2015 Panini Immaculate Baseball - The Dodger Relic Cards

I am finally getting around to showing off some of the various Dodger insert cards available in Panini's Immaculate Baseball set.  On Monday I shared pics of the Dodger base cards. Featured below are the relic-only insert cards.  I hope to have the autograph cards up tomorrow.

Of note is the Immaculate Cleats Jumbo Card of Corey Seager.  Unfortunately, this card has yet to make an appearance online, but it represents something very new to Baseball card collectors.  It featured a jumbo sized relic piece of his shoe.  Based on what I've seen so far, these cards are the coolest things I've ever seen - and I'm not a huge fan of relic cards.  From what I understand, card manufacturers have been making cards like this for several years, but this is the first time its been done for Baseball.  I've included an example of one of these cards below.

Accolades Materials

#6 Don Drysdale

Welcome to the Blue, Corey Seager!

He's coming!

It was reported this morning, via twitter by Jon Heyman, that the Dodgers #1 prospect Corey Seager is coming up to the Show.

Dodgers are calling up corey seager, the top prospect in mlb

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) September 3, 2015

This hasn't been made official yet, but has been confirmed elsewhere.  I don't know if he'll make it to San Diego in time for tonight's game; considering his Triple-AAA teams division clinching victory last night.  Surely, he'll be there by Friday. 

The former first round draft pick by the Dodgers in 2012 (18th overall) is the younger brother of Mariner infielder Kyle Seager, so he has some Baseball bloodlines.  He is 21-years old, stands 6'4" tall, weights 215 lbs, and bats left-handed but throws right-handed.  Seager currently plays shortstop in Oklahoma City, but is projected to be our everyday thirdbaseman in the future.

I suspect with the number of injuries we've had lately on the infield he'll primarily serve as a backup shortstop (and possibly thirdbaseman) for the remainder of the season.  We will no doubt get a chance to see his bat off the bench in later innings.  Per Bill Shaikin on twitter, you should expect to see a lot of Seager:

#Dodgers said Corey Seager wouldn't come up unless he would play. He's coming up, via @dylanohernandez: http://t.co/B6lZIdHpRj

— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) September 3, 2015

Currently, he ranks high on just about everybody's prospect list.  Seager is the #1 overall prospect at Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, Keith Law's list at ESPN and Kiley McDaniel's list at FanGraphs.  MLB ranks him #2 overall.  Via Jonathan Mayo at MLB.com:

Seager has a very advanced approach at the plate, especially for his age, and doesn't strike out much for someone with his power potential. He has a smooth and balanced swing, uses all fields well and has both bat speed and strength.

In celebration of Seager's promotion to the Dodgers I made the above fantasy card for him.  I used a photograph from Spring Training taken by Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2015 and the 1972 Topps Baseball card design.

Below are his career minor league stats, via Baseball-Reference:


UDPATE:  The Dodgers just made it official.  Below is the press release.  BTW, the Dodgers have also called up reliever Yimi Garcia:

The Los Angeles Dodgers today selected the contract of infielder Corey Seager (#5) and recalled right-handed reliever Yimi Garcia (#63) from Triple-A Oklahoma City, increasing the number of players on their active roster to 33. To create room for Seager on the 40-man roster, Los Angeles designated infielder Andy Wilkins for assignment.

Seager, 21, will be making his Major League debut in his fourth professional season after being selected by the Dodgers in the first round (18th overall) in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft. Seager, who is rated by Baseball America as baseball’s top overall prospect, combined to hit .293 with 37 doubles, 18 home runs and 76 RBI in 125 minor league games this year with Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he was selected a midseason Pacific Coast League All-Star. In the field, Seager has combined to appear in 104 games at shortstop and 19 games at third base this year. He was selected as the Dodgers’ 2014 Branch Rickey Minor League co-Player of the Year and, in four minor league campaigns, the North Carolina native has a .307 batting average with 62 homers and 278 RBI in 390 games.

Garcia, 25, has gone 3-3 with one save and a 3.55 ERA in 46 relief appearances in three stints with the Dodgers this year. He’s limited opponents to a .212 batting average with 58 strikeouts against just nine walks in 45.2 innings, while posting a 0.99 WHIP.

Wilkins was acquired from Toronto on May 3 in exchange for cash considerations and batted .249 with 18 home runs and 70 RBI in 105 games with Triple-A Oklahoma City.

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Blog Kiosk: 9/3/2015 - Dodger Links - Utley, Turner and Oklahoma City Won their Division

Congratulations to the Triple-AAA Oklahoma City Dodgers for clinching the PCL American North Division title last night.  Via Robert Emrich at MiLB.com:

"It was relaxed," Oklahoma City coach Johnny Washington said of the atmosphere prior to the game. "They understood what needed to be accomplished today and they came out ready to play.

And did they ever!  They defeated Iowa by the score of 11-3, on the backs of a pair of home runs by Andy Wilkinsand Chris Heisey and a two-RBI double by Corey Seager. 

The photo above via @okc_dodgers on twitter.  Below are more links to check out:

• Guess who's coming for a cup of coffee?  Via Steve Adams at MLB Trade Rumors, "Dodgers To Promote Corey Seager."  The Phenom is coming!
• Via Steve Bourbon at MLB.com, "Mattingly dismisses Marlins rumors." 
• Utley, you're a Dodger now!  He hit his first home run in Blue last night to help the Dodger sweep the Giants in a 2-1 victory.  Per Ken Gurnick at MLB.com:

"I definitely wasn't trying to hit a home run there, just hit it hard and see what happens," he said. "Obviously, it was the winning run, and that definitely means a lot, especially with Clayton on the mound. I've played a lot of games against him and I thought he was a very good pitcher. Now that I'm playing behind him, I realize he's an extremely good pitcher."

• ICYMI:  The Dodgers recalled outfielder Scott Schebler.  There are now 31 players on the active roster.  Via a Dodger press release:

Schebler, 24, made his Major League debut on June 5 against the Cardinals, going 1-for-3, during a brief, one-day recall with the Dodgers, and batted .241 with 13 home runs and 50 RBI in 121 games with OKC this year. The Iowa native was selected by the Dodgers in the 26th round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft and was the organization’s 2013 Branch Rickey Minor League Player of the Year.

• Eric Lichtblau of the NYT confirms that Buster Posey is a bad man; "In Sharing Baseball’s Joys, Mourning Something Lost."  (Hat Tip: Sax at Sons of Steve Garvey)
• Via Ron Cervenka at Think Blue LA, "Is Joc Pederson fixed?"
  

  “There’s not one certain way that you have to hit. You take the knowledge from myself or whoever it may be – the stuff they’re passing on to you – and you make it your own, and that’s what Joc’s trying to do right now,” said McGwire. “We’re trying to calm the swing down, not feeling like you have to swing at a hundred and fifty percent all the time. If he can get in that box and feel like he’s swinging about seventy percent, good things are going to happen. It’s all about being patient. This kid, the sky’s the limit for him. I’m his biggest backer and I love him to death and the thing is, he works his rear end off.”

• Via Jeff Todd at MLB Trade Rumors, "Extension Candidate: Justin Turner."
  

  It’s questionable, to be sure, whether he can maintain the power surge that has pushed his isolated slugging mark to over .200. Turner’s 15.6% home run per flyball rate in 2015 may be unsustainable — that’s a career-best by a significant margin — but he has obviously learned something about driving the ball that seems likely to stick. Building off improvements in his contact profile that were evident in his 2013 numbers with the Mets, the 2015 version of Turner makes hard contact in approximately one third of his plate appearances while generating the same soft contact rate (10.8%) as Paul Goldschmidt and Miguel Cabrera.

• This is pretty cool.  Via Shawn Anderson at the Hall of Very Good, "Rockford Peaches Honored at Site of Old Stadium."
• Via Night Owl Cards, "A decade in blue, who knew?"  He takes a look at some of the cards of the longest tentured Dodger - Andre Ethier.

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