15 Most Valuable 2011 Topps Baseball Cards

2011 Topps Update #US175 Mike Trout Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $1,500

Like a few others on this list, this card is technically part of the 2011 Topps Update set.

However, since it's one of the most iconic cards of the modern era, I made an exception to include it (and some other 2011 Topps Update cards) on this list.

Mike Trout made his Major League debut on July 8, 2011, when the Los Angeles Angels called him up to replace speedy centerfielder Peter Bourjos who had injured his hamstring the day before.

Nothing against Bourjos, but many Angels fans had been eagerly awaiting a chance to see Trout since many considered him the number-one prospect heading into the 2011 season.

Trout didn't exactly raise any eyebrows in his first game, finishing 0-3 at the plate.

And he continued to struggle from there, finishing with a .163/.213/.279 slash line with one home run and six RBI before the team demoted him back to Double-A after twelve games.

The Angels recalled him for a home stand against the Baltimore Orioles on August 19, 2011, and he would finish the remainder of the season in the Majors.

Over 40 MLB games in 2011, Trout slashed .220/.281/.390 with five home runs, 16 RBIs and 20 runs scored.

Trout exploded during his official rookie campaign the following season, earning AL Rookie of the Year honors and finishing second in the MVP race.

2011 Topps #145 Freddie Freeman Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $100

The 2011 Atlanta Braves had an excellent crop of rookie riches.

After a rough start at the plate, 21-year-old first baseman Freddie Freeman found his footing in the season’s final five months or so.

On July 18th, he became the quickest Atlanta rookie to 50 RBIs since Hank Aaron in 1954.

That milestone was part of a scintillating month for which Freeman captured NL Rookie of the Month honors while batting .362 with a .433 on-base percentage in July and leading all rookies with 38 hits.

And with a 20-game hit streak late in the year, Freeman joined Dan Uggla as the first Braves teammates in modern history to have simultaneous hitting streaks of twenty or more.

Freeman finished second in the NL’s Rookie of the Year balloting, slashing .282/.346/.448 with 21 home runs, 32 doubles, and 76 RBIs.

Who did Freeman finish runner-up to in the league’s RotY race, you ask?

That would be his teammate, 23-year-old closer Craig Kimbrel.

Kimbrel led all NL relievers with 46 saves, pitching to a 2.10 ERA with 127 strikeouts in 77.0 innings.

With their one-two finish in the NL’s Rookie of the Year vote, Kimbrel and Freeman became the first teammates to do so since Chicago Cubs rookies Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith in 1989.

2011 Topps Update #US47 Paul Goldschmidt Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $100

Late into the 2022 season, Paul Goldschmidt had a legitimate chance at winning the Triple Crown.

He ultimately fell short of the incredible feat but still finished the season batting .317 with 35 home runs and 115 RBIs.

Goldschmidt also scored 106 runs and led the National League in slugging percentage (.578), OPS (.981), and OPS+ (180), solidifying himself as one of the greatest hitters in the game.

However, at the beginning of his career, things didn't go so smoothly for Goldschmidt after he made his MLB debut on August 1, 2011, against the San Francisco Giants.

Despite singling to right field off San Francisco's Matt Cain in his first at-bat, Goldschmidt stuck out nearly one in every three at-bats in 48 games that season.

His .250 batting average reflected the lack of discipline and experience but his .474 slugging percentage hinted at the kind of power he could bring to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

But it wouldn't take Goldschmidt much longer to mold into the incredible talent he is today.

By his third season in 2013, Goldschmidt had developed into a perennial All-Star and MVP candidate.

2011 Topps Update #US55 Anthony Rizzo Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $75

Anthony Rizzo made his MLB debut for the San Diego Padres on June 9, 2011, against the Washington Nationals, going 1-2 at the plate with a triple and a run scored.

It all went downhill from there.

In 49 games for Padres that season, Rizzo slashed a less-than-impressive .141/.281/.242 with one home run, nine RBIs, and nine runs scored in 128 at-bats.

That was it for Rizzo and the Padres.

During the offseason, the Padres traded Rizzo to the Chicago Cubs in a multi-player deal orchestrated by Jed Hoyer, the Cubs' general manager.

Hoyer had originally drafted Rizzo in the sixth round of the 2007 MLB Draft while he was an assistant general manager for the Boston Red Sox and knew that Rizzo's performance in San Diego didn't reflect his true talent and abilities.

And he was right.

By 2014, Rizzo had settled into his role as the Chicago Cubs' everyday first baseman and earned his first trip to the All-Star Game that season.

Rizzo soon earned a reputation as a guy capable of smacking 30 home runs and driving in 100 runs to become a fan favorite at Wrigley.

And by 2016, he'd solidified his place as a Cubs legend when he helped the franchise win its first World Series title since 1980, finally breaking the "curse" that had haunted them for over 100 years.

2011 Topps Update #US132 Jose Altuve Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $75

Jose Altuve's relationship with the Houston Astros began in 2007 when the club evaluated him at a camp in Maracay, Venezuela, when he was just a teenager.

By 2008, Altuve moved from Venezuela to Tennessee to play for the Greeneville Astros, who were the Houston Astros' Rookie-level Appalachian League affiliate until 2017.

Altuve dominated in the Minor Leagues and, by 2011, found himself slashing .361/.388/.569 with five home runs and 25 RBIs in 35 games for the Class AA Corpus Christi Hooks.

The Astros had seen enough and quickly called up Altuve, bypassing AAA entirely, to make his first Major League at-bat on July 20, 2011, against the Washington Nationals.

Altuve went 1-5 that game, but little did he know then he had kicked off a piece of Houston Astros history.

Over the first seven games of his MLB career, Altuve had at least one hit, tying him with Russ Johnson for the club record for most consecutive games with a hit to begin a career.

Altuve was hitting an incredible .423 at that point but eventually cooled to finish with a .276/.297/.357 slash line.

With five Silver Sluggers and three batting titles to his name in twelve MLB seasons, Altuve continues to be one of the best hitters in the game.

2011 Topps #100 Albert Pujols

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $50

A mixture of bad timing, poor communication, and an always-controversial roster rule kept Albert Pujols out of the 2011 MLB All-Star Game, ending his streak of consecutive Midsummer Classics at eight.

After slumping to start the season, the hulking St. Louis Cardinals first baseman returned to All-Star form before suffering a fractured left wrist in mid-June.

That's where things got wacky.

Milwaukee's Prince Fielder earned the first base start for the Senior Circuit, and Cincinnati's Joey Votto was a no-doubt pick as a backup.

National League manager Bruce Bochy was not looped in on Pujols' condition heading into the All-Star Game selection deadline, leaving the San Francisco Giants skipper little choice but to look elsewhere to round out the depth chart.

The reality was that Pujols was good to go.

However, Bochy picked Florida Marlins standout Gaby Sanchez as the final first base pick to ensure Florida had a representative in Arizona.

Thus, Pujols was left out in a season where he finished fifth in the NL's MVP balloting.

The 31-year-old superstar ended the year slashing .299/.366/.541 with 37 home runs, 29 doubles, 105 runs scored, and 99 RBIs in 651 plate appearances (579 at-bats).

And come the postseason, he was on another level, leading St. Louis from a 90-win Wild Card berth to a second World Series title in six years.

2011 Topps #200 Ichiro

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $50

2011 was the year that Ichiro finally looked mortal at the plate.

Since starting his professional baseball journey with the Orix Blue Wave of the Nippon Baseball League in 1992, the legendary outfielder posted a .300 batting average or better for 19 straight seasons through the 2010 campaign.

But in 2011, the 37-year-old superstar hit just .272 with an uncharacteristic .645 OPS.

In comparison, Suzuki's lowest full-season OPS in the Majors to that point was .747 in 2008, over 100 points better than his 2011 mark.

He also amassed less than 200 hits (184) and posted an OPS+ under 100 (86) for the first time in eleven MLB seasons.

Two decades of pro ball were catching up to Ichiro.

What's worse was that his (relative) struggles were coming at a low point for the Mariners organization.

After winning 61 games in 2010, Seattle finished at 67-95 in 2011 for the franchise's sixth losing season in eight years.

Within a year, the Mariners would press reset on the whole thing and end the Ichiro era abruptly, trading their longtime face of the franchise to the New York Yankees for a pair of relievers.

2011 Topps #330 Derek Jeter

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $50

As one of the most clutch players in Yankees history, Derek Jeter seized the moment perfectly with a dramatic introduction to baseball's 3,000-hit club.

Six hits away from 3,000 in mid-June, New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter suffered a calf strain that sidelined him for 18 games.

Followed by HBO documentary cameras during his rehab process, Jeter opened up about himself and his pursuit of baseball immortality in a way he'd never done before.

And with cameras rolling from every angle, Jeter made sure to give HBO a show worth airing.

Two hits shy heading into a July 9th home game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Jeter took his spot as the 28th member of the 3,000-hit club with a 5-for-5 day now etched in Yankees lore.

His 3,000th hit was a solo shot in the 3rd inning that tied the game at one.

His 3,003rd hit (and last of the day) was an RBI single that put the Yankees ahead for good in the 8th.

In true Jeter fashion, the Yankees shortstop went above and beyond the moment at hand.

The 97-win Yankees eventually fell well short of their championship aspirations with a five-game ALDS loss to the Detroit Tigers.

2011 Topps #150 Miguel Cabrera

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $40

With just one playoff appearance from 1988-2010 (2006), the Detroit Tigers' comedy of errors was a running punchline for two-plus decades.

In his fourth year with the club, Miguel Cabrera helped Detroit silence those laughs.

Cabrera was consistently brilliant from start to finish in 2011, posting an MLB-best .344 batting average for his first of three-straight AL batting titles.

He also led the Majors in on-base percentage (.448) and doubles (48) while logging a career-best 7.6 bWAR for Detroit's first division championship squad since 1987.

He also topped 100 runs scored (111) and 100 RBIs (105) while playing in an AL-best 161 of 162 regular-season games.

In the postseason, Cabrera was predictably excellent.

In 11 playoff contests against the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers, he slashed a blistering .314/.489/.771 with four home runs, 12 walks, four doubles, seven runs scored, ten RBIs, and two stolen bases.

The Tigers couldn't capitalize on Cabrera's otherworldly October and lost to the Rangers in the ALCS in six.

However, Cabrera's top-five finish in the AL MVP race and sixth All-Star campaign was a warning shot of epic proportions, followed by back-to-back MVP years (2012-13).

2011 Topps #198 Buster Posey

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $40

Fresh off a Rookie of the Year campaign and the first of three World Series titles in five years, young San Francisco Giants backstop Buster Posey was riding high by the Bay in early 2011.

And then, his season came to a screeching halt with a play that changed the game of baseball forever.

In the season's first 46 games, the 24-year-old star slashed .284/.368/.389 with four home runs and 21 RBIs in 162 at-bats.

The Giants were 27-19 heading into a home series with the Florida Marlins, looking every bit the contender for a repeat World Series engagement.

Things changed dramatically in the second game of a three-game Marlins sweep when Florida outfielder Scott Cousins barreled into Posey at home plate after tagging up on a sacrifice fly.

Posey suffered torn ligaments in his left ankle and a fractured fibula in a violent collision that reverberated for years.

Just like that, Posey's season was over.

While Posey would recover and play an MVP-caliber role for San Francisco's 2012 and 2014 title teams, his injury in 2011 forced the hands of baseball's decision-makers.

In 2014, MLB instituted rules that prevented a runner from initiating "an avoidable collision" at home plate.

2011 Topps #282 Buster Posey

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $40

To commemorate Posey's 2010 Rookie of the Year honor, Topps released this card in Series One packs and you can see the "2010 Rookie of the Year" along the bottom just above his name.

During his rookie campaign, Posey slashed .305/.357/.505 with 18 home runs, 67 RBIs and 58 runs scored in 108 games (406 at-bats).

He received 20 first place votes in the NL Rookie of the Year vote and his 129 vote points outpaced Atlanta's Jason Heyward who 107 vote points for his impressive debut performance.

2011 Topps #335 Buster Posey

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $40

I like Posey's rookie cup card #198 from Series One better than this card that appeared in Series Two from an aesthetic standpoint.

Posey was one of the biggest young names in the game at that point so seeing Topps issue multiple cards for him in this set should be no surprise.

2011 Topps #110 Aroldis Chapman Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $35

A year away from taking over the Cincinnati Reds’ closer role and simultaneously becoming a perennial All-Star, Aroldis Chapman showed flashes of his forthcoming game-breaking dominance in 2011.

As the reigning NL Central champs sputtered to a 79-83 record and failed to make the playoffs, Chapman worked out the kinks in his delivery in 53 relief appearances.

Possessing an explosive triple-digit fastball with electric movement, Chapman struggled to harness his high-octane stuff in his first full year with the Reds.

The 23-year-old left walked a career-worst 41 batters in 50 innings pitched, issuing a ghastly 7.4 walks per 9 innings.

On the plus side, Chapman struck out 71 batters and gave up just 24 hits in a variety of high-leverage situations.

His 3.60 ERA and not-so-great 1.300 WHIP only told part of the story because when Chapman was locked in, he was virtually unhittable.

His massive upside in the future made his wildness in the present less worrisome.

By 2012, Chapman had it down, fine-tuning his electric pitch repertoire en route to becoming a legit Cy Young candidate.

2011 Topps #146 Roy Halladay

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $35

After winning the NL Cy Young Award in 2010 and leading the Philadelphia Phillies to within two games of a third-straight World Series appearance, Roy Halladay was a man on a mission in 2011.

The future first-ballot Hall of Famer finished the year at 19-6 with a career-high 220 strikeouts and his best ERA since 1998 (2.35).

Halladay finished with four first-place votes to Clayton Kershaw’s 27, finishing as the league’s Cy Young runner-up for the second time in four years.

In the NLDS, the 102-win AL East champion Phillies faced a molten-hot St. Louis Cardinals squad that had fought back from a massive Wild Card deficit in September.

Halladay was given the ball for Games 1 and 5.

In Game 1, the Phillies picked Doc up after he gave up a three-run shot to Lance Berkman in the 1st inning, scoring 11 unanswered runs as Halladay settled in to retire 21 straight in a convincing Philly win.

In the deciding Game 5, Halladay squared off with his former Toronto Blue Jays teammate and close friend Chris Carpenter.

Halladay was great, giving up just one run on four hits in eight innings.

However, Carpenter was better, tossing a complete-game three-hit shutout to oust the two-time defending NL champs, 1-0.

2011 Topps #169 Chipper Jones

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $35

2010 and 2011 were two of the most emotionally draining years of Chipper Jones' Hall of Fame career.

In 2010, Jones blew out his left knee in mid-August and could not help his Braves teammates in a tense five-game NLDS loss to the eventual World Series champion Giants.

After the 2010 campaign, manager Bobby Cox called it a career, leaving a hole in the Braves clubhouse that couldn't be filled.

Jones was able to return for Opening Day in 2011, but the 39-year-old third baseman was still dealing with plenty of aches and pains daily.

He missed 36 games in 2011, slashing .275/.344/.470 with 18 home runs and 70 RBIs in 455 at-bats for Cox's handpicked successor, Fredi Gonzalez.

During the year, Jones passed Yankees legend Mickey Mantle with his 1,510th RBI, placing him second only to Eddie Murray for the most runs batted in by a switch hitter in MLB history.

However, the year ended on a bitter note.

The Braves had an 8.5-game lead in the NL Wild Card race at the beginning of September.

Then they went 9-18 in the campaign's final month, losing out on a playoff spot by a game to St. Louis with a season-ending five-game losing streak.

2011 Topps #315 David Ortiz

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $35

The Boston Red Sox finished a game out of a playoff spot in 2011, losing out on an AL Wild Card spot to the Tampa Bay Rays with a 4-3 loss to Baltimore on the season's final day.

It was a brutal way for the season to end for the 90-win Red Sox.

But there was plenty to like about their accomplishments before the season's heartbreaking finale.

One of the bright spots for Boston was the re-emergence of designated hitter David Ortiz as an elite hitting threat.

After seeing his batting average dip considerably in the previous three seasons, Ortiz posted the second-best full-season mark of his career thus far with a .309 finish.

The 35-year-old slugger posted an OPS over .900 for the first time since 2008 (.953), exhibiting a much more discerning eye at the dish.

And after striking out 145 times in 518 at-bats the year before, Ortiz K'd just 83 times in 525 at-bats in 2011.

Ortiz's 29 home runs and 96 RBIs were pretty on-brand compared to recent years.

Yet, it was the patient way Big Papi produced in 2011 that kicked off his late-career renaissance in style.

2011 Topps #5 Joey Votto

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $30

Reigning NL MVP Joey Votto couldn't carry an inconsistent, snake-bitten Cincinnati Reds squad to a second-straight postseason in 2011.

However, he still put together a worthy encore to his 2010 breakthrough.

After signing a three-year, $38 million deal in the offseason to remain in Cincy, the 27-year-old first baseman busted out of the gates in a full sprint in 2011.

Votto reached base in the team's first 27 games, finishing April with an eye-popping .370 batting average.

While he cooled off from that torrid pace, the now two-time All-Star was still one of the game's most feared hitters.

Votto led the National League in doubles (40), on-base percentage (.416), and walks (110).

And with 103 RBIs on the year, he became the first Reds player since Dave Parker to post back-to-back 100-RBI seasons (1985-86).

Overall, Votto hit .309 with a .947 OPS, 29 home runs, and 101 runs scored.

He also turned heads with his slick glove work at first, earning the only Gold Glove of his career thus far.

The Reds' fall from contention cost Votto at the ballot box, though, as he followed up his 2010 MVP triumph with a sixth-place finish in 2011.

2011 Topps #65 Chris Sale Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $30

In 2012, Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale kicked off a stunning streak of seven-straight All-Star nods and seven-straight AL Cy Young finishes of sixth or better.

Just a year prior, Sale wasn't even a starter yet.

At the tender age of 22, Sale made his full-season debut with the Sox as a high-leverage reliever.

Whenever manager Ozzie Guillen needed him to get a few outs, Sale performed.

The young Florida native made 58 appearances out of the bullpen, finishing 17 games and saving eight.

He ended the year with a 2.79 ERA, striking out 79 batters in 71.0 innings pitched.

While Sale was still working on controlling his pitch mix and hitting corners consistently (his 3.4 BB/9 is the second-worst of his career so far), he still showcased elite stuff.

And he pitched with a tenacious on-mound presence in the toughest of game situations.

The Sox finished at 79-83, out of the playoffs for the third-straight year.

The postseason drought would only get longer, but Sale's transition to a starting role in 2012 was the dawning of a new ace on the Southside.

2011 Topps #275 Clayton Kershaw

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $30

After an impressive finish to the 2010 MLB campaign, the Los Angeles Dodgers tabbed 23-year-old lefty Clayton Kershaw as their Opening Day starter for 2011.

Kershaw was more than up to the task, bringing home the Dodgers' first Cy Young trophy since Eric Gagne in 2003 with a banner year.

The first Dodgers hurler to secure the NL pitching Triple Crown since Sandy Koufax back in 1966, Kershaw led the National League in wins (21), strikeouts (248), and ERA (2.24), the latter serving as the best mark for a starter in all of baseball.

What's wackier is that Detroit's Justin Verlander, on the AL side, also earned a pitching Triple Crown in 2011.

It was the first time since 1924 that a pitcher accomplished the feat in both leagues during the same season.

While the Dodgers failed to make the playoffs at 83-78, Kershaw made a second-straight playoff miss easier to stomach in Chavez Ravine.

His five complete games and epic, generation-defining showdowns with San Francisco's Tim Lincecum were jolts of electricity for a Dodgers fan base desperate for a winner.

In four starts against Lincecum, Kershaw went 4-0 with a minuscule 0.30 ERA in 30.1 innings pitched.

Interest in the Dodgers/Giants rivalry was skyrocketing, and Kershaw's brilliance was a big reason for it.

2011 Topps Update #186 J.D. Martinez Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $25

Like Jose Altuve, J.D. Martinez's career began with the Houston Astros when they drafted him in the 20th round of the 2009 MLB Draft out of Nova Southeastern University.

And like Altuve, Martinez started with the Greeneville Astros and worked his way up to the Class AA Corpus Christi Hooks.

Ten days after the Houston Astros called up Altuve from the Hooks, the team called up Martinez to make his MLB debut on July 30, 2011, replacing the recently-traded Hunter Pence.

And like Altuve had done by hitting safely in the first seven games of his career to set a club record, Martinez established his own team record in August by driving in 28 runs.

That was the most any Houston Astros rookie had ever driven in during one month as a rookie.

Over twelve seasons, Martinez has played for the Astros, Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Boston Red Sox, with whom he's been since 2018.

And that first season with the Red Sox in 2018 has been the greatest of his career so far.

Not only did he help the team to a World Series title, but Martinez also became the first and only player in MLB history to win two Silver Sluggers in the same season, one as an outfielder and the other as a DH.

2011 Topps Baseball Cards In Review

I think it's safe to say that Topps did a great job of commemorating an incredible 60 years in the business with this set.

The number of chase cards available to collectors may have seemed overwhelming at the time but, in retrospect, it was great to see Topps offer so much variety.

From a design standpoint, I liked how Topps kept things nice and clean without trying to go over the top in celebrating their 60th anniversary.

Over time, the Freddie Freeman rookie has remained the key card from the 2011 Topps base run, while rookie cards of Mike Trout, Jose Altuve, Paul Goldschmidt, Anthony Rizzo and J.D. Martinez turned out to be the big winners from 2011 Topps Update.

Big names like Albert Pujols, Ichiro, David Ortiz, Derek Jeter, Miguel Cabrera and Clayton Kershaw help round out a solid checklist.

Overall, Topps did a great job with this set by balancing an excellent design with plenty of chase cards.