2023 Factory Team Set

I have mentioned a few times that I have been mostly unable to get any of the new releases.  My local Walmart has not gotten anything in most of the year.  I did manage to find the factory team set recently though, so at least there is that.  Let's see who made the set, who should have, and who shouldn't have:

1.  Triston Casas.  Not at all surprising that he made it.  Casas was one of the top rookies coming in to the season and a former first round draft pick.

2.  Justin Turner.  This is my first Turner card.  Turner was one of the bigger names Boston picked up over the offseason.  He is a welcome addition.

3.  Nathan Eovaldi.  Here is the first player who should not be here.  Eovaldi signed with the Rangers somewhat late in the offseason, but still, he was not on the Red Sox roster at the time these sets went to print.  There are several other players that could have been included.

4.  Rafael Devers.  Of course Devers has to be in it.  He is the team's biggest star.

5.  Trevor Story.  Story should be here too.  He still has a reputation as a star player, even if last season was rough and he is not starting this season active.

6.  Christian Arroyo.  This is a bit of a surprise.  Arroyo has been solid for Boston, but seems to be better in utility-type role.  He has been thrust into a starting role this season due to injuries.

7.  Enrique Hernandez.  Yes, he should be here.  The biggest surprise is the somewhat pedestrian photo.  Hernandez has frequently had awesome photos on his Topps cards.

8.  Nick Pivetta.  Pivetta was a workhorse last season.  He should be here.  Plus, he is wearing the City Connect uniform.

9.  Alex Verdugo.  Next to Devers, this is the easiest call.

10.  Bobby Dalbec.  Here is the second City Connect uniform card.  Dalbec is not a surprising inclusion.  There is still hope for him to be a productive Major Leaguer, even it is severely waning.

11.  Jarren Duran.  In the same boat as Dalbec, but Duran has started coming around this year.

12.  Tommy Pham.  Pham is another player to not return to Boston.  He probably should not be here.

13.  Michael Wacha.  And here is another one.  I am happy to see Wacha in the set because he had VERY few cards with the Red Sox last year.  But still.

14.  Josh Winckowski.  I am very happy to see him here too.  Winckowski has been very good this year and is giving the Andrew Benintendi trade a chance at looking decent.

15.  Kutter Crawford.  Another somewhat surprising addition.  Crawford has also been good out of the bullpen this year.

16.  Brayan Bello.  Like Casas, Bello is one of the top rookies on the team this year.

17.  Chris Sale.  And of course Sale should be here.

Okay, so we have three players who should not be here: Eovaldi, Pham and Wacha.  Everyone else is fine, even if Arroyo and Crawford are a bit odd.  So, are there any notable misses?  Well, the biggest one is Masataka Yoshida.  He should have replaced Pham.  Yoshida had signed before Turner did, so there is no real good reason for him not to be here.  I suspect the major culprit was not having a good photo of him.  Kenley Jansen is also noticeably absent.  He is probably the biggest star player Boston brought in.  As for the last spot, I would probably go with Corey Kluber.  He also signed early enough in the offseason that he could be here.  There is also no catcher here.  Either Connor Wong or Reese McGuire probably could have made it, though McGuire would get the edge since he was expected to be the starter coming into the year.  Still, Kluber, a former two-time Cy Young winner, should be here.