The 2023 baseball card season is shaping up to be another exciting year in the hobby. With rookies like Julio Rodriguez and Bobby Witt Jr. making big impacts on their teams as first-year players in 2022, collectors are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the next wave of top prospects in the upcoming crop of rookie cards.
Some of the most highly anticipated rookies set to appear in 2023 include Cardinals catcher/outfielder Delvin Perez, Mariners pitcher Emerson Hancock, and Cubs shortstop Ed Howard. All three were top-20 overall picks in the 2020 draft and are considered among the best prospects in the minors. Their rookie cards will likely be hot commodities.
Another name generating lots of buzz is Mets shortstop Francisco Alvarez. Though he made his MLB debut late in 2022, Alvarez is still technically a rookie by card standards in 2023 since he had fewer than 130 at-bats last season. The powerful Venezuelan slugger is regarded as one of the top prospects in baseball, and collectors are sure to hunt down any certified Alvarez rookies available next year.
For veteran players, the big storylines to follow card-wise include Shohei Ohtani’s continued quest for AL MVP honors, Aaron Judge’s free agency decision after smashing the AL home run record, and superstars like Mike Trout, Juan Soto, and Ronald Acuña Jr. returning from injury. Their cards figure to remain highly sought after by collectors.
Rookie card parallels and short prints will once again be a major focus for set builders and investors. Topps Chrome, Bowman Chrome, and Bowman Draft are typically the releases that contain the flashiest rookie parallels in limited quantities. Refractors, negatives, autos, and 1/1 prints of top prospects can fetch huge prices in the secondary market.
The flagship Topps Series 1 and 2 releases will continue to anchor the 2023 season as the most widely produced sets. The premium licensed products from Topps, Panini, and others have been gaining popularity in recent years among collectors pursuing higher-end cards. Products like Topps Chrome, Bowman Chrome, Topps Tribute, and Allen & Ginter tend to have nicer photography and card designs that appeal to today’s hobbyists.
Speaking of licensed sets, the baseball card companies are always looking to expand their non-sport product lines that cross over into entertainment. Past years have seen special Star Wars, Marvel, and Disney inserts appear in various releases. For 2023, Topps and Panini may continue experimenting with pop culture tie-ins to help attract younger collectors.
Autograph cards remain a major driver of the high-end market. Top rookie autos from draft classes past have shattered records, and the same allure applies to the 2023 crop. Topps, Bowman, and Panini go to great lengths to stock their releases with on-card and relic signatures of all the marquee names. Box breakers and case breakers on YouTube fuel even more excitement around chasing autographs.
In terms of value, investment potential is highest for the top prospects expected to make an immediate MLB impact as rookies, such as Druw Jones, Termarr Johnson, and Jackson Holliday from the 2022 draft class. Savvy collectors know that cards for breakout players further down teams’ prospect lists can provide better longshot upside with a successful major league career. It’s an inexact science predicting future performance.
Logistically, the 2023 card season will see some changes in distribution and release schedules compared to years past. Ongoing supply chain issues and printer backlogs may push back some flagship products into later months than usual. Retailers are also allocating products differently with limits per customer. Meanwhile, the rise of direct-to-consumer sales through team/player websites and breaks on social media have presented new avenues.
The 2023 baseball card year figures to be highly anticipated. With another exciting MLB campaign on deck featuring the continued development of young stars, a new crop of the game’s next great talents arriving on the scene, and all the flashy parallels, autographs and memorabilia cards to collect, there will be no shortage of choice products to pursue for dedicated hobbyists both casual and intense. The season cannot start soon enough.
