Two Blasters of Update and a Random Throw-In

I have not gotten tired of my new player collection, but I have gotten tired of only getting his cards.  So, I recently decided to grab a couple of blasters of Update on separate days.  Update is one of my favorite releases every year because of some of the completely random, unexpected players to make it in to the set, as well as new players.  In years past, some of the players to appear in Update have been: Adam Ottavino, Josh Taylor, Ryan Weber, Mike Shawaryn, Kyle Martin, Marcus Walden, Doug Fister, Ben Taylor, Hector Velazquez, Jean Machi, Alexi Ogando, Carlos Peguero, Josh Rutledge, Jonathan Herrera, Kelly Johnson, Matt Thornton, Matt Albers, James Loney, Franklin Morales, Bobby Jenks, Darnell McDonald, Eric Patterson, Nick Green, Casey Kotchman, Ramon Ramirez, David Aardsma, Kevin Cash, Kevin Jarvis, Carlos Pena and John Olerud.  Many of those players never appeared in other sets, or if they did, very few.  So every year I look forward to Update.

The first row is the first blaster.  The second row is the second blaster, and then I put a throw-in that did not fit in another post into the scan.

1.  Richard Bleier.  An excellent candidate to join the list of players in the first paragraph, Bleier was acquired in a deal that sent Matt Barnes to the Marlins.  Bleier had long been a successful reliever due to his ability to induce weak contact.  He doesn't strike many batters out and he doesn't walk many batters, he thrives on making batters get themselves out.  Of course, that requires a team that plays good defense and Boston certainly did not qualify in 2023.  He appeared in 27 games with a 5.28 ERA, pitching 30.2 innings (16 strikeouts, five walks).  He was released in August and was signed by the Cubs, but did not appear in a game for them.

2.  Masataka Yoshida.  Of course Yoshida appears in a lot of sets.  He is the largest new player from 2023 in my collection and I do not see any reason why that will change.  He had a largely successful rookie campaign, but wore down in the second half.  Hopefully he will work on conditioning in the offseason and come back refreshed and ready.  Boston needs his bat.

3.  Reese McGuire.  Finally got my first McGuire card and it was a blue foil parallel, which was surprising.  McGuire was acquired in a deadline deal with the White Sox in 2022 for Nebraska native Jake Diekman.  He makes decent contact for a catcher, but has very little power and doesn't walk much.  I am a little surprised he was not non-tendered.  He will enter the 2024 season as the backup catcher.

4.  Rafael Devers.  I initially intended to push Devers to 300 cards in 2023, but that did not happen.  Devers had what was perceived to be a down season in 2023, but he hit .271/.351/.500 with 33 home runs, 34 doubles and 100 RBIs.  I'm happy he is sticking around.  Those numbers are still incredible.

5.  James Paxton.  For awhile it looked like Boston got a steal with Paxton.  He was the team's best pitcher for the first half of the season.  Unfortunately, he wore down as a result of missing most of the last two seasons due to injury and his numbers declined dramatically before he was shut down.  He ended up with a record of 7-5 with a 4.50 ERA in 96 innings pitched (101 strikeouts, 33 walks).  Boston has been mentioned as kicking the tires on a return for him in 2024.

6.  Narciso Crook.  This one is really shocking.  Crook played in four games with the Cubs in 2022 and signed with Boston as a minor league free agent coming in to 2023, but he spent the entire season in the minors.  He never actually played a game with Boston and is a minor league free agent again.  

7.  Jackie Bradley Jr.  Like I said, this was a throw-in from another package, but I put it in this scan because it worked better.  JBJ played with Kansas City in 2023 after splitting the 2022 season with Boston and Toronto.  He hit just .133.  Signs point toward his career being over.