2 Blue Jays MLB The Show 26 rated properly, 2 they overlooked

MLB The Show 26 is set to release later this month and the Diamond Dynasty player ratings for the game have just been announced. San Diego Studio's (the developers of the game) released the ratings, as well as the Top Ten players for each position. And while some members of the Toronto Blue Jays were ranked exactly where they should be, others were not.

A couple of Blue Jays players were overlooked in the Top 10 rankings by MLB The Show

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. - ranked first among first baseman. 88 overall

Guerrero had a good season in 2025 - not a great one. But he also had a historic postseason as he slashed .397/.494/.795 with an OPS of 1.289 in 18 games. He hit eight home runs, drove in 15 runs and had 14 walks with seven strikeouts. His 29 hits were just one back of his teammate Ernie Clement who posted 30, which is the All-Time single postseason record.

While an 88 rating doesn't put Vladdy in the Top Ten overall in the game, he ranks between the top 11-20, getting the same rating as players such as Kyle Tucker, Yordan Alvarez and Cody Bellinger. The Show seems to be putting some stock into those players defensive abilities which lends to the higher rating. However, if we're looking at defense....

Daulton Varsho - ranked tenth among outfielders. 78 overall

Varsho doesn't rank within the Top 100 players in terms of his rating, but he does crack the Top Ten for centerfielders. However, some of the players ahead of surely raise some high eyebrows for where they sit on the list. Brenton Doyle of the Colorado Rockies is a 79 and sits ninth, Michael Harris II of the Atlanta Braves is eighth and also a 79. Ceddanne Rafaela of the Boston Red Sox is seventh with an 80 rating and Andy Pages of the LA Dodgers is sixth with an 82 rating.

However, Varsho has more career WAR than any of those players. Sure he's played more games than them, but his offense, which took a step forward in 2025, is fairly comparable while he's got one of the best gloves at the position in the entire game. It could be the fact that Varsho was injured and only played 71 games in 2025, but even then he finished with the third best WAR among this group of five players. His 2.8 bWAR was way ahead of Doyle's 0.1.

Alejandro Kirk - ranked fourth among catchers. 82 overall.

This feels like another one that the developers nailed. You talk about a player who exhibits some of the best combinations of offense and defense at an extremely demanding position, almost no one does that better than Kirk. Ahead of him are Cal Raleigh (No. 1 - 90 rating), Will Smith (No. 2 - 85 rating) and William Contreras (No. 3 - 83 rating). Kirk's 82 rating equals that of No. 5 Shea Langelies and he's ahead of Drake Baldwin, Yainer Diaz, Gabriel Moreno, Adley Rutschman and Hunter Goodman.

Kirk is also ranked within the top 70 players overall in the game. A very good spot for a player who slashed .282/.348/.421 with 15 home runs and was worth +9 defensive runs saved as measured by Bleacher Report.

Kevin Gausman - not ranked among starting pitchers. 83 overall

Gausman had one of his best seasons a year ago. In 2025 he pitched 193 innings with 189 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.59. He's been one of the best and most durable / consistent starters in the league since signing with the Blue Jays before the 2022 season. And yet he couldn't crack the top ten. The bottom four of that list are Chris Sale (No. 7 - 87 overall), Blake Snell (No. 8 - 87 overall), Bryan Woo (No. 9 - 86 overall) and Jacob DeGrom (No. 10 - 86 overall). Among this group, Gausman finished third in bWAR with a 3.8 rating, just behind Sale 4.0 and Woo 4.2.

Gausman, who could be retiring after this season, also led in innings pitched and starts, while Snell made just 11. He was also second in strikeouts overall, although his K% was last and his BB% was second highest. But Gausman surely deserves some extra acknowledgement for the way he finished last year and his peformance in the playoffs. If Guerrero is going to get a higher rating for his postseason performance, shouldn't Gausman as well?

Honorable Mentions - George Springer and Ernie Clement

Both Springer and Clement were recognized for their efforts during the Blue Jays 2025 campaign. Springer, coming off a Silver Slugger season in which he led the Blue Jays with 32 home runs is ranked as the seventh best right fielder with an 83 rating, tied with Jackson Chourio and Brent Rooker. While he did most of his damage as a DH, the game didn't have a Top Ten DH ranking list.

Meanwhile, Clement, who was nominated for a pair of Gold Glove awards, but didn't win any, sits as the No. 8 best second basemen in the game with a 79 overall rating. He's tied with Tommy Edman in terms of overall ratings and is ahead of Ozzie Albies and Brandon Lowe who both have 78 ratings.