{"id":43501,"date":"2021-02-01T14:57:47","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T19:57:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=43501"},"modified":"2025-09-16T10:59:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T14:59:14","slug":"mlb-the-show-21-cover-athlete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2021\/02\/01\/mlb-the-show-21-cover-athlete\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB The Show 21 Cover Athlete Changes the Game"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Fernando Tatis Jr., Cover King<\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The moment we\u2019ve all been waiting for has finally arrived. MLB The Show 21 revealed that San Diego Padres\u00a0star Fernando Tatis Jr. is this year\u2019s cover athlete.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Own The Show.<br \/>\nPer-order MLB The Show 21 now: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Z3yPsTabus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/Z3yPsTabus<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MLBTheShow?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#MLBTheShow<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/OwnTheShow?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#OwnTheShow<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iSGhngzCCX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/iSGhngzCCX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 MLB The Show (@MLBTheShow) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLBTheShow\/status\/1356242147264110595?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 1, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The world typically finds out who will be on the cover of MLB The Show every October, just a few weeks after the World Series. This year, the pandemic delayed the development of the game due to quarantine restrictions in San Diego county, where the game was produced. Months later, we finally have an answer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MLB The Show is the only baseball simulation game on the market. The game is quite popular, especially among younger age groups. People have been playing this game since 1997 \u2013 before Tatis was even born. At 22 years old, he\u2019s the youngest player ever to decorate the cover.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAll my memories of when I was just a kid playing this game, and now that I&#8217;m the face of the cover is crazy,\u201d said Tatis. \u201cCrazy how dreams come true like this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s a tremendous honor to be picked for the cover art because that player becomes the face of baseball for future generations. Previous athletes to be featured include David Ortiz (2006), Joe Mauer (2010), Miguel Cabrera (2014), and Aaron Judge (2018).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/mlb-teams\/los-angeles-dodgers\/\" target=\"_self\">Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> outfielder Mookie Betts, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/mlb-teams\/chicago-white-sox\/\" target=\"_self\">Chicago White Sox<\/a> shortstop Tim Anderson, and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/mlb-teams\/atlanta-braves\/\" target=\"_self\">Atlanta Braves<\/a> outfielder Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr. were among the possible candidates for this year\u2019s cover. But Tatis topped them all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not only is he one of the best in the game, Tatis leads a program that currently sits in the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/news\/mlb-power-rankings-to-begin-2021\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No. 2 spot for the 2021 preseason rankings<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. He\u2019s also one of the most polarizing players in the league, which is why this choice is so significant for MLB\u2019s future.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Is this a new wave of change for MLB?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nearly every aspect of baseball is evolving. The technology, the statistics, the pitching mechanics\u2013you name it. Tatis is a living example of that change. He swings on 3-0 pitches, flips his bat after home runs, and dances his way around the bases. But more importantly, he inspires kids to play ball with complete swagger. He rewrites the rules of the game with every move he makes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MLB had an opportunity to cater the game to a younger audience, and they took it. By placing Tatis on the cover of MLB The Show 21, it shows that the league may be more willing than ever to improve their marketing strategies, entertain Little Leaguers across the world, and grow the game for the youth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This year\u2019s installment of the video game will come to both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 as well as the Xbox One, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, and PC. MLB The Show 21 is the first title in franchise history to be featured on a multitude of game consoles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It also marks the first time that a San Diego Padre is on the cover. Not to mention the first bat flip cover too. Tatis has changed baseball, its fanbase, and MLB The Show. Now we\u2019re never going back.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"8Z75Jt4ETvlD12190mOskQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1228836725\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'8Z75Jt4ETvlD12190mOskQ',sig:'xs1sK6JdeviJEXV7GEFCno5eD4b4IDmXkB71ZzUcWYo=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1228836725',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Players mentioned: <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tatisfe02.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fernando Tatis Jr<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/o\/ortizda01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David Ortiz<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mauerjo01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joe Mauer<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cabremi01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miguel Cabrera<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/judgeaa01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron Judge<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bettsmo01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mookie Betts<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/anderti01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tim Anderson<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/acunaro01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fernando Tatis Jr., Cover King The moment we\u2019ve all been waiting for has finally arrived. MLB The Show 21 revealed that San Diego Padres\u00a0star Fernando Tatis Jr. is this year\u2019s cover athlete.\u00a0 Own The Show. Per-order MLB The Show 21 now: https:\/\/t.co\/Z3yPsTabus #MLBTheShow #OwnTheShow pic.twitter.com\/iSGhngzCCX \u2014 MLB The Show (@MLBTheShow) February 1, 2021 The world [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3622,"featured_media":43513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30,29142,1071],"tags":[1625,4225,941,69,3245,3438],"class_list":["post-43501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-padres","category-fan-culture","category-mlb","tag-fernando-tatis-jr","tag-friars","tag-latest-mlb-news","tag-mlb","tag-sony","tag-video-games"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3622"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43501"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107208,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43501\/revisions\/107208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}