!

Information I’ll be tracking:

Card Number: #266

Player Name: Zack Wheeler

Team: New York Mets

Position: Pitcher

Game Date: June 30, 2013

Opponent: Washington Nationals

Stadium: Citi Field

Division: National League East

Home/Away: Home

Outcome of the game: 13-2, Nationals over the Mets, Loss for the player depicted

Alternate/Throwback Jersey: Yes

Bats/Throws: Left/Right

Birthdate: 5/30/1990

Birthplace: Georgia

Cameos by: N/A

Photographer: Jim McIsaac

Niche collections this card could fit into: Free Advertising, Future Stars, Alternate Jersey, Partial Southpaw, Former First Round Pick

My Grade: I started out thinking this card would be a dud. Bad crop, boring photo, dud of a game. I think I've seen cards of his in the Pro Debut set but I’ll admit, I've only heard of Zack Wheeler in passing. No appearances against the Cubs last year. After going further into his season, I’d definitely take him on the Cubs.

But that doesn't really have anything to do with the card itself. It does fit into a few of the niche collections to save it from mediocrity of a C. But only barely. Final grade is a B-.

#24 Manny Machado

#24 Manny Machado

First impression of what’s going on: Pretty standard third baseman shot, but again, the crop is a tad too tight. I think we still get the dirt on the jersey and expression on his face without sacrificing his elbow.

BALTIMORE, MD - JUNE 11: Manny Machado #13 of the Baltimore Orioles throws the ball to first base against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on June 11, 2013 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)

The Reality of the Photo: It looks like Machado is charging a slow roller/bunt. The caption doesn’t give much detail so we’ll have to go to the BOXSCORE.

In the first inning, Machado fielded two ground balls. The first, going towards the shortstop is where I’m speculating his uniform got dirty. The third batter and final out of the inning was a ground ball to weak third base by Albert Pujols. That could be it.

In the 4^th, Machado fielded another ball to weak 3B, this time off the bat of Mark Trumbo.

Finally, in the 9^th, Mike Trout also had a ball to weak third base.

In my limited skills as a detective, I’m going to say this photo was taken during the first inning on the ball hit by Albert Pujols. If you look in the upper right hand corner of the photo there are a lot of empty seats behind Machado. It could very well be a snack run in the 4^th or people left during the 9^th, but I’m betting that people were still trickling into the game.

Machado does give Rawlings some love by displaying two logos prominently on his glove.

On to the back:

Rookie Fact: Manny was, on 8/10/2012, the franchise’s youngest player with a 2-HR game.

I didn’t fact check this but I did go to the BOXSCORE to see the game.

Batting .500 on the season after going 2-4. What was it his first game?

Close. He did it in just his second game! That’s pretty impressive.

Information I’ll be tracking:

Card Number: #24

Player Name: Manny Machado

Team: Baltimore Orioles

Position: Third Base

Game Date: June 11, 2013

Opponent: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Stadium: Oriole Park at Camden Yard

Division: American League East

Home/Away: Home

Outcome of the game: 3-2, Orioles over the Angels, Win for the player depicted

Alternate/Throwback Jersey: No

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Birthdate: 7/6/1992

Birthplace: Florida

Cameos by: N/A

Photographer: G Fiume

Niche collections this card could fit into: Free Advertising, Future Stars, Dirty Jersey

My Grade: I did say it was a pretty standard third baseman shot, but the dirty jersey gives it a little extra something. At the same time, the orange blob in the upper right hand corner (a vendor’s shirt if you look at the photo) is not very attractive to the card.  The crop job doesn’t really help either. But I am a fan of the cartoon bird on the hat making a comeback. I’m going to say B- on this one.