Shohei Ohtani becomes PSA's fifth-most graded athlete of all time

Unsurprisingly, Shohei Ohtani was the most graded baseball player by PSA this season, with more than 150,000 cards graded in 2024, up from just more than 11,000 in 2021, according to data provided to cllct by PSA.

PSA also says the value of Ohtani cards has increased by 840% since 2021. But this surge has not been limited to the Japanese two-way star (though he has been relegated merely to destroying baseballs from the batter’s box this season rather than the pitcher’s mound).

Baseball as a whole is up in the PSA grading room this year, with 400,000 more cards placed in PSA slabs than 2023.

Ohtani still is the star of the show, becoming the fourth-most graded athlete in 2024 and the fifth-most graded all time by PSA.

Here is a list of his most graded cards by PSA:

2018 Bowman 49 Shohei Ohtani: 27.7k cards graded
2018 Topps Update US1 Shohei Ohtani: 23.5k cards graded
2018 Topps 700 Shohei Ohtani Pitching: 17.4k cards graded
2018 Topps Update US285 Shohei Ohtani: 14.8k cards graded
2018 Topps Chrome 150 Shohei Ohtani Pitching: 14.7k cards graded
2018 Topps Heritage 600 Shohei Ohtani: 11.7k cards graded
2018 Topps Chrome Update HMT1 Shohei Ohtani: 8.9k cards graded
2018 Topps Chrome Update HMT32 Shohei Ohtani: 8.9k cards graded
2018 Bowman Chrome 1 Shohei Ohtani: 7.3k cards graded
2023 Topps Now Offseason OS21 Shohei Ohtani: 6.9k cards graded

As far as his most expensive card ever sold, that record was set last month at Sotheby’s to the tune of $336,000.

His most expensive piece of memorabilia will soon be the ball he hit to cement his name as the founding member of the 50-50 Club, with bidding currently at more than $2 million at Goldin.

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Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.

Shohei Ohtani becomes PSA's fifth-most graded athlete of all time

Dodgers star was most graded MLB player of 2024, with more than 150,000 cards