Ronald Acuña Jr.'s card market back on the rise
It has been quite the rollercoaster ride for Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. over the past four seasons. With the ups and downs to his productivity and availability on the field, his card market has undergone the same peaks and valleys. Now that he is back on the field in 2025 following a second recovery from a torn ACL, his cards are rising to previous values.
Following the 2020-shortened season in which Acuña Jr. produced a .987 OPS and a trip to the National League Championship Series, he looked primed to become the next young star in baseball before a torn ACL in mid-July 2021 ended his season. At the time of his injury, a PSA 10 of his 2018 Topps Chrome rookie autograph sold for just shy of $1,200 according to eBay sold listings, with some selling for as high as $1,875 earlier in the season. While Acuña Jr. was sidelined, the Braves went on to win the 2021 World Series, yet no sales of his rookie autograph happened.
Acuña Jr. returned to the Atlanta lineup in late-April 2022 and struggled throughout the season while looking to find his footing again. At the same time, his rookie autograph PSA 10 sales plummeted to $840, the lowest it had been since before the 2020 season.
Acuña Jr.'s 2023 season was historic and saw himself return to star caliber while winning his first career National League Most Valuable Player award after becoming the first player to hit 40+ home runs and steal 70+ bases in a season, slugging 41 homers and swiping 73 bases while hitting .337. The historic season caused the prices of his rookie autograph to climb back towards $1100, a price it had not been at in nearly two years.
Many collectors believed this would be the start of a hopefully prolonged break out of stardom that would result in higher and even record-breaking levels of his cards.
With his cards remaining in the four-figure range, Acuña Jr. torn his ACL in the other knee in late May of 2024 and cut short a season that was off to somewhat of a slow start. According to sales data, not a single PSA 10 rookie autograph was sold following Acuña Jr.'s injury. Entering 2025, one of his cards sold for under $500, another stark drop following a second significant knee injury.
Now having returned again and seemingly picked up where he left off, his cards are back on the rise. After homering twice in his first four games this year, Acuña Jr. has put together a 1.139 OPS and has collectors buying into his MVP talent that saw historic levels just two years ago.
Dan Gardella is a Red Sox fan and collector growing up in Yankee territory in Connecticut. While only reviving his love for the hobby a few years ago, he provides knowledge into baseball cards from prospects to the big leagues.
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