MLB The Show 18 has dropped, allowing PlayStation owners around the world to play the various modes of the game and see what the game’s producers think of the best talent in MLB.
MLB The Show 18 brings unparalleled realism, intuitive controls and customizable fun to PlayStation 4 owners and baseball fans alike. Hundreds of professional baseball players are rated in all aspects of baseball each year as part of the game. Those ratings become the fodder for debate each year, as fans discuss which players are rated too highly or lowly.
Following are top five highest-rated players by their overall ratings at each position in MLB The Show 18.The position for each player is as it is listed in the game, not necessarily where that actual player will physically play for his real team this season. At a few positions, there were more than five players who had similar overall ratings. The extra players were evaluated by an average of the five individual skill ratings most important to their position, with the player(s) who had the lower averages included as honorable mentions.
Starting pitchers
- Clayton Kershaw – Just like in MLB The Show 17, Kershaw is the only starting pitcher with a 99 overall rating and one of only four players overall to feature the near-perfect score.
- Chris Sale – Sale gets a bump of two points in his overall rating from last year’s game to an overall of 95 this year, continuing his reign as the top-rated starting pitcher in the game among American League hurlers.
- Max Scherzer – The Washington Nationals ace is the first of two members of that stellar starting rotation to appear here with an overall rating of 94.
- Corey Kluber – Kluber was at the bottom of the top five starting pitchers ranking in 2017, and his stellar season bumped him up a spot for this year with an overall rating of 93.
- Noah Syndergaard – Syndergaard remains in the top five with an overall rating of 92, though he’s dropped down a spot on this list. His 99 velocity gives him a slight edge over one of his counterparts from the National League’s East division.
Honorable mention
Stephen Strasburg – Strasburg has an overall rating that is identical to Syndergaard’s 92 and a better control rating than Thor, but Strasburg’s drop in velocity along with comparable numbers in many other individual skills gives Syndergaard a slight edge.
Relief pitchers
- Andrew Miller – With a 95 overall rating, Miller is the best relief pitcher in the game and it’s really not even close.
- Chris Devenski – The defending World Series champion are one of the best teams to use playing this year’s game, and Devenski’s 89 overall rating is a big reason why.
- Nate Robertson – At 88 overall, Robertson is part of the New York Yankees bullpen which complements the stacked lineup.
- Pat Neshek – The lone representative of the Philadelphia Phillies on these lists, Neshek comes in with an overall rating identical to Robertson.
- Pedro Strop – The real Chicago Cubs will look to Strop to help them win a third consecutive National League Central title. PlayStation gamers should feel similarly confident using Strop with his 87 overall rating.