For those who missed the previous posts, the general conceit of this series is that I’m making my own custom box set in the 1980’s Fleer style and each weekend I will feature a custom card of one of “Baseball’s Best Relievers” and another custom featuring one of “Baseball’s Best Supersubs”.
Our reliever of the week is the Cardinals’ Ryan Helsley, who is currently tied for the Major League lead with 9 saves (for a team with a 13-14 record, I’ll point out). Helsley has a career 10.7 strikeouts per 9 innings and in 2022 he had a fastball clocked at 103.1 MPH and made the All-Star team.
In 2024, he’s appeared in Topps Big League but doesn’t have a card in flagship Topps or Heritage just yet.
The Rangers’ Ezequiel Durán is our Supersub for the week. Durán appeared in 122 games in left, right and all four infield positions while batting .276 with 14 homers, 55 runs and 46 RBI. This year he’s played mostly at 1st and 3rd but has also put in some time at short and in the outfield. He was acquired from the Yankees in 2021 as part of the deal which sent Joey Gallo to the Bronx.
As with Helsley, Durán has appeared in 2024 Topps Big League but not in any other sets.
The Shlabotnik Report 