I guess to throw these things together, a mailday roundup works. I received two packages in the mail right before the end of the year (I am getting very close to catching up). One of them contained a Wong card, the other contained three random cards.
1. Topps Chrome Update Blue. I know, I hate these photos. I really need to get a scanner. I had one, but it doesn't seem to work anymore. Anyway, this is the Blue Refractor from 2023's Update. It is serial-numbered to 150.
2. Topps Big League Trevor Story. 2023's Topps Big League is sort of a mess of a release. They took kind of a fun, low-end set and tiered the set, making it extremely difficult to build. This Story card is one of the short-printed cards. Story is going to be counted on to provide some right-handed pop in 2024 (unless he gets traded first, but that seems unlikely). He has had difficulties staying on the field since he was signed.
3. Topps Big League Big Leaguers Rafael Devers. I'm not sure what is going on with this design. This is not the insert I wanted most from this set (that would be the 8 Bit Ballers Devers). But it is a Devers insert, and I will be pushing for 350 cards of him this year. I didn't make the 300 last year, but I am close. Had I been collecting more general Red Sox instead of focusing so much on Wong, I would have easily made it.
4. Topps Chrome Sepia Refractor Brayan Bello. In February of last year I did a post about Boston's inability to develop their own starting pitchers. Specifically, I noted that at that time one had to go all the way back to Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester in 2014 to find a Red Sox-developed pitcher who started 20 games in a season. Bello finally broke that string by starting 28 games with the Red Sox in 2023. He had a 12-11 record, 4.24 ERA (107 ERA+) with 132 strikeouts and just 45 walks in 157 innings. Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck also each started more than 20 games, but Bello is the only one who seems assured to stay in the rotation.
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