2022 Topps Series 2 Valuable Cards & Best Rookies to Watch For

June 9th Update: In a surprise move, Topps has in fact included short print rookie cards of Spencer Torkelson (#658), Julio Rodriguez (#659), and Bobby Witt Jr (#660). Here is a tweet from @LLSportsCards to confirm Spencer Torkelson:

Here is Bobby Witt on eBay (affiliate link):

2022 Topps Series 2 has launched, and with the release, checklist anticipation and chatter has been flooding social media and top sports card forums.

Read More: Bobby Witt Card Values

Unfortunately, the many who were hoping to see today’s young stars – like a Julio Rodriguez rookie card, Bobby Witt Jr., Jeremy Pena, and others – make their flagship rookie a reality, are now left disappointed, and already looking forward to Topps Update.

But with that said, always keep this in mind—was a Taylor Ward rookie card the talk of the town in 2019? And while that’s just the most recent example of a sneaky name stealing the RC headlines recently, there are countless examples over the years of players who had an under the radar flagship release, only to have their cards catch fire at some point, and even years after.

Not to mention that while Witt and Rodriguez don’t have base flagship rookies, they each have autos on the 1987 checklist, which look spectacular, and will surely be nice chase cards for anyone looking to get in on the ripping action.

Besides all of that, can I interest you in Juan Yepez or perhaps O’Neil Cruz? (Skip to the end for more rookies to keep an eye on. And if you want something in video form, here is a nice breakdown from Kyle at Let’s Talk Wax:)

So, again, while this list of 2022 Topps Series 2 Rookies isn’t met with the shining stars we all were hoping for, let’s face it, many of us are still going to buy the product. And with your purchase, while it might be easy to cast aside most of the names below, don’t be so quick to give up on some of them proving to be valuable at some point down the line.

Most Valuable Cards in 2022 Topps Series Two

With nearly a month since it was released, let’s take a look at some of the most valuable 2022 Series 2 cards that have been pulled to date, according to eBay. Please note many of these cards have variations, which won’t all be listed here. This also is not including 1/1s.

	PLAYER	DESCRIPTION	FOR SALE	SOLD
2	Mike Trout	1987 Auto	For Sale	Sold
3	Wander Franco	Mascot Head	For Sale	Sold
4	Julio Rodriguez	1987 Auto	For Sale	Sold
5	Bobby Witt	1987 Auto	For Sale	Sold
6	Fernando Tatis	Mascot Head	For Sale	Sold
7	Oneil Cruz	1987 Auto	For Sale	Sold
8	Wander Franco	1987 Auto	For Sale	Sold
9	Tatis/Ohtani	Dual Auto	For Sale	Sold
10	Shohei Ohtani	1987 Auto	For Sale	Sold
11	Tatis/Soto	Dual Auto	For Sale	Sold
12	Derek Jeter	Reverence Patch Auto	For Sale	Sold
13	Julio Rodriguez	SP RC	For Sale	Sold
14	Babe Ruth	Home Field Advantage	For Sale	Sold
15	Joey Votto	Mascot Head	For Sale	Sold
16	Shohei Ohtani	Silver Slugger Auto	For Sale	Sold
17	Shohei Ohtani	1987 Auto	For Sale	Sold
18	Oneil Cruz	Baseball Stars Auto	For Sale	Sold
19	Jackie Robinson	Home Field Advantage	For Sale	Sold
20	Fernando Tatis	Reverence Patch Auto	For Sale	Sold
21	Bryce Harper	Mascot Head	For Sale	Sold
22	Oneil Cruz	SSP RC	For Sale	Sold
23	Derek Jeter	Silver Slugger Auto	For Sale	Sold
24	Mike Piazza	Silver Slugger Auto	For Sale	Sold
25	Roberto Clemente	SSP	For Sale	Sold
26	Derek Jeter	1987 Auto	For Sale	Sold
27	Oneil Cruz	RC Variations	For Sale	Sold
28	Hank Aaron	Home Field Advantage	For Sale	Sold
29	Wander Franco	Baseball Stars Auto	For Sale	Sold
30	Ted Williams	Home Field Advantage	For Sale	Sold
31	Nolan Ryan	Diamond Greats Auto	For Sale	Sold
32	Bobby Witt	SP RC	For Sale	Sold
33	Mike Trout	Silver Slugger Auto	For Sale	Sold
34	Shohei Ohtani	Major League Material Patch Auto	For Sale	Sold
35	Wander Franco	Home Field Advantage	For Sale	Sold
36	Mike Trout	Major League Material Patch Auto	For Sale	Sold
37	Bryce Harper	1987 Auto	For Sale	Sold
38	Votto/Larkin	Dual Auto	For Sale	Sold
39	Yadier Molina	Batting Helmet Auto	For Sale	Sold
40	Nolan Ryan	Home Field Advantage	For Sale	Sold

2022 Topps Series Two Rookies List

To check out the entire 2022 Series 2 checklist, head on over to Cardboard Connection or Beckett—both of which always do an outstanding job not only covering the cards that will be included, but also provide all the info you need on odds, variations, and more.

For now, here is the recent list of 2022 Topps Series 2 Rookies for the upcoming release. It’s a sortable table, so feel free to have fun with the team name, card numbers, and more.

Card #	Player	Team
332	Jhonathan Diaz	Los Angeles Angels
333	Nick Fortes	Miami Marlins
338	Luis Frias	Arizona Diamondbacks
339	Connor Overton	Pittsburgh Pirates
345	Seth Beer	Arizona Diamondbacks
360	Joan Adon	Washington Nationals
363	Yonny Hernandez	Texas Rangers
367	Wander Franco	Tampa Bay Rays
370	Jake McCarthy	Arizona Diamondbacks
373	Ryan Feltner	Colorado Rockies
387	Jovani Moran	Minnesota Twins
390	Joe Ryan	Minnesota Twins
395	Greg Deichmann	Chicago Cubs
413	Kervin Castro	San Francisco Giants
418	Jack Lopez	Boston Red Sox
421	Shane Baz	Tampa Bay Rays
422	Otto Lopez	Toronto Blue Jays
425	Brian Miller	Miami Marlins
430	Jon Heasley	Kansas City Royals
437	Glenn Otto	Texas Rangers
455	Henry Ramos	Arizona Diamondbacks
471	Sean Guenther	Miami Marlins
479	Josh Lowe	Tampa Bay Rays
480	Colton Welker	Colorado Rockies
495	Austin Warren	Los Angeles Angels
502	Mike Baumann	Baltimore Orioles
506	Juan Yepez	St. Louis Cardinals
509	Spencer Strider	Atlanta Braves
516	Stephen Ridings	New York Yankees
517	Maos Diplan	Baltimore Orioles
521	Cooper Criswell	Los Angeles Angels
524	Connor Seabold	Boston Red Sox
526	Alfonso Rivas	Chicago Cubs
536	Mark Kolozsvary	Cincinnati Reds
537	Oneil Cruz	Pittsburgh Pirates
540	Packy Naughton	Los Angeles Angels
541	Elvis Peguero	Los Angeles Angels
543	Roansy Contreras	Pittsburgh Pirates
546	TJ Friedl	Cincinnati Reds
547	A.J. Alexy	Texas Rangers
554	Oliver Ortega	Los Angeles Angels
559	Angel Zerpa	Kansas City Royals
561	Matt Brash	Seattle Mariners
566	Edward Cabrera	Miami Marlins
586	Ryan Vilade	Colorado Rockies
594	Janson Junk	Los Angeles Angels
595	Romy Gonzalez	Chicago White Sox
599	Jose Siri	Houston Astros
611	Payton Henry	Miami Marlins
619	Reiver Sanmartin	Cincinnati Reds
623	Jacob Robson	Detroit Tigers
636	Kevin Smith	Toronto Blue Jays
641	Charlie Barnes	Minnesota Twins
642	Hans Crouse	Philadelphia Phillies
645	Kutter Crawford	Boston Red Sox
649	Yohel Pozo	Texas Rangers
658	Justin Bruihl	Los Angeles Dodgers
658	Spencer Torkelson SP	Detroit Tigers
659	Julio Rodriguez SP	Seattle Mariners
660	Bobby Witt Jr.	Kansas City Royals

Which Are the Best 2022 Series 2 Rookies?

So while we don’t have many of the big and anticipated names, which players might be good to pop into at least a penny sleeve?

Juan Yepez

Not only is his caliber of play make this an interesting card to hold, Yepez doesn’t have a ton of cards already out there like some of his peers. As a result, you’ve seen his Donruss rookies perform pretty well (I sold a Career Stat Line /274 RC for $18 after buying it – and thinking I overpaid for it at $7.50).

O’Neil Cruz

Cruz is also an interesting case, but for different reasons. One, he already has a large number of Bowman Chrome cards, including his 1st Bowman chrome all the way back in 2016 (which famously misspelled his first name as O’Neal). Two, Cruz already had a RC in Topps Heritage. And three, going against what many thought to be the case coming into the season, Cruz hasn’t yet been called up to the Pirates.

Wander Franco

Wait, say what? Yes, while we all rushed to check out the 2022 Topps Series 1 list of valuable cards to find a Wander Franco RC, the young star will also be included in Series 2. Of course, this isn’t a “flagship” or major rookie card release for Franco (considering he wasn’t only in the Series 1 base set, but a number of subset cards).

As Beckett Hobby Editor Ryan Cracknell pointed out on Twitter, this will be a combo card for Franco, and some other guy you might have heard of.

Other Mentions

In addition to those named above, here are a few others to keep an eye on:

• Joe Ryan
• Shane Baz
• Seth Beer
• Josh Lowe
• Jose Siri

So, as always, happy ripping! And, don’t be so quick to give up on a player. The question I always ask my self is, does it make sense to go through the trouble of selling a card for $1 or just hold on to in with the hopes that he catches fire some time in the future?