2013 Bowman Chrome

Last month, I went to a sports card shop that I haven’t been to for more than 10 years. It was a card shop in a mall. When I was in college, I went to that card shop several times and bought some packs of baseball cards. When I entered the shop, so many old memories came out. There are so many changes over the last 10+ years and so many changes in the sports card industry. However, I’m so glad that the card shop is still there.

I tried to see whether there was anything interesting and I found some value packs of the 2013 Bowman Chrome. I didn’t hesitate and decided to buy a value pack.

I found a Clayton Kershaw card. On the front, it’s a photo of Kershaw with a Brooklyn Dodgers cap. On the back, it indicated that Kershaw got one-third of his outs with his slider in 2011.
   As we know, Kershaw’s slider is one of the most devastating pitches in the majors. However, is Kershaw’s slider the toughest slider for a batter to collect a hit?

From 2011 to 2021, opponents only hit .163 against Chris Sale’s slider. Chris Sale underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2020 and didn’t pitch in 2020. Last year, he came back and made 9 starts. Sale used his slider 31.5% of the time in 2021 and opponents only batted .158. Francisco Liriano already announced his retirement after playing 14 seasons in the majors. His last MLB appearance was in September 2019. From 2011 to 2019, batting average against his slider was 168. Back in 2019, opponents only batted .143 against his slider. Patrick Corbin is another left-handed pitcher who throws a devastating slider. Corbin made his MLB debut on April 30, 2012. He became an All-Star the next year. However, Corbin missed the 2014 season due to season-ending surgery. By far, he has spent 9 years in the big league and his slider is not easy for MLB batters to hit. By far in Corbin’s career, batting average against his slider was only .169 . Corbin didn’t have a great 2021 season. He posted a 5.82 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. Nonetheless, he still heavily relied on his slider and used it 38.2% of the time in 2021. MLB batters hit .211 against Corbin’s slider last year. Additionally, Jhoulys Chacin has played 13 years in the majors and from 2011 to 2021, opponents hit .170 against his slider. Moreover, Ervin Santana has played in the majors for 16 years. Santana already tossed 2000+ innings. Last year, Santana used his slider more than 50% of the time and opponents only batted .165. Finally, Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw each made it into the big league in 2008 and so far, they each won the Cy Young award three times. These two players will surely become Hall of Famers in the future. From 2011 to 2021, it had been quite hard for MLB batters to collect a hit against their sliders. Over the last 11 seasons, Clayton Kershaw’s slider is surely one of the most devastating pitches in the majors and opponents didn’t hit well against his slider. However, he’s still a free agent now. Will he still throw his slider in the Dodgers uniform in 2022? Meanwhile, Chris Sale is back from Tommy John surgery and he shall throw more innings this season than he did in 2021. Will we see Chris Sale throw 100+ strikeouts by using his slider?