We all know that Aaron Judge is on his way to the Hall of Fame. The three-time American League MVP is the best hitter in the game and fans across MLB can appreciate his greatness.
To add to his stardom, Judge was named as MLB The Show's cover athlete for their 2026 edition. It will be his second time gracing the cover of the baseball videogame after being on the front in 2018, too.
Judge joins Minnesota Twins legend Joe Mauer as the only players in history to be on MLB The Show's cover twice, joining an inner-circle of legends that was reserved for one person for the last 15 years.
I'm back! Excited to return to the cover of @mlbtheshow 26.https://t.co/AKBwxhUV9H #ad pic.twitter.com/KgKqVghUwB
— Aaron Judge (@TheJudge44) January 27, 2026
Aaron Judge joins Twins' Joe Mauer as only players ever to cover MLB The Show twice
Mauer, a first ballot Hall of Famer, was on the cover of MLB The Show 10 and MLB The Show 11, which was during the peak of his career. Mauer was first named to the cover after winning AL MVP in 2009, and then went back on the cover again after batting .327 in 2010. Mauer generated a 13.7 bWAR spanning these two seasons, winning the Silver Slugger Award and the Gold Glove Award both times, too.
You can argue that Judge being named to the cover twice is more important for Mauer's status than it is for Judge himself. Yes, Mauer is a Hall of Famer, but is he hailed internationally (or even nationally) by fans like Judge is? The answer is no.
But Mauer doesn't necessarily need this connection to Judge to cement his legacy as one of the best players this century. True fans already knew that, but for him to be in the same company as Judge is another notch added to his belt. It' pretty cool, and we're certain that Mauer can agree to that.
Other recent MLB The Show cover athletes include:
- Bryce Harper, 2019
- Javier Báez, 2020
- Fernando Tatis Jr., 2021
- Shohei Ohtani, 2022
- Jazz Chisholm Jr., 2023
- Vladimier Guerrero Jr., 2024
- Elly De La Cruz, Gunnar Henderson, Paul Skenes, 2025