Top 5 hitters to chase in 2026 Topps Series 1 Baseball

The release of Series 1 baseball, which happens to be this coming Wednesday, Feb. 11, is always a fun one to mark on the calendar. It is one of, if not the most iconic set releases across all of the hobby. It checks all the boxes of awesome looking inserts, fun auto chases, and of course the entire new class of rookies to hunt after. And this year’s iteration of Series 1 has quite the lengthy list of rookies to go after, so many in fact that this is actually going to be a two-part series on what rookies to chase.

We’re going to start with the guys at the dish. While the list of hitters to chase isn’t quite as deep as the guys on the mound, there are still some truly dynamic bats that collectors are going to be eager to get their hands on. 

5. Jakob Marsee

Marsee is the most intriguing one on this list because he’s the one that didn’t have a very high pedigree when he was drafted. Originally a sixth round pick by the Padres in the 2022 MLB Draft, he was sent to the Marlins in exchange for Luis Arraez in May of 2024 and became as high as the 12th prospect in the Marlins’ system before debuting in 2025. 

While he only played 55 games in his rookie campaign as a 24-year-old, Marsee showed immense promise. He was able to accrue nearly 2 bWAR in those 55 games, with an OPS of .842 and showed some strong ability in the field in that limited sample size.

His underlying numbers are impressive too, particularly his strong plate discipline, chasing pitches only 19.9% of the time and swinging and missing only 19.5% of the time. 

While not coming up as the most exciting prospect, Marsee is certainly someone to keep eyes on entering 2026 and given the state of the rest of the Marlins’ outfield, he should be given a pretty long runway to prove he’s the real deal. 

4. Jac Caglianone

The Major League debut of Jac Caglianone didn’t go quite as anticipated, but it is by no means abnormal for an eventually great player to struggle out of the gate. There is no need to look further than guys like Mike Trout or Aaron Judge, who faced similar challenges upon their debut, with Judge even being called up at an older age than Caglianone was last year.

There isn’t much of a cause for concern for Caglianone, and he’s still going to be one of the premier chases of Series 1. He showed truly elite bat speed in his limited sample size and that is a good sign to be able to turn things around. His strikeout rate and walk rate were also around league average, showing that it maybe wasn’t all quite as bad as it seemed. 

And again, it is hard to judge a 22-year-old off of 232 plate appearances. The Royals could choose to be patient with him this season, letting him develop more in the minor leagues, however given the barren state of their outfield, there could be some pressure on the team to let him work through his struggles on the Major League roster. 

3. Kyle Teel

Playing catcher at a Major League level at the age of 23 is not something many people can do, but Kyle Teel showed that it can indeed be done. While his fielding ability still needs some work, the hitting skills showed up. 

Teel walked at a 12.5% rate in his almost 300 plate appearances for the White Sox last season, which would be among the league leaders in a larger sample size. A low chase rate pairs well with a high walk rate, and his launch angle in that sample was also among the elites. Pairing an elite launch angle with an elite walk rate will typically make for a productive player and there is still so much room for him to improve, offensively and defensively. 

The White Sox are going to be a pretty highly contested spot to get in group breaks of Series 1, because Teel isn’t the only White Sox player that collectors are going to be hunting.

2. Colson Montgomery

Colson Montgomery had what can only be described as an elite rookie season. In just 284 plate appearances, Montgomery clubbed 21 homers and slugged .529 as a 23-year-old shortstop. His bat speed is second to none, same with his barrel rate. The strikeout numbers were slightly concerning but most guys that slug that many homers do strikeout quite a bit. A league-average walk rate helps supplement that strikeout rate. 

The other fun thing about Montgomery is that he showed a truly elite fielding ability. While fielding metrics in small sample sizes can get funky, Montgomery accounted for seven Outs Above Average, showing that he can adeptly field his position with the best of them. At 6’3 and 215 pounds, Montgomery is built exactly the same as Corey Seager and with his fielding and hitting tools, that could very well be his Major League comparison. 

Between that and the bat skills, Montgomery seems like he’s going to be a very real player for the White Sox this year, and many, many more. 

1. Roman Anthony

Was there ever any doubt as to who the number one chase would be? If it weren’t for getting injured, Anthony would have had one of the best rookie seasons we’ve seen in quite some time. 

Everything about his 303 plate appearance sample size looks legit. Do you like hitting for average? He hit .292. Do you prefer OBP to batting average? Thanks to a truly elite walk rate, he had an OBP just shy of .400 and .396. That walk rate didn’t stop him from hitting for power though. No, in fact Anthony slugged .463 and despite only hitting eight homers, he also mashed 18 doubles in that span as well. He hits to all fields, hits with power to all fields, and can hold his own in the outfield as well. 

You don’t need me to tell you that this guy is legit, everything he does on the baseball field tells you that about him. The only flaw in his game is his strikeout rate, but even that is made moot by his elite ability to draw walks and how hard he hits the ball. 

Anthony is going to be the face of 2026 Topps Series 1 and in a couple years he could very easily be one of the faces of Major League Baseball. It’s going to be really fun to watch his, and everyone else on this list, as they are hopefully able to ascend to star status. 

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Next week we’re going to head from the batter’s box to the mound, as we’ll talk about the five best pitcher chases in Series 1, where there are going to be some very difficult cuts to make to narrow it down to five.