Thomas Szapucki Baseball Cards: A Promising Lefty’s Journey from Draft Pick to the Majors

Thomas Szapucki has long been considered one of the best pitching prospects in the New York Mets farm system. Selected with the 76th overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft out of Woodland Hills High School in California, Szapucki quickly rose through the ranks with elite stuff that produced eye-popping strikeout numbers but also brought along injury concerns that have slowed his progression. Now reaching the upper levels of the minors and nearing his MLB debut, let’s take a look at Szapucki’s journey so far through his baseball cards and evaluate his potential impact on the Mets pitching staff.

2015 Bowman Chrome Draft Thomas Szapucki Card (Base): Szapucki’s first card came out shortly after he was drafted, featuring a clean-cut photo of the teenager in a Mets uniform. Standing at a strapping 6’5, the card highlights his mid-90s fastball and sharp curveball that helped make him a top high school prospect. The bottom notes his selection in the third round and his commitment to UCLA prior to turning pro. As a base rookie card of a promising draft pick, it remains one of his more affordable cards for collectors.

2016 Bowman Chrome Thomas Szapucki Card (Refractor Parallel): Szapucki’s breakout season came in 2016 when he dominated Low-A ball at just 19 years old. Posting a minuscule 1.15 ERA with 91 strikeouts in 67 innings between the Kingsport Mets and Brooklyn Cyclones, his elite stuff was on full display. The allure was enough for card manufacturers to release prospect refractor parallels of Szapucki’s 2016 Bowman Chrome card, denoting his rising status. The refractors carry a premium to this day as one of his first true “hit” cards showing his budding potential.

2017 Bowman Chrome Thomas Szapucki Card: By 2017, Szapucki had leaped onto top Mets prospect lists and minor league top 100s after consecutive dominant seasons to start his career. The hype is palpable on his ’17 Bowman card, where a close-up shot accentuates his intimidating glare on the mound. The back waxes poetic about his mid-90s fastball and plus curveball/changeup combo that was missing bats all over the South Atlantic League as a 20-year-old that year. It proved one of his most widely distributed cards at the time.

2018 Stadium Club Thomas Szapucki Card: Arm issues began to creep up in 2018 when Szapucki made only 8 starts in the Florida State League due to bicep tendinitis. Despite the injuries, card makers still saw his upside, releasing him in the high-end Stadium Club set with a gorgeous sunset photo from Clover Park. The blue and orange parallel versions remain eye-catching cards in collectors’ hands today. While production of Szapucki slowed as availability concerns emerged, faith in his ability never completely wavered.

2019 GCL Mets Thomas Szapucki Card: After shoulder surgery cost Szapucki all of 2019, he finally returned in short-season ball that season. Though a step back statistically, seeing Szapucki healthy again in a GCL Mets uniform brought optimism he could rejoin the prospect conversation. The simple blue and red 2019 Topps card struck the right hopeful tone for a pitcher looking to rebuild value. Szapucki may have been an afterthought that year, but many held onto his cards awaiting a potential rebound.

2021 Chrome Prospects Refractor Thomas Szapucki Card (Parallel): A series of solid but injury-plagued seasons left Szapucki somewhat lost in the prospect shuffle entering 2021. But a lights-out campaign splitting time in Double and Triple-A brought him roaring back, as he struck out 83 in 67 innings between Binghamton and Syracuse. Chrome Prospects released a refractor of his base card to recognize his revival, and the parallel versions have since climbed considerably given his improved standing as a pitching prospect once more.

2022 Bowman Platinum Blue Refractor Thomas Szapucki Card (Parallel): Szapucki earned his first career MLB call-up in 2022 after yet another fantastic season in the minors. Joining the Mets as a September call-up showed how far he’d come since those early draft days. Bowman Platinum commemorated the ascent by releasing his prospect card in exclusive blue refractors, honoring the left-hander who had at long last reached The Show after years of rehab and reclamation. It became one of his most iconic “graded” cards.

2023 Topps Traded Thomas Szapucki Card: Though not an overpowering debut, Szapucki showed flashes of promise in 6 2022 MLB appearances out of the Mets bullpen. Entering 2023 with an inside track for a job in the big league rotation, Topps inserted him into their annual Traded set. The card highlights his journey and roadblocks overcome to arrive at this point. As Szapucki begins his first full MLB season, it symbolizes one of the final steps of cards tracking his rise from draft pick to established major leaguer.

In summary, Thomas Szapucki’s baseball card collection acts as a retrospective window into the highs and lows of his professional career to date. From touted draft pick to injured prospect to rebounding standout to September call-up, his cards tell the story of perseverance through adversity for a pitcher who always had the talent, but needed time to put it all together. As Szapucki embarks on likely his first full season in the Mets rotation in 2023, his early cards remain some of the more identifiable and affordable in following the upside of a potential future staff ace. Only continued success in New York can raise the values higher, cementing his place among the elite pitching prospects of his draft class.