The popular baseball video game series, MLB The Show, confused its fans in a big way on Monday.
They put out an announcement on social media that they “will not have a new cover athlete” on MLB The Show 26.
This was the full post:
🚨Breaking News: There will not be a new cover athlete for #MLBTheShow 26. 👀 pic.twitter.com/xhTW8D3u0g
— MLB The Show (@MLBTheShow) January 26, 2026
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Fans have noticed the emoji of the eyes there at the end of the breaking news text, and that’s got everyone asking questions.
One: How can there be no new cover athlete? That’s one of the coolest parts of sports video games.
Two: Will there even be athletes on the cover? One interpretation would take this to mean they’re doing a totally different cover concept.
Or three: Are they bringing back guys who have already been on the cover? That could be what the eyes emoji is teasing.
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For what it’s worth, last year’s cover featured three players: Paul Skenes, Gunnar Henderson and Elly De La Cruz.
Some of the best players in baseball have been on the cover through the years, so if they’re trying to be creative, they’ve got options.
It’s also not clear what may have prevented it this year, if there were negotiating issues or timing problems or if they simply wanted to go in a new creative direction.
We’ll all just have to wait for the cover to find out.
