MLB The Show 25: Jorge Polanco September Lightning, Ronald Acuna Jr Retro Lightning

The final Spotlight drop for September is here, which means we get the full-fledged monthly program. This expanded program brings a slew of new cards, including the September Lightning reward: Jorge Polanco of the Seattle Mariners.

To unlock Polanco, you'll need all four of the September Spotlight Program final rewards (Brandon Marsh, Tanner Bibee, Spencer Steer, Jake Mangum) and you earn Mangum by completing the latest Spotlight drop.

Program Overview

• 100 Stars Total

Moments (28 Stars Total)

• 7 Moments, each worth 4 stars

Drop 4 Missions

These missions feature the program cards from September Spotlight Drop 4:

• 750 PXP with Drop 4 Topps Now + Spotlight players — 10 stars
• 5 K’s with Spotlight Matt Svanson — 6 stars
• 8 TB with Spotlight Gabriel Moreno — 6 stars
• 5 K’s with Spotlight Kyle Bradish — 6 stars
• 2 HRs with Spotlight Brett Baty — 6 stars
• 3 XBH with Spotlight Spencer Horwitz — 6 stars

General Missions

• REPEATABLE: 500 PXP with Topps Now & Spotlight players — 5 stars
• 12 Stolen Bases w/ Spotlight players — 10 stars
• 10 Home Runs w/ Spotlight players — 10 stars
• 36 Hits with any players — 12 stars
• 23 RBI with any players — 12 stars
• 26 Strikeouts with any pitchers — 12 stars

Optional Collections

• Collect Bradgley Rodriguez, Hunter Barco, Trevor McDonald, and Luis Garcia Jr. — 20 stars
• Collect Ivan Herrera, Romy Gonzalez, Grant Taylor, Stephen Kolek, Coby Mayo — 80 stars

Full Spotlight Pack 4 details below.

Optional Extreme Moment

• 13 Total Bases with Michael Busch on All-Star difficulty — 80 stars

September Spotlight Drop 4 Pack

• 25,000 Stubs per pack
• Limit: 5 packs per user
• Contains the following:
• • Ivan Herrera
  • Coby Mayo
  • Grant Taylor
  • Romy Gonzalez
  • Stephen Kolek
  • Bradgley Rodriguez
  • Hunter Barco
  • Luis Garcia Jr
  • Trevor McDonald

Rewards

• 40,000 XP
• 2 Show Packs
• 2x July Spotlight Any Packs
• All 4 September Spotlight Drop Packs (1–4)
• September Spotlight Any Pack
• Home Run Derby X Pack
• Spotlight Series Cards:
• • Matt Svanson
  • Gabriel Moreno
  • Kyle Bradish
  • Brett Baty
  • Spencer Horwitz
  • Jake Mangum

September Lightning Player: Jorge Polanco

Collect all four September Spotlight program rewards.

Polanco is a Diamond Dynasty darling, with switch-hitting and a smooth swing. I don't want to call this card underwhelming, but it's probably not as elite as you might hope upon seeing Polanco with the Lightning background. The hitting is perfectly fine, with 100+ at the major attributes with max Contact vs LHP and Clutch.

However, 74 Fielding and 65 Reaction definitely undermine the offensive prowess with more dynamic options available. We're looking at the #16 2B according to Meta Overall, so the shine isn't as bright as other Polanco cards we've seen. But we're still talking about a card that can be earned for free with grinding, which isn't worth nothing.

Retro Lightning Player: Ronald Acuña Jr.

Now this is pod racing.

The Retro Lightning honors go to Braves RF Ronald Acuna Jr., and this card does not disappoint. The worst part about the card, for me, is the lack of real Quirks. Outside of that, any Acuna with 100+ everything offensively (including max Power vs both sides) and serviceable Fielding with his trademark 99 Arm and Stealing is going to be pure bliss for everyone. This card features Acuna's elite Speed, something we've seen dip on the Live Series card this year coming off the second major knee surgery.

This is a blessed card, and should be easier to acquire than other Retro Lightning cards.

To unlock Retro Lightning Acuña:

• Collect 8 September Spotlight Pack players
• Only Pack cards count — program and Topps Now cards do NOT
• Program includes:
• • Four Spotlight Packs
  • One Any Spotlight Pack guaranteed
  • Bonus Any Pack when collecting 1 Spotlight card

If your pulls are lucky, you can knock off a solid chunk of the required collection cards from the free packs you get for completing the program. At a minimum, you'll get a singular September Spotlight card that can be collected toward Acuna. That will then spit out another Any pack to potentially get you to 2 of 8 cards required. Any of the other Spotlight packs hitting will be a bonus and reduce the overall cost.

Retro Lightning Acuna is currently the #5 RF according to Meta Overall. Acuna is popular across the league and Diamond Dynasty, and having an elite card that is relatively attainable is a big win for everyone.