11 Best MLB Rookie Cards To Own Since 2020! - Ep. 3.22

Can you think of who might be the top 11 rookie cards to get since 2020? Well, there's one player from 2020, I'll tell you that. Zero from 2021, three from 2022, two from 2023, three from 2024, and two again from 2025. None from 2026 so far. Can you name the top 11 rookie cards to get right now? Going back to 2020? Happy Hobby, I'm David Godz. Build a better sports car collection with a limited budget. You can do this. That's what we do here. That's what we talk about in the Happy Hobby sports card world. We're looking to improve our sports card collections without spending too much money. That's what we're trying to do here. So today we're talking about the top 11 baseball rookie cards since 2020. Do you have them? You know, you're going to want to hear this list because you might have some, but you might just have maybe the base card. It might be time to pick up a cheap parallel of some of these guys while everyone else is chasing 2026, top series one rookies and top series two rookies. When it comes, you want to, you want to spend your money wisely, maybe get some guys that are already established on the upswing, so to speak, huh? Baseball swing. See what they did there? Well, that's what we're going to do. We're going to talk about these guys. Now you don't have to be a superstar, veteran, collector, or any. You don't have to be brand new to enjoy what we're going to talk about today because it's all about improving your collection on a limited budget. So we're going to count these down. The 11 best MLB rookie cards to own since 2020. Now, we're also going to mention the 10 above it. Those just missing the top 11. Now, we've done this already with hockey, done the 11 best hockey cards to own since 2020. And we've done the 11 best WNBA rookie cards to own since 2020. That's what kind of kicked off this whole series because WNBA, Prism, WNBA started in 2020. So that was kind of like it just made sense to start from there. And then it was so popular. We said, you know, let's do this all across the board. Let's hit the 2000s. Let's get all the sports involved. So we're doing that for each sport. We'll be having a top 11 rookie cards to get for basketball since 2020. Imagine there's a handful you can think of already and the football as well. Most of those probably going to be quarterbacks. Spoiler alert. Let's get into baseball though. These are the first 10 that just missed being inside the top 11 of our list today. So number 21, Cam Schlitler, starting pitcher for the New York Yankees. He's 25 years old. His, his rookie card came out just this year, 2026 Series 1. Along with number 20, Jacob Mizorowski, the starting pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers. Now these two are interesting, really interesting because they're both among the Cy Young contenders for their respective leagues. So that is certainly would boost their rookie card value, rookie card status, so to speak. I have them ranked 21st and 20th overall. Why so low, Dave? They're Cy Young contenders. Well, they are pitchers. So first that's the first thing. Secondly, they're 25 and 24 years old. Miz is 24 years old. So it's a little, a little up there already in age. Not as many counting stats as maybe a pitch that comes in as 22 years old. Right. A little bit of difference there. Number 19, Cal Raleigh, the big dumper. His 2022 tops rookie card. He's 29 years old. He had an amazing season last year. One of the greatest all time seasons for a catcher offensively certainly one of the greatest all time without, without a doubt. However, 2026 has been a little bit of a reality check. He's 29 years old so because of all that brought him back a little back to the pack. He was probably top 11 before the season started. Now we have him at 19 just behind Michael Harris, the second outfielder for Atlanta Braves, you might say. What? Michael MH2. How is he? What? Go check his stats out. He's had a really nice career already. And guess what, my man's 25 years old, 2023 tops rookie card and he's, he's electric in the outfield so I have him 18th. He's a top 20 overall rookie card to grab. Number 17, Jackson Merrill, outfielder, former shortstop for the San Diego Padres. Now he's just 23 years old. He's someone who I'm, I'd be happy to hear a case to move him up some because I do like the guy but again, not having as great a time post rookie season as as he did that first year. His rookie card came out 2024 tops update. By the way, you're going to see a lot of 2024 tops update in this list, so just be aware of that. Speaking of that number 16, Pete Crow, Armstrong came out in series two. 2024 outfield for Chicago Cubs. 24 years old. Now Merrill is still 23 years old. Lot of time left for him. Same with PCA. 24 years old. He's not too old, but again, like Cal Rally took a step back this year as opposed to his breakout season last year. Number 15, Wyatt Langford, outfielder for the Texas Rangers. 24 years old. This guy is such a hitting machine. I feel like we're going to start seeing him develop and turn into the MVP for the Rangers pretty soon. Number 14, Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Green. This guy seems like he's been around for seven, eight years. He's been playing. He's only 25 years old. He's had a couple all stars. He's a couple all stars. He's had even some MVP consideration in his past. I do like Riley Green. Number 13, Jackson Chorio, outfielder from Milwaukee Brewers. Another 20, 24 tops. Rookie to keep an eye on. That's 1, 2, 3, 4. We just mentioned four from 2024 in this list. We got more to come in the top 11. FYI, number 12, Tarek Scubal, starting pitcher for the Detroit tigers. Now he's 29 years old. He's the only card on this 21 player list. Only rookie card from 2021. That's Tarek Skubel. Now he's already got some Cy Young love, got a couple in his pocket. He's working on a third and then got injured. So we'll see what happens when he comes back from injury. But that certainly does knock him down outside of my top 11 minimum. But hopefully good future ahead for him because he's really the only guy carrying that 20, 21 set. All right, well, who cares about all that? What about the top 11? That's what we want to talk about. Let's get into this top 11. Now I'm going to talk about these players, the teams that I list. They're on currently. They may not be the player or the team that they came up with. They serve. Some of them definitely are. Number 11, 20, 25 tops. Update Nick Kurtz, first baseman for the Athletics, slugger. Now, he took the AL by storm last year hitting.290 with 36 bombs, 86 RBIs and a 1.002 OPS in just 117 games. The ace scouting director compared him to Matt Olson even before the draft, and scouts envision him as kind of a Jim Tomi type season if he reaches peak. Remember, Jim told me that guy was like a Big, barrel chested dude. He was, man, that guy was he crushed. Kurtz is going to be similar. At only 23 years old, he's coming off unanimous AL Rookie of the Year award. And a parallel of Kurtz's rookie card is a legitimate highlight for any collection on the rise right now. Number 10 also 2025 tops James Wood. Series one, though that happened like 17 years ago when 2025 top series one came out. Well, we've got James Wood right here. At just 22 last year, Wood set a new Nationals Expos franchise record for a rookie with 31 home runs, 94 RBIs and 15 steals across 157 games. And that earned him his first All Star Stud selection. He could go down as the best player that the Nationals got in the Juan Soto trade with San Diego. And he has this massive 6 foot 7 frame that he's still filling out. Folks, I got news for you. He's just 23 years old. Remember back when you were 23 years old? You're still getting bigger. The power ceiling on his rookie card is enormous. Number nine, Jordan Alvarez, DH for Astros. Now he's 28 years old. I'm not trying to say Alvarez is some spring chicken. He's the oldest player on this list, the oldest rookie card. He's the only one, only rookie card on this top 11 from before 2022. It's his 2020 tops. Number 276. If you are one of our happy hobbyist chrome members, you might remember this rookie card or a variation of this rookie card in Patrick Imhoff's WABA article, what I Bought and why W I B a W wabaw. Imhoff was big on Alvarez as a current pickup. Now for a future investment. Since his debut, Alvarez has posted the second highest WRC plus at 164. That's of any hitter in baseball, trailing only Aaron Judge. Here comes the Judge. Yeah, let him go. But Alvarez, right behind him. He's a career.297 hitter. Alvarez with 185 home runs, 532 RBIs and a.578 slugging percentage. This 2020 tops rookie card was printed in the early days of what's looking more and more like a Hall of Fame career for Alvarez and only gets more valuable with time. So look for a parallel of that or like Imhoff, a variation. Number eight, my guy, Junior Cominero, third baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays. He's just 22 years old. He's one of the youngest guys on this list. No one could have predicted Caminero's going to hit 45 home runs in 2025 during his first full MLB season. Now before that, Baseball America rated his power at 80. That's his raw power, making him the only player in the minors at that time to receive the top level power grade at just 22 years old with that kind of pop already on display, this rookie card's getting hotter and hotter by the month and the Rays have been playing really well. They're one, they're they have the best record the AL as of June 1st and one of the best records in MLB. It's probably going to be coming down. Don't get me wrong. I'm not let's not get crazy. I don't think they're the best team at baseball. Probably going to come down a little bit. But the good news is is Common Arrow hasn't been awesome yet. He's been good. He's been good. He has not been 45 home run in a season awesome though. So he still has the ability to make some adjustments and to produce over the second half Hey, I thought I'd jump in here real quick. I wanted to remind you. Make sure you go download your free Happy Hobby Collection checklist, which you can find@ghanastock substack.com it's the happy hobby Sports Card Collection Checklist. What is that you say? Well, this is the ultimate tool for sports car collectors and you get it free when you subscribe to the Happy Hobby Sports Card newsletter. By the way, it's a free newsletter you can subscribe for free. Are you ready to take control of your collection? Elevate it to that next level? 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All right, let's go. C.J. abrams, number seven. His 2022 top tops update card. Now Abrams slashed.257, 315, 433 with 19 homers and 31 stolen bases in 2025 and that's his second consecutive near 2030 season and he remains under team control through 2028. The Nationals are a budding powerhouse alongside James Wood and Washington's young core. He represents one of the most exciting power speed combinations in the National League. He's exactly the type of player who's whose rookie card collectors love to hold on to for the long haul. Number six another short stuff. I'm sorry, another young player from 2023 Corbin Carroll, outfielder for the Diamondbacks. 25 years old now, Carroll had a breakout 2025 hitting.259 with 31 owners, 17 triples, which by the way, he's already close to that already. Two months into the season, 32 stolen bases. He became just the 10th player in MLB player in MLB history to reach 30 doubles, 15 triples and 30 home runs in a single season. He's just the third player to do that since 1947, joining Jimmy Rollins and Stan Musial. Pretty good. With Carroll's barrel rate doubling to 4 14.5% and his hard hit rate jumping 9 points, the power surge appears to be here to stay. We like that this card belongs to the conversation with any young superstar in the hobby right now. Speaking of superstars in the hobby right now, Number five Ellie Day, A La Cruz, shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds. Just 24 years old and 2024 is when his rookie card came out. De La Cruz hit.264 with 22 homers, 86 RBI and 37 steals in 162 games last year. Now he's still just 24 years old. He has potential for a 3050 season someday. It's very very true. Very much alive that that could happen. And collectors who believe in that upside have every reason to hold on to his card. He's a blast to watch play, which helps his cardboard upside to two. Number four cardboard upside Gunner Henderson, shortstop for the Orioles, also 24 years old now. His rookie card came out a year before La De La Cruz's in 2023. Henderson's MVP caliber 2024 saw him bat.281.364.529 as a slash line, 37 home runs, 118 RBIs or run scored I should say, and 92 RBI. He finished fourth in AL MVP voting that year. Now that was just his sophomore year while 2025 happened to be a step back. That junior year was a little rough. He still posted a 121 OPS plus and he stole 30 bases with a 5.3 B WAR, numbers that only feel disappointing against the sky high standard he had already set for himself. So we kind of look at that as drop back, but really it's only because of what he did in 2024 that makes us look at 2025 a little less shiny. At 24 years old, with his best years clearly ahead of him, this rookie card is a nice long term hold. All right, we're getting here. We are the top three. Let's see what we got. What we got here? How about Julio Rodriguez, outfielder for the Seattle Mariners? He's only 25 years old. We think of this guy 2022 Topps update that rookie card was phenomenal. He had the SP and Series 2J rod hit.267 with 32 homers, 95 RBIs and 30 stolen bases in 2025. He led all center fielders with 6.8 B WAR and earned a third All Star selection, all while helping Seattle with its first AL west title since 2001. He's locked in through at least 2029 on a club friendly deal and his player options that could keep him in Seattle through 2034. That kind of stability makes this card one to easily hold with confidence because you know he's likely sticking around in Seattle for a long time. Number two Paul Skeens starting pitcher, Pittsburgh Pirates again 24 years old. See, there's a common theme running through all these guys, right? Also from 2024. TOPS. In this case, TOPS Update Now Skiing's posted a 1.97 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 216 strikeouts across 32 starts in 2025, leading the NLN ERA and winning this NL Cy Young Award unanimously. He became only the second pitcher to ever to win Rookie of the Year one year and then the Cy Young Award the Next. Duplicating Dwight Gooden's 19841985 feat. Through just 55 career starts, he owns a 1.96 ERA. And the player. The the player makes parallels of this romance. Rookie card one to chase because he's great, but the photo and the card design make this card a modern classic. By the way, I would like to point out, you know a set is awesome when all of the you know we've got 4, 4, 3 great rookie cards from 2024 in this list. We got Paul Skins, we have Ellie De La Cruz, we have Junior Commonero and then we dial it up into the if we look up into the top 20, top 21 players, we have Jackson Churro and we got Wyatt Langford, Petro Armstrong, Jackson Merrill. A lot of good cards coming from this 24, 24 set. What makes it even cooler is man, the design. This set is so good. Look at the rookie cards of Common Arrow, De La Cruz Skiings. Every one of those cards is just like just a gorgeous card to own. So that tells you a little bit something about how great that set is and how much we're gonna love that for years to come. If you had a chance to grab some wax and stash it away, you still can. You can buy. You can buy blasters, you can buy hangers. Stack them, stash them away. Those are good ones. Now we get to number one. The number one rookie card since 2020 to own Bobby Witt Jr shortstop for the Royals. He came from 2022. Topps update Witt has won back to back Gold Gloves and Silver Slugger awards and he's been named to the All MLB first team twice on already. He's a career 290 hitter. 107 home runs, 158 stolen bases through age 25. He led the league in hits with 184 and doubles with 47 in 2025 and has finished in the top seven of AL MVP voting in three straight seasons. The scary part for those not collecting BWJ is that the best of Bobby Witt Jr. Genuinely may still be ahead of me because he is in the prime. He's actually coming into his prime. Age 26. Age 27. Age 28. That's when players break out into the superstars are going to be. He's already a superstar so he's probably just going to tack on to those levels a little bit. Prices of future MVPs coming from this guy, this just in good guy to own. Good guy. So there you have it. Outside of me botching the age of the number one overall guy, what do you think of that list? It's a pretty good list, right? I want to hear from you which great baseball players rookie cards from 2020 on should have been on this list. Who am I missing? Is there somebody that slipped through from 2021? I'm pretty sure no. Jared Kellenick? I don't think so. No. Who's the the kid with the twins? No, no. So. But I would like to know if you have some rookie cards you think should be in this top 11? Maybe in the top 21? Or maybe it's a player from the top 21 that should have been in the top five. I want to know. Let me know in the comments. Or if you listen to the podcast, shoot me an email@ghaniscardsmail.com I want to hear from you. Listen is all about getting the best rookie cards. We want to enjoy the hobby. Right? So let me know in the comments. Shoot me an email. Whatever you do, make sure you have a happy.