2021 Topps Gypsy Queen

The 2021 Topps Gypsy Queen was supposed to be released in the spring, however it came out late. I talked to a sports shop owner and asked why this set had been delayed for so long. He really had no clue. Well, it’s still unclear to know why, but finally, it is available in mid-July. A hobby pack of 2021 Gypsy Queen is more expensive than a 2020 Gypsy Queen hobby pack. But, it’s still affordable for me to buy some packs and I was trying to see whether I could get some good rookie cards. I did find good cards such as Ke’Bryan Hayes rookie card. Nonetheless, two mini inserts are also pretty cool. I got two mini inserts, one insert is a Juan Soto captain mini and the other is a Xander Bogaerts captain mini. Both players were selected to the All-Star game this year and let’s see how good they are. Juan Soto made his MLB debut on May 20, 2018 and he was only 19 years old. In his rookie season, he was hitting .292/.406/.517 with 22 home runs and 70 RBI in 116 games. He finished second in the 2018 NL Rookie of the year voting and the 2018 NL Rookie of the year winner was Ronald Acuna Jr., who was slashing .293/.366/.552 with 26 home runs and 64 RBI. In 2019, Juan Soto was hitting .282/.401/.548 with 34 home runs and 110 RBI. In the first half of the 2019 season, Soto was hitting .300/.406/.537 with 15 homers and 56 RBI. But, he wasn’t selected to the 2019 All-Star game. Moreover, he slashed .263/.394/.561 with 19 home runs and 54 RBI after the All-Star break. Last season, he missed some playing time due to covid-19 related issues. However, it didn’t stop Soto. Soto finished the 2020 season with a 1.185 OPS, leading the majors. This season, Soto was hitting .283/.407/.445 with 11 home runs and 42 RBI before the All-Star break. The numbers weren’t that bad, but we always expect to see Soto do more. In the second half of the 2021 season, he’s currently batting .364/.529/.705 so far.

Now, let’s focus on Xander Bogaerts, who has been with the Red Sox for 9 seasons.

Bogaerts made it into the big league on August 20, 2013 and was hitting .250/.320/.364 with 1 home run and 5 RBI over 18 games for the Red Sox. In the postseason, Xander Bogaerts, at age 20, hit .296/.412/.481. In Bogaerts’ first season with the Red Sox, they won the 2013 World Series championship. In his career so far, Bogaerts has a .291/.353/.460 slash line with 136 home runs and 597 RBI and his wRC+ is 116, which ranks 28th over the last 9 years. That shows how good he has been.

wRC+ since 2013 (Min PA: 4,000)
	Player	wRC+
1	Mike Trout	175
2	Joey Votto	145
3	Freddie Freeman	144
4	Nelson Cruz	144
5	Bryce Harper	142
6	Josh Donaldson	142
#
28	Xander Bogaerts	116
29	Charlie Blackmon	116
30	Marcell Ozuna	115
31	Daniel Murphy	114
32	Nick Catellanos	114
33	Kyle Seager	113

 

In addition, Boagerts has become a 3-time All-Star. In the first half of this season, Bogaerts was hitting .321/.385/.545 with 15 home runs and 51 RBI and it wasn’t a surprise to see him become the starting shortstop for the AL in this year’s All-Star game. For me, it’s pretty cool to collect these two mini cards. Juan Soto and Xander Bogaerts are both All-Stars and they each won the World Series championship at age 20. Additionally, Juan Soto had an OBP of .490 last season, leading the majors and this season, his .439 OBP is currently leading the majors. Furthermore, Xander Bogaerts’ OBP of .376 is now the highest among MLB shortstops. Let’s see whether they can finish the 2021 season strong.