ESPN: Mariners’ Julio Rodriguez Named Cover Star of 2023 Topps Series One

Seattle Mariners center fielder and reigning American League Rookie of the Year Julio Rodriguez is the cover star of the 2023 Topps Series One, The Topps Company and its parent company, Fanatics, Inc., announced Tuesday.

The cards will be available beginning Wednesday.

"I never even thought it was going to be possible that I was going to be on a baseball card [growing up in the Dominican Republic]," Rodriguez told ESPN. "I never thought I would be on the cover [of a] box of baseball cards -- but thanks to God and all the blessings, we were able to get here."

Last season, Rodriguez posted a WAR of 6.2, tied with Johnny Pesky (1942) for the third highest by an AL rookie, behind only Ted Williams (6.6 in 1939) and Ichiro Suzuki (7.7 in 2001).

"Every year, there's a new crop of who you're chasing in card collecting and Julio was who you were chasing, have been chasing for the last year," said Noah Garden, the chief revenue officer at Major League Baseball. "The strategy is to find who the world thinks is the chase card and then who has the success on the field to follow up -- and he fits both better probably than anybody we've had…"