Collectors have always been partial to position players. Maybe it’s because they play every day. Maybe it’s that they contribute on offense and defense, maybe they just love home runs. Pitchers have always been second-class citizens in the eyes of collectors. There have been a few exceptions, such as Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax, but those exceptions prove the rule.
But some pitchers are absolutely worth chasing. What kind? If they’re an active pitcher who’s a sure-thing Hall of Famer, that’s a good start.
Justin Verlander is one of those types of pitchers. But who is Verlander? And what are his best rookie cards? And what about prospect cards?
Shop for Justin Verlander rookie cards on eBay
Justin Verlander suffered an injury that held him to just one start in 2020. At the time he was 37 years old. Facing a year-plus of rehab, he could easily have retired. At that point, he was already a sure thing Hall of Famer. He’d earned millions in his career. He’s married to a supermodel.
But he didn’t hang up his cleats, he worked hard to rehab and came back to put up a monster season, with an 18-4 record, 1.75 ERA, and 185 strikeouts in 175 IP. His ERA+ for the season was a staggering 220. He won the Cy Young Award, the third time he has taken home the award in his career. He then signed a big two-year deal with the New York Mets in the off-season, suggesting he’s not nearly done yet.
For his career, Verlander has put up a 244-133 record, good for a .647 winning percentage. His career ERA is 3.24, good for an ERA+ of 132. His 3,198 career strikeouts rank 12th all-time.
In addition to the 3 Cy Young Awards, he has won Rookie of the Year, an MVP Award, 2 ERA titles, a pitching triple crown, and has been an All-Star nine times. Verlander has been worth 77.6 WAR in his career, good for 27th all-time among starting pitchers.
This total is well above the 73.0 average of the 66 starting pitchers already in the Hall of Fame. In other words, barring some scandal, Verlander will someday be elected to the Hall of Fame, likely in his first year of eligibility.
Shop for Justin Verlander rookie cards on eBay
Justin Verlander is a throwback pitcher, his bulldog mentality on the mound and his ability to rack up lots of starts and lots of innings feel like a vestige of a long-ago age. But when looking at his rookie cards, it’s clear that his rookie year was in the 2000s.
We’re presenting you with a Top 10 list of Verlander rookie cards, and even that list is far from exhaustive. According to the Trading Card Database (TCDB.com), Verlander appeared on 397 cards that year.
That number of course includes a myriad of parallels, printing plates, and the like. Even still, we aren’t mentioning Verlander base rookie cards made by Donruss, Flair, Fleer, and more. If you’re looking to add a Verlander rookie card to your collection, there’s no shortage of options.
Shop for Justin Verlander rookie cards on eBay
PSA has graded close to 600 copies of this card, but fewer than 25 have gotten PSA 10 grades. That works out to less than 4%. Because of this, in a PSA slab these can be hard to come by and sell strongly in the $450-500 range when they do come available. If you can live with a PSA 9, prices drop significantly.
Shop for 2005 Bowman Justin Verlander rookie cards on eBay
Card | Total PSA Pop | Recent Sale Pop | Recent Sale Price |
---|---|---|---|
2005 Bowman Justin Verlander #174 | 582 | PSA 10 =23 | PSA 10 = $450-500 |
The higher-end version of the Bowman card gets just got the Chrome finish, but also an autograph. With a total PSA pop of only 173, with 64 of those in PSA 10 slabs, this one is tough to find and sells for over $1,000 ina PSA 10.
It’s easily the most expensive of the Verlander rookie cards on this list, but is nearing iconic status and may have some upside, especially if Verlander can build on last year’s dominant return from injury.
Shop for 2005 Bowman Chrome Justin Verlander auto rookie card
Card | Total PSA Pop | Recent Sale Pop | Recent Sale Price |
---|---|---|---|
2005 Bowman Chrome Justin Verlander Auto #331 | 173 | PSA 10 = 64 | PSA 10 = $1,000-1,100 |
Verlander also appeared in Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects product in 2005. While this may be the least visually appealing of Verlander’s 2005 Bowman appearances, it actually has a surprisingly low PSA population and PSA 10 population. Because of this, it sells for just a hair below the flagship Bowman’s going price in a PSA 10 slab.
Shop for Justin Verlander Bowman Draft Picks rookie card on eBay
Card | Total PSA Pop | Recent Sale Pop | Recent Sale Price |
---|---|---|---|
2005 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Justin Verlander #BDP129 | 456 | PSA 10 = 27 | PSA 10 = $425-525 |
The Chrome version of the 2005 Bowman DP&P card is an interesting situation. As the Chrome version of the product, you’d expect it to be more expensive than the flagship version.
But the PSA count here is higher, and the percentage of PSA 10s is also significantly higher. Because of these factors, the Chrome version actually sells for quite a bit less in a PSA 10 slab than the paper version.
Shop for Justin Verlander Bowman Draft Picks Chrome rookie card on eBay
Card | Total PSA Pop | Recent Sale Pop | Recent Sale Price |
---|---|---|---|
2005 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects Chrome Justin Verlander #BDP129 | 730 | PSA 10 = 200 | PSA 10 = $250-300 |
The 2005 Bowman Heritage Verlander card has a much lower population than most of his other Bowman rookie cards. While the number of PSA 10s is higher on a percentage basis, there are still only 50 in existence. And maybe I’m letting my vintage bent shine through, but I think it’s the best-looking Verlander rookie card on this list.
With the lower total population, and PSA 10s selling in the $300-400 range, if you agree that this is the best-looking Verlander RC, then maybe there’s some potential upside here.
Shop for Justin Verlander Bowman Heritage rookie card on eBay
Card | Total PSA Pop | Recent Sale Pop | Recent Sale Price |
---|---|---|---|
2005 Bowman Heritage Justin Verlander #220 | 161 | PSA 10 = 50 | PSA 10 = $300-400 |
Featuring an autograph and a serial number out of 974 copies, the 2005 Bowman’s Best Verlander has a lot to like. Add in a small PSA total population, with only 6 PSA 10s and 30 PSA 9s, and you’ve got the recipe for a very attractive card.
Even in a PSA 9 slab, the card sells strongly in the $225-350 range. There are no recent comps for a PSA 10.
Shop for 2005 Bowman’s Best Justin Verlander rookie card on eBay
Card | Total PSA Pop | Recent Sale Pop | Recent Sale Price |
---|---|---|---|
2005 Bowman’s Best Justin Verlander #102 Auto SN974 | 55 | PSA 9 = 30 | PSA 9 = $225-350 |
The 2005 Topps Justin Verlander rookie has been graded by PSA more times than the other 9 cards on this lot combined, clocking in at over 3,600 copies. Of those, over 1,500 are in PSA 10 slabs. That’s over 40% PSA 10s.
With the significantly larger PSA population and a high percentage of 10s, you’d think the price point here would be significantly lower. That isn’t necessarily the case, however as the card still sells strongly for around $300 in a PSA 10 slab.
Shop for 2005 Topps Justin Verlander rookie card on eBay
Card | Total PSA Pop | Recent Sale Pop | Recent Sale Price |
---|---|---|---|
2005 Topps Justin Verlander #677 | 3,613 | PSA 10 = 1,542 | PSA 10 = $300 |
While the 2005 Topps Verlander card has been graded thousands of times, the 2005 Topps Chrome version checks in at only 169 in total PSA population, with 50 PSA 10s (just under 30%). This one doesn’t change hands often, so there are no recent sales comps. There is one on eBay, however, as of this writing listed for $5,000.
Card | Total PSA Pop | Recent Sale Pop | Recent Sale Price |
---|---|---|---|
2005 Topps Chrome Justin Verlander #242 | 169 | PSA 10 = 50 | PSA 10 = NA |
Topps also included Verlander in its Updates and Highlights set later in the year. Despite a PSA population in line with others on this list, there is a high percentage of cards graded PSA 10 (over 46%).
The combination of being a less popular product and the high number of PSA 10s makes this one the “value product” of the list, with PSA 10s selling for only around $60-80.
Card | Total PSA Pop | Recent Sale Pop | Recent Sale Price |
---|---|---|---|
2005 Topps Updates & Highlights Justin Verlander #UH220 | 585 | PSA 10 = 272 | PSA 10 = $60-80 |
The 2005 Upper Deck Justin Verlander is one of a number of cards produced by the company that year on which Verlander appears. If you’re a big Verlander fan or just want to see more options for Verlander cards to add to your collection, check them out.
The card has a small overall PSA population of 220 graded copies, but over 56% of those are PSA 10s, which keeps prices in check. One of those PSA 10 slabbed copies will set you back only about $100, making this one a solid value buy.
Card | Total PSA Pop | Recent Sale Pop | Recent Sale Price |
---|---|---|---|
2005 Upper Deck Justin Verlander #430 | 220 | PSA 10 = 124 | PSA 10 = $100 |
Verlander’s rise to the big leagues was fast, with him making his big league debut barely a year after being drafted. Despite this quick rise through the ranks, Verlander does appear on cards in both 2003 and 2004 thanks to his spot on Team USA Baseball.
Verlander’s first cardboard appearance came a year before he was even drafted, when he appeared in the 2003 Upper Deck USA Baseball National Team set. With almost half of the total PSA population in PSA 10 slabs, the price is held down somewhat, with recent sales in the $150-200 range for a 10.
If you’re looking for a more challenging card, Upper Deck produced a number of relic and autograph cards as part of the USA Baseball offering.
Card | Total PSA Pop | Recent Sale Pop | Recent Sale Price |
---|---|---|---|
2003 Upper Deck USA Baseball National Team Justin Verlander #USA 5 | 663 | PSA 10 = 309 | PSA 10 = $150-200 |
In 2004, Verlander appeared in the National Pride insert set that was released by Upper Deck as part of their flagship product that year.
Again picturing Verlander in his Team USA garb, his card has only been graded 17 times by PSA, with only 4 PSA 10s. No recent comp sales in PSA slabs are available at this time.
Two memorabilia versions of the card were also available. The base insert was available in Series 1 packs, while the relic cards were in Series 2.
Card | Total PSA Pop | Recent Sale Pop | Recent Sale Price |
---|---|---|---|
2004 Upper Deck National Pride Justin Verlander #USA5 | 17 | PSA 10 = 4 | NA |
There are a lot of Justin Verlander rookie cards. That can make it challenging to sort through them all, for sure. The good news is that there is Justin Verlander rookie card for every taste and budget.
And with him having a good chance to pitch in the postseason this year, and with the Hall of Fame ahead of him, it could be a good time to add to your Verlander collection.
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