MLB The Show covers by year

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

Release date: February 27, 2007

Featured player: David Wright

Featured player’s team: New York Mets

MLB 08: The Show

Release date: March 4, 2008

Featured player: Ryan “The Big Piece” Howard

Featured player’s team: Philadelphia Phillies

MLB 09: The Show

Release date: March 3, 2009

Featured player: Dustin Pedroia

Featured player’s team: Boston Red Sox

MLB 10: The Show

Release date: March 2, 2010

Featured player: Joe Mauer

Featured player’s team: Minnesota Twins

MLB 11: The Show

Release date: March 8, 2011

Featured player: Joe Mauer

Featured player’s team: Minnesota Twins

MLB 12: The Show

Release date: March 6, 2012

Featured player: Adrián “A-Gon” González Savín

Featured player’s team: Boston Red Sox

MLB 13: The Show

Release date: March 5, 2013

Featured player: Andrew McCutchen

Featured player’s team: Pittsburgh Pirates

MLB 14: The Show

Release date: April 1, 2014

Featured player: José Miguel “Miggy” Cabrera Torres

Featured player’s team: Detroit Tigers

MLB 15: The Show

Release date: March 31, 2015

Featured player: Yasiel Puig Valdés

Featured player’s team: Los Angeles Dodgers

MLB The Show 16

Release date: March 29, 2016

Featured player: Josh Donaldson

Featured player’s team: Toronto Blue Jays

MLB The Show 17

Release date: March 28, 2017

Featured player: George Kenneth “The Kid” Griffey Jr.

Featured player’s team: Seattle Mariners

MLB The Show 18

Release date: March 27, 2018

Featured player: Aaron Judge

Featured player’s team: New York Yankees

MLB The Show 19

Release date: March 16, 2019

Featured player: Bryce Harper

Featured player’s team: Philadelphia Phillies

MLB The Show 20

Release date: March 17, 2020

Featured player: Ednel Javier “El Mago” Báez

Featured player’s team: Chicago Cubs

MLB The Show 21

Release date: April 20, 2021

Featured player: Fernando “El Niño” Tatís Medina Jr.

Featured player’s team: San Diego Padres

MLB The Show 22

Release date: April 5, 2022

Featured player: Shohei “Shotime” Ohtani

Featured player’s team: Los Angeles Angels

MLB The Show 23

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