2022 Topps Series 2 Ebay Break

I did another one of these Ebay breaks for Topps Series 2 in order to get the complete team set and maybe some of the inserts and parallels myself.  Pretty good results.

1.  Carl Yastrzemski.  From the Silver Pack came this awesome Yaz card.  I am a sucker for cards featuring players from the red hat era of Red Sox history.  The 1975-1979 teams were mostly successful and the first hat my parents got me was the red one from that time period.

2.  Kevin Plawecki.  Here is a gold foil parallel of backup catcher Kevin Plawecki.  Topps Total has been gone again for a couple of years, primarily because Topps couldn't figure out that what made that set interesting in the first place was that it was inexpensive and a huge set.  They got the huge set part right, but limited it to online only with ten-card packs costing $10.00.  With it gone, I am concerned about finding cards of backup catchers, utility players, AAAA players and middle relievers again.  Flagship includes some, but not many.

3.  Team card.  Here we have Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts and Christian Vazquez emerging from the dugout.  It will be interesting to see how the team meshes this year as Bogaerts and Vazquez were glue guys in the clubhouse.  Devers is the only one of the trio still in Boston.

4.  Jack Lopez.  Holy crap, I did not expect to see cards of Jack Lopez.  Lopez was never even on the Red Sox 40 man roster.  He was only able to be called up because Boston got hit hard by COVID at one point and were allowed to bring in a bunch of reinforcements that did not require roster moves.  Lopez was a 28-year-old journeyman in the minor leagues making his Major League debut in 2021.  He played in seven games and got just two hits, both doubles, in 16 plate appearances.  I am thrilled to see him in this set.

5.  Kutter Crawford.  Crawford has some potential.  A couple of the pitching prospects took big steps backward in 2021, but Crawford looks like he could be a serviceable arm out of the bullpen.  In 2022, he had a 5.47 ERA, but struck out 77 in 77.1 innings.

6.  Connor Seabold.  Seabold is one of those pitching prospects that took a step backward in 2022.  He has not been the same since an elbow injury and struggled greatly in 2022.  Seabold was recently DFA'd to make room for Corey Kluber so he may be gone.

7.  Rafael Devers.  Devers has a flair for dramatic home runs, as shown on this card.  One of his most memorable was a two-run shot in the ninth against Washington in the final game of the season in 2021 that helped Boston clinch a playoff spot.

8.  Kevin Plawecki.  Plawecki had been a serviceable backup catcher in 2020 and 2021, even being one of the better contact hitters for Boston in 2021.  Unfortunately, he seemingly forgot how to hit in 2022 and was released.  

9.  Chris Sale.  Probably the biggest question mark going into 2023 is what to expect from Chris Sale.  He has been pretty good when he's been on the mound in 2021 and 2022, but that has not been nearly often enough.  Boston needs to get something out of him going forward or that extension he signed going into 2019 will be a very expensive bust.

10.  Christian Arroyo.  I would like to see Arroyo get a chance at some regular playing time in 2023, but he has to be healthy first.  The former first round pick and top prospect has been good when he's been able to stay on the field.  He hit .286 with six home runs last season in 87 games.  That would be decent production from a regular second-baseman.

11.  Alex Verdugo.  I've talked a lot about what I would like to see from Verdugo.  Stop selling out for power and worry about making contact, the power will come naturally.  He's never going to be a 30 home run hitter, but 20 is just fine if he's hitting over .300.

12.  Nathan Eovaldi.  Eovaldi goes down as one of the greatest trade deadline pickups in Red Sox history.  That sounds like a pretty good post to write someday.  Of course Boston had to re-sign him after the 2018 season, but he was a very successful acquisition.

13.  Garrett Richards.  I am even more surprised by Richards here than Jack Lopez.  Richards did not return to Boston in 2022.  He signed with Texas prior to the 2022 season after an uneven year with the Red Sox.  Richards was occasionally brilliant but maddeningly inconsistent in 2021 and finished 7-8 with a 4.87 ERA.  One of these days I need to talk about his placement among the One-Year Wonder pitchers.

14.  Jackie Bradley Jr.  I'm completely baffled by why this appears to be air-brushed.  I know he played for Milwaukee in 2021, but he spent the previous EIGHT YEARS with Boston.  There should be tons of pictures of him with the Red Sox lying around that could have been used.  The re-acquisition of JBJ did not work out well and he was released to sign with the Blue Jays before the end of the season, but they did get two prospects out of the deal.  One of those prospects, David Hamilton COULD get called up this season.  His speed would certainly play in the Majors, he stole 70 bases last year.

15.  Tanner Houck.  Houck seems to be the forgotten man on the pitching staff going into 2023.  He has generally been very good since coming to Boston.  He has a career 3.02 ERA and 164 strikeouts in 146 innings pitched.  He struggles with control at times, and Boston seems to be unsure of what his role should be, but he's absolutely proven he deserves to be in the mix.

16.  Here's another combo card, this one featuring Rafael Devers with Enrique Hernandez.  I don't mind these cards, but I feel like another player card would be better than having a team card and a combo card.

17.  Wade Boggs.  Here is one of those 1987 All Star inserts.  Boggs actually was an All Star in 1987.  1987 was arguably Boggs's best season.  He hit .363/.461/.588 and led the league in average, OBP, OPS (1.049) and OPS+ (174).  He had his best power season, reaching career highs in home runs (24) and RBIs (89), while accumulating 200 hits, 108 runs scored, 40 doubles and six triples.  Boggs was a hitting machine in those years.  He probably had an argument to be MVP.  

18.  Chris Sale.  Here is a gold foil parallel of Sale.

19.  Tanner Houck.  And a silver foil parallel of Houck.

All in all, that was a decent break.  No big hits, but I wasn't expecting any.  Decent player selection by Topps.  Plawecki, Richards, Arroyo, Crawford, Seabold and especially Jack Lopez are underrepresented on cardboard.