Wednesday, December 28, 2022

2022 Topps Opening Day Blaster

This blaster was pretty good to me.  Boston played the Yankees on Opening Day and lost 6-5 in extra innings.  It was a harbinger of things to come.

1.  Wally the Green Monster.  Honestly, I do not really care for mascot cards.  By the time Boston introduced Wally the Green Monster, I was well into my teens and so the whole idea was kind of lame to me.  Teen angst, I know.  But yeah, mascots do not really do it for me.  I do not seek them out, but will keep them if I get them.

2.  David Ortiz.  This is the Bomb Squad insert.  Ortiz was of course, elected to the Hall of Fame for the 2022 class as the sole electee by the BBWAA.  It was his first year on the ballot.  It is therefore not surprising to see Ortiz cards in 2022.

3.  Xander Bogaerts.  One of the players in this post who actually played on Opening Day, Bogaerts had a good game, going 3-5 with two runs and an RBI batting third.  He hit his first double of the season.

4.  Connor Wong.  Wong is one of the players received in the Mookie Betts trade, the third part of the three players.  Unfortunately, now that Jeter Downs has been released, it is up to Wong to try to show some value.  As of right now, he is part of the catching platoon going into the season with Reese McGuire.  Wong played well defensively last season and had some decent moments offensively, but ended up hitting just .188/.273/.313.  That trade is not looking good right now, especially with the financial flexibility supposedly being the whole purpose of it not being used to keep Xander Bogaerts around.

5.  Chris Sale.  Sale was on the Injured List on Opening Day.  We will see if he is back this upcoming Opening Day.

6.  Rafael Devers.  Devers had just one hit in four at-bats on Opening Day, but it was the team's first home run of 2022.  He drove in two runs.

7.  J.D. Martinez.  Martinez had one hit in five at-bats on Opening Day.  His hit was a double and he drove in a run.

8.  Alex Verdugo.  Designated Yankee Killer Verdugo had two hits among his five at-bats on Opening Day.  He also drove in a run.  If he can stop trying to sell out for power and just be a contact hitter, he will become the player the team expected when he was the primary piece in the Mookie trade.

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