Project Durham Bulls #1: Kyle Roller

I have been working on a few set projects recently on the blog, but I have also been thinking about taking up another project beyond the sets that would focus on single cards of Durham Bulls players.  More specifically, I am looking to add autographs of players who have appeared for my favorite Minor League team.

A few challenges I envision:

1. Minor League teams have a little bit higher turn over rate than Major League teams.  There are many years where the number of players who appeared on the roster is eye popping.  I am ready to track them down.
2. Some of the players who appear on the Bulls do not have autographs.  I am thinking about whether or not to chase in-person autographs, but have not made a final decision on that yet.  Kind of leaning towards no.  
3. What to do about the hundreds of posts that I have made over the last three plus years with cool cards of the Durham Bulls?  Just because I have one autograph of the player, say someone like Evan Longoria, doesn't mean that I am just going to skip over all of his autographs in the future and never give him a post in this series.  I will get there.  

With that being said, I have started a new page up at the top of the blog which will display the different players who appear in these posts.  

With that being said here is the first of many cards....

Kyle Roller - 2016 Durham Bulls 

Background- 

Kyle Roller appeared on the 2016 Durham Bulls for a total of 50 games before he was released.  His time with the Bulls included a .216/.316/.377 line with 5 home runs, 9 doubles, and 12 RBIs.  Roller's professional career started with the Yankees in 2010 after he was drafted out of East Carolina.  He played in the Yankees system from 2010 until the end of the 2015 season.  His best season in the Minors was easily in 2014 when he hit .300/.391/.550 with 26 home runs, 30 doubles, and 74 RBIs splitting time between Double A Trenton and Triple A Scranton.  Roller's other notable career highlight came in the 2015 Triple A All-Star Game when he sparked the International League to a 3-2 win over the Pacific Coast League.  

Card-

I really like college sports, so I was happy to find a card of Roller in an East Carolina jersey.  I am not always a huge fan of the Panini products, but I always liked these Elite Cards.  Roller was the Cape Cod League MVP during the summer of 2009 and was named first team All-American in 2010 at ECU, so while he was not the highest of draft picks or most highly regarded prospects, it's nice to see a player with a college career get a little cardboard love.