The Yasiel Puig McFarlane Figurines are Now Available

The McFarlane MLB Series 32 figurines are now out, and it includes Cuban slugging sensation Yasiel Puig.  Head over to your favorite hobby shop or toy store to find one.

Of special note, there are at least three different versions available.  Directly below is the normal Puig figurine and its packaging.  It shows Puig in his home white uniform.

 

 

This next figurine is considered the Bronze Collector Level Yasiel Puig action figure.  They are limited to just 2,000 serial numbered figurines.  As you can see, this action figure features a rather large over-sized head - like, freakishly big.

The scarcest figurine is below.  It is the Silver Level Variant, numbered to only 750 copies and features Yasiel Puig in the Dodger road grey uniform.

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The Draft Continues for Dodgers - Here are their 3rd, 4th & 5th Round Picks

This morning starts where the Dodgers left off.  They will be choosing picks #3 to #10.

At #3 for the Dodgers, 98th overall, is right-handed hurler from UNLV John Richy.  He is originally from Golden, Colorado, is 6'4" tall, 210 lbs. and is a junior at UNLV.  In 2014 he went 11 - 4 with a 3.20 ERA.  Richy completed 5 games, threw 121 inning, struck out 113 and walking only 24.

In celebration of his selection I made the above fantasy card for him.  As you can see he sports a mighty fine Rollie Fingers-style mustache.  I grabbed the photo from the Las Vegas Review-Journal (pic by Chase Stevens) and used the vintage 1987 Topps Baseball card design.  BTW, Ron Kantowski at the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote an interesting story about the origins of the mustache, here.

Chambers said he did it to support the team. The UNLV players recently started growing mustaches to express camaraderie and esprit de corps.

It's akin to what NHL players do during the playoffs - they all grow beards.

Below are his stats from the his UNLV biography page:

Here are a couple of links about what he brings to the table:

• Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Dodgers pick John Richy in 3rd round of 2014 MLB Draft."
• Via Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider, "Dodgers draft UNLV RHP John Richy in third round."

BTW, Richy is apparently a True Blue Dodger fan.  Check out his tweet here: (Whoops!  Sorry, I must learn to read this twitter thing.  A teammate of Richy is actually the Dodger fan - My Bad!)

A big shout out to @jrichy45 of @unlvbaseball getting drafted to my favorite team @Dodgers
— Anthony Zuniga (@PapaZuni) June 6, 2014

I like this kid already!

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For the 4th Round, 129th overall, the Dodgers picked University of Washington junior right-handed pitcher Jeff Brigham.  Per Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider, he had Tommy John surgery in 2012.  Brigham measures 6'0" tall, 200 lbs. and is 22 years old.  Per the MLB draft tracker:

He regained his velocity, albeit inconsistently, with a fastball that sits 92-94 mph and has touched 97. The life on Brigham’s fastball has led to a ton of ground-ball outs but not many strikeouts. His slider and changeup are both well behind his fastball, however, and both will need a good amount of development to be useable pitches. Brigham does go right after hitters and has been generally around the strike zone. His health history, his size and his stuff might mean a path to the bullpen at the next level.

It appears he might be a work in progress.  If he figures it out he'll be slated to join the Dodger bullpen someday.  BTW, Jeff is on twitter, and can be followed here @Jbrigs34.  You can check out his biography page at UofW here.  Eric Stephen at True Blue LA also has a report on him, here.

In celebration of his selection I made the above fantasy card for him.  I grabbed a photos from a Seattle Times article (pic by Jim Bates) and used the 1987 Topps Baseball card design.  I would have used a different design, but I currently only have this template at my disposal.  Maybe I'll make more fantasy cards for these kids using a different design later on.

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The Dodgers 5th round pick, 159th overall, is McEachern High School 3rd baseman Jared Walker.  He measures 6' 3", 200 lbs., bats left-handed, but throws right.  He is projected as having plus power potential.  At just 18-years of age he'll have plenty of time to develop.

Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA:

"The lefthanded hitter has hitting instincts and a line-drive stroke with natural strength. He has good bat-to-ball skills, though his approach will require refinement, and average raw power that projects to plus down the road," read the Baseball America scouting report. "A team might try him at third base, but his defensive future likely lies in left field."

Eric shares a video of Jared in action.

In celebration of his selection I made the above fantasy card for him.  I grabbed a photo of Jared from his Perfect Game biography and used the 1987 Topps Baseball card design.


UPDATE:  BTW, Jared has a couple of cards in 2013 Leaf Perfect Game Showcase Baseball set.  Check them out below.

Base Card #99 Jared Walker               Base Auto #JW2  Jared Walker

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Our 2014 1st & 2nd Draft Picks Already have Baseball Cards - Check them Out Here

It amazes me that even prep ballplayers have Baseball cards today.  I never would have thunk that a major manufacturer like Topps would already have cards available on the marketplace before the amateur draft, but here we are.   

As you likely know by now, the Dodgers 2014 1st Round Draft Pick was right-handed hurler Grant Holmes, and he already has a couple of cards available to chase.  Heck, if you include cards made by Leaf Trading Cards then there are even more than that.  So, since I like to write about the Dodgers and their cards, check out what is available of Holmes below.

This is a 2013 Bowman Perfect Game "All-American Classic" card that were only available during a showcase ballgame at PETCO park in San Diego on August 11, 2013.  Attendees received only 1 random card, so it may be scarce.

#PG-GH Grant Holmes

This next cards is a 2013 Bowman Under Armour "All-America Baseball Factory" card that were only available during a showcase ballgame at Wrigley Field in Chicago on August 24, 2013.  Like the card above, attendees received only 1 random card.  BTW, our 2nd Round Pick, Alex Verdugo, also has a card in this set - you can see it to the right of Holmes, below.

The below cards were made by Leaf Trading Cards in 2013.  It is from a set called 2013 Leaf Perfect Game National Showcase Baseball, and they feature prep ballplayers who were participants of Perfect Game High School Classic Showcase events held throughout the country last year.  Hundreds of the best high school prospects in the country are featured in the set.  Check out the Grant Holmes cards below.  Unfortunately, Verdugo is not included in the set.

Base Card #260 Grant Holmes

Base Autographed Card #A-GH1 Grabt Holmes

The below card is a "1 of 1" parallel

Metal Refractor #BM-GH1 Grant Holmes

State Pride #SP-GH1  Grant Holmes

Metal Stars #PGS-GH1 Grant Holmes

Jersey Auto #JA-GH1 Grant Holmes

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2014 Topps Pro Debut - All the Dodger Insert Cards

Following up on yesterday's post featuring the Dodger prospects within the Topps 2014 Pro Debut set, featured below are all of the Dodger insert cards that can be found.  Go here to check out my previous post on this set.

Manufactured Hat Logo Patches

#MH-CSE Corey Seager - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes

#MH-JU Julio Urias - Great Lakes Loons

#MH-ZL Zach Lee - Chattanooga Lookouts

You gotta love cards featuring team mascots, eh?

Mascot Manufactured Patches

#MM-LL Lou E. Loon - Great Lakes Loons

#MM-LO Looie - Chattanooga Lookouts

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Blog Kiosk: 6/6/2014 - Dodger Links - Another Fantasy Card for 1st Round Draft Pick Grant Holmes

It looks like Tommy Lasorda had a great time at the 2014 MLB Amateur Draft yesterday.  Here he is with Mike Piazza, pic via @mikepiazza on twitter.

• Awesome!  Jon SooHoo shares a couple of great vintage photos featuring Don Zimmer.  Go here to check them out.
• I had a little too much fun with photoshop yesterday.  Here's another fantasy card I made for 2014 Dodgers 1st Round Draft pick Grant Holmes sporting his Dodger Blue on the right.  I used a photo tweeted out by @MLBNetwork.  Click on the pic to embiggen.  BTW, if you're wondering who the Dodgers compare Holmes to then check out what Eric Stephen writes.  Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Grant Holmes compared to Zack Greinke, Matt Cain, Chad Billingsley."
• David Brown at Big League Stew tells us about a story Vin Scully told the audience the other day - "Delay gives Vin Scully time to tell story of umpire with no thumb on left hand."

"Tony Venzon would keep the indicator in his right hand; and every time he would raise to look, I would think it's a strike. And I was really embarrassed — I wasn't trying to give the plate umpire a bad time at all — but every time he brought that right hand up, I thought it was a strike.

"So after the game, I thought I'd best to go down to meet that umpire and apologize."

• Bob Lemke shares some great vintage photos of Don Zimmer as a Dodger in 1957 that were once a part of the Topps archives.
• Josh Kosman at the NY Post, "LA Kings owner mulls sale of team."  It's been known for some time (like, several years) that AEG would sell the team (it's on the down-low), but with the Clippers recent sale still fresh it appears they'll try to ride that coattail.  If they ever sell the team I might have to worry about my season ticket prices going up.  Until then, this is really old news.
• Topps is producing all kinds of different collectibles available only from them.  Via Chris Olds at Beckett we find out about their 11" x 17" poster prints called the "My Hero" collection.  There are 50 players available at $49.99 each or a complete set of 5" x 7.75" posters at $199.99.  Also, the posters are limited to only 99 copies, so they will be scarce.  The Dodger players available are Jackie Robinson and Yasiel Puig.  Check them out below.  Go here to check them out at Topps.com.

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Alex Verdugo is the Dodgers 2014 2nd Round Draft Pick

During the 2014 Draft's 2nd Round the Dodger chose Alex Verdugo, 62nd overall, out of Sahuaro High School in Tucson, AZ.  I had originally thought he was going to join the franchise as a left-handed pitcher, but according to Chad Moriyama at Dodgers Insider the Dodgers picked him up as an outfielder.  So Mr. Verdugo, you get 2 cards (since I already made the first before doing any real research).  Check them out above.

As you can see, I put him on a 1959 Topps vintage card design using a photo grabbed from MaxPreps (taken by Chris Hooks) for the cards on the left, and a photo from StudentsSports.com for the card on the right.

Verdugo is 6' 1" and about 200 lbs.  He bats left-handed is thought to have power potential.  Verdugo is also an able pitcher and is thought by some to be a potential middle of the rotation guy.  He had committed to go to ASU, but apparantly that is now off.  Chris Cotillo at MLB Daily Dish remarked on twitter that he and the Dodgers had made an agreement to sign prior to the draft on twitter.

Sources: #Dodgers already in agreement with 2nd round pick (#62) Alex Verdugo on bonus figure. ASU commit not going to college.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) June 6, 2014

Then, Ocotillo says that the Dodgers did not specify to him what position they want him at.  So, it remains to be seen if he'll be an outfielder or pitcher.  Nevertheless, the Dodgers announced him as an outfielder, so I'll assume that's the direction he's headed.

While Verdugo was announced as an OF when the #Dodgers picked him, I'm told the team did not specify to him if they see him as OF or P.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) June 6, 2014

Matt Garrioch  at Minor League Ball said this of him:

He is arguably the best two-way player available in this draft along with Michael Gettys. I'm not sure at this point where he should play. Similar to Trey Ball last year, he has high-end tools both on the mound and in the outfield.

His speed is just average, so I don't see him sticking in centerfield long term. His thick legs look more like the legs of a pitcher than an up the middle talent. Once he matures he'll likely be a right fielder so the bat has to be very good, but the bat is that good. He can hit the ball with authority from line to line. He has a strong build but doesn't have a lot of physical projection remaining.

He has a toe tap and a big stride to trigger his aggressive swing. He tones it down in game situations but doesn't lose the aggressive swing. He has great hand eye coordination and can hit the ball hard to all parts of the field and he seems to have a good idea of what to do at all times. He has a fast bat that is short to the ball and long through it allowing him to have good contact ability and project for power as well.

Chris Rodriguez at Baseball Prospectus said this:

Verdugo might have more upside in the outfield, though, with solid tools across the board. The arm is obviously plus, and he pairs that with good outfield defense and above-average speed. During batting practice, he rocketed balls into the gaps and sold out for a little more pull-side power. He was dipping his back shoulder and trying to lift, but he did hit a couple balls off the wall and one that cleared, no easy feat with the wind blowing in hard. In game action, Verdugo showed off natural hitting ability with several balls hit hard in the gaps, including a triple.

Below is a video of him taking some swings.

Video Link:

Here's another video.

Video Link:

And another.  This time you can see him get some work in the outfield and throw a few pitches.

Video Link:

UPDATE:  Tucson News Now Sports Anchor Damien Alameda just got off the phone with Verdugo and made the following tweets.

...Said he was "extremely shocked" that he went as a hitter and not a pitcher...
— Damien Alameda (@DAlamedaKOLD) June 6, 2014

Said a lot of folks talked him up as a pitcher but "I always thought I was a hitter." Felt justified that he was taken as a position player.
— Damien Alameda (@DAlamedaKOLD) June 6, 2014

...You can forget ASU. Alex said he'll go early next week for his physical and then he'll be off and running. Details to be forthcoming...
— Damien Alameda (@DAlamedaKOLD) June 6, 2014

Alex's message: "Gotta thank my teammates for everything they've done for me at this point...
— Damien Alameda (@DAlamedaKOLD) June 6, 2014

"...had a great four years with most of them. Got to thank my coaches for kind of helping me out through the way and keeping me on track..."
— Damien Alameda (@DAlamedaKOLD) June 6, 2014

"...I'm just blessed to be in this position."
— Damien Alameda (@DAlamedaKOLD) June 6, 2014

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