2 The Bigs

By Matt Castagna, January 22nd, 2025

As the price of sealed wax continues to rise, I’m here to help direct you to the “singles” market (of cards, that is). This approach is becoming the most efficient way for the new and even seasoned collector to diversify their prospect collection without spending hundreds (or thousands) on the gamble of boxes. Instead of doing the latter, I’m going to give you players that can actually make you some money, with one tenth the investment of a hobby box. With that said, I’m here to highlight those players who I’d consider to be “Bowman Bargains” during the 2025 off-season (see Colby Thomas from last year 😎).

Bowman Bargain #1: Cole Carrigg (COL) [2TB Score: 71 (62nd Overall)]

This prospect caught my eye due to my good friend having a son with the similar name (shoutout Ryan and Cole Craig!) Even though the name initially drew me in,the stats and performance of Carrigg is what kept me here. Across 36 games in 2023, Cole jumped-off to a hot start hitting .350 with an OPS of 1.008. He had solid mix of power (5 HR) and speed (5 3B 13 SB). In 2024, he followed-up with a sucessful year in High-A, where he hit for an AVG of .283 with an OPS of .850. Now, this is where the value comes in to play. He added the power to an already high-contact bat (17 HR 65 RBI) while continuing to show-off speed & agility (14 3B 53 SB).

Not only are his hitting stats impressive, but he also is a switch hitter with a very athletic defensive background. He has spent time at SS and CF, and even behind-the-plate. Those three positions alone are the key for any prospect to ascend to the top of their respective organization. This is why Cole is definitely a player I’m interested in, especially when adding in that his future will be at the hitter friendly park Coors field.

Cole’s 1st Bowman can be found in the 2023 Bowman Draft Set (we called Cole out as a sleeper prospect from that set last year). Below are some of our favorite autograph parallels.