MLB The Show is the most popular baseball video game in the United States. Sony has yet to announce who will grace the cover of the 2023 edition of the hit video game.
MLB The Show 22 announced that Shohei Ohtani would be on the cover of last year’s game Jan. 31, 2022. At the time of publication, it is Jan. 25, 2023. An announcement should be coming soon.
So who will land on the cover for MLB The Show 23? Here are five potential candidates:
1) Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels — Mike Trout is one of the best baseball players of the new millennium. He has not yet graced the cover, so perhaps 2023 will be his year.
2) Aaron Judge, New York Yankees — Aaron Judge is coming off a historic season in which he set a new American League home run record with 62 long balls. Judge is at the apex of his career. If we were running a “Who’s Now?” bracket, as ESPN used until 15 years ago, for the sport of baseball, Judge would probably be the champion. He’s at the top of the sport in the biggest city in the country. He just received a record nine-year, $360 million contract to re-sign with the club, and he is arguably the most recognizable current player on the planet. Judge did however grace the cover in 2018, and MLB The Show has not ever had a repeat cover athlete. So Judge could be the first, or he could be out of the running. I guess we’ll find out soon.
3) Justin Verlander, New York Mets — At age 39, coming off Tommy John surgery, Justin Verlander put together perhaps his finest season, logging a 1.75 ERA and winning his third American League Cy Young Award. Verlander has not yet been featured on the cover of The Show.
4) Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers — Like Trout, Betts is one of the game’s most established stars, and is a generational talent that has not made the cover. Perhaps 2023 is his year.
5) Julio Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners — If MLB The Show wants to place a rising star on its cover, as it did two years ago when Fernando Tatis Jr. was tagged as the cover athlete, Julio Rodriguez would be a great selection. Rodriguez put together a fantastic rookie season that bested Ken Griffey Jr.’s rookie season in a number of statistical categories. Rodriguez helped the Mariners make the postseason for the first time in 21 years.
Check out the latest episode of the Jack Vita Show for more MLB offseason analysis!
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