2016-2017 Durham Bulls
Background-
Gillaspie was selected by the Rays in the first round of the 2014 MLB Draft out of Wichita State. While in college, he excelled as a hitter in several wood bat summer leagues, as well as having a great junior season with the Shockers. Gillaspie reached Triple A with the Bulls in the middle of the 2016 season after starting the season with Montgomery in the Southern League. In 85 games with the Rays Double A team he hit .270/.387/.454 with 11 home runs and 21 doubles earning him a promotion up to the Bulls. Gillaspie continued to hit well during the second half of 2016 in Durham. He had 22 extra base hits with a .307/389/.520 slash line in just 47 games in Triple A. Gillaspie returned to the Bulls in 2017, but struggled at the plate, as his average sunk below .230 and his on base dipped below .300. The Rays traded Casey Gillaspie at the end of July for White Sox relief pitcher Dan Jennings. The White Sox stuck him with their Triple A team in Charlotte, where he has remained since the trade.
Card-
Gillaspie first appeared in the 2014 Bowman Draft set, but did not sign anything in the set. This 2015 Bowman Chrome card was his first licensed autograph card. There are a bunch of Leaf products from 2014 with Gillaspie autographs, but they have the logos airbrushed off of the card. A couple of the Leaf cards have cool patch pieces or inscriptions, but outside of that there is little to make them desirable cards. Considering that the card market has not yet adjusted to the fact that Gillaspie seems like a AAAA player, many of his autographed cards still sell for upwards of $10, I went with this Bowman Chrome card simply based on the fact that it was the nicest card I could find for less than $5. He actually has some sweet Panini cards which have him in his college Wichita State uniform, but those are in the group of cards that are north of $10.
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