Is The Hobby Sleeping on Michael Busch Cards?
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It's still early, but 27 games into his 2025 MLB campaign, it looks like former highly-touted prospect Michael Busch is putting it all together. The 31st overall draft pick in the 2019 MLB draft, he was taken by the Los Angeles Dodgers. MLB Pipeline called Busch "one of the best all-round offensive prospects in the 2019 draft." Busch struggled in his first taste of MLB action in 2023, and was traded to the Cubs. After a solid, if unspectactular 2024 with the Cubs, Busch just might be making a leap. Is there a sleeper in the Windy City?
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At writing, Busch has hit 5 Homer Runs, batted in 16 runs, and has a very good OPS of .930. His WAR is currently 1.0 through 27 games. As importantly, he's batting cleanup for one of the best teams in the Majors, and one of the sport's most popular franchises. One has to wonder if the Los Angeles Dodgers are coming to regret moving on from Busch so soon.
Although he's showing signs of improvement across the board, there's only been marginal movement on his cards. Over the last two weeks, the top Busch sale is for his 2019 Bowman Draft Baseball Chrome Prospect Autographs /25, which sold for $300. Now, a PSA 10 of the card did sell for only $100 on April 12, and a PSA 9 sold for just over $100 last August, so perhaps there's more to come soon from his Bowman market. A /50 SGC 10 fetched $280 on April 19.
But, it remains a long way from the $2,250 a PSA 10 sold for in April last year. The. card has sold ten times for at least $500. Busch had high expectations as a young player, but the market may have overcorrected a little bit.
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Busch is not young, but the 27-year old looks more comfortable than ever at the big league level, and he's in a perfect situation to realize his potential. A 1st Bowman auto can still be had for under $30 on Ebay. A purple refractor numbered to 250 can still be found for under $100. At writing, the 1/1 Superfractor is listed at just under $8,000.
A Michael Busch 2023 Topps Chrome Baseball update RC FrozenFractor /5 sold for $275 on April 21.
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Busch's 2023 Topps Chrome Baseball Update Auto /25 sold for $84.99 on April 15.
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In terms of new releases, the most intriguing is Michael Busch's 2025 Topps Chrome Baseball MLB Tokyo Series cards. The release commemorated the two-game season-opening series in Tokyo between Busch's former team, the Dodgers, and his current club, the Cubs. The Tokyo Series cards have proven to be quite popular. Busch's teammate Pete Crow-Armstrong had an Auto /25 designed by renowned artist Takashi Murakami card sell for $1,300 on April 19. A Busch Murakami offering signed and numbered to 99 sold for $92 on April 21. A version of the card numbered to 10 fetched over $200 on April 14.
As Busch's season in Chicago continues to unfold, he is certainly a player to keep an eye on, especially if he can maintain the pace he has set in the early part of the campaign.
Michael Terry is a writer based in Brooklyn. He specializes in sports, culture, and collecting. His work has appeared at Topps RIPPED, ESPN, Grantland, Vice Sports, and more.
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