2026 Topps Update Rookies: All 111 Players on the Checklist

2026 Topps Update rookies are easy to count once you open Topps' own Update Series checklist: 134 of the 350 base cards carry the Rookie tag, and they belong to 111 players. This page lists every one by card number and ranks the ten who appear most often across the whole checklist, using only Topps' PDFs, checked October 10, 2026.

TL;DR: 111 rookies, 134 Rookie-tagged base cards (85 Rookies, 40 Rookie Debut, 7 Veteran Combos, 2 Season Highlights). Konnor Griffin is US1 and appears on 60 checklist lines, the most of any rookie, ahead of Kevin McGonigle (56) and JJ Wetherholt (54). Munetaka Murakami is US350. The 1952 rookie variation is 1:5,952 in hobby and 1:1,451 in jumbo.

How many 2026 Topps Update rookies are there? (quick answer)

There are 111 rookies with a base card in 2026 Topps Update Series. The official checklist tags 134 base cards as Rookie, because 18 players have more than one base card, usually a Rookies card plus a Rookie Debut card. Another 32 players carry the Rookie tag only on autograph, relic or insert cards.

Key Takeaways

• 134 Rookie-tagged base cards, 111 players, from the official Topps checklist (our count).
• Most checklist lines: Konnor Griffin 60, Kevin McGonigle 56, JJ Wetherholt 54, Munetaka Murakami 49, Travis Bazzana 48.
• First and last card: Griffin is US1, Murakami is US350.
• 1952 rookie variation: 25 rookies, 1:5,952 in hobby, 1:1,451 in jumbo (official odds sheet).
• Two numbering quirks: US21 and US136 name different players in the 1952 list than in the base set.
• Data, not advice: the ranking counts cards on a checklist. It says nothing about value.

Overview

The source is Topps' official 2026 Update Series checklist, a 65-page PDF, and its odds sheet. The product releases October 14, 2026, per Topps' product page and release calendar. Box formats and full odds are in our 2026 Topps Update Series checklist and odds guide; this page is only about the rookies.

How we ranked. We extracted the checklist text and counted, for each rookie, every line that names him: base cards, the variation lists, inserts, autographs and relics. A player on more lines has more different cards to chase. Parallels such as Gold or Foilfractor are not separate lines on the checklist, so they do not change the count. The count is ours, not Topps', and it ranks breadth, not scarcity or price.

The base set splits into six sections. The rookies sit in two of them, Rookies (85 cards) and Rookie Debut (40 cards), and a few more appear on Veteran Combos and Season Highlights cards next to a teammate.

Card image: Topps (Topps Ripped collector guide)

The 10 2026 Topps Update rookies with the most cards

1. Konnor Griffin, Pittsburgh Pirates (60 lines)

Griffin is US1 in the Rookies section and US255 in Rookie Debut. He also shares US80 with Oneil Cruz in Veteran Combos and has a Season Highlights card at US99, the only rookie in the top ten with four base cards. Topps' box guide lists him among the six "First Flagship Rookies." He is on the 1952 rookie variation and its autograph version, Flagship Real One Autographs, Rookie Sensations (RS-9) and Heavy Lumber (HL-46).

2. Kevin McGonigle, Detroit Tigers (56 lines)

US7 in Rookies, US140 in Rookie Debut and US26 on a Veteran Combos card with Gleyber Torres. McGonigle has the most autograph lines of any rookie in the top ten, twelve, from Flagship Real One Autographs to the 1991 Topps Baseball Autographs and the 2026 All Star Game autograph parallel. He is HA-42 in Home Field and HL-48 in Heavy Lumber.

3. JJ Wetherholt, St. Louis Cardinals (54 lines)

US50 and US245, plus US176 on Veteran Combos. Topps' collector guide names him with Joe Mack as rookies to look for in Flagship Real One Autographs. He opens the Home Field insert at HA-41 and is HL-47 in Heavy Lumber.

4. Munetaka Murakami, Chicago White Sox (49 lines)

Murakami has no card in the Rookies section. He is Rookie Debut US350, the last card of the set, plus US103 on Veteran Combos and US246 in Season Highlights. He is also not in the 1952 rookie variation list, so he has no 1952 card or 1952 autograph. Topps' collector guide lists him in the 1991 Topps Baseball insert's rookie class.

5. Travis Bazzana, Cleveland Guardians (48 lines)

US75 and US278. In its section on the Base Card Rookie 1952 Variation, Topps' collector guide names Bazzana with Carson Benge and Kevin McGonigle "among the names to keep an eye out for." He has eleven autograph lines, second among the top ten.

6. Carson Benge, New York Mets (40 lines)

US3 and US250, HA-52 in Home Field and HL-49 in Heavy Lumber. His 1952 variation is pictured below.

7. Justin Crawford, Philadelphia Phillies (39 lines)

US2 in Rookies and US23 in Rookie Debut. He is HL-50 in Heavy Lumber and HA-55 in Home Field.

8. Andrew Painter, Philadelphia Phillies (36 lines)

US63 in Rookies and US57 in Rookie Debut. He and Noah Schultz are the two top-ten rookies in the All Aces insert, and Painter is HA-56 in Home Field.

9. Noah Schultz, Chicago White Sox (35 lines)

US105 and US158, in All Aces and on the 1952 variation list at US105.

10. Sal Stewart, Cincinnati Reds (33 lines)

US97 in Rookie Debut and US337 in Veteran Combos, with no Rookies-section card. He is RS-7 in Rookie Sensations, HL-56 in Heavy Lumber and HA-51 in Home Field.

GODEEPER: What a hobby, jumbo or value box guarantees before you chase any of these rookies. Sports Card Boxes Explained: Hobby vs Jumbo vs Blaster →

Honorable Mentions

Roman Anthony (32 lines) and Kazuma Okamoto (31) just miss the cut; both are Rookie Debut players with a Veteran Combos card. Elmer Rodríguez (28), Owen Caissie (26) and Cam Schlittler (26) follow. Carter Jensen (24) is one Topps singles out by name in Heavy Lumber, and his card is shown below.

Card image: Topps (Topps Ripped collector guide)

Analysis: rookie odds on the 2026 Topps Update Series sheet

Topps' odds sheet gives each rookie set its own line. The ratios cover the whole set, not one player, and Topps says "actual contents and odds may vary."

The 1952 rookie variation list has 25 cards and the autograph version 24. Rising Rookie Relic Cards list 39 rookies. Rookie Sensations, RS-1 Roman Anthony to RS-10 JJ Wetherholt, sits under a "Club Box Exclusive" heading on the checklist and has no line on the odds sheet we read.

Card image: Topps (Topps Ripped collector guide)

Analysis: two numbering quirks and 32 rookies without a base card

Card numbers that change. In the base set US21 is Jac Caglianone and US136 is Jacob Misiorowski. In the Base Card Rookie 1952 Variation list, US21 is Connor Prielipp and US136 is JR Ritchie. In the 1952 autograph list US21 is Prielipp again, and Walbert Ureña's name loses its tilde ("Walbert Urena"). One autograph line also spells Yohendrick Piñango as "Yonendrick Pinango." If you are after one specific card, search the checklist by player name, not only by number.

Rookie tags with no base card. Our count finds 32 more players tagged Rookie on autograph, relic or insert lines but with no Update Series base card, including Brady House, Harry Ford, Christian Moore, Hunter Barco and Parker Messick. Hunter Barco, for example, is card 398 in Flagship Real One Autographs and has a 1991 Topps Baseball autograph. Their rookie cards in this product are hits only.

GODEEPER: Update Series lands October 14; here is everything else Topps and Panini have dated through November. Sports Card Release Calendar 2026: Oct and Nov Dates →

Every 2026 Topps Update Series rookie by card number

All 111 players with a Rookie-tagged base card, sorted by their lowest number. Cards without a label are in the Rookies section; Debut is Rookie Debut, Combo is Veteran Combos and Highlight is Season Highlights.

Community: what collectors are saying

On r/baseballcards, u/20PercentChunkier wrote: "I feel like update is usually the best set of the three every year because it often has the best rookie checklist" (comment). When the checklist went up in September, u/Iceman829 noticed who was missing: "No Spencer Jones or Luis Garcia Jr has me bummed" (comment). Neither name appears on the checklist text we extracted.

Our take

Based on the official checklist and odds sheet: the six rookies Topps calls First Flagship Rookies all rank in our top seven by checklist lines. The seventh is Murakami, who is not on that list but has three base cards. If you collect one player, the numbers above tell you how many different cards exist; the odds sheet tells you the jumbo column is where the 1952 rookie variation and rookie autographs come shortest. Watch the US21 and US136 quirk before you buy a single by number.

Frequently Asked Questions

The FAQ block on this page answers the five common questions: the rookie count, Griffin's and Murakami's card numbers, 1952 variation odds and rookie autographs.

How we checked this

We downloaded the official checklist and odds PDFs on October 10, 2026 and extracted the text with a PDF reader. Rookie counts, the ranking and the table were produced from that text by script and spot-checked by hand against the PDF. Topps' box guide and collector guide on Topps Ripped were read in a browser the same day. Full source table: data/sources/2026-topps-update-series-rookies.sources.md.

References

• Topps checklist, 2026 Update Series (PDF): https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0662/9749/5709/files/2026_Topps_Update_Series_Baseball_Checklist_9-4.pdf?v=1789146002
• Topps odds sheet, 2026 Update Series (PDF): https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0662/9749/5709/files/2026_Topps_Baseball_Updates_Series_Odds.pdf?v=1790610141
• Topps Ripped box guide: https://ripped.topps.com/2026-topps-update-series-baseball-box-guide/
• Topps Ripped collector guide: https://ripped.topps.com/2026-topps-update-series-baseball-collector-guide-top-cards/
• Topps product page: https://www.topps.com/pages/topps-updates-baseball

Related Reading

• 2026 Topps Allen & Ginter Checklist, Odds and Box Guide: 59 of the same rookie class on minis, Rip Cards and Chrome variations.
• PSA Grading Fees 2026: what it costs to grade a rookie card, tier by tier.