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MLB The Show 20 player ratings

N/A / MLB The Show 20 / Sony Studios

MLB The Show 20 released Tuesday, giving fans something to do as we collectively wait for baseball to resume. Below, we review how each position shakes down in the initial roster release, ranking the top 10 or 15 players at each.

Catcher

Rank Player Team Rating
1 J.T. Realmuto PHI 92
2 Yasmani Grandal CWS 90
3 Gary Sanchez NYY 85
T-4 Buster Posey SF 83
T-4 Roberto Perez CLE 83
T-4 Mike Zunino TB 83
T-7 Mitch Garver MIN 82
T-7 Christian Vazquez BOS 82
T-7 Tom Murphy SEA 82
T-10 Yadier Molina STL 81
T-10 Salvador Perez KC 81
T-10 Willson Contreras CHC 81

The top three were All-Stars in 2019, so their placement atop the list should come as no real shock. Roberto Perez and Vazquez parlayed their offensive breakthroughs into vaunted scores. Sal Perez, formerly among the best in the business, is coming off a lost season due to injury so he finds himself a little closer to the middle of the pack.

First base

Rank Player Team Rating
T-1 Freddie Freeman ATL 91
T-1 Paul Goldschmidt STL 91
3 Carlos Santana CLE 89
4 Max Muncy LAD 88
5 Pete Alonso NYM 87
T-6 Josh Bell PIT 86
T-6 Jose Abreu CWS 86
T-6 Matt Olson OAK 86
9 Edwin Encarnacion CWS 85
T-10 Joey Votto CIN 84
T-10 Miguel Sano MIN 84

Goldschmidt maintaining top scores after an admittedly mixed season is more of a testament to how consistent he's been in his career. Alonso and Bell are in position to build off their inaugural All-Star appearances. Votto, meanwhile, has historically been among the best in the game but consecutive subpar seasons (by his standards) have him dropping.

Second base

Rank Player Team Rating
1 Ozzie Albies ATL 92
T-2 Jose Altuve HOU 91
T-2 DJ LeMahieu NYY 91
T-2 Jonathan Villar MIA 91
5 Brandon Lowe TB 87
T-6 Whit Merrifield KC 86
T-6 David Fletcher LAA 86
T-6 Kolten Wong STL 86
9 Robinson Cano NYM 85
10 Starlin Castro WSH 84

The Braves are well represented on the right side of the infield with Albies and Freeman each landing atop their respective positions. Altuve, LeMahieu, and Villar aren't far behind. One absent player who could have easily made this list is Brewers slugger Keston Hiura. A strong start to the season - had it not been postponed - may have shot him up the ranks in one of the first roster updates.

Shortstop

NA / MLB The Show 20 / Sony Studios
Rank Player Team Rating
1 Javier Baez CHC 93
2 Trevor Story COL 92
3 Francisco Lindor CLE 91
4 Marcus Semien OAK 88
5 Trea Turner WSH 87
6 Fernando Tatis Jr. SD 86
T-7 Xander Bogaerts BOS 85
T-7 Carlos Correa HOU 85
9 Andrelton Simmons LAA 84
10 Paul DeJong STL 83

Cover athlete Baez unsurprisingly gets the nod, narrowly ahead of a couple of his peers. For pure entertainment value, it's hard to argue against Baez, but Story and Lindor are unbelievably balanced and may not lag behind him once the season kicks off in earnest. Correa's injuries have dropped him a tad, and Tatis' abbreviated 2019 earned him consideration among the position's best and most exciting players entering 2020.

Third base

Rank Player Team Rating
T-1 Anthony Rendon LAA 99
T-1 Nolan Arenado COL 99
3 Alex Bregman HOU 97
4 Matt Chapman OAK 94
5 Kris Bryant CHC 93
T-6 Eugenio Suarez CIN 91
T-6 Jose Ramirez CLE 91
T-6 Josh Donaldson MIN 91
9 Justin Turner LAD 90
10 Manny Machado SD 88

Here they are, the first of the coveted 99s. Rendon got the biggest free-agent contract among position players this past offseason and Arenado has been consistently performing at a high level over an extended period of time. Third base is absolutely stacked, though, even beyond them. No other position has this much top-shelf depth.

Outfield

NA / MLB The Show 20 / Sony Studios
Rank Player Team Rating
1 Mike Trout LAA 99
2 Cody Bellinger LAD 98
3 Ronald Acuna Jr. ATL 97
4 Mookie Betts LAD 96
5 Aaron Judge NYY 94
6 Giancarlo Stanton NYY 92
T-7 Joey Gallo TEX 91
T-7 Juan Soto WSH 91
T-9 Christian Yelich MIL 90
T-9 J.D. Martinez BOS 90
T-11 Tommy Pham SD 89
T-11 Bryce Harper PHI 89
13 Eddie Rosario MIN 88
T-14 George Springer HOU 87
T-14 Avisail Garcia MIL 87
T-14 Marcell Ozuna ATL 87

Technically as many 90-rated players as the hot corner, but this is spread across three positions. Trout would be rated 100 if that was possible, so he'll have to settle for sharing the top spot with a few of his fellow luminaries. He and Rendon are the only teammates with a 99 rating.

Starting pitcher

Rank Player Team Rating
1 Jacob deGrom NYM 99
2 Gerrit Cole NYY 95
T-3 Justin Verlander HOU 94
T-3 Clayton Kershaw LAD 94
T-3 Max Scherzer WSH 94
6 Zack Greinke HOU 93
7 Stephen Strasburg WSH 91
8 Charlie Morton TB 90
9 Aaron Nola PHI 89
T-10 Chris Sale BOS 88
T-10 Walker Buehler LAD 88
T-10 Corey Kluber TEX 88
T-10 Sonny Gray CIN 88
T-14 Blake Snell TB 87
T-14 Carlos Carrasco CLE 87
T-14 Noah Syndergaard NYM 87
T-17 Shane Bieber CLE 86
T-17 Trevor Bauer CIN 86
T-17 Madison Bumgarner ARI 86
T-17 Hyun-Jin Ryu TOR 86

DeGrom being the top pitcher isn't necessarily surprising, but no other hurler being ranked higher than 95 definitely is. Still, in MLB The Show, any player rated 85 or higher is considered the absolute cream of the crop. Younger players like Buehler and Bieber will need to maintain their impressive performance over another season before making a bigger leap.

Relief pitcher

Rank Player Team Rating
T-1 Roberto Osuna HOU 91
T-1 Kirby Yates SD 91
T-3 Kenley Jansen LAD 89
T-3 Ken Giles TOR 89
T-5 Aroldis Chapman NYY 88
T-5 Liam Hendriks OAK 88
T-5 Ryan Pressly HOU 88
T-8 Brad Hand CLE 87
T-8 Will Smith ATL 87
T-10 Josh Hader MIL 85
T-10 Taylor Rogers MIN 85
T-10 Joakim Soria OAK 85
T-10 Yusmeiro Petit OAK 85

The Astros and Athletics have the most impressive relief corps in this year's game. Hader's curiously the 10th highest-rated reliever after mostly dominating opponents over the last two seasons.

Top prospects

Prospect Rank Player Team Pos. Rating
1 Wander Franco TB SS 67
2 Gavin Lux LAD 2B N/A
3 Luis Robert CWS OF 76
4 Adley Rutschman BAL C 70
5 MacKenzie Gore SD SP 70
6 Jo Adell LAA OF 70
7 Casey Mize DET SP 69
8 Nate Pearson TOR SP 71
9 Royce Lewis MIN SS 66
10 Bobby Witt Jr. KC SS 71

(Top prospects courtesy: MLB Pipeline)

This year's game features every minor-league player and prospect with a few exceptions - Lux hasn't been added to the game yet, for example. These scores are low relative to the more established players, but based on their high potential, each of these prospects should only improve over the duration of a long-term franchise.

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