The July Spotlight 4 Program is the latest grind in MLB The Show, offering players a chance to earn a 99 overall Retro Lightning Ken Griffey Jr. and a batch of high-powered Spotlight players. The beginning of Madden season always seems to awaken The Kid, and we get perhaps the greatest version of him we've ever seen.
Program Structure: 100 Stars Total
You'll need to earn 100 stars to complete the full reward path. Here's how the stars break down:
Moments (28 Stars)
- 7 moments at 4 stars each = 28 Stars
Missions: July Drop 4 (35 Stars)
- 750 PXP with July Drop 4 players – 10 Stars
- 6 K's with JoJo Romero – 5 Stars
- 3 IP with Trevor Rogers – 5 Stars
- 5 Hits with Andrew Vaughn – 5 Stars
- 8 TB with Jose Altuve – 5 Stars
- 6 K's with Luis Castillo – 5 Stars
Missions: Drops 1-3 (15 Stars)
- 8 TB with Addison Barger – 5 Stars
- 3 HR with Cody Bellinger – 5 Stars
- 4 XBH with Shea Langeliers – 5 Stars
General Stat Missions (42 Stars)
- A set of 8 stat-based missions (e.g. 15 Ks with July Spotlight pitchers, 9 XBH with Catchers).
Repeatable Mission
- 500 PXP with any July Topps Now or Spotlight player = 1 Star per completion
Optional Collection Missions
- Collect all 4 Topps Now Pack 4 cards – 15 Stars
- Collect all 5 Spotlight Pack 4 cards – 45 Stars
Rewards Rundown
Here’s what you’ll earn along the way:
- 3 Standard Show Packs
- April & July Spotlight Packs (various)
- June Spotlight Any Pack (guaranteed card)
- Orange Lightning Bat
- 25,000 XP
- Player Rewards:
- 96 JoJo Romero
- 97 Trevor Rogers
- 97 Andrew Vaughn
- 98 Jose Altuve
- 98 Luis Castillo
- 99 Jarren Duran
Acquiring Duran and collecting him with the other July Spotlight program rewards (Addison Barger, Cody Bellinger, Shea Langeliers) unlocks the July Lightning Player - 99 Willy Adames.
Jarren Duran debuts as a Top-5 LF/CF in True Overall and Top-10 in Meta Overall at both positions. A solid blend of Contact/Clutch with 80+ Power and 85 Fielding with 89 Reaction and 95 Speed/90 Stealing makes Duran a fun addition to the increasingly deep outfield roster.
Willy Adames lands as the #3 shortstop according to both True and Meta Overall. Adames has otherworldly offensive attributes for a shortstop, with 125 Contact vs LHP, Power vs LHP, and Clutch and 118 Contact vs RHP and 100 Power vs RHP. These are incredible on any card, but a shortstop with 85 Fielding, 84 Reaction, and 73 Fielding is simply superb. There are some expensive, premium options at shortstop and everyone just gained access to a free 99 that will easily compete with the future 99's and Finest we'll see in the coming months.
Collection Rewards
Along with the Lightning players all year, we've also gotten a Retro Lightning player for the same month. July brings us the first 99 overall Ken Griffey Jr. of the year and it's absurdly good. Along the way, you'll pick up a couple of other rewards:
- Collect 3 July Spotlights = 1 July Spotlight Any Pack
- Collect 5 = 99 Jackson Chourio
- Collect 8 = 99 Retro Lightning Ken Griffey Jr.
Jackson Chourio might lose some shine for obvious reasons, but this 99 is a fun card. 120/125/125 Contact and Clutch splits with 85/103 Power has Chourio in competitive position, which is only boosted by 88 Fielding/87 Reaction and 97 Speed. There are some obvious areas this card lacks compared to others, like the subpar Stealing and less Power than other options, but one of the most exciting young players in Major League Baseball gets a very good card as a sub-collection reward.
The real star of the content is obviously Ken Griffey Jr. The Kid gets an unreal card with nearly maxed everything offensively, with 92 Fielding and Arm Strength, 90 Reaction, and 90 Speed with 80 Stealing. As far as Griffey cards go, this feels like the best we've ever seen and possibly ever will. That makes it a top card in all of Diamond Dynasty history, and surprisingly makes him the best card currently available in the game.
There are 11 total July Spotlight Pack cards—you can skip 3 and still snag The Kid.
Remember: only July Spotlight Pack cards count toward Griffey — Topps Now cards don’t apply to the collection!
July Spotlight Pack 4
- George Springer, RF, Toronto Blue Jays (99 OVR)
- Salvador Perez, C, Kansas City Royals (99 OVR)
- Trevor Megill, CP, Milwaukee Brewers (98 OVR)
- Mickey Moniak, CF, Colorado Rockies (98 OVR)
- Jordan Westburg, 3B, Baltimore Orioles (98 OVR)
- Alex Freeland, 3B, Los Angeles Dodgers (97 OVR)
- Randy Arozarena, LF, Seattle Mariners (97 OVR)
- Troy Melton, SP, Detroit Tigers (97 OVR)
- Nick Lodolo, SP, Cincinnati Reds (97 OVR)
July Spotlight Pack 4 is available for 25,000 Stubs per pack with a purchase limit of 5 packs per user.
Closing Thoughts
In terms of firepower to close out July, SDS dropped an absolute motherload. The Uber Griffey reigns above all else, with one of the nastiest cards we've ever seen in Diamond Dynasty. Some other sleepers got released behind the behemoth, with Willy Adames getting an absurd card of his own and Jarren Duran dropping in with a Top-10 Meta card.
August usually brings a drop in players as Madden and NBA 2K hit store shelves, but we see a ramp in juicy content from The Show. Only having to collect 8 overall July Spotlight cards makes Griffey more attainable than he could have been, which means we should all be prepared to watch that sweet swing dismantle us pretty often.
Cory Wayne Dell
Cory has been writing about all things baseball and gaming since 2022 and has been featured at Operation Sports as well as cited by Forbes. Cory is also a multi-instrumentalist and founder of the band Cargocastle. Cargocastle's latest single, "Truth and Reconciliation," is available on Spotify and all major streaming platforms. Cory is also the author of Shadow of a Monster, a personal memoir currently seeking publication.
