A strong playoff performance will help these player's cards
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The MLB season is heading towards its conclusion. With almost all the spots locked up teams are fighting for position with only the last two wild card spots up for grabs. As fans and collectors prepare with their favorite teams for the postseason, let's take a look at some of the players on playoff contenders who could elevate their hobby market with strong postseason performances.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B, Blue Jays
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has many accolades on resume already. Now in his age 26 season, Guerrero has already been a six time all star, gold glove, and Silver Slugger award winner. During this season, the Blue Jays handed Guerrero a massive contract extension that locked him up for 15 years. Guerrero’s finest season came in 2021 when he belted 48 home runs with 111 RBIs, a .311 batting average, and a .401 OBP allowing him to finish second in the MVP race. Obviously that was an impressive season, however, since then Guerrero’s numbers have been good to great versus MVP level. The result has been a somewhat cooler hobby market for Guerrero. A strong post season would certainly go a long way to changing that in the minds of fans and collectors.
Julio Rodriguez OF, Mariners
It speaks volumes about the talent that Julio Rodriguez has when his 2024 season in which he slashed .271/.325/.400 in which he went 20/20 (20 home runs, 20 stolen bases) is considered a down year. The former American League Rookie of the Year and three time all star silenced critics this year by raising his slugging percentage to .480 while maintaining his batting average and chance to have his second 30/30 season of his career. Although the season has been an impressive bounce back, Rodriguez and his hobby market has been overshadowed by his teammate Cal Raleigh’s historic season. While Rodriguez hobby market has stayed strong, a big post season would certainly help bring collectors attention back Rodriguez and provide a boost to said market
Matt Shaw 3B, Cubs
Matt Shaw has had an up down rookie season which is not uncommon for young players. After making the team out of spring training, Shaw struggled to establish himself at the big league level. He was sent down briefly at the beginning of the season before being recalled within a month. He’s remained in the Cubs lineup but after a strong month of June, has struggled since then. As a result, his hobby market took a bit of a dip. That being said, a strong playoff performance could go a long way to boosting his market. Unlike the other players on this list, Shaw will have a MLB Debut patch auto coming out in Topps Update. Regardless of his playoff performance, I still expect his debut patch to be one of the more sought after but would certainly increase in value should he have a great post season.
