MLB The Show 26 Cover Athlete: No New Star – Who Returns in 2026?

It’s almost time once again for fans to swing for the fences with the next yearly installment from San Diego Studio - MLB The Show 26 - coming up in the next couple of months. However, the team took to X to share some news.

“First off, we at San Diego Studios want to thank you, the MLB The Show Community, for your continued support and feedback. We know that you are all just as excited as we are for the release of MLB The Show ’26, so we wanted to let everyone know that this year we have decided that we will not have a new cover athlete.

Please stay tuned to all of our social channels for more information to come.”

That’s right - the team has decided not to have a new cover athlete. For MLB The Show fans, some may question what is happening. The key word is “new.” Instead, San Diego Studio will feature a returning cover athlete for this year’s game.

This news of a returning cover athlete comes from reliable source billbil-kun over on Dealabs. From their research, they’ve been able to uncover that this year’s cover athlete will be MLB The Show 18’s returning athlete, Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees. They have also uncovered the release date: March 17, 2026. Players can expect the usual platforms of PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, though an intended Switch 2 version has yet to be mentioned.

What do you think of Aaron Judge being this year’s cover athlete, even if the Yankees didn’t make it past the first round of playoffs last year? Let us know in the comments below.