MLB The Show, Sony San Diego Studios largest game franchise, has recently revealed the cover athlete for MLB The Show 24, but how do fans feel about the athlete?
Since its release in 2006, MLB The Show has been extremely popular amongst all baseball fans. Fans wait every single year for the release and as a big fan of the game, I can speak from experience. I get so excited every single year once the release date is announced because I know that I get early access to the game as players who play on PlayStation, gets the chance to access the game two to three days before everyone else. This is because the game started on PlayStation and San Diego Studios wants to stay loyal to their original fans.
The very first cover athlete was David “Big Papi” Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox in 2006. Since then, there have been very many great cover athletes such as now Hall of Fame catcher Joe Mauer and center fielder Ken Griffey Jr., along with soon to be Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera and also many MVPs such as Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani and Las Vegas native Bryce Harper. The cool part about catcher Joe Mauer on the cover was not only did he go back to back years, but he was also the first catcher on the cover.
This year’s cover athlete is the face of the Toronto Blue Jays, son of Hall of Fame outfielder Vladimir Guerrero Sr., and 2023 Home Run Derby champion, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Once this news was announced many fans were shocked as to why Vladdy Jr. is the cover athlete. Many are also questioning why he was chosen as the cover athlete. Don’t get me wrong, Vlad is a great player, but he didn’t have a great 2023 season. I feel that Guerrero was not deserving of the honor this year. The better option in fans opinions is Atlanta Braves star, Ronald Acuña Jr.
Acuña had an incredible season, he set records as the most stolen bases in the league this season with 70 bags, had a 40/40 season and also is the only player in the 40/70 club. This all happened just one year after his 2022 season was cut short due to a torn ACL. To say that he deserved cover athlete honors is pretty accurate.
Who knows, maybe next year’s athlete will be someone truly deserving of cover athlete honors, but until then all fans have to wait.
