Eury Perez is a Venezuelan professional baseball outfielder who has played in Major League Baseball for the Washington Nationals, Atlanta Braves, and Kansas City Royals. While he has had a relatively short MLB career to date, Perez has generated some interest among baseball card collectors thanks to his unique skillset and potential as a speedster on the basepaths. Let’s take a deeper look at some of the more notable Eury Perez baseball cards that have been released over the years.
One of the first Eury Perez cards collectors may be familiar with is his 2010 Bowman Prospects card. Released when Perez was just 18 years old and climbing the minor league ranks in the Nationals system, this card featured Perez in his Nationals uniform with stats from his debut season in the Dominican Summer and Gulf Coast Leagues. While Perez did not have huge numbers that first season, the card hinted at his potential as a speedy outfielder with above average defense and base stealing ability. With a printing of only around 50,000 copies, Perez’s 2010 Bowman Prospects card can still be obtained fairly inexpensively by most collectors.
A card that saw Perez’s prospect status rise was his 2011 Bowman Sterling card. By this point, Perez had broken out with stolen base totals over 30 bases in both the Appalachian and New York-Penn Leagues. The Sterling parallel featured glossy photo stock and serial numbering to 199 copies. While still relatively low print runs for Bowman products, Perez’s increasing prospect stock made his 2011 Sterling a hotly sought after short print among Nationals fans and prospects watchers. PSA 10 gem mint examples now sell for around $50-75, showing the card’s rising collector value.
Perez got his first true “flagship” card with Topps in 2012 with his Topps Pro Debut release. Sporting a bright smile in his Nationals blue and gray uniform, the card served as Perez’s official “rookie” issue as he prepared to start the 2012 season in High-A. While production numbers on Pro Debut are in the millions, Perez’s card remains one of the more iconic early issues for collectors to track his progression. Near mint copies in the $5-10 range reflect the card’s place as a standard early Perez issue before his MLB arrival.
One of the best indicators of Perez’s growing prospect stock came in 2013 with his Topps Triple Threads Auto card. The ultra premium Triple Threads set featured dual game-worn memorabilia patches and on-card autographs. Perez’s dual-patch auto parallel numbered to just 50 copies established him among the elite Nationals prospects at the time. With a current market value around $150-250 in gem mint condition, the Triple Threads Auto shows how close Perez appeared to be on the cusp of a MLB call up.
That MLB arrival came in 2014, and Perez got his first true MLB card courtesy of Topps. Sporting the classic Nationals alternate red home jersey, Perez’s 2014 Topps base card served to commemorate his initial cup of coffee in the bigs. While production on modern Topps cards is massive, Perez’s rookie issue remains a staple for collectors to track his career. Near mint copies trade for around $3-5, reflecting the card’s place as a standard early MLB issue.
After being waived by the Nationals and claimed by the Braves, Perez got his first cards in a new uniform in 2015. Both Topps and Bowman released Perez cards showing him in Atlanta’s navy blue and red. The Topps base card and Bowman Prospect parallel served to mark Perez’s transition to a new club. While still fairly common, they represent an important change of scenery period early in his career.
Perez would be waived by Atlanta as well and end up with the Royals in 2016. Topps, Bowman, and even international brands like Panini released Perez cards in the Royals colors of blue and white. Most notably, Perez’s 2016 Topps Series 2 card featured a sharp photo and design to commemorate his time in Kansas City. Near mint copies remain fairly inexpensive indicators of this stage of Perez’s career.
While Eury Perez never fully stuck in the majors long term, he generated interest among collectors thanks to his elite speed skills coming up through the minors. Cards from his prospect days like Bowman Sterling parallel remain some of the more coveted due to the low print runs. Flagship rookie issues like Topps document his brief MLB looks. As a whole, Perez’s collecting landscape reflects the journeyman path some talented minor leaguers take before moving on to other leagues later in their careers.
Even though Perez remains active in independent leagues today, his MLB tenure may be finished. For collectors who tracked his development as a potential base-stealing star of the future, his early prospect issues and major league rookie cards continue to represent an interesting timeline within the world of baseball cards. As one of the more unique international speedsters to get cup of coffee in the bigs, Eury Perez’s collecting landscape is one of hope, potential, and the uncertainty that comes with professional baseball.