Chalk another one up to the list of Coming Soon alums.
Lonnie Chisenhall made his debut with the Cleveland Indians last night and did quite well for himself going 2-4 with an RBI. Chisenhall’s call-up comes on the heels of a blistering return to the Columbus Clippers lineup (9-21 2 HR 14 RBI) after missing a week and a half with a concussion injury.
Chisenhall is far from being a finished product and is significantly less polished than fellow farmhand Jason Kipnis. However, the 6-1 205 lb. fills a need for offensive firepower that the Indians desperately need right now as they struggled to stay in contention in the American League Central.
2008 Bowman Sterling and Bowman Chrome are the best autographed rookie cards for Chisenhall and last night’s fine debut did not go unnoticed by collectors. Prices for his Sterling autos sat in the $10-12 range before last night’s contest and jumped to $17-20 by the end of the evening. The Bowman Chrome autos experienced a similar jump in price, from $15-18 prior to the game, to $25-30 after.
I could see a short term boom for Chisenhall’s cards in the next week or so following his debut. He has a knack for putting up numbers in bunches, but has also shown a proneness for dry spells at the plate as well. My advice is to ride out the hot streak, sell if you have some of his autographed material, and then look for buying opportunities if, and when, his ’08 autos drop back down into the single digit range.
