Player Updates

• Oliver Perez (NYM, P) - Perez returned from the DL yesterday and was looking pretty good, allowing 2 ER in 6-1/3 IP, with 6 K's. Perez is an underrated strikeout pitcher, averaging 9.43 K's/9 IP through his career. Overall he's having a good season, with 8 W's and a 3.13 ERA. His 02 Ultimate Collection Auto RC #'d 550 & SPx Auto RC #'d 825 are his cards to get. Unfortunately for buyers, there haven't been many up for sale since he was on the DL. Now that he's back, they should start to pop back up. His Ultimate Coll sold for an average TAC of $27.53 in June, and would probably sell for around that much now. You can find his SPx RC for around $20-25.
• Felix Hernandez (SEA, P) - It looks like Hernandez's recovery is coming along well, since being sidelined back in April. He was still inconsistent through May & June, but seems to be getting back into the groove in July, going 2-0 with a 1.61 ERA & 5.25 K's/9 IP (a little low for him) in his first 3 starts this month. His 04 Bowman Chrome Auto & Bowman's Best Auto RC's are also starting to reappear & rebound. You can find his Chrome for around $130-140 TAC, and his Bowman's Best for $60-65. I think that at these price levels, there's definitely still more room for growth (as we saw back in April).
  
• Grady Sizemore (CLE, CF) - Sizemore has been one of the most hyped-up young players in the league, and his 00 Bowman Draft Picks Auto has been one of the hottest cards in the hobby. Through April, May & June, he was pretty consistently decent in BA, HR, RBI & SB. So far in July, he's pretty much on pace in all those stat areas except for BA, which has dropped to .234, from a previous 3-month average of .285. He's striking out less, but just not getting hits. His OBP is a season low .321 this month, and being a lead-off hitter, this is a very important stat. Collectors seem to have picked up on this drop in performance, with the average TAC for his Bowman Auto falling from $301.23 in June to $288.14 so far in July. You can find them for around $250-270 on auction currently; a far cry from his April levels of $400-500!