Topps baseball cards are among the most popular and well-known trading cards in the world. Every year, Topps produces multiple series of baseball cards for the upcoming Major League Baseball season. One of the most anticipated card releases each year is Topps Series 2, which comes out midway through the season and features updated player photos and statistics from the first half of games. Here’s an in-depth look at Topps baseball cards Series 2 from 2022:
The 2022 Topps Series 2 baseball cards were released on June 1st and featured a total of 350 base cards in the standard release. One of the biggest storylines of the year entering the midway point was Shohei Ohtani’s pursuit of another MVP award with his twin talents as both a pitcher and hitter for the Los Angeles Angels. Appropriately, Ohtani’s card was featured as the very first base card in the Series 2 set. His striking photography showed him batting right-handed with an intense focus.
Coming off a historic 2021 season where he became the first player since Babe Ruth to earn All-Star honors as both a pitcher and position player, Ohtani was off to another incredible start in 2022. Through the first couple months, he was batting .248 with 13 home runs and 33 RBI while also posting a 8-4 record on the mound with a 2.80 ERA and 91 strikeouts in just 67.1 innings pitched. Clearly the face of MLB, Ohtani’s card served as an appropriate preview of all the exciting storylines to be found inside the rest of the Series 2 release.
Another major storyline early in the 2022 season was the surging start by the New York Mets, who entered play at the Series 2 release holding the best record in the National League. The front-runner for NL Rookie of the Year, catcher Francisco Álvarez, got a major spotlight with the third base card in the set. Álvarez had yet to make his MLB debut but was considered one of the top prospects in all of baseball and many expected him to get called up by the Mets at some point during the season. His card showcased him wearing his catching gear with an intense game face ready to battle.
While rookies and young prospects were among the most anticipated new inclusions, Topps also made sure to feature many of the game’s biggest stars who were off to hot starts. For example, Dodger shortstop Trea Turner got the 16th base card after hitting .304 with 11 HR and 22 RBI in his first season in Los Angeles. Over in the American League, Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. received the 26th card while batting an MLB-best .344 with 16 dingers and 40 RBI to that point of the season.
Each Topps Series 2 set also features numerous parallels and insert cards to provide collectors with chase cards and short printed variations. Some of the highlights in 2022 included Green Foil parallel cards available at a ratio of 1:90 packs, Sepia Foil parallels at 1:180 packs, and Gold Foil parallel cards as the extremely rare 1:720 packs. Popular insert sets included Topps Now Moments cards highlighting timely performances from games in the weeks leading up to Series 2’s release. Cool Cuts signture cards and Traveling Team jersey parallel cards injected additional levels of rarity.
Rookies and prospects remained a major selling point beyond the base cards as well. Cards of Bobby Witt Jr. (Royals), Spencer Torkelson (Tigers), Adley Rutschman (Orioles), and Julio Rodriguez (Mariners) were in high demand as those talents had all reached the big leagues by midsummer 2022 and were off to impressive MLB debuts. Autographs and memorabilia cards of these young stars in particular added tremendous value for collectors.
The checklist for Topps Series 2 2022 incorporated updated stats and photos capturing how players and teams had been performing up to that point of the season. While Shohei Ohtani and other MVP candidates like Judge, Guerrero Jr. and Manny Machado received star treatment on the base cards, the set also highlighted many breakout players and teams who were surprises. Cards of players like Milwaukee Brewers closer Josh Hader, Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena, Miami Marlins outfielder Bryan De La Cruz and Seattle Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez recognized their early success.
Overall the 2022 Topps Series 2 release was another highly successful midseason refresh point for the premier MLB card brand. Featuring a nice mixture of stars, rookies and breakout players against a backdrop of compelling pennant races and individual performances, the set excited collectors and served as a snapshot of where the season stood at its halfway mark. While Topps Series 1 remains the most widely collected out of each year’s initial wave of cards, Series 2 provides updated content to keep fan engagement high throughout the summer months. It remains one of the most popular modern baseball card releases annually.
