Every year, baseball (and video game) fans eagerly await the unveiling of the athlete who will be on the cover of the MLB The Show game from San Diego Studios (SDS).
While the official announcement mostly comes a few weeks after the arrival of the new year, fans don't wait that long to speculate on the next star to be highlighted on the cover. It goes without saying that the discussions do not stop, because they start again as soon as the athlete's name is revealed by the American company behind the franchise.
For the 2024 campaign, several names are coming back to the forefront.
Among the most popular are Ronald Acuña Jr. with the Atlanta Braves, Julio Rodriguez with the Seattle Mariners and Elly De La Cruz with the Cincinnati Reds.
Could Juan Soto get coverage in 2024, having just been acquired by the New York Yankees at a high price? Nothing is impossible.
It shouldn't be a surprise to see Ohtani in a Dodgers uniform for next year. I don't think it will be next year, in 2024, but in my opinion, it will be back within a few years.
Besides Ohtani, there has never been a pitcher as a featured athlete on MLB The Show. Why not in the near future?
My vote still goes to Elly De La Cruz for 2024.
He is electrifying, a complete future star of major league baseball and he can be quite lucrative on the marketing side. I believe he too will get his cover: if not in 2024, it will be later.
My “left field” pick is Adley Rutschman of the Baltimore Orioles. SDS, however, has the trick of surprising us and that's good!
A little history
You have to go back to 1998 to see the first athlete (listed) on the cover of a baseball game from the MLB franchise (The Show) sold on the PlayStation console. At the time, the game was produced by Sony Interactive Studios.
Bernie Williams of the New York Yankees received this honor. A year before, in 1996, Williams had another very good season. The sequel will be just as productive with, among other things, several World Series conquests.
The years passed and in 2002, 989 SPORTS teamed up with Sony to take care of the game. A year later, the powerful Barry Bonds was chosen to appear on the cover of the game. He was at the end of his career, he is 38 years old, but his successes speak for themselves. He truly represents what baseball and video game fans want to embody.
It was also an era of hitters in major league baseball.
In 2006, the franchise became MLB The Show in reference to the moment when an athlete is recalled to the majors, therefore in the Show.
Two for the price of one
It was not until 2010-2011 that we saw the same athlete cover the game for two consecutive years. Minnesota Twins star catcher Joe Mauer will have this honor.
He had success before being chosen and he will have success afterward. One of the best catchers in the history of major baseball and his candidacy did not displease fans.
In 2016, Toronto Blue Jays fans were thrilled to learn that Josh Donaldson was chosen to be on the cover of MLB The Show. What a year 2015 was for him, in addition to being voted MVP in the American League.
For the year 2017, fans are overjoyed when they learn that it is the legend Ken Griffey Jr. who can be found on the cover of the game. Nostalgic fans are happy and it is also in these years that the game is starting to really stand out with new game modes.
Even though the “Road to the Show” mode has existed for several years now, technology allows creators to develop their product as we know it today.
Sho Time
In 2022, a year after the game's arrival on Xbox and Nintendo Switch, baseball fans are intrigued to say the least since the announcement of the athlete who will be on the cover of the game is made with great fanfare by Time Square in New York.
Many came to the site to find out who the lucky winner would be and they were not disappointed.
In 2023, San Diego Studios has bet on Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the Miami Marlins.
The narrative of this choice is interesting. We learn several things about Jazz in the game's introductory video.
We know that in 1912, an athlete named Ben Henderson invented the Jazz Curve, a pitcher who will become the curveball. This will be available in several styles and will always be difficult to hit… except when you drop it in the heart of home plate.
A few years later, the Jazz musical style would be created.
SDS also tells us that Chisholm Jr.'s grandmother, Patricia Coakley, will play shortstop for the Bahamas national softball team and that at the age of two, she will teach her little one -son to become the athlete he is today.
So who do you think will make history in 2024 by being the cover athlete of MLB The Show 24?
