Every annual sports game honors the tradition of putting a star on the cover. Be it EA FC, NBA, or MLB The Show, each game has been giving athletes their flowers every year by making them the face of the game. For EA FC 26, it was Jude Bellingham and Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala. For NBA 2K26, it was SGA, and for MLB The Show 25, it was Paul Skenes, Elly De La Cruz, and Gunnar Henderson.
With MLB The Show announcing that it won’t feature a “new cover athlete,” fans were speculating on who’s making a return. With their latest announcement, it’s confirmed that Aaron Judge will be on the cover of MLB The Show 26, and the game will be released on March 17, 2026.
Considering this, now is a great time to look back at all MLB The Show cover athletes and take a trip down memory lane. So, here’s every MLB The Show cover athlete by year.
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All MLB The Show Cover Athletes By Year
Here’s the full list of all MLB The Show cover athletes:
- MLB 06: The Show: David Ortiz
- MLB 07: The Show: David Wright
- MLB 08: The Show: Ryan Howard
- MLB 09: The Show: Dustin Pedroia
- MLB 10: The Show: Joe Mauer
- MLB 11: The Show: Joe Mauer
- MLB 12: The Show: Adrián Gonzalez
- MLB 13: The Show: Andrew McCutchen
- MLB 14: The Show: Miguel Cabrera
- MLB 15: The Show: Yasiel Puig
- MLB The Show 16: Josh Donaldson
- MLB The Show 17: Ken Griffey Jr.
- MLB The Show 18: Aaron Judge
- MLB The Show 19: Bryce Harper
- MLB The Show 20: Javier Báez
- MLB The Show 21: Fernando Tatis Jr.
- MLB The Show 22: Shohei Ohtani
- MLB The Show 23: Jazz Chisholm Jr.
- MLB The Show 24: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
- MLB The Show 25: Paul Skenes, Elly De La Cruz and Gunnar Henderson
As you can see, no athlete has graced the cover of an MLB game twice, and Judge will be the first one to receive the honor. This is causing a lot of controversy in the baseball world, but if you ask me, Judge was gonna get another cover sooner or later. He’s a beast at what he does, and with the New York Yankees star captain earning his third AL MVP award, there was no better time for Judge to make the return.
It’s also important to keep in mind that the last time Judge was featured on the cover, he was in his rookie season, and he has become a much more complete player since then. So, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
That said, the sports world is gonna react the way it does, and that’s fine. What matters is that the game is releasing soon, and with new gameplay changes, features, and much more, it sounds really exciting.
