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Let's just get something clear, I like Jazz Chisholm, a lot. He is an electric and talented young star, but if he keeps his trajectory, he'll be deserving of the video game honor one day.
MLB and PlayStation just announced the the Marlins star will be the face of the video game for 2023. Jazz grew up in Nassau, Bahamas, playing sandlot baseball with friends. As Jazz puts it “no umpires, no catchers, just hitting bombs and having fun we just played to play.”
I think it's a fine pick, the only problem is that Jazz played 60 games last season, and average play on top of that. If the MLB wanted to highlight the year prior, and if they wanted to pick a young phenom, the AL Rookie of the Year, Julio Rodriguez, should have been the choice.
I am a firm believer that the cover of any sports leagues video game should be the biggest star or best player.
Ohtani would have been obviously an easy answer, but he got the nod last year, so they weren't going to double-dip. Not trying to be bias, but Aaron Judge was the MVP and is arguably the face of the league. He got it in 2018, so again, I "understand" why they didn't select him. Same goes for Bryce Harper, who dawned the cover in 2019. One of the league's biggest stars who brought his team to the World Series.
Speaking of World Series, Justin Verlander would have been a rock solid choice. The CY Young winner had a 1.75 ERA at the age of 39, but now in a Mets uniform, I guess they didn't want to confuse the fan bases.
Again, does it really matter? As long as the game is good, then who cares who is on the cover. The MLB just has a marketing problem, and this choice doesn't help their case.
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