MLB The Show 20 player ratings

6 years ago

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

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

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.