David Shields
SP · Quad Cities River Bandits · Quad Cities River Bandits · High-A · 19.0y · #29 of 7,942 we rate
Next: Today 11:35 PM at Peoria Chiefs
- The player
- STRONG PROSPECT
- The market
- Untested
- What to do
- Wait for a better price
88 out of 100 — our all-round score from the season line, his tools against the level, and how young he is for it.
38 cards of his are listed and nothing comparable has verifiably sold, so we will not tell you whether the asks are fair.
Closest of his is 2026 Bowman Chrome David Shields 1st Bowman… at $36.98. Needs a $19 drop.
Our take
Strong prospect, untested market.
David Shields scores 88 out of 100 (#29 of the 7,942 we score), and the case rests on one thing: young for the level — +4.0y vs his level at High-A — younger than 100% of the players there.
His core Bowman card has been selling at $20–24 off 8 confirmed sales.
Cards of his are listed and none of them can be priced against a confirmed sale, so any judgment about value today would be a guess dressed as a number.
The thing most likely to be wrong here: pitcher — injury risk is materially higher and the resale market is smaller, which is why the strategy caps what share of a book pitchers can take.
The signal
Young for the level
+4.0y vs his level at High-A — younger than 100% of the players there.
Control: plus-plus
6.2% BB — walk rate, inverted — lower is better from the mound Better than 93% at his level.
The case is strengthening
Baseball momentum 69/100 — ahead of the thesis. Read from his baseball alone — never from what his cards did.
Moved up and held it
Low-A to High-A.
Command: plus
23.4% K-BB — strikeouts minus walks — the gap that survives a promotion Better than 92% at his level.
What the hobby pays up for
SP sells at a discount at equal production; only 19.0 — years of runway.
Why now
5 new copies listed this week
Fresh supply on this exact card. More choice, and more downward pressure.
What could go wrong
Pitcher
Injury risk is materially higher and the resale market is smaller, which is why the strategy caps what share of a book pitchers can take.
Thin comp evidence
2 confirmed sales in 90 days. Treat any value here as a single data point, not a price.
Benchmark not checklist-verified
His core card was identified from how raw base 1st bowman chrome auto sellers describe it, not from a checklist. The identity is likely, not established.
What the hobby pays for him
Benchmark card: 2026 Bowman Chrome 1st Auto CPA-DSH — raw, base, unnumbered.
Described by 5 independent sellers — observed, not checklist-verified.
$19.75–23.50midpoint $23.50
Confirmed· 8 salesmost recent 2026-08-24 · 7 listed now
- 7 days
- not enough sales
- 30 days
- not enough sales
- 90 days
- not enough sales
This is his benchmark, not the value of any particular card in front of you — a /250 is a different market.
The card that matters
A card-quality answer, not a price one. It does not change when a seller changes their mind.
2026 Bowman Chrome 1st Auto CPA-DSH
Raw base 1st Bowman Chrome Auto
The canonical prospect vehicle — every player who has one is compared on it. Identified from 5 independent sellers describing it — likely, not established.
A card is never the one to own because it is numbered. Scarcity is a modifier on a vehicle, not a vehicle — a /25 of a card nobody collects is a rarer version of nothing.
Best value right now
Where the money would go today, which is frequently a lesser card than the one above — or nowhere.
No good entry today
The closest to fair is 2026 Bowman Chrome David Shields 1st Bowman Auto CPA-DSH Royals Prospect at $36.98, 57% over the $19.75–26.01 that copies of it have confirmed sold in. Nothing of his is currently below its own sold band.
That card at or under $19.75 delivered would be at the bottom of what it has actually sold for.
What would make this a buy
- Needs a $19 drop
- Player not there yet
- 2026 Bowman Chrome David Shields 1st Bowman… at or under $18.80 delivered.
- On his best-priced card: seller risk.
What is for sale right now
38 cards of his are listed · 0 of the 38 we can judge clear the investment bar. These are the 6 worth looking at, best first; the other 32 are under "The whole live market".
2026 Bowman Chrome 1st Bowman David Shields on card auto
base · raw · condition not stated · takes offers · listed 4d
Seller risk · 2 other things in the way
Data stale — Last confirmed live 80h ago — beyond the 48h bar. Needs a re-sight before the analysis is current.
—
sold $19.75–26.01
WATCH · 13% under
2026 Bowman David Shields 1st Bowman On Card Auto #CPA-DSH Royals
base · raw · condition not stated · listed 3d
Not a core card · 4 other things in the way
Data stale — Last confirmed live 63h ago — beyond the 48h bar. Needs a re-sight before the analysis is current.
—
modeled $11.85–32.90
PASS
2026 Bowman 1st David Shields Chrome Gold Shimmer Refractor Auto /50 KC Royals
/50 · raw · condition not stated · takes offers · listed 91d
Evidence still thin · 2 other things in the way
—
modeled $28.44–78.96
WATCH
2026 1st Bowman Chrome Gold Wave Auto David Shields /50
/50 · raw · condition not stated · takes offers · listed 92d
Evidence still thin · 2 other things in the way
—
modeled $28.44–78.96
WATCH
2026 Bowman Chrome David Shields 1st True Gold Refractor Auto /50 Royals
/50 · raw · condition not stated · takes offers · listed 4d
Evidence still thin · 2 other things in the way
Data stale — Last confirmed live 63h ago — beyond the 48h bar. Needs a re-sight before the analysis is current.
—
sold $208
WATCH
2026 Bowman 1st David Shields Chrome Gold Shimmer Refractor Auto /50 KC Royals
/50 · raw · condition not stated · takes offers · listed 12d
Evidence still thin · 2 other things in the way
$350.00
modeled $28.44–78.96
WATCH
What the same money buys today
Nothing of his is worth buying right now. These live cards from other players are the ones we rate as a buy or a watch at the same budget — not a view on David Shields, just what the money can do today.
- Pedro Ramírezbase$35.94Watch14% under fair value
- Kenny FenelonPurple Refractor · /250$34.98Watch
- Brandon Comptonbase$35.88Watch28% under fair value
Compared within $18.49–$38.83, about what his own cheapest card costs. Ranked on the price-blind investment score among the 60 live listings we had scored — a read on what we scanned, not on the whole market.
Your research
Private to you. What you are waiting for, and why — so next time you open this page you do not have to remember.
Your target
The price you are waiting for, and why. Private to you.
Your notes
Sign in to keep your research — private notes on what you are watching and why.
The evidence
Everything the reading above is built on. Open whichever part you want to check.
The parallel ladder12 versions of his cards in raw autos, each priced off its own confirmed sales
Every version of his cards we can see, base to 1/1. Each rung is priced off its own confirmed sales — a rung nothing has verifiably sold at shows no value rather than borrowing a neighbour's.
Showing Raw autos.
NO CLEAR SWEET SPOT
No rung of his has a confirmed sale behind it, so there is no price to compare any step against.
- BaseTHIN EVIDENCE
Listed at $36.98, but nothing confirmed has sold on this rung.
- Sold
- —
- Live
- $36.98 live
- Scarcity
- unnumbered
- Trades
- no sales
- Premium
- —
- Red Refractor /499THIN EVIDENCE
Listed at $53.49, but nothing confirmed has sold on this rung.
- Sold
- —
- Live
- $53.49 live
- Scarcity
- 499 made
- Trades
- no sales
- Premium
- +45%
Premium from asking prices, not sales - Refractor /499THIN EVIDENCE
1 listing watched off the board here, none confirmed sold — no price to judge.
- Sold
- —
- Live
- nothing listed
- Scarcity
- 499 made
- Trades
- no sales
- Premium
- —
- /150THIN EVIDENCE
Listed at $331.57, but nothing confirmed has sold on this rung.
- Sold
- —
- Live
- $331.57 live
- Scarcity
- 100 made
- Trades
- no sales
- Premium
- —
Premium from asking prices, not sales - HTA Choice /150THIN EVIDENCE
Listed at $105.99, but nothing confirmed has sold on this rung.
- Sold
- —
- Live
- $105.99 live
- Scarcity
- 150 made
- Trades
- no sales
- Premium
- -68%
Premium from asking prices, not sales - /99THIN EVIDENCE
Listed at $405.99, but nothing confirmed has sold on this rung.
- Sold
- —
- Live
- $405.99 live
- Scarcity
- 89 made
- Trades
- no sales
- Premium
- +283%
Premium from asking prices, not sales - Green Lava Refractor /99THIN EVIDENCE
Listed at $80.57, but nothing confirmed has sold on this rung.
- Sold
- —
- Live
- $80.57 live
- Scarcity
- 99 made
- Trades
- no sales
- Premium
- -80%
Premium from asking prices, not sales - Green Shimmer Refractor /99THIN EVIDENCE
Listed at $129.91, but nothing confirmed has sold on this rung.
- Sold
- —
- Live
- $129.91 live
- Scarcity
- 99 made
- Trades
- no sales
- Premium
- +61%
Premium from asking prices, not sales - Yellow /99THIN EVIDENCE
Listed at $181.00, but nothing confirmed has sold on this rung.
- Sold
- —
- Live
- $181.00 live
- Scarcity
- 75 made
- Trades
- no sales
- Premium
- +39%
Premium from asking prices, not sales - Yellow Refractor /99THIN EVIDENCE
Listed at $208.59, but nothing confirmed has sold on this rung.
- Sold
- —
- Live
- $208.59 live
- Scarcity
- 75 made
- Trades
- no sales
- Premium
- +15%
Premium from asking prices, not sales - Gold Lava Refractor /50THIN EVIDENCE
1 listing watched off the board here, none confirmed sold — no price to judge.
- Sold
- —
- Live
- nothing listed
- Scarcity
- 50 made
- Trades
- no sales
- Premium
- —
- Gold Shimmer Refractor /50THIN EVIDENCE
Listed at $350.00, but nothing confirmed has sold on this rung.
- Sold
- —
- Live
- $350.00 live
- Scarcity
- 50 made
- Trades
- no sales
- Premium
- —
Premium from asking prices, not sales
What he is good atSkills 63 on the 20–80 scale, against 620 pitchers at High-A
What he is good at
skills overall 63 / 80
On the 20–80 scale every scouting report uses: 50 is average, and every 10 points is one standard deviation. Measured against 620 pitchers at High-A — measured against real players at the same level right now — not a scout's projection of what he becomes.
Stuff
Does he miss bats?
59
plus · better than 81% at his level
29.6% K
strikeout rate per batter faced — never per nine innings, which flatters a pitcher who allows more baserunners
Command
Bats missed AND strikes thrown?
64
plus · better than 92% at his level
23.4% K-BB
strikeouts minus walks — the gap that survives a promotion
Control
Does he give away bases?
65
plus-plus · better than 93% at his level
6.2% BB
walk rate, inverted — lower is better from the mound
Run prevention
Do the runs stay off the board?
62
plus · better than 89% at his level · the result, not a skill
1.09 WHIP
walks and hits per inning, inverted — the result, and the defence behind him is in it too
Workload
Is he carrying a starter's innings?
80
elite · better than 100% at his level · context, not a skill
112.2 IP
innings carried — a starter's bulk is worth what a reliever's is not
Age for the level
Is he doing it young?
80
elite · better than 100% at his level · context, not a skill
+4.0y vs his level
years younger than the median player at his level — positive is young for the level
The overall figure averages the 3 skill rows only. The box-score row and the age row are shown but deliberately left out of it — one is the result those skills produced, and the other is not a skill at all.
The argument
skills at the 89th percentile of the cohort, run prevention at the 89th — the gap between the two is ordinary for this level.
Nothing to arbitrage here: he is producing about what his skills say he should. Judge the card on price and the player on the grades.
How this is read: his skills average 89 and his run prevention sits at 89, a gap of 0. That gap on its own means little — an average of several percentiles always sits nearer the middle than a single one — so it is ranked against the same figure computed the same way for the 620 players at his level we hold a full profile for, where it lands at the 51th percentile.
Will he get there?
Real chance 5.9 / 10
- young for High-A
- pitcher — more of them break down before they arrive
This is an ordering score, not a percentage. We hold no outcome data and have run no backtest, so “a 93% chance of reaching the majors” would be a number we made up and you then spent money on. Built on 86% of what it wants to know — missing production.
How he is playingThe High-A line, and how it compares with last season
Hover any stat to see what it means. How each compares with the 620 other pitchers at his level is graded in "What he is good at".
BF
452
IP
112.2
ERA
3.91
WHIP
1.09
K-BB%
23.4
better than 92%
K%
29.6
BB%
6.2
HR9
0.72
GS
24
Is this player getting better?
About the same as last season — 23.1% to 23.4% K-BB.
Moved up from Low-A to High-A — the pitching is harder this year.
K-BB%
23.1%→23.4%
Strikeouts
28.3%▲29.6%
Walks
5.2%▲6.2%
WHIP
1.02▲1.09
ERA
2.01▲3.91
Last season, 286 batters faced. Two seasons that already happened. Nothing here is a prediction.
What his cards have sold for2 logged sales
Real completed sales only — nothing here is an estimate. These come from the scan: it asks eBay about listings it has already seen, and one that ends at a fixed price is recorded as a sale. That builds up over days. You can add one by hand below if you happen to know it, but you are not meant to be the price database.
Point at a dot to see that sale.
The whole live market38 listed · 0 eBay-verified · 32 not shown above
- Listings
- 38
- Lowest seen
- $36.98
- Median ask
- $155.45
- Cheapest 1st auto
- $36.98
- Cheapest numbered 1st auto
- $53.49
0 eBay-verified
The other 32 cards
- $129.912026 Bowman Chrome David Shields 1st Auto GREEN SHIMMER REFRACTOR /99 Royals NMPASS
- $181.002026 Bowman Chrome David Shields Yellow Xfractor 1st Auto /75 #CPA-DSHPASS
- —Topps 2026 Bowman Chrome 1st Bowman David Shields Auto Royals CPA-DSH /75PASS
- $405.992026 Bowman Chrome David Shields 1st Bowman Packfractor #81/89 (RC) Rookie AutoPASS
- —2026 Bowman Chrome David Shields 1st Bowman Packfractor #46/89 (RC) Rookie AutoPASS
- —2026 Bowman #CPA-DSH Chrome Auto Green Refractor /99 1st Prospect David ShieldsPASS
- —David Shields 2026 Bowman Chrome 1st True Blue Auto /150 Royals Color MatchPASS
- —2026 Bowman Chrome David Shields 1st Bowman Blue X-Fractor Auto #CPA-DSH /150PASS
- —David Shields 2026 Bowman Chrome Blue X-Fractor Auto /150 1st Bowman RoyalsPASS
- —David Shields 2026 Bowman Chrome Blue X-Fractor Auto SP /150 1st Bowman OBOPASS
- $53.492026 BOWMAN CHROME DAVID SHIELDS 1ST PROSPECT REFRACTOR AUTO REDEMPTION /499PASS
- —2026 Bowman Chrome David Shields 1st Bowman Refractor Auto /499PASS
- —2026 Topps Bowman Chrome David Shields Auto Variation Refractor /499 1stPASS
- —2026 Topps Bowman Chrome David Shields Auto Variation Refractor /499 1stPASS
- —Bowman Chrome 2026 1st David Shields Purple Auto /250 Royals #CPA-DSHPASS
- $80.572026 Bowman Chrome Prospect Green Lava Refractor 93/99 David Shields Auto 1e8ePASS
- $105.992026 BOWMAN DAVID SHIELDS #CPA-DSH HTA CHOICE 1ST PROSPECT AUTO #96/150PASS
- $208.592026 Bowman Chrome Prospect Yellow Refractor 15/75 David Shields Auto 1u6jPASS
- —David Shields 2026 1st Bowman Orange Shimmer Refractor Auto /25 BOOKEND #CPA-DSHPASS
- —2026 Bowman 1st Bowman DAVID SHIELDS On Card Auto RC #CPA-DSH /499 RoyalsPASS
- —2026 Baseball Topps Bowman Chrome David Shields Auto Variation Refractor /499PASS
- $36.982026 Bowman Chrome David Shields 1st Bowman Auto CPA-DSH Royals ProspectPASS
- $331.57David Shields 2026 Bowman 1st Auto /100 537114PASS
- —2026 Bowman Chrome David Shields 1st Bowman Auto CPA-DSH Royals ProspectPASS
- —David Shields 2026 Bowman Chrome 1st Prospect Auto Kansas City RoyalsPASS
- —David Shields 2026 Bowman Chrome 1st Prospect Auto Kansas City RoyalsPASS
- —2025 Bowman Chrome David Shields 1st Bowman Chrome Auto #CPA-DSH RoyalsPASS
- —David Shields 2026 Bowman Chrome 1st Prospect Auto #CPA-DSH Kansas City RoyalsPASS
- —2026 Bowman - David Shields - 1st Bowman Auto - Mini Diamond /100 - RoyalsPASS
- —David Shields 2026 1st Bowman Chrome Auto AutographPASS
- —Topps 2026 Bowman Chrome 1st Bowman David Shields Auto 17/35 #CPA-DSHPASS
- —2026 Bowman David Shields True Blue /150 1st Bowman AutoPASS
Worth reading for this player
- What a modeled fair value means — at least one value on this page was modeled rather than taken from a sale
- Parallel scarcity calculator — numbered parallels of his cards are in play, and print run drives the premium
- Best Offer calculator — at least one of his live listings accepts offers
- Certified vs aftermarket autographs — signed cards of his are listed, and the two kinds are not worth the same
- Parallels and print runs — his market includes numbered parallels, which are priced off the print run