Since the series began in 2006, the developers at San Diego Studio have released a new MLB The Show video game every single year. In addition, it has been the lone official baseball simulation video game to bear the Major League Baseball name since 2014. Naturally, recent MLB The Show covers have sported the official Major League Baseball logo.
Each year, the game’s official box art highlights a different professional baseball player. Over the years, a large number of different players and teams have been highlighted through the cover art from this series. See below for the MLB The Show covers from each year, including the release date of each game, the featured player on each cover and the team they played for when the game came out.
MLB The Show covers by year
MLB 06: The Show
Release date: February 28, 2006
Featured player: David “Big Papi” Ortiz Arias
Featured player’s team: Boston Red Sox
MLB 07: The Show
![MLB 07: The Show cover](https://cms.upcomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mlb-cover-07.jpg)
Release date: February 27, 2007
Featured player: David Wright
Featured player’s team: New York Mets
MLB 08: The Show
![MLB 08: The Show box art](https://cms.upcomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mlb-cover-08.jpg)
Release date: March 4, 2008
Featured player: Ryan “The Big Piece” Howard
Featured player’s team: Philadelphia Phillies
MLB 09: The Show
![MLB 09: The Show box art](https://cms.upcomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mlb-cover-09.jpg)
Release date: March 3, 2009
Featured player: Dustin Pedroia
Featured player’s team: Boston Red Sox
MLB 10: The Show
![MLB 10: The Show box art](https://cms.upcomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mlb-cover-10.jpg)
Release date: March 2, 2010
Featured player: Joe Mauer
Featured player’s team: Minnesota Twins
MLB 11: The Show
![MLB 11: The Show box art](https://cms.upcomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mlb-cover-11.jpg)
Release date: March 8, 2011
Featured player: Joe Mauer
Featured player’s team: Minnesota Twins
MLB 12: The Show
![MLB 12: The Show box art](https://cms.upcomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mlb-cover-12.jpg)
Release date: March 6, 2012
Featured player: Adrián “A-Gon” González Savín
Featured player’s team: Boston Red Sox
MLB 13: The Show
![MLB 13: The Show box art](https://cms.upcomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mlb-cover-13.jpg)
Release date: March 5, 2013
Featured player: Andrew McCutchen
Featured player’s team: Pittsburgh Pirates
MLB 14: The Show
![MLB 14: The Show box art](https://cms.upcomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mlb-cover-14.jpg)
Release date: April 1, 2014
Featured player: José Miguel “Miggy” Cabrera Torres
Featured player’s team: Detroit Tigers
MLB 15: The Show
![MLB 15: The Show box art](https://cms.upcomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mlb-cover-15.jpg)
Release date: March 31, 2015
Featured player: Yasiel Puig Valdés
Featured player’s team: Los Angeles Dodgers
MLB The Show 16
![MLB The Show 16 box art](https://cms.upcomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mlb-cover-16.jpg)
Release date: March 29, 2016
Featured player: Josh Donaldson
Featured player’s team: Toronto Blue Jays
MLB The Show 17
![MLB The Show 2017 box art](https://cms.upcomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mlb-cover-17.jpg)
Release date: March 28, 2017
Featured player: George Kenneth “The Kid” Griffey Jr.
Featured player’s team: Seattle Mariners
MLB The Show 18
![MLB The Show 18 box art](https://cms.upcomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mlb-cover-18.jpg)
Release date: March 27, 2018
Featured player: Aaron Judge
Featured player’s team: New York Yankees
MLB The Show 19
![MLB The Show 19 box art](https://cms.upcomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mlb-cover-19.jpg)
Release date: March 16, 2019
Featured player: Bryce Harper
Featured player’s team: Philadelphia Phillies
MLB The Show 20
![MLB The Show 20 box art](https://cms.upcomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mlb-cover-20.jpg)
Release date: March 17, 2020
Featured player: Ednel Javier “El Mago” Báez
Featured player’s team: Chicago Cubs
MLB The Show 21
![MLB The Show 21 box art](https://cms.upcomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/mlb-cover-21.jpg)
Release date: April 20, 2021
Featured player: Fernando “El Niño” Tatís Medina Jr.
Featured player’s team: San Diego Padres
MLB The Show 22
![Shohei Ohtani in MLB The Show 22](https://cms.upcomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/shohei-feature-img-2-scaled.jpg)
Release date: April 5, 2022
Featured player: Shohei “Shotime” Ohtani
Featured player’s team: Los Angeles Angels
MLB The Show 23
![MLB player Jazz Chisholm Jr.](https://cms.upcomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/mlbt-the-show-patch-notes-FI.jpg)
Release date: March 28, 2023
Featured player: Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm Jr.
Featured player’s team: Miami Marlins
Alternate covers
Several versions of MLB The Show had alternate covers, either because there was a special edition of the game or because it launched in a different country with a different cover. For example, the special edition of MLB The Show 21 featured Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers while MLB The Show 23 featured Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees. Meanwhile, MLB The Show 22’s special edition featured the same player as the standard edition: Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels.
Below is an overview of the featured players on each of the international MLB The Show covers:
- Canada (all featured athletes played for the Toronto Blue Jays)
- MLB 12: The Show and MLB 13: The Show – José “Joey Bats” Bautista Santos
- MLB 14: The Show – Brett Lawrie
- MLB 15: The Show – Russell Martin Jr.
- MLB The Show 16 – Josh Donaldson (same as standard edition)
- MLB The Show 17 – Aaron Sanchez
- MLB The Show 18 – Marcus Stroman
- South Korea
- MLB 06: The Show – Chan Ho Park of the San Diego Padres
- MLB 14: The Show and MLB 15: The Show – Shin-Soo Choo of the Texas Rangers
- MLB The Show 16 – Jung-ho Kang of the Pittsburgh Pirates
- MLB The Show 17 – Hyun-soo Kim of the Baltimore Orioles
- Taiwan
- MLB 13: The Show, MLB 14: The Show and MLB 15: The Show – Wei-Yin Chen of the Baltimore Orioles
- MLB The Show 16 and MLB The Show 17 – Wei-Yin Chen of the Miami Marlins
Published: May 10, 2023 01:13 pm