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MLB The Show 25 Cover Athlete Announced Ahead of Major Reveal

Ahead of an official reveal, the MLB The Show 25 cover athlete has let the cat out of the bag.
MLB The Show 25 Cover Athlete Announced Ahead of Major Reveal
Sony San Diego

With the next installment in this storied franchise weeks away, official reveals for MLB The Show 25 are only just about to begin. Over the last several years, the end of January has almost always been home to the first MLB The Show reveals for each new chapter. Tuesdays are a favorite for these announcements, so fans could be less than 24 hours away from more news. Before it was formally revealed, Elly De La Cruz has announced he will be the MLB The Show 25 cover star.

Elly De La Cruz Announces He's the MLB The Show 25 Cover Athlete

MLB® The ShowTM 24 Xbox Series X S 2025-01-27 15-55-15

Whether the plan was for Elly De La Cruz to drop the news first or a scheduled post went out too early, there's no putting this cat back in the bag. According to a video by De La Cruz on Instagram, he'll be on the cover of MLB The Show 25. 

It's a huge honor for the rising star from the Dominican Republic, as De La Cruz only just turned 23 earlier this month. After being signed as an international free agent as early as 2018, Elly De La Cruz made his way to the major leagues in June of 2023. He was the fifth-youngest National League ballplayer as a 21-year-old at that time, and it quickly became clear he would be a star with the Reds.

Elly De La Cruz hit his first MLB home run just one day after his debut with a 458-foot bomb against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and a few weeks later he became the youngest player to hit for the cycle (single, double, triple, and a home run) since Cesar Cedeno in 1972. A few weeks later, he set another record by being the first Reds player to steal second, third, and home in the same inning since Greasy Neale all the way back in 1919. His prowess continued in the 2024 season by becoming the first shortshop in MLB history to hit at least 20 home runs and steal 60 bases in a single season.

The choice to go with Elly De La Cruz as the MLB The Show 25 cover athlete falls right in line with others Sony San Diego has picked in recent years. Fernando Tatis Jr, Jazz Chisholm Jr, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr were all young rising stars. The one slightly older name, in his late 20s at the time, was Shohei Ohtani for the cover of MLB The Show 22, but Ohtani was also breaking records left and right at that time.

There's no word yet on whether there will be a unique special edition cover for MLB The Show 25. Derek Jeter got that nod with The Show 23, and Jackie Robinson was on a special edition cover of The Show 21. Last year, the special edition instead focused on the Negro Leagues that have been spotlight in The Show's Storylines mode. They could do a similar special edition this year, but they could also choose a new legend to take the spotlight in MLB The Show 25.