If a professional athlete tells you they don\u2019t care about their rating in the latest video game, they\u2019re probably lying.<\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s Madden, MLB The Show, or NBA 2K, player ratings have become part of the culture of modern sports. Athletes who receive high ratings wear them like a badge of honor, while those who feel disrespected by a low number often take it personally. Players pay attention to them, and fans probably care even more.<\/p>\n
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And yet every year, it becomes painfully obvious how strange\u2014and sometimes uninformed\u2014these ratings can be.<\/p>\n
We now have our first look at the player overall ratings for MLB The Show 26, and a glance at the Chicago White Sox<\/a> roster tells you everything you need to know.<\/p>\n The only two White Sox players with an overall rating above 80 are shortstop Colson Montgomery<\/a> (83) and right-handed pitcher Shane Smith<\/a> (81). That much is fair enough. The White Sox have plenty of intriguing talent, but many of their young players still need to prove themselves over the course of a full major league season before demanding widespread recognition.<\/p>\n In fact, the ratings for both Montgomery and Smith feel pretty reasonable. And other players such as Austin Hays (75), Chase Meidroth (74), and Lenyn Sosa (71) also seem to fall in a fairly logical range.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n But once you start comparing certain White Sox players to one another, the flaws in MLB The Show\u2019s rating system quickly become apparent.<\/p>\n Take Luisangel Acu\u00f1a<\/a>, for example. The game has him rated as a 76 overall\u2014the fourth-highest rating on the White Sox roster. That\u2019s a difficult number to justify considering Acu\u00f1a posted a .567 OPS in 95 MLB games last season and owns a career .667 OPS at the Triple-A level.<\/p>\n Despite that track record, the game rates Acu\u00f1a higher than players like Kyle Teel, Seranthony Dom\u00ednguez, Austin Hays, and Grant Taylor. That simply doesn\u2019t add up.<\/p>\n It raises even more questions when you start looking at the rest of the roster. How is Acu\u00f1a a 76 overall, while Derek Hill and Brooks Baldwin both sit at 70, yet Miguel Vargas is only a 68 and Edgar Quero comes in at 67<\/a>?<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n