The All-Star break and the massive week of content are almost here, but we still have to wrap up June with the final Spotlight drop of the month. A new Chase Pack and Headliner pack are in the Show Shop, as well as the Free Fourth of July Pack that features a ton of Independence Day themed gear.
Let's start with the big Spotlight content.
June Spotlight Drop 4 Program Breakdown
The cards featured in the final June program are:
- Zack Gelof, 3B ATH (97 OVR Spotlight)
- Carter Jensen, C KC (96 OVR Spotlight)
- Caleb Durbin, 3B BOS (96 OVR Spotlight)
- TJ Rumfield, 1B COL (95 OVR Spotlight)
- Tejay Antone, RP CIN (95 OVR Spotlight)
- Samad Taylor, LF SD (95 OVR Spotlight)
- Cooper Ingle, C CLE (94 OVR Topps Now)
- LuJames Groover, 1B AZ (94 OVR Topps Now)
- Kahlil Watson, RF CLE (94 OVR Topps Now)
- Carson Kelly, C CHC (94 OVR Topps Now)
The final Spotlight program "boss" is a nifty little card. Gelof is a primary 3B with Gold Fielding that can also play 2B, CF, and RF. Gelof possesses an elite-step to his left side, meaning he'll take the most advantage of this ability at 3B or in CF - both positions of which he is the new #4 Meta Overall option. Yes, defense matters that much this year that I think this is relevant to point out.
Gelof has pretty decent Speed and a solid overall offensive profile, in combination with pretty stellar Quirks.
Card's pretty good.
June Spotlight Drop 4 Pack Breakdown
The pack players this week are:
- Seiya Suzuki, RF CHC (97 OVR Spotlight)
- Jeremy Pena, SS HOU (97 OVR Spotlight)
- Ranger Suarez, SP BOS (97 OVR Spotlight)
- Tyler Soderstrom, LF ATH (96 OVR Spotlight)
- Foster Griffin, SP WSH (96 OVR Spotlight)
- Jacob Latz, CP TEX (96 OVR Spotlight)
- Mauricio Dubon, LF ATL (95 OVR Spotlight)
- Walker Buehler, SP SD (95 OVR Spotlight)
- Jake McCarthy, CF COL (95 OVR Spotlight)
- Sam Antonacci, LF CWS (95 OVR Spotlight)
I am shamelessly going full-homer mode highlighting Dubon from this week's pack.
A somewhat unheralded acquisition in the off-season for the Braves, Dubon was lauded for his defense primarily. He's brought that to Atlanta, along with a potent bat that came unadvertised.
Dubon vs Elly De La Cruz
I make this comparison as P5 Elly is my incumbent shortstop. I have a Diamond mod equipped, and he's a switch-hitter with good Speed so he's been great for me. Dubon has been such a fun story that I think I found an under-the-radar new shortstop when I wasn't even looking to make a change at the position.
And he's a primary Left Fielder.
Dubon can play every position except Catcher and Pitcher, with a Diamond shield no matter where he ends up. He's pretty slow and does have a couple gaps in his Contact v L and Power v R, but he's still getting some starts for me at shortstop. My Braves theme team has felt a bit past expiration date with the Captains no longer viable, but I think this card is good enough to run on my squad as I approach 900 on the ladder.
Lightning and Retro Lightning Collections
As usual, the Lightning collection reward is unlocked simply by collecting all of the "final" reward cards from each of June's Spotlight programs (Roki Sasaki, Braden Montgomery, Nasim Nunez, & Zack Gelof).
Collecting 3 of these cards will also now unlock Milestone Sandy Alcantara.
The new #6 starting pitcher in Diamond Dynasty is so close to being amazing. The core attributes are solid - except for that pesky 86 Clutch. You are going to get absolutely spanked with runners in scoring position, which brings up the question: is this card good enough to invest time in Parallel upgrades?
I think so. The pitch mix is nuts with elite velocity and control. Alcantara is nasty, and a P5 with Diamond mods might make him a bit more palatable for the All-Star difficulties in Ranked. I'm not sure I'd be confident using him on Hall of Fame, but I'm still going to try him!
Pro Tip: It appears that you need to collect Zack Gelof before you gain access to Alcantara - if you've already collected the previous Spotlight cards. I did this and do not have Sandy in my binder despite having collected the 3 Spotlight cards.
Spotlight Lightning Pete Crow-Armstrong (Chicago Cubs)
PCA had an absolutely absurd June, so SDS didn't really have a choice but to follow up the recent 96 overall with the June Spotlight Lightning treatment. PCA is a legitimate 5-tool player, which is reflected on his card with the biggest flaw being the very low Vision. Again, this probably affects players on Hall of Fame (800+) enough that it might not be an attractive option. However, this is an All-Star difficulty final boss - especially if you P5 him and get some Diamond mods flowing.
Retro Lightning Cedric Mullins Collection Breakdown
The Retro Lightning collection this month belongs to then-Baltimore Oriole Cedric Mullins. The Retro Lightning card celebrates his 2021 June, and he's also bringing along Dansby Swanson in the collection path. You'll need 8 June Spotlight pack cards and 13 June Spotlight pack cards to unlock Swanson and Mullins respectively.
Mullins is almost always a great card when he gets into the late-game attribute builds. He has a great swing from the left side, with elite Contact/Clutch and decent enough Power against both sides for a Diamond fielding center fielder. You also get a decent base-stealer, as Mullins has 80 Speed and 90 Stealing. I wouldn't bank on throwing out many runners that are tagging up, however.
Dog Days of Summer Event Program
A new Event has also launched, and the reward path is full of June Spotlight packs.
This alone should make the overall cost of collecting for Mullins relatively low compared to some collections. Mullins is a 98 OVR, but we're also getting into 99 OVR territory so we're going to start seeing a clear separation between cards. Mullins is great, but the All-Star content next week would have me pausing before I invested any serious Stubs into collecting Mullins.
Summer Series, Spotlight/Topps Now, Jolt, and Live Series cards locked at PETCO Park are the parameters for this event. The Summer series is still in the Show Shop if you need some extra cards for this event.
Headliners 15 Featuring Gary Carter
Gary Carter usually feels irrelevant when he gets decent cards, but he might get his deserved attention as the catcher pool hasn't completely outpaced this 96 OVR version.
Chase Pack 17 Featuring 99 OVR Geraldo Perdomo
They did the meme!
Awards Geraldo Perdomo is the latest switch-hitter to be the super-expensive-hardly-anyone-will-get-to-ever-own-it Chase card. He is the first 99 OVR pack card to be released this year, and returns as a premium Diamond after being one of the first Ranked World Series rewards at launch.
Weekly Roundup
A new Conquest map has landed, with a Hall of Fame starting pitcher waiting upon completing the map.
Along with the XP and packs hidden on the map, you'll unlock 96 OVR All-Star Greg Maddux.
Finally, a Milestone Showdown was added earlier this week that celebrates Sonny Gray's 2,000th career strikeout. It shouldn't take much time or effort to complete, and you'll get a free Milestone card that will go a long way towards the big collections. Don't forget - there's another big Legends and Flashbacks collection coming.
