Like the player himself, Fernando Tatis Jr. rookie cards have only been around for a few years, but they’ve made a huge impact on the hobby in that time.
Not a surprising situation when you consider that Tatis signed as an amateur free agent at just 16 years of age (in 2015) and was in the majors within a few months after his 20th birthday.
And, not only did Tatis make The Show for good in 2019, he stepped in as the starting shortstop for the San Diego Padres on Opening Day and put together a fairly monstrous rookie season: .317, 22 home runs, 53 RBI, 16 SB, .969 OPS in just 84 games played.
That truncated showing was due to a back injury in August that ended his debut, but he was so good while he was in the lineup that he still finished third in National League Rookie of the Year voting (behind Pete Alonso and Mike Soroka).
Collectors took notice and drove Tatis’ rookie cards toward the top of hobby hot lists. Of course, as with Aaron Judge and other recent stars, El Niño had already been the subject of a slew of prospect-type cards before his official RCs ever hit the market in 2019.
Those early cards, like his 2016 Bowman Chrome Prospects and his 2018 Leaf Draft issues, caught fire right along with the young slugger and sometimes even outpaced his rookie card in the market — even if some of them DO look funny because they show him with the White Sox (who traded him to the Pads in exchange for James Shields in 2016).
Since then, Tatis has continued to rake, mashing 59 homers in 2020 and 2021 combined, even though injuries and the pandemic teamed up to limit him to just 189 games played those two summers.
And so it is that Tatis enters his mid-20s with more homers and WAR than many players who have toiled in the majors for years or decades. It’s an exciting cocktail of talent and youth that bodes well for the future and keeps fans — and the hobby — clamoring for more.
For proof of the fervor with which collectors follow the journey of Fernando Tatis Jr. rookie cards, check out the list of the most watched of his RCs on eBay right now, below. At any given moment, it’s a snapshot of a young slugger’s hold on a captive market.
Also: Check out the rest of our series listing the Hottest Baseball Cards on eBay.
(NOTE: The section below contains affiliate links to eBay listings for the card shown.)
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