While the chase for the Paul Skenes rookie debut patch from 2024 Topps Chrome Update rages on, the calendar reads mid January, and that means it’s time to start the whole cycle again with 2025 Topps Series 1.
Slated to drop in a little less than a month (Feb. 12), the first installment of 2025 Topps flagship will feature a 350-card checklist and introduce a new set of rookie names to collect as we leave the prospect status of Skenes, the three Jacksons, and Elly in 2024.
What I’m Hunting
James Wood (Nationals) was a little late to the party last year when he debuted on July 1, but from that point forward, he quietly hit .264 with nine home runs and 14 stolen bases while batting in the top third of Washington’s order every day. He’s listed at 6-foot-7, 235 pounds, and he has all of the exciting tools to make him a perennial all-star. If he can make an adjustment and get more balls airborne, his top-of-the-scale exit velocities could very easily contribute to 40+ home run seasons. The Nationals have an exciting young core, and if all goes according to plan, he’s the epicenter of their next contention window. On eight different autograph checklists in Series 1, 2025 is the year of James Wood for me.
There’s a small autograph set called Signature Tunes Dual Autographs that caught my eye. There are three cards in the set:
If those names don’t sound familiar, Metro Boomin is the producer of Kryptonite, which is Carroll’s walk-up song. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie is featured on Judge’s walk-up song Hello by Pop Smoke, and Tai Verdes is the artist of Bryson Stott’s walk-up AOK, which has become a favorite in Philadelphia where the crowd sings it back to him as he approaches the batter’s box.
Finally, there are 11 players who played in the Rickwood Field game in Alabama who have autographed memorabilia cards in the Rickwood Autograph Relic Collection checklist. Six Cardinals and five Giants made the checklist, and I’ll be looking to add the Brendan Donovan to my collection. He hit a home run, a double and had three RBIs playing in his first (and maybe last) MLB regular season game in his home state of Alabama.
Eye On Hitting Prospects
The beauty of a new calendar year is a new rookie class. And while some of the names in the rookie checklist are unknowns, there are some big ones that will likely fit in the same tier with some of the best of the 2024 class, namely Wood and Coby Mayo (Orioles)….