A Cuban import and already 23 years old, he was on fire in June and July during his first taste of minor league baseball. Pedro Leon - SS/OF (Astros, 1st Base and Auto, 50 OFP) - The number 1 Astros prospect in our Mid-Season rankings, he was their top J2 signing for the most recent class. But I wouldn’t argue anyone who says that there are no Tier One players or five Tier One players in this product. Ultimately I went with the power/speed shortstops I felt best about. I was also tempted to include the top three to guys from Tier Two. Similar to 2021 Bowman Baseball, I was very tempted to leave this tier empty. At the moment I am sticking Hernandez in Tier One, especially given his decent DSL performance, but I am very much on the fence with this ranking personally even if the hobby in general is paying for him like he is the top prospect in the product.
While he has had the better DSL season than Colmenarez, that isn’t enough to sway me to put him over Colmenarez yet. His batting practice swings, on the other hand, do promise power to come.
All the raw tools are there for him to be more than just an average regular, but a swing that isn’t setup yet to generate power in game does give one pause. A power/speed player at shortstop that has the best potential in this product, and thus, a Tier One player.Ĭristian Hernandez - SS (Cubs, 1st Base and Auto, 50 OFP) - The number 5 Cubs prospect in our Mid-Season rankings, he was a consensus top 3 player in the most recent J2 signing class. Has enough skills on the defensive side to stick at short and the raw hit and power tools to potentially translate into an all-star talent. *Catchers and Pitchers are often knocked down a tier just due to their position.Ĭarlos Colmenarez - SS (Rays, 1st Base and Auto, 50 OFP) - The number 5 Rays prospect in our Mid-Season ranking, he was seen by many as the top player in the most recent J2 signing class. Hobby lottery tickets where the odds are stacked against you. Plenty of pitchers, catchers, role players, hit tool only bats, defense first players, etc. Tier None - The likelihood of widespread short term hobby interest, and most likely long term as well, is close to none. Tier 3 - May have some hobby interest due to a single factor such as prospect pedigree, team interest, general hobby hype, an interesting carrying tool, etc. High end SP 2 pitchers with additional positive factors such as team, arsenal, pedigree, etc. Tier 2 - Bats that may lack in a certain area such as top end power, three true outcomes players, may be great real life/fantasy players, but not hobby-elite, or tantalizing raw talents. Potential for being perennial All-Stars and award winners. Combination of high-end Hit and Power tools that won’t end up as full-time designated hitters. Keep all of those things in mind as you read my breakdown, when formulating your own tiers and evaluations, and as you are buying boxes, singles, and into breaks for 2021 Bowman Chrome. Finally, real life baseball value, fantasy baseball value, and hobby value aren’t always the same. As I always say, prospects are the most volatile and highest risk/reward part of the hobby. I have broken down these “1st” prospects into four tiers based on a combination of my perception of hobby interest and my own personal long term hobby outlook. Topps does make mistakes in this regard, as they did in 2021 Bowman Baseball with Liover Peguero having his first official Bowman card, but missing the 1st logo (more on that later). Below is my breakdown of each player that should have a 1st logo in 2021 Bowman Chrome given the checklist released by Topps. It is the gold standard and what I am going to focus on as the main attraction. When it comes to prospect products, the 1st Bowman logo is what brings all the boys to the yard. I expect this to continue this year as well. Retail formats are never really announced, but last year Topps introduced a new Mega Box retail format for Bowman Chrome with exclusive to the format mojo refractors. Lite box - no guaranteed hit, but guaranteed 5 Lite-exclusive black & white mini-diamond refractor parallels. Various refractor parallels can only be found in this configuration such as green atomic, orange wave, and red wave. HTA Choice box - guarantees 3 autos but has no cards beyond those three “hits”. Hobby box - guarantees 2 autos with base cards At the moment these are all going in the $200 - $250 range. There are three hobby configurations and likely one retail configuration this year.
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