What Are MLB Debut Patch Cards?
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Even the casual collector and novice baseball fan has heard the news of the Paul Skenes MLB Debut patch card, pulled by an 11-year old west coast collector. The prized card was just sold at Fanatics Collect Auction for a whopping $1.11 million.
𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: The Paul Skenes 1/1 Rookie Debut Patch Autograph card has sold at auction for $1,110,000.
— Topps (@Topps) March 21, 2025
Of all active MLB players, only Mike Trout has ever had a card sell for more. pic.twitter.com/TG69RsisIe
But what is the MLB Debut Patch?
Announced prior to the 2023 season, Fanatics was set to place this commemorative patch on the sleeve of every baseball player making their big league debut. The patch was then removed from the sleeve, documented by Major League Baseball, and sent to Fanatics. Fanatics takes the patch and puts it into a baseball card, creating one of the most desired rookie-patch-auto cards in the history of card collecting.
The cards are inserted into the Topps Chrome Update product, usually as a redemption to keep the piece as pristine as it can be. The patch on the card is surrounded by a gold, embossed foil, with just enough space in the bottom right for the players signature. Also unique to these cards is the opening in the back. This allows you to see the MLB authentication hologram sticker, which has a code that can be looked up on the MLB Authentication Site.
All of the cards are 1/1's, and no matter the player, pulls a premium on the resale market. The latest sale of one of these cards on eBay, according to 130point, was of Seattle Mariners 27-year old short stop Leo Rivas. Rivas has 43 career games in the majors and hit a pedestrian .233. During this year's spring training he's hitting only .133. Regardless of his menial statistics, his rookie debut patch auto went for a whopping $3,300, which is outlandish considering his MLB career so far.
RELATED: Journal of 11-year old Who Pulled Skenes 1/1 Patch Made Public
This move was haled by both the MLB and the MLBPA at the time of the announcement.
"Topps has been a great partner to baseball," said MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. "...and this particular initiative is crucial to the development of deeper fan engagement."
"The Debut Patch is one way to capture the timeless nature of this moment," said MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark, "...and provides fans the opportunity to be a part of it by collecting a Player worn Item"
Topps and Fanatics has gone even further with the debut patch, including it in the recently-released MLB the Show video game.
It's a great innovation by Topps and Fanatics. The kind collectors hoped would happen when Fanatics were awarded the rights to the MLB and MLBPA licenses. Hopefully with the success of these Topps will build on it and continue to bring us more interesting pieces of trading cards. It's already been announced that with Fanatics set to take over licenses of the NBA and the NFL.
After graduating from the University of North Dakota in 2008, Cole worked as an advertising copywriter until shifting to print journalism a few years later. Managing three weekly newspapers in the Dakotas, Cole won numerous awards from the North Dakota Newspaper Association including Best of the Dakotas and, their top award, General Excellence. He returned to collecting in 2021 and has since combined his passion for writing with his love of cards. Cole also writes for the Sports Cards Nonsense newsletter and has made guest appearances on multiple sports card collecting podcasts including Sports Cards Nonsense, and the Eephus Baseball Cards Podcast. IG: coleryan411 X: @colebenz