5 players who should follow Tatís as MLB The Show cover athletes originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Perhaps the least surprising news in baseball history was announced last weekend: Fernando Tatís Jr. is this year’s cover athlete for MLB The Show.
After the San Diego Padres shortstop made a run at the NL MVP award in 2020 — hitting emphatic grand slams and bat flipping to the moon along the way — it was inevitable that baseball’s most marketable player be put on the front of its signature video game.
The question now becomes who follows Tatís Jr. and graces the cover next year? Here are five candidates to be the cover athlete for MLB The Show 22.
Finishing right behind Tatís Jr. in NL MVP voting last season was Juan Soto, who at 22 years old already has career accolades that include a batting title, Silver Slugger award and World Series ring.
If youthful exuberance is the direction MLB The Show is trying to embrace, there are few better options than the Nationals outfielder. He enjoys the game as much as anyone in baseball and carries himself with a positive-yet-competitive mindset that — along with his Ted Williams-esque hitting abilities — makes him one of the most fun players to watch.
Plus, who wouldn’t want to see the Soto Shuffle on the cover?
Francisco Lindor has the chance to follow Bryce Harper as a player who appears on the cover right after signing a mega-deal with his new team. Lindor is a free agent next winter and, after being traded to the New York Mets this offseason, his popularity among the common fan will be on the rise.
If there were an award for the best smile in baseball, it would’ve gone to Lindor every year of his career. The star shortstop embodies everything MLB looks for in marketable players: young, athletic, fun-loving and engaging. Just when you think he’s done something never seen before with the glove, he steps up to the plate and collects clutch hit after clutch hit.
If there’s going to be a pitcher on the cover, the most logical choice is one who plays in a large market, contends for Cy Youngs every year and throws absolute gas. That’s Gerrit Cole, who holds the distinction of being the highest-paid pitcher in baseball while also being one of only three starters to average at least 97 mph on his fastball last season.
Cole is one of the biggest names in the sport who may not be super young but is still in the prime of his career. The New York Yankees are expected to make a run at the AL pennant once again this season, giving Cole the chance to perform on the postseason stage as their No. 1 starter. If he comes through, there may not be a better choice.
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There are several Los Angeles Dodgers who would make sense here: Walker Buehler, Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager are all viable candidates. But Mookie Betts is one of the five best players in baseball, instantly recognizable to the common fan while boasting generational talent on the field.
The highlight-reel catches, the long home runs, the smirk he has at the plate, the gold chain that bounces off his chest when being mobbed by his teammates, it’s all there. Five-tool player is a phrase commonly used to describe a player who can do it all. Betts is a six-tool player, bringing the X-factor to his game that makes him a natural choice to be on the cover.
Nolan Arenado
Betts was the centerpiece of MLB’s biggest trade last offseason, but this winter it was Nolan Arenado after the Colorado Rockies shipped him to the St. Louis Cardinals. It doesn’t seem possible that the Cardinals have yet to get a player on the cover of MLB The Show given their recent runs of success and the passion of their fanbase.
But Arenado will be an instant injection of star power both in the middle of their lineup and at third base. There may not be a better two-way infielder in baseball, even with Arenado moving away from the confines of Coors Field. If he bursts onto the scene in St. Louis as expected, it will be hard to argue against putting him on the cover of MLB The Show 22.
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