The Best Rookie & Prospect Cards Of Chris Sale

It’s a story we’ve seen many times before. A young pitcher rockets onto the scene and quickly becomes one of the game’s best. But then injuries set in and derail a career that began to get people talking about the Hall of Fame.

A comeback season brings the pitcher back to the forefront of the profession, changing the narrative. But where do things go from here?

That is where we are currently in the story of Chris Sale. But who is Chris Sale? What are the best rookie & prospect cards of Chris Sale? And are they worth chasing?f

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Who is Chris Sale?

The Chicago White Sox drafted Chris Sale with the 13^th overall pick in the 2010 MLB Amateur draft. After only 11 minor league games (10.1 IP) he made his big league debut later that summer. He put up a 1.93 ERA in 23.1 relief innings.

The next year, in an attempt to manage his innings, he also pitched in relief, pitching to a 2.79 ERA in 58 games (71 innings pitched).

Switching to the rotation in 2012 at the age of 23, Sale went 17-8 with a 3.05 ERA. He finished 6^th in the AL Cy Young voting. That kicked off a run of 7 straight seasons where Sale finished in the top 6 of the AL Cy Young voting, including finishing 2^nd in 2017, his first year with the Boston Red Sox, who traded for him the prior off-season.

In 2018, Sale helped lead the Red Sox to a World Championship, including striking out Manny Machado to clinch the series while pitching in relief. At this point, Sale was clearly on a Hall of Fame trajectory if he could keep it up.

Unfortunately, from 2019-2023, the injury bug hit Sale hard. He made only 56 starts across those five seasons, pitching to a 17-18 record and a 4.16 ERA. Sale’s Hall of Fame prospects seemed to be sinking fast, and legitimate questions about how the rest of his career may turn out were raised.

The Red Sox traded Sale to the Braves in the off-season for a prospect, sending $10 million to complete the deal. If the injury spiral toward irrelevance had continued in Atlanta, nobody would have been surprised. Most would say it was the most likely outcome.

Instead, Sale went 15-3 with a 2.58 ERA in his first 25 games, and as of this writing is a front-runner for the NL Cy Young Award. Based on his career to this point, it’s a bit shocking that this would be his first Cy Young win.

For his career, Sale has a 135-83 (.619 WP) record, with a 3.06 ERA (139 ERA+). He has been an 8-time All Star and has been worth 52.3 WAR in his career. That WAR total is 4^th among active pitchers, behind three sure-thing future Hall of Famers.

While Sale is still not a sure-thing future Hall of Famer, at 35, if he can extend this late-career renaissance and stay healthy, he might have a chance. That didn’t feel like the case a year ago.

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The Chris Sale 1^st Bowman Cards

Chris Sale made his first cardboard appearance the same year he was drafted and made his major league debut. These include his 1^st Bowman appearances in 2010 Bowman products.

Chris Sale’s 1^st Bowman paper card was the 2010 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Chris Sale #BDPP92. The card has only been graded 359 times by PSA, with 270 PSA 10s. Despite the fairly low population, the cards sell for only $30-40 in a PSA 10 slab.

The premium Chrome version of Sale’s 1^st Bowman is the 2010 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Chrome Prospects Chris Sale #BDPP92. The card has an even lower total PSA population and an even higher percentage of PSA 10s. In a PSA 10 slab, the last several sales have been for only around $40.

Sales’ best 1^st Bowman card is of course the Chrome Autograph version, in this case the 2010 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Chrome Prospect Autographs Chris Sale #BDPP92.

The card has only been graded 93 times by PSA, with 40 of those in PSA 10 slabs. The last sale at that price was for $100 back in June, but expect prices to rise if he finishes the season strong and wins the NL Cy Young Award.

In fact, while investing in pitchers is fraught with peril, Chris Sale cards may offer an interesting opportunity. Several years of injuries have left his card values at a low point. A Cy Young victory could give prices a boost. As a short-term flip there’s some potential here. Or, if you think that Sale is now back on the Hall of Fame path, a longer term hold may be in order. Either way, while there is risk, the buy-in price does appear to be quite reasonable. 

Of course, if your budget allows, and you can find them, parallels, especially numbered parallels, are a great way to go here as well.

The Chris Sale rookie cards

A year after being drafted and making his first cardboard appearance, Chris Sale got his official rookie cards in 2011.

He appeared on a LOT of rookie cards that year. The overriding themes are generally low PSA populations, but also incredibly reasonable prices. Again, this seems to offer a potential for a small investment in Sale for a fairly low buy-in.

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There’s a lot of options, so there’s a card for every like. You, of course, can’t go wrong with the 2011 Bowman Chris Sale #220 or 2011 Bowman Chrome #200 Chris Sale. The low PSA pops on those make recent comps (and potential copies for purchase) a bit of a challenge.

The 2011 Bowman Chrome Rookie Autographs Chris Sale #220 offers a premium option, but again at a very reasonable price point.

Like shiny chromium cards? The 2011 Finest Chris Sale #80 and 2011 Topps Chrome Chris Sale #205 are both good options. Both can be had for less than $45 in a PSA 10 slab.

Do you prefer vintage-inspired designs? Check out the 2011 Topps Heritage Chris Sale #214 or the 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter Chris Sale #85. Both offer up lower PSA populations but prices are not much higher than the cost of grading.

The 2011 Topps Chris Sale #65 has the highest population on our list, several times higher than the others. So, that is likely the easiest to find, but the least attractive as a potential investment.

There are plenty more options for Sale rookie cards, including parallels, autographs, and more.

Other early Chris Sale cards of note

According to the Trading Card Database (TCDB.com), Chris Sale has appeared on 8,400 cards since his first card appearance in 2010. So, any article about his cards will be incomplete and subjective. But here are two additional early career Sale cards worth checking out.

The 2010 Bowman Sterling Prospect Autographs Chris Sale #BSP-CS card is another autographed card from the same year as Sale’s 1^st Bowman card, but from the premium (but less collected) Sterling brand.

The card has been graded 108 times by PSA, with 80 PSA 10 copies. There haven’t been any recent sales to give us a good comp, but if you can find a copy, it’s a nice alternative 1st-year auto.

Chris Sale’s only minor league card is the 2010 Choice Winston-Salem Dash Chris Sale #19. Sale only pitched 10.1 minor league innings before making his big league debut, so it’s surprising he got a card at all.

PSA has only graded two copies of the card, and both are in PSA 9 slabs. Your writer owns one of them, from a PSA sub a year or so back. It’s a cool card and a nice, low-pop alternative to other early Sale cards.

Final thoughts on The Best Rookie & Prospect Cards of Chris Sale

This season, Chris Sale has put up a comeback year that few saw coming, changing the narrative about how his late career may play out. In the short term, a Cy Young win should give his cards a bit of a boost. If he can string together a few more healthy and productive seasons, he may find himself back on the Hall of Fame discussions he was in before he turned 30.

What’s your take on Chris Sale? Do you think the return to excellence can continue?  Are you looking to buy into his cards, or taking a wait-and-see approach? What are your favorite early career Chris Sale cards? Tell us what’s on your mind at CardLines on Twitter.

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