Somehow it’s October and Ranked is on its seventh program already. It doesn’t feel that long ago that we were waiting out the countdown to midnight pre-release for MLB The Show 23. Yet, here we are in the midst of Season 4 in Diamond Dynasty with a new Ranked program and new rewards. There’s a lot less excitement these days for Ranked and even Battle Royale rewards with how SDS has dramatically altered their content structure. It’s been a bit disheartening to think about grinding online for bland rewards when most of the exciting cards have been locked behind packs or expensive collections.

I’m happy to say that tune should change a bit with the rewards in Ranked 7.

MLB The Show 23 Ranked 7 Program Breakdown

CF Future Stars Jackson Chourio (Milwaukee Brewers)

Meta Overall rating: 108.78 – #12 CF; SS: 109.91 – #9 SS

Starting off with the 19-year old Future Stars series, Jackson Chourio of the Milwaukee Brewers comes out of no where with a fantastic all-around card. Cards like this make the Future Stars series exciting, as within the next couple years we might see Chourio at the Major League level and can dream that he lives up to these lofty attributes.

There’s a ton to like here. We’ve got the elite 100+ in all major offensive categories in spades – featuring 111+ in those categories, in fact. Chourio absolutely crushes LHP while maintaining that elite status against RHP. Chourio also has 96 Speed and 92 Stealing, making him an absolute threat on the basepaths that can achieve max Speed with Parallel 3. He also features 92 Fielding with 90 Reaction which will pair amazingly with that speed and make him one of the top options in the outfield.

More bluntly – this is a 5-tool demon. Oh yeah, he also has eligibility at 2B, SS, LF and RF and actually rates out as the #9 overall SS in the game right now. Not bad for a secondary position.

Jackson Chourio is a legit card and I’ll be interested to see how his swing plays. Want a negative? This card has no Quirks, but the attributes are so good that might not matter.

SP Retro All-Star Game Johnny Cueto (Cincinnati Reds)

Meta Overall rating: 105.64 – #8 SP

Next up is the Retro All-Star version of Johnny Cueto. Cueto is always one of the more interesting pitchers in Diamond Dynasty, so his cards always fascinate me. He doesn’t throw terribly hard but can run it mid-to-upper-nineties. He has arguably the perfect pitch mix but lacks serious speed differentials to be effective on all levels. There’s also the little bit of funk in the windup that can throw some hitters off.

This Cueto features 117 H/9, 101 K/9 and 107 BB/9 to go along with 125 Pitching Clutch. The pitch mix features three elite pitches with the 4-Seamer, Cutter and Sinker all 93+ in the Control and Break categories. The Circle-Change and Slider aren’t terrible pitches, though they rate out a little worse in those same departments.

I really want to love this card but on paper, the lack of significant speed differentials and elite velocity will probably hold this card back. The 4-Seamer and Sinker running at the same speed and split the plate, with the Cutter coming in at 90 MPH breaking glove side. The Circle-Change does have 89 Break so there should be some decent depth to it, with the Slider sitting 84 MPH. If there’s success to be had with this card, I’d wager it’s in the hands of seasoned and skillful pitchers that really know how to sequence and manipulate the batter’s timing. Attribute wise, Cueto obviously ranks out as a top-10 SP in the game right now. Only time will tell if he plays up to that lofty ranking.

3B Awards Nolan Arenado (Colorado Rockies)

Meta Overall rating: 111.74 – #6 3B

Last and certainly not least, Nolan Arenado wraps up the Ranked 7 program with a Platinum Glove Awards series card. In terms of Nolan Arenado cards, I’m not sure we could ask for anything better than this.

Getting the obvious out of the way – this card features a 99 rating in every defensive category. Nolan Arenado is already one of the greatest defensive players in MLB history and this card features his defensive skillset in prime form.

Offensively, Arenado kills lefties as we always expect but also gets 117 CON R and 108 POW R to go with 120 Clutch. It’s a little sketchy sometimes on if we get an Arenado that can truly hold his own against RHP but there’s no reason to worry here. With how good this card is stock, let’s have a little fun and look at the core attributes if you carry this through to Parallel 5:

122 CON R, 125 CON L, 113 POW R, 125 POW L, 125 Clutch. That’s before any potential Captain boosts because who knows what kind of Captains we’ll see as the game winds down. Arenado also gets Dead Red which means he’s going to get a boost on fastballs. I feel like meaningful Quirks feel rare these days, so a card this good on paper with an amazing swing getting useful Quirks? Sign me up.

Papadell’s Pick

I often go for positional need or depth when choosing cards from packs like these. I feel like this is actually a tough choice as each of these cards have something going for them to some extent. Chourio is a legit 5-tool threat with exceptional versatility at key positions. Cueto has the perfect pitch-mix despite the lack of elite velocity. Arenado is just an absolute monster.

With that, I think my pick here is Nolan Arenado. He’s one of my favorite non-Braves players and every single year I look forward to his 99 overall cards. It also always creates a bit of a pickle for me as Chipper Jones is my all-time favorite player, so there’s zero chance I remove him from my lineup. It always forces me to be somewhat creative to play Chipper and Arenado on the same squad but that’s absolutely something I’ll be doing to add this Arenado to my lineup.

The Closer

Ranked 7 features a refreshing selection of rewards that make the online grind feel worthwhile. Nolan Arenado is typically one of the most popular cards available, Johnny Cueto is at worst just a fun card and Jackson Chourio is a pleasant surprise with lofty Future Stars attributes. It’s been disappointing to see the quality of online rewards dip in lieu of SDS pounding out expensive packs and collections. This trend will surely continue and we’ll be left to simply reminisce about how wallet-friendly SDS and MLB The Show were in simpler times. However, this choice pack is a worthy Ranked reward and actually makes the online grind seem worth it.

That’s the full breakdown for Ranked 7. How do you feel about the quality of rewards this time around? Will you be grinding Ranked for any of these cards? Let us know in the comments!