According to the report, Chris Sale turned to Pokémon cards at the end of the 2022 season while sidelined by a string of injuries. Sale had fractured a rib, a pinky and a wrist in separate incidents over five months and said, “I’ll be completely honest with you…I was losing it,” as he searched for a diversion from baseball.
The report says Sale’s first entry into collecting followed a discovery by his brother-in-law, Rob Aron, who found a binder of vintage cards and unopened packs while cleaning out his parents’ house. The find reminded Sale of the late-1990s Pokémon craze, when teammates would bring binders into the dugout to trade. On Sept. 17, 2022, Sale bought his first card — a 1999 Base Set Charizard — saying, “if I’m going to get into this, I’m going to go for the big dog.”
Since then, Sale has built a sizable collection, logging thousands of cards graded by Professional Sports Authenticators, almost all receiving gem-mint 10 grades, and storing boxes in what he calls his “Pokémon lair,” the report states. Teammates and other players are similarly invested: Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski reportedly seeks cards in shops while traveling, assembled a large binder and even redecorated a basement bathroom in the theme. Custom gloves for Misiorowski and Dodgers reliever Will Klein reportedly include see-through pockets to hold cards.
The trend extends across the majors. The report notes that Los Angeles Angels stars Mike Trout and Zach Neto opened packs earlier this season and pulled a Charizard, with both homering the following day. Texas’ Jordan Montgomery and Jake Burger, Chicago’s Jameson Taillon, San Diego’s Nick Pivetta and others are identified as collectors as well. Sale and Misiorowski are described as similar pitchers physically — 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-7, 180 and 190 pounds — and the report lists matching 1.89 ERAs entering the week, with Sale 37 and Misiorowski 24.
According to the report, Pokémon began as video games in 1996 and produced cards months later, growing into a franchise now valued at about $115 billion. The hobby’s market can be lucrative: unopened vintage packs can cost thousands and individual cards often fetch tens of thousands. The report cites the Pikachu Illustrator — one of 41 copies — which Logan Paul bought for $5.275 million five years ago and which sold at auction in February for $16.5 million, underscoring the hobby’s rising profile among MLB players.
