The 2022 Chicago Cubs baseball season saw plenty of changes and new faces for the franchise as they continued their rebuilding efforts after several playoff appearances in the early and mid 2010s. This new era is reflected in the 2022 Cubs baseball card releases from the major card companies like Topps, Bowman, Panini and more. With mainstays like Willson Contreras and Ian Happ joined by exciting young talents like Christopher Morel and Sebastian Amaya, Cubs cards this year told the story of a team transitioning into the next chapter.
Topps continued to be the MLB’s official card provider and their 2022 baseball card series featured Cubs standouts new and old. Their flagship Topps Series 1 set highlighted Contreras on the cover and included rookie cards for Brennen Davis, Sean Newcomb, and Danis Correa. Topps Series 2 in May had rookie cards of Brandon Hughes and Owen Caissie among its Cubs offerings. In August, Topps Update brought rookie cards of Morel, Amaya, Nelson Velazquez, and Caleb Kilian to capture the emergence of the Cubs’ new young core. Topps also released special sets like Topps Heritage High Numbers focusing on retired players, and Topps Finest recapturing the shiny refractors collectors loved in the ’90s and 2000s.
Bowman is baseball’s premier prospecting brand, and their 2022 releases continued profiling Cubs potential stars of tomorrow. Bowman Draft had paper rookies of the Cubs’ 2021 draftees including Jordan Wicks and Jake Bennett. In Bowman Chrome, the prized refractors included rookies for Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kevin Alcantara, and Javier Assad. Bowman Platinum held ultra-short print autos and patches for the organization’s top prospects. Bowman Transcendent expanded on that with serial-numbered 1/1 printing plates recognizing the absolute cream of the Cubs farm system crop.
While not an official MLB partner, Panini continued cranking out innovative Cubs card products as well. Donruss Baseball featured rookie inserts of Morel and others. Contenders focused on parallels and hits for established names like Contreras and Happ. Mosaic Deluxe brought tremendous visual designs including a die-cut Contreras. Prizm included rookie refractors of the likes of Amaya. And Donruss Optic inserted rookies captured through their cutting edge printing techniques.
Upper Deck also joined the Cubs card party with releases like Goodwin Champions and Ultimate Collection. And independent brands like Leaf produced special parallel sets concentrating specifically on Cubs stars. Regional mint Topps Living also allowed fans to customize Cubs cards celebrating Wrigleyville and the North Side.
As the Cubs worked to develop their farm system depth, prospects rose to the majors to get their first cardboard while mainstays stayed featured. Contreras led the way with one of the top MLB seasons at the plate in 2022 and kept appearing on cards through the end of the season and into awards-themed cards. Happ provided consistent production and earned special Cubs parallels. Morel’s torrid summer launch of magical home runs made him an instant Cubs fan favorite on cards.
All the while, the rookies just arriving in professional ball like Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kevin Alcantara generated excitement as the future core on cards from sets like Bowman. Cubs collectors in 2022 thus had no shortage of new cardboard to chase, with the season crystallized across releases chronicling this transition year. As long as Wrigley Field stands, the Cubs will remain one of baseball’s most storied franchises andcard companies ensured their players stayed among the collecting community’s most coveted commodities on the secondary market. Whether holding Contreras heroes or stockpiling prospects, Cubs cards in 2022 brought the rebuilding joy of baseball to shelf after shelf.
