The “MLB The Show” cover reveal is always a highly anticipated offseason announcement. Fans of the video game are always eager to see which up-and-coming, exciting star or legendary player will grace its cover.

With the 2026 MLB season closer than you think, however, “MLB The Show 26” announced Monday that the game will not feature a “new cover athlete” this year.

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That announcement was made in a short statement, which read:

“To our MLB The Show community:

“First off, we at San Diego Studios want to thank you, the MLB The Show Community, for your continued support and feedback.

“We know that you are all just as excited as we are for the release of MLB The Show 26, so we wanted to let everyone know that this year we have decided that we will not have a new cover athlete.

“Please stay tuned to all of our social channels for more information to come.”

That statement drew plenty of questions. With no “new cover athlete” this year, what or who would grace the cover this time around? The MLB logo? A generic baseball? Rob Manfred? As San Diego Studios teased, fans will have to keep an eye on “MLB The Show” social-media channels for more information.

That last statement, combined with the word “new” appearing in the release, should inject a healthy amount of skepticism in Monday’s announcement. With the Super Bowl coming up, brands can’t be trusted. Celebrity chef Guy Fieri went viral recently for showing off a “new look” just prior to the Super Bowl. Are you really going to buy that?

Even if this isn’t a huge misdirect by “MLB The Show,” the presence of the word “new” is carrying a lot of weight. It’s possible a returning cover athlete will appear on the cover for a second time. Or it’s possible the game will go with some sort of montage featuring multiple former cover athletes. There’s enough ambiguity here to suspect the people over at “MLB The Show 26” have something up their sleeves.

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“MLB The Show” cover athletes

If the game decides to bring a former cover athlete back in 2026, here are the options it has to choose from.

MLB 06: The Show: David Ortiz

MLB 07: The Show: David Wright

MLB 08: The Show: Ryan Howard

MLB 09: The Show: Dustin Pedroia

MLB 10: The Show: Joe Mauer

MLB 11: The Show: Joe Mauer

MLB 12: The Show: Adrián Gonzalez

MLB 13: The Show: Andrew McCutchen

MLB 14: The Show: Miguel Cabrera

MLB 15: The Show: Yasiel Puig

MLB The Show 16: Josh Donaldson

MLB The Show 17: Ken Griffey Jr.

MLB The Show 18: Aaron Judge

MLB The Show 19: Bryce Harper

MLB The Show 20: Javier Báez

MLB The Show 21: Fernando Tatis Jr.

MLB The Show 22: Shohei Ohtani

MLB The Show 23: Jazz Chisholm Jr.

MLB The Show 24: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

MLB The Show 25: Paul Skenes, Elly De La Cruz and Gunnar Henderson

There are a lot of options to choose from there. If a returning cover athlete, or athletes, come back, Ohtani or Guerrero could make sense after reaching the World Series. Judge could get the call after winning another MVP. Skenes could also get a standalone cover after winning his first Cy Young award.

Alternatively, a combination of a few of those players could grace the cover. Maybe “MLB The Show” plays into the World Series matchup and features both Ohtani and Guerrero. Madden did that with “Madden 10,” which featured both Troy Polamalu and Larry Fitzgerald after the two players met in the Super Bowl. Madden also did it in “Madden 22,” when Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady graced the cover together.

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‘MLB The Show 26’ release date

“MLB The Show 26” still has plenty of time to make an announcement regarding its cover. While “MLB The Show 26” doesn’t have an official release date yet, the franchise usually comes out just after mid-March. “MLB The Show 25” had a March 18 release date. “MLB The Show 24” came out March 19.

“MLB The Show 26” will very likely have a similar release date this year.