Rookie cards of the 5 best 21st-century pitchers

What does it mean to be a 21st-century pitcher? To create a list like this, we need to establish specific parameters. The first is obvious. Pitchers must have pitched this century, which begins in 2001. Secondly, and this is completely subjective, a pitcher must have pitched at least 10 seasons in the 21st century.

Thirdly, how do we determine the best pitchers - wins, strikeouts, ERA, championships, and All-Star appearances? We went with WAR - wins above replacement - a metric that takes several components into consideration, including team defense, park factors, and level of opposition. Using WAR as the main criterion is a subjective decision, as it balances traditional stats with advanced analytics, even if other experts might prioritize different metrics. It's just an algorithm with its flaws, but it has been shown to be a reliable metric.

Different organizations use different versions of WAR. For this article, we are using the Baseball Reference formula. Without further ado, five rookie cards of the best pitchers of the 21st century.

5. Roy Halladay (65.4 WAR - 45th All-Time)

1997 Bowman Chrome #212

1997 Bowman Chrome Roy Halladay — Image Courtesy of Card Ladder

Halladay spent 12 seasons in Toronto, appearing in eight All-Star games and winning two Cy Young Awards, one in the American League and the other in the National League, with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2010. He won 203 games, finished with a career 3.38 ERA, 2,117 strikeouts, and 67 complete games.

There are 266 PSA 10s, with the latest sale at $645 in Sept. 2025. For PSA 9s, 675 exist, with a recent sale at $45.

4. Zack Greinke (72.4 WAR - 33rd All-Tiime)

2002 Bowman Chrome Draft #BDP6

2002 Bowman Chrome Draft Zack Greinke Rookie Card #BDP6 — Image Courtesy of Card Ladder

When talking about great pitchers, Greinke is often overlooked. But the numbers don't lie. Greinke had a 20-year career amassing 225 wins, a 3.49 ERA, and 2,979 strikeouts. He also made six All-Star teams, won two ERA titles, and won an AL Cy Young. Greinke is 21st all-time in strikeouts, just behind Clayton Kershaw.

The Bowman Chrome has the base version with three parallels: Refractors (/300), X-Fractors (/150), and Gold Refractors (/50). The base version has been graded 541 times by PSA, resulting in 28 Gem Mint PSA 10s. The most recent PSA 10 sale was for $1,830 in Sept. 2024. PSA 9s, with a population of 195, sell for about $250. The parallels in high-grade sell for more, given their limited numbers.

3. Max Scherzer (75.6 WAR - 30th All-Time)

2008 Bowman Chrome Draft #BDP33

2008 Bowman Chrome Draft Max Scherzer ROOKIE #BDP33 — Image Courtesy of Card Ladder and Fanatics

Scherzer has had an 18-year career, compiling 221 wins, a 3.22 ERA in 2,963 innings pitched, and 3,489 strikeouts. He ranks 11th all-time in strikeouts, only 20 behind Walter Johnson and nearing the top 10 list. Scherzer has won three Cy Young Awards, made eight All-Star teams, and won two World Series—both with first-time champions—with the Washington Nationals and Texas Rangers.

There are 169 PSA 10s, with recent sales ranging from $130 to $230, according to Card Ladder. The most recent sale was for $130 on eBay, but the prior sale was for $218, also on eBay via COMC. Scherzer's rookie card from Bowman Chrome comes in various parallels, including parallels within parallels, such as refractors with different colors.

2. Clayton Kershaw (78.1 WAR - 28th All-Time)

2008 Topps Update #UH240

2008 Topps Update Clayton Kershaw | Image Courtesy of Card Ladder

In 18 seasons, all with the Dodgers, Kershaw has compiled a regular-season 2.53 ERA, 223 wins, and 3,052 strikeouts in 2,855 innings pitched. Kershaw is set to retire after the 2025 postseason, which could include another World Series appearance. For me, Kershaw is the greatest pitcher of the 21st century, but not if we go by WAR.

The Topps Update base card isn't a rare card, but it is one of Kershaw's most famous rookie cards. It comes in various parallels, too, with the lower-numbered serial numbers selling for thousands of dollars. The base version in PSA 10 (population 1,485) last sold for $516 at Fanatics. A PSA 8 black border, numbered to 57, sold for $9,750 in 2023.

1. Justin Verlander (82.2 WAR - 24th All-Time)

2005 Topps Chrome Justin Verlander RC Autograph #242

Verlander has had a 20-year career and is eighth all-time on the strikeouts list with 3,553. He also has 266 career wins, a 3.32 ERA, and 26 complete games. He won three Cy Young Awards, is a nine-time All-Star, and was the 2011 AL MVP when he won the pitching Triple Crown. He won two World Series titles, both with the Houston Astros.

According to Baseballcardpedia, "2005 Topps Chrome is a 472-card set released in two series. The first 234 cards were released in January, 2005, while the final 238 cards were issued as part of Series Two in May. 32 cards (14 in S1, and 18 in S2) make up an Autographed First-Year Player subset -- the most prominent being Justin Verlander.Each Autographed First-Year Player is limited (but not serial-numbered) to 1770 copies."

There are 67 PSA 10s, with the most recent card selling for $1,480 on eBay. There are 140 PSA 9s, with the most recent sale at $438 in September. Parallels, with lower serial numbers, sell for more.

Parallels include: Refractors (/500), Black Refractors (/200), Red X-fractors (/25), Gold Superfractors (1/1), Printing Plates Black (1/1), Printing Plates Cyan (1/1), Printing Plates Magenta (1/1), Printing Plates Yellow (1/1).