Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto to Wear Special Jersey Patch for his MLB Debut
Among baseball card collectors, the Topps MLB Debut Patch became something to look forward to during its inaugural run in 2023.
This year, the patches are back — and one Dodgers pitcher is scheduled to wear one of the first collectible jersey patches of 2024.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be wearing the special patch on his jersey sleeve when he takes the mound for his major league debut against the San Diego Padres on Thursday in Seoul, South Korea.
After the game, the patches are removed from the player’s jersey, secured, and authenticated through the MLB Authenticated program. Then each patch is included in a one-of-one autograph card to be randomly inserted into Topps packs later this year.
Yamamoto will sign his special one-of-one trading card after the game, making it a unique and historical item for fans and collectors and potentially worth a six-figure value down the line.
During the first year of the program, there was a $150,000 offer for the one-of-one MLB Debut Patch card of New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe.
Padres rookie Graham Pauley made his debut during Wednesday’s opener and also wore the MLB Debut Patch.
Last year, the patches were located under the interlocking “LA” logo on the player’s left jersey sleeve and visible on television.
Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
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Yawn. Baseball patches? Baseball cards, worth a lot of money? Yawn. Cards were fun when I was a kid, but that was a long time ago. Fun to put a Mickey Mantle card and have the spokes of your bike flap it and make noise.
Baseball is a fun sport to watch or listen to. Great drama with a runner on first that likes to run in the 9th with the other teams’ slugger coming up. Every pitch is drama and exciting. But a big deal about a patch and a baseball card? Uh, no big deal. The money may be big to the players, but I enjoy the game, not the money.