Carding Baseball America's MLB Prospects Hot Sheet (Aug. 5)

Here's a look at the top five players on this week's Baseball America Top MLB Prospects Hot Sheet and their seasons so far. It's a little something to help those who might want to dabble with prospecting -- some basics on their baseball cards alongside a highlight line from those more scouting-minded. We may not do this every week, but we'll check in on BA's top crop from time to time for the remainder of the season.

1. Ty France, 3B, Padres — Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas
Baseball America’s highlight line: “If the new Triple-A ball is going to lead to massively inflated offensive numbers, it’s fitting that there’s a player posting one of the best statistical seasons we’ve seen this century. France is now hitting .396/.473/.780 with 26 home runs. He could become the first full-season minor league hitter to top .400 since Erubiel Durazo hit .404 in 1999, and he may do it while hitting more than 30 home runs as well."

CARDBOARD BASICS
Approximate card total (so far): 25
First Chrome auto: None yet
One auto to consider: None yet
Buzz’s card take: He's putting up a year that has historic superlatives involved and he's got just one brand where you can find his baseball cards right now, 2019 Donruss Optic. He's got roughly 25 cards there but we're still left to wait on a certified autograph. He should get another MLB look soon, though the name-drop of Erubiel Durazo should tell you how much stock can be put into historic MiLB seasons in the long run when it comes to cardboard.

Keep reading for the rest of the top five ...

2. Brailyn Marquez, LHP, Cubs — Low-A South Bend Cubs
Baseball America’s highlight line: “Marquez just keeps on humming along, as this marks his second consecutive week near the top of Hot Sheet. In that time, the 20-year-old lefthander with the triple-digit heat has made two starts and struck out 22 batters while allowing just one hit and one walk over 12 innings. It's hard to be much more dominant than that."

CARDBOARD BASICS
Approximate card total (so far): Only MiLB team set cards
First Chrome auto: None yet
One auto to consider: None yet
Buzz’s card take: Nothing has changed for his cards since last week when he was our No. 1 -- so here's a rewind to last week with updated stats. This 20-year-old is in his fourth season of MiLB ball and his total numbers aren't overwhelming -- 12-11 with a 3.61 ERA and 261 strikeouts in 230 innings. It's this season that has that Ks ratio up so that's a good sign but he's got nothing but MiLB team set cards to chase right now. He should be one to watch once he gets some prospect cardboard in packs but this feels like a long-term watch since he's still in A-ball.

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3. Luis Patino, RHP, Padres — High-A Lake Elsinore Storm
Baseball America’s highlight line: “The electric Patino entered the year with two main areas he was focused on improving: his changeup and his durability. Both, in tandem, have made great strides. Patino pitched a career-high 8.1 innings in his dominant outing against San Jose last week, and the in-season progress of his changeup has led to a 1.63 ERA over his last five starts. Though only 19 years old, it won’t be long before Patino makes the move to Double-A."
CARDBOARD BASICS
Approximate card total (so far): 10
First Chrome auto: None yet
One auto to consider: None yet
Buzz’s card take: Patino's only baseball cards are in a single insert set (and parallels) in 2019 Bowman. He snuck onto the 2019 Bowman Chrome Scouts Top 100 list at No. 99, so that has his first in-pack cardboard covered. Up next should be his first standard card and his first ink since Topps has him on its radar. His age, team and lack of cardboard with successes so far all seem like a decent recipe for cardboard success.

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4. Isaac Paredes, 3B, Tigers — Double-A Erie SeaWolves
Baseball America’s highlight line: “Paredes closed 2018 with an impressive showing at Double-A Erie, and he has been solid in a return to the level this season. While the power has not shown up quite as loudly as last year, Paredes, who opened the year as the league’s second-youngest player, has posted a .365 on-base percentage which ranks sixth in the Eastern League."
CARDBOARD BASICS
Approximate card total (so far): 100
First Chrome auto: None yet
One auto to consider: 2017 Elite Extra Edition
Buzz’s card take: In four MiLB seasons, he's hit .272 with 36 homers and 213 RBI in 398 games. While that's enough that he could find himself on a big-league roster at some point, the autograph here renders him moot no matter what he does when it comes to my collection. Enough said there. His only ink is in that EEE set and 2018 Onyx Platinum Elite Collection ... so at least that helps.

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5. Seth Corry, LHP, Giants — Low-A Augusta GreenJackets
Baseball America’s highlight line: “Corry’s below-average control dropped him to the third round of the 2017 draft and remained a problem through the first half of this season, when he issued 40 walks in his first 54 innings. Since the end of June, however, Corry has been a different pitcher. Corry is 8-0, 0.79 in his last eight starts, with 56 strikeouts and just eight walks in 45.1 innings. After pitching 5.2 hitless innings in his first start of the week, he followed with seven innings of two-hit ball on Sunday. Corry’s fastball and curveball have always been promising pitches, and now that he’s throwing strikes, he’s proving nearly unhittable to low-Class A hitters."
CARDBOARD BASICS
Approximate card total (so far): 170
First Chrome auto: 2017 Bowman Draft
One auto to consider: 2016 Leaf Perfect Game releases
Buzz’s card take: Those stats are dominating so that should make him one to watch despite it being in low-level play. In three seasons, he's 13-7 with a 1.72 ERA and has 216 Ks in 181 innings -- all marks that show he's played decently before this season, too, before this strong year (9-2, 1.72, 136 Ks in 99 innings). He's got enough cardboard to keep tabs on and dabble with here if you give pitchers a look.

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