It wasn’t long ago when Gunnar Henderson, then just a 21-year-old rookie, stepped foot inside Fenway Park’s hallowed Green Monster and signed the wall with only his first name. Even then, it seemed he was en route to becoming a mononymous figure in baseball — just Gunnar.
Still just 23, Henderson has the star power to be considered one of the premier faces of the game. He will share a cover on “MLB The Show 25″ with Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds and Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates on this year’s edition of the popular video game series.
For the first time in the video game’s 20-year history, there will be three cover athletes. Skenes, De La Cruz and Henderson — three players all 23 or younger — represent the next crop of Major League Baseball. Skenes is the reigning National League Rookie of the Year; Henderson won the American League Rookie of the Year award in 2023; De La Cruz became an All-Star in 2024.
Henderson is coming off a season in which he competed in the Home Run Derby as well as the All-Star Game. He finished the year with a .281 average and .893 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, and his 37 home runs were the most by an Orioles shortstop in franchise history.
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Henderson is the first Orioles player to feature on the cover of “MLB The Show,” but he’s not the first Baltimore shortstop to appear on the cover of an MLB video game. Cal Ripken Jr. had that honor for “MLB 99,” which was available for PlayStation.
Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver had his own video game in 1987 and a sequel in 1991.
Skenes, a right-handed pitcher, burst onto the scene midway through last year with a high-powered fastball. He concluded the season with a 1.96 ERA in 133 innings. And De La Cruz, at shortstop for the Reds, has blazing speed and power.
“MLB The Show” will release March 18 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.
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