MLB The Show 26 Cover Athlete Is Leaving Fans Outraged

5 days ago 11

Published Jan 29, 2026, 4:15 PM EST

Ben Brosofsky has been writing for Screen Rant since 2022 and editing since 2024. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a Bachelor's in Cinema & Media Arts. Writing serves as a much-needed distraction from tackling a backlog of Steam games that will never be surmounted.

MLB The Show cover reveals are always exciting, but the answer to the athlete gracing the cover of MLB The Show 26 isn't what many players were hoping. While last year broke tradition by featuring three players — Paul Skenes, Elly De La Cruz, and Gunnar Henderson — this year's might feel a little too familiar.

As announced by MLB The Show, the cover athlete for 2026 is Aaron Judge, and some fans are definitely unhappy with the choice. A Reddit thread features a variety of mixed reactions to the choice, with most negative comments connecting Judge's repeat appearance to the general stagnation of the series. Eloyoyo calls the choice "insane," and aooa926 sums it up with a dramatic "BORING!"

Fans Aren't Too Happy With Aaron Judge On The Cover

MLB The Show 23 Aaron Judge Right Fielder At the Bat for New York Yankees

The fundamental issue isn't that Judge is a bad player — he's far from it — but that many fans would have liked to see another player get the spotlight. Eloyoyo suggests that it should have been Cal Raleigh, a sentiment repeated at several other points throughout the thread.

Judge originally appeared on the cover of MLB The Show 18, so it's been quite a while since his last appearance. At a time when players are begging for big updates, however, hearkening back to the past might not have been the right move. In particular, the MLB The Show community has been begging for a graphical bump to bring the series back up to speed with other yearly sports games, and IWasOnThe18thHole suggests that "the graphics are still the same" as they were at the time of Judge's previous feature.

The choice of Judge has its defenders, and dumpweed's top comment notes that Judge is both the captain of Team USA and "coming off of back to back MVPs." From a business standpoint, the decision "makes all the sense in the world."

A New Cover Athlete Would've Been Better

It's hard to deny that Judge is a logical marketing choice, but no one has to like a decision just because it's good business. MLB The Show cover athlete choices are meant to celebrate great players, and giving the spotlight to a new pick like Cal Raleigh might have felt more meaningful.

At the end of the day, the choice to bring Judge back to the cover of MLB The Show 26 isn't what will decide the game's fate. Re-energizing fans of the series will require innovation that goes far beyond the choice of cover athlete. Hopefully, we'll see some of that soon.