Chad Kuhl is a major league pitcher who has played his entire career thus far for the Pittsburgh Pirates. While Kuhl has yet to achieve superstar status, he has shown flashes of potential and his baseball cards remain an interesting collectible for Pirates fans and baseball card investors. Let’s take a deeper look at Chad Kuhl’s career and the existing baseball card market around him.
Kuhl was drafted by the Pirates in the 8th round of the 2013 MLB June Amateur Draft out of Delaware. He progressed quickly through the Pirates farm system, making his major league debut in 2016 at the age of 24. In Kuhl’s rookie season of 2016 he pitched to a respectable 4.20 ERA over 24 starts and 117 innings. This solid debut gained the attention of baseball card collectors, as it launched Kuhl onto the radar of investors scouting for the next young player to break out.
Kuhl’s rookie card comes from 2016 Topps Baseball. Like most modern rookie cards in the age of mass printing, Kuhl’s card does not carry a high value in pristine gem mint condition. For investors who identified Kuhl’s potential early, buying and holding his rookie card offered upside if he developed into a quality MLB starter. In the years since, Kuhl has shown himself capable of being a rotation piece when healthy, giving value to those who purchased and stored his rookie card in hopes of appreciation.
After a promising rookie showing, Kuhl regressed a bit in 2017, posting a 5.21 ERA over 149 1/3 innings. This downturn likely caused many investors to abandon Kuhl cards, but it also meant his 2017 offerings like Topps Update became attainable for medium-term speculators. Kuhl rebounded nicely in 2018 with a 3.27 ERA over 113 2/3 innings in what was arguably his best MLB season to date. This solid campaign led to increased interest in Kuhl cards from that 2017 period, as collectors saw an opportunity to buy during his low point.
Injuries have unfortunately interrupted Kuhl’s progression the last two seasons. He made only 8 starts in 2019 before undergoing Tommy John surgery, and struggled in 2020 upon returning with a 6.38 ERA over 24 1/3 innings. Naturally, interest and values in recent Kuhl cards from 2019-2020 have remained depressed with collectors and investors wary of buying an injured player. Savvy speculators may identify an opportunity in these cards if Kuhl can regain his 2018 form in 2021 and beyond.
Looking forward, 2021 will be an important season for Chad Kuhl and the potential remaining value of his baseball cards. Now 29 years old, he is running out of time to fully realize his abilities as a mid-rotation starter. If he can stay healthy and pitch effectively, it would bolster the appeal of his entire back catalog of cards from rookie season through recent issues. Another injury or inability to significantly lower his ERA would confirm that Kuhl may only profile as a fourth or fifth starter long-term. In that scenario, upside on his baseball cards would remain limited.
For aggressive investors, Kuhl’s recently released 2021 Topps Series 1 and Opening Day cards offer a chance at a bounceback candidate at minimal cost. His older cards from strong seasons like 2018 also carry longshot appeal. More conservative collectors may prefer to wait and see if Kuhl can sustain success over a full 2021 before adding any recent cardboard. In either case, Chad Kuhl’s story and the financial potential of his growing baseball card portfolio remains one worth monitoring as his MLB career progresses. How he performs this summer will likely be pivotal in determining long-term collector interest and the speculative ROI available in his diverse array of trading cards.
Chad Kuhl offers an intriguing real-time investment case study for baseball card buyers due to his youth, draft pedigree, and glimpses of quality MLB pitching. Injuries have stalled his progress at times, but a full healthy season could unlock renewed value across his growing card line. For risk-tolerant speculators, his affordable recent issues present a low-cost opportunity. More security-minded collectors may prefer to wait for 2021 performance before adding more Kuhl cardboard to their collections. Either way, Kuhl’s 2021 campaign will provide valuable insight into the future potential upside or downside remaining in his baseball cards.
