MLB The Show 25 Release Date, Cover Athletes & Details

Release and General Reception

MLB The Show 25, released in March 2025, is the first entry built only for current-gen consoles (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch). For the first time, three cover athletes—Elly De La Cruz, Gunnar Henderson, and Paul Skenes—rotate as featured faces during the live content cycle. Early reception has been positive around the return to year-long Diamond Dynasty teams and expanded offline depth, with the community treating 25 as a course correction after 24’s burnout.

Diamond Dynasty: Back to Year-Long Progression

In response to 24’s fatigue, Sets & Seasons were dropped. Cards earned in 25 remain usable all cycle, restoring the classic sense of long-term team building. Players praised the stability: collections and big grinds feel meaningful again, and squad identity persists month to month instead of resetting with each season.

Diamond Quest and a Healthier Offline Grind

25 introduced Diamond Quest, an offline, run-based mode that mixes quick challenges, moments, and short games with perk/upgrade choices along the way. Feedback has been notably positive: it’s fast, rewarding, and adds a fresh loop for solo players to earn progress without feeling compelled to live in Ranked.

Competitive Play: Weekend Classic Controversy

The new Weekend Classic sounded great on paper—a condensed, high-stakes competitive window—but has been dogged by rating tanking, matchmaking exploits, and reports of botting/self-matching to inflate records. Many top players lauded the concept while simultaneously avoiding the mode until stronger anti-cheat and placement safeguards arrive.

Online Experience and Exploits

Outside of Weekend Classic, the Ranked ladder has seen leveling/boosting exploits (e.g., matching into alts) that undercut competitive integrity and dampen enthusiasm for online play. Day-to-day gameplay responsiveness varies by matchup, and while most games are playable, sentiment is that anti-exploit fixes and clearer enforcement would go a long way.

Top Cards and Meta Highlights

Content has delivered bona fide headliners. 400 HR Club Milestone Mike Trout is widely viewed as the best Trout ever—and, by composite meta metrics, the highest “Meta Overall” card of all time. The flagship collection reward, 99 Milestone (No-Hitter) John Donaldson, is an outrageous two-way threat: double Outlier on slider/fastball, a meta pitch mix with near-perfect per-9s, and legitimate position-player tools—100+ contact both sides, 95+ power both sides, high vision/clutch, 95 fielding, and 90 speed (even viable in CF). Community consensus: best pitching card ever, with real lineup flexibility.