Officiel Antonio Santillan-/150 1st Auto-2016 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor Autograph-Reds

Received directly from Topps this terrific Short Print "1st Bowman" Blue Refractor Auto Card with collectible On-Card signature of Reds hot young prospect pitcher, Antonio Santillan.

Santillan, who had a terrific 2018 (pitching to a 3.08 ERA over 28 starts, incl. 11 in AA) after his breakout 2017 season. As a result, Santillan goes into this season as one of the top prospect pitchers in the Reds highly-regarded system w/ clear superstar potential. Indeed, MLB.Com ranks him as the Reds No. 5 prospect with three plus pitches, including a well above average “70” fastball. Unusual for a young pitcher with a great fastball and slider combination, Santillan also has strong command and control. Important. He also continues to improve and has considerable untapped potential. To that end, he clearly has star potential as a front of the rotation starter.

This is one of the best Santillan auto cards issued and currently available.

Because of such potential and this seasons performance, however, Santillans bowman auto cards are finally starting to climb in value, and increasingly hard to come by (although I still believe he and his cards are quite undervalued that probably will not continue for long). Indeed, at the time of this revised posting, only a handful of the Short Print refactor auto cards remain for sale on eBay. To that end, I strongly suggest not delaying in getting such cards.

As stated, this is a short print blue refractor parallel of the Santillan base auto card from the 2016 Bowman Chrome set. As a blue parallel, it has the short print run of only 150; this particular card is serial numbered "129/150" on The back of the card.

Importantly, this card is especially collectible and will be a highlight of any Santillan card collection because it is his official "1st Bowman" auto card issued by Topps/Bowman.

As a first Bowman auto card, the card features and On-card auto hard-signed directly on the card by Santillan in blue marker as opposed to a less collectible sticker/label auto. This particular auto is attractive, well-placed, and clean, i.e., without smudges or other ink blemishes.

Importantly, as a redemption card, the card arrived directly from Topps without ever having been boxed or otherwise in circulation. Instead, it was immediately placed in a penny sleeve and enclosed securely in a top loader that was sealed by a Topps sticker, where it has safely remained. Thus, the card remains in the same condition it was in upon being signed and leaving the Topps facility-- thus, it is as close to new as possible! In fact, as a result of such secure treatment, such redemption cards generally are in excellent condition and are often unusually strong candidates for professional grading.

This particular card does appear to be in excellent condition and I cannot see any significant or even notable blemishes.

In any event, please review the photos to also consider the condition of the card yourself, but do not hesitate to contact me with any questions about the card or the listing.

Thank you for looking!