The 2022 Bowman Draft edition is one of the most anticipated baseball card releases of the year. As the name implies, Bowman Draft focuses exclusively on prospects selected in Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft. With no established major leaguers featured, the rookie cards in this set carry the potential for big returns if players blossom into stars.
As with all Bowman products, astute collectors and investors will want to target cards of the highest Draft picks who sign large bonuses. Those players have the strongest organizational support to advance quickly. The 2022 Draft class was headlined by shortstops Druw Jones (Astros) and Jackson Holliday (Orioles), who each signed bonuses over $8 million. Their cards, along with fellow top-10 picks Elijah Green (Royals) and Brooks Lee (Twins), could emerge as the premium rookie chase cards from this set in future years.
Bowman Draft also tends to include retrospective cards that highlight accomplished former Draft selections. In 2022, veterans like Ronald Acuña Jr., Juan Soto and Wander Franco received these “Draft Dynasty” parallel inserts with their original Draft teams. While not technically rookies, these parallel cards still hold value given the stars’ popularity and production at the MLB level.
In addition to base rookie cards, Bowman Draft introduces several parallel and short-print variations that excite collectors. Among the key parallel subsets this year were Octagon, Green Foil, Black /50, Purple /25 and Gold /5. The Octagon parallels feature an eight-sided photo frame and carry less premium than the ultra-rare numbered parallels. Black Ink autographs and Memorabilia cards injected valuable game-used relic cards from top prospects into the product as well.
For breaking and sorting the abundant boxes and packs of this 900-plus card set, Bowman Draft is best approached as a group breaking event. Online breakers like Layton Sports Cards sold numerous cases of the product, with individual spots costing between $50-100 depending on the exact case break format. This allows collectors of all budgets a cost-effective way to potentially land big rookie hits without buying an entire sealed case.
With its exclusive focus on amateur prospects and dazzling prospect photography, Bowman Draft annually receives widespread attention and praise. Even factors outside of any player’s control – like which photo appears on a rookie card – can influence nostalgia-driven collectors decades later. As Draft picks develop and emerge in the majors, savvy collectors who recognized their potential early through Bowman Draft rookies stand to gain substantial returns if cards appreciate over the long haul.
For the 2022 class specifically, scouts raved about the elite bat-to-ball skills of high school shortstop Druw Jones, son of 10-time Gold Glover Andruw Jones. His card values already jumped after batting .340 during his professional debut season. University of Tennessee third baseman Trey Lipscomb also garnered acclaim in the Draft, and his cards increased in demand following a strong pro debut. On the pitching side, right-handers and top-5 picks Brock Porter (Rangers) and Gabriel Hughes (Blue Jays) possess high ceilings that make their cards worth monitoring.
As a whole, the 2022 Draft yielded many toolsy athletes with boom-or-bust profiles who could rise fast – or flame out altogether. Only time will tell which players emerge from this class as household names. But for discerning collectors, special attention to the superstar potentials of Jones, Holliday, Green, Lee and other early Draft picks in the 2022 Bowman Draft release offers the best shot at landing the set’s seminal rookie cards of the future. Finding those rookie gems before they command astronomical aftermarket values is a key part of the challenge, skill and allure of Bowman Draft each year.
