Three Captain Series Ideas for MLB The Show 24

MLB The Show 23 introduced Team Captains, a series of cards that had modifiers if you met specific requirements. Some of the most popular included Jimmy Rollins shortstop Captain (attribute boosts for cards who’s primary or one of their secondary positions is shortstop) or Cal Ripken durability boost (stat boosts for cards with 99+ base durability). This was an interesting way to mix up line-up diversity and strategy and it was fun to use some of the Captain cards. But there are many other Captain boosts San Diego Studios can implement into MLB The Show 24.

Utility Man Captain

A good idea for a Captain would be a utility man captain card. The requirements for this would cover position players who have three or more secondary positions. I definitely think a card like this should have a fielding boost to eliminate the fielding penalty for playing someone at a secondary position. After all, utility players are typically good fielders around the diamond.

There would be some good candidates for a utility man Captain. One would be Chris Taylor III, who has over 100 career innings logged at six different positions. One of Taylor’s long time teammates, Enrique Hernandez would also be a great fit as he has over 100 career innings at seven different positions. This would be a perfect way to re-introduce Ben Zobrist back to the game if they were able to re-acquire his image rights. He may be the best utility man of all time and one of the first guys you think of when you hear ‘utility man.’

Outlier Captain

MLB The Show did not make any Captain series cards that affect players based on quirks in this year’s game. This could be a good opportunity to make more Captain boosts. One of the best quirks for pitchers is outlier. There is Outlier I and Outlier II. They both do the same thing, adding about three MPH of velocity to a pitch. But Outlier I affects just primary pitches while Outlier II affects a secondary pitch. An Outlier Captain could mostly affect BB/9 and/or control as most hard throwers aren’t known for their great command. 

Nolan Ryan would be a perfect player to make an outlier captain based on. Another good one would be Aroldis Chapman. Chapman holds the record for hardest thrown recorded fastball. Jordan Hicks and Brusdar Graterol would be equally fitting for modern players with Walter Johnson and Bob Feller as flashback legend candidates. This one might be a little too overpowering. Outlier cards are typically very good cards. But I think there would be a way to make an outlier Captain card without making it overpowering.

Power-Speed Captain

One of the most exciting combinations of skills in baseball is power and speed. Home runs and stolen bases are always exciting. Getting someone who can do both at an elite level is hard to find. There are a few ways SDS could go about implementing this. The card could boost players who are part of the 30/30 club. An alternative in attributes requirements would be giving the boost to players who have 100+ power and 90+ speed (pre-parallel).

Ronald Acuna Jr. would be one player to keep in mind. Not only is he a two-time member of the 30/30 club, but he also is the founding member of the 40/70 club. Willie Mays is the first player to have multiple 30/30 seasons in their career, making him a good candidate. He is also the first Post-Integration/WWII player to do this.