By Mauricio Segura June 17, 2025
Photo: GBT Graphics
Jacob Wilson arrived in the majors with quiet promise. Now, he’s hitting like a seasoned pro, and collectors are taking notice. The Oakland A’s rookie shortstop has turned heads not just with his bat but with the skyrocketing value of his baseball cards, proving that a breakout season can turn paper into gold.
Wilson, a Thousand Oaks native and the sixth overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, made his big-league debut in July 2024. Since then, he’s been nothing short of electric. By early June 2025, he was batting .366 with an on-base percentage over .400 and an OPS nearing .900. In just 64 games, he collected 93 hits, eight home runs, and 38 RBIs, numbers that would be solid for a veteran, let alone a 22-year-old rookie.
That kind of production has sparked a boom in the card-collecting world. A 2023 Bowman Chrome Draft Orange Auto (graded PSA 10) recently sold for over $18,000, a staggering leap from the $1,300 to $3,200 range those same cards fetched just last year. Another card, a Bowman Draft Sapphire Red Auto numbered to five, sold for nearly $9,000 in its first tracked transaction.
Wilson’s card surge doesn’t stop there. A 2025 Topps Chrome Hidden Gems Superfractor (1-of-1) went for more than $1,400. Meanwhile, his 2025 Topps Heritage Chrome cards, once a modest entry point for collectors, began trading for $825 and $500 in back-to-back sales.
In total, 17 Jacob Wilson cards have sold for over $1,000 since June 1, including 11 sales in the first week alone. That puts him just behind Washington Nationals prospect James Wood, who had 24 such sales in that same stretch, and well ahead of Dylan Crews, who logged six. It's a sign that Wilson is not just a player to watch, but a name investors are betting on.
A big reason? The pace he’s on. With 93 hits in 64 games, Wilson is tracking toward more than 230 hits over a full season. If he pulls it off, he’ll join a remarkably short list, just three rookies in the last 60 years have crossed the 230-hit mark in a season. It’s a number that turns a great debut into a historic one.
Wilson’s ascent didn’t come out of nowhere. After starring at Grand Canyon University, he quickly climbed the A’s minor league system. A strong run at High-A and an eye-popping stint in Double-A propelled him to Triple-A, where he didn’t stay long before getting the call to Oakland. His polished plate discipline and bat-to-ball skills have translated seamlessly to the majors.
Topps has been quick to capitalize on his meteoric rise. Wilson appears in multiple 2025 products, including Series 1 and Series 2, which feature both autograph and relic cards. He even made it into the fan-favorite Homefield Advantage set, a sign that the hobby world sees him as more than just a hot hand.
Of course, there are no guarantees in baseball. Rookie seasons can be deceiving, and plenty of prospects have cooled after early fireworks. But Wilson’s approach at the plate suggests sustainability. He’s not just riding a lucky streak, he’s controlling at-bats, hitting all fields, and adjusting as pitchers try to figure him out.
If he keeps this up, the honors will come. A Rookie of the Year nod, an All-Star selection, or a late-season surge could push his card prices even higher. But even if he levels off, the early-season explosion has already placed him in elite rookie territory, both on the diamond and in the hobby.
Jacob Wilson isn’t just making a name for himself, he’s building a brand. And as long as his bat stays hot, expect his cards to stay just as sizzling
