With 2023 coming to an end, we’re also virtually at the end of MLB The Show 23’s game cycle. Sure, Season 6 is a new season but all things considered – we’re about done here.

We’ve also hit the timeframe where the Diamond Dynasty community reflects on the current game and begins looking to the next. If San Diego Studios follows their usual template, then we’ll probably start seeing teasers on the cover athlete for next year’s game within the next couple months.

But who will the cover athlete actually be?

Who Will Be the Cover Athlete for MLB The Show 24?

There’s a lot that goes into picking the perfect cover athlete for sports games. Ideally, the choice is someone with gravitas that gets baseball fans excited. More so, you’d want someone marketable that can help break into the casual market as well and perhaps get some extra eyes on the product. By no means does a cover athlete break a game’s launch, however. Diehard baseball and MLB The Show fans aren’t going to completely skip a game simply because of the cover athlete. But the choice has to be a good one to help get the marketing and hype machine rolling into the next game’s pre-release cycle.

Ultimately, the cover athlete choice doesn’t need to be the best player in the game. The cover star doesn’t need to be a bona fide future Hall of Famer. For a video game, they just need to be a fun choice to help draw excitement to the game.

The perfect example is from this year’s game.

MLB The Show 23

Jazz Chisholm Jr. was the cover athlete on the standard edition of MLB The Show 23. Jazz debuted in the shortened 2020 season and since then hasn’t been able to play a full season. However, Jazz is an athletically gifted player that truly embodies the “let them play” build that modern superstars have embraced. That translates to excitement about the game of baseball and made Jazz a logical pick as cover athlete for this year’s game. No, Jazz doesn’t have the career accolades and even I was a bit surprised to see that Jazz has only accrued 6 WAR (wins above replacement) to this point. Does that matter for a video game cover? It shouldn’t. I thought Jazz was a brilliant choice and the vibrant colors of the game cover fit Jazz’s personality.

It was a home run.

Jazz isn’t just a great example of why a cover athlete for MLB The Show doesn’t necessarily need to be an MVP, but he also helps with putting together some “proof” to try and nail down my cover athlete guess.

The Proof Is In the Studio

Fairly early in 2022, San Diego Studios released a video showcasing Jazz Chisholm Jr. visiting their offices. This video highlighted a studio tour that Jazz took and also saw him build his personal Real 99 card in Diamond Dynasty. A very fun video showing a legitimate Major Leaguer having a blast with the video game side of baseball.

The interesting thing about this video in regards to the topic at hand is that this studio visit appeared to take place in May of 2022. At the very least, the video was published on May 20, 2022.

Roughly eight months after this studio tour, Jazz was announced as the cover athlete for MLB The Show 23.

What does all of this Jazz business have to do with MLB The Show 24?

Earlier this year, SDS released content featuring what appeared to be another studio tour. Not in the exact same manner where a player built their Real 99 on camera or had an extended piece showing them around the office. Rather, there were two separate short videos released that simply promoted MLB The Show 23.

Two separate videos featuring two separate players.

Time for Double XP!

Start playing #MLBTheShow 23 now and earn the XP you need! pic.twitter.com/YCbUnTDEwi

— MLB The Show (@MLBTheShow) June 2, 2023

Se acabó la espera, José! 🔋#Supercharged🔋#MLBTheShowSC #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/M2TIys3D3g

— MLB The Show (@MLBTheShow) June 15, 2023

MLB The Show 24 Cover Athletes

This leads to my bold prediction:

Ozzie Albies will be the cover athlete for the Previous Gen version of MLB The Show 24 and Jose Ramirez will be the cover athlete for the Standard Edition of the Current Gen version of MLB The Show 24. Jeremy previously speculated that MLB The Show 24 will skip the previous generation of consoles, but I think we see it on PS4/Xbox One again for at least one more year. What better way to go out than having a special cover edition for the final release?

Ozzie Albies and Jose Ramirez would follow in a similar vain as Jazz. Young, exciting players who just happen to be wildly popular in Diamond Dynasty. Both players are also more established than Jazz, which was one of the biggest criticisms levied towards the choice for MLB The Show 23.

Ozzie is already a 3x All-Star and a 2x Silver Slugger Award winner. Ramirez is a 5x All-Star that has taken home 4 Silver Sluggers and finished in the top-5 of MVP votes four times with an additional 6th place finish. Ramirez is also on a firm Hall of Fame trajectory, having amassed 45.6 WAR to this point while he’ll play the 2024 season at 31 years old.

Sure, the superstar name value might not be there like it would be with Ronald Acuna Jr., Juan Soto or Julio Rodriguez. Each of those players would be amazing choices in their own rights and featuring Acuna mere months after capturing an MVP during the first ever 40/70 season in Major League history would be incredible.

Make no mistake. Ozzie Albies and Jose Ramirez are also superstars. Both on the physical field and virtual diamond as insanely popular Diamond Dynasty players.

The Closer

My prediction obviously balances on whether SDS releases MLB The Show 24 on PS4/Xbox One again. We’re at the same point in this console generation that we were when SDS began exclusively releasing the game on PS4. However, I could see SDS going another year on past generation consoles with the install base still being prominent as well as the fact that they’ve been developing for multiple platforms the last couple years.

In a recent piece, we mused about the possibilities of a season pass coming to MLB The Show 24. I think it’s entirely conceivable that SDS releases a previous gen version that continues to be massively stripped down with features for those that haven’t upgraded yet. The real question would be how much of a step forward they would take with the current generation versions.

While I’ve attempted to make a legitimate, educated guess on the cover athlete(s) for MLB The Show 24 – I could be completely wrong and we do see Ronald Acuna Jr. or Juan Soto or another unnamed player grace the cover.

Regardless of who ultimately receives the honor, we’re probably looking at a late January/early February reveal based off history.

Who is your prediction for MLB The Show 24 cover athlete? Let us know in the comments!