#MyCardMonday

I had a few ideas for #MyCardMonday this week, but I was won over by a roster move by the Durham Bulls and the performance that followed on the field.  Sunday morning on my way to the ACC Championship game I saw an interesting tweet cross my feed.......

I am not sure how much I have, or have not talked about, Shaffer in this space over the past three or four years.  I am really intrigued by him as a player and was wondering at what point this season we would see the powerful third baseman make his first appearance in Durham.  Well, yesterday was the day.  We'll get into the specifics of his first day in a few minutes.  First some housekeeping.

I first encountered Shaffer while he was in college playing for Clemson.  The Charlotte native definitely stood out for the Tigers and enjoyed a great college career.  I found a cool old video of him from Baseball America facing off against, then Duke pitcher, Marcus Stroman.

The Rays took Shaffer with the 25th pick in the first round of the 2012 MLB Amateur Draft.  He has been through stops with the Rays A and AA teams before his promotion to the Durham Bulls on Sunday.  During the past two and half years his home run totals have slowly started to tick upwards.  From 4 in 2012, to 11 in 2013, and then up to 19 last year.  So far this year he is already at 9 with just 40 games played.  Two of which came yesterday in his first Triple A game with the Bulls.  

Shaffer makes his home debut for the Bulls later today against the Rochester Red Wings.  So, after a great debut the choice for #MyCardMonday is easy........