3 Orioles Players Rated Too Low in MLB The Show 21

A number of Baltimore Orioles players received questionable ratings in the latest installment of MLB The Show

On Tuesday, Sony Interactive Entertainment and San Diego Studios released this year’s version of MLB The Show, a popular Major League Baseball video game series. This year in MLB The Show 21, which features superstar shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. as the cover athlete, Xbox owners will be capable of purchasing and playing the game for the very first time, breaking off from the PlayStation-exclusive tag the game’s franchise held since its first release in 2006.

With the release of MLB The Show 21, the first official ratings of players in Major League Baseball are available for the game’s users to view and analyze. The game rates players based on several factors. Namely, contact, power, fielding, and speed. The various ratings are then combined into an overall rating, which maxes out at 99. The only players in the game’s initial ratings to earn the coveted 99 overall rating are Mike Trout and Jacob deGrom.

However, with so many players in the Major Leagues and the often random nature of baseball, it’s expected that the game’s developers may miss on a few of their ratings, especially in the case of players on unsuccessful teams or small market teams. Here are three Baltimore Orioles players rated inaccurately in MLB The Show 21:

Cedric Mullins – 62 OVR

Coming into this season, Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins made a commitment to batting left-handed full-time, abandoning his switch-hitting ability after batting .147 in 111 career plate appearances from the right side. The game reflects these past struggles in their ratings, giving Mullins a 24 rating on contact and a 38 rating on power in splits against left-handed pitchers.

Mullins ranks fifth among Orioles outfielders by overall rating in the game, tied with the Orioles’ ninth-highest ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, Yusniel Diaz. Above him on the center fielder depth chart is the team’s 25th-ranked prospect, Kyle Stowers, who checks in with a 65 overall rating in the video game.

After his 15-game hitting streak to begin the season, spanning back to the final four games of 2020, Mullins’ contact ratings should be much higher. In 23 plate appearances so far this season, Mullins is hitting .381 against left-handed pitchers.