Superstar shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. is the latest cover athlete for MLB The Show 21. Major League Baseball made the announcement Monday morning.
At 22 years old, the San Diego Padres slugger becomes the youngster player ever chosen for the cover since the video game's debut in 2006. Tatis is also the first Padres player to be featured on the cover.
Here's a look:
Tatis made his MLB debut in 2019, and excelled in his rookie campaign, so much so that he was able to garner some votes for the National League Rookie of the Year Award, even after his season was cut short due to a back injury. In Year 2, a healthy Tatis continued to show off his power, speed and defense, becoming one of the most electric talents in baseball.
The Dominican Republic native finished the abbreviated 2020 campaign with a .277/.366/.571/ slash line, 17 home runs (second-most in the NL), his first career Silver Slugger and a fourth-place NL MVP finish. Led by Tatis, the Padres clinched their first playoff berth since 2006 last season, but fell to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS.
Since MLB The Show's inception, cover stars have included Miguel Cabrera, Josh Donaldson, Adrian Gonzalez, Ken Griffey, Jr., Bryce Harper, Ryan Howard, Aaron Judge, Joe Mauer, Andrew McCutchen, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Yasiel Puig, David Wright and last year's cover athlete Javier Baez.
The video game will be released April 20, 2021 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, as well as Xbox One and Xbox Series X. After having been exclusively available on PlayStation consoles, MLB The Show 21 will now be made accessible to XBox users.
