St. Louis Cardinals: Five best players we’ve never seen in MLB The Show

Who are the best players in St. Louis Cardinals’ history who have never been featured in MLB The Show?

I get it, not everyone is into video games. But at this point, it’s about all most St. Louis Cardinals’ fans have who are itching for any fix they can of the game they love. In a long-awaited attempt to market their players as people, the MLB hosted and advertised the MLB The Show Players Tournament over the past month.

The tournament became a huge hit to many people, seeing their favorite players have fun and talk to players on other teams. Some of the reactions are priceless. Kids like Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr. hitting homers as themselves was destined to happen and it didn’t disappoint. The tournament got so popular, they actually broadcasted the player streams on ESPN2 a number of times as the games wound down.

Although they were all playing as real-life teams, the flagship mode for the MLB The Show game is Diamond Dynasty. In the mode, you can collect players from every era of baseball history and play games with a very unique set of talent on your team.

The Cardinals, being the legendary franchise that they are, usually have one of the most populous collections of legends in the game. Fans often even complain that there are too many Cardinals legends in the game and the developers need to focus on other teams.

We’ve seen all of the best cards: Prime Albert Pujols, 1969 Bob Gibson, Peak Stan Musial, even 2012 Yadier Molina, giving us the best defensive catcher in the game’s history. But due to the Player’s Union owning the rights to players, the game doesn’t have legally have the rights to the likeness of many players throughout baseball history.

This begs the question: who are the best players in franchise history that we’ve never seen? They have covered a good majority of players, but the deep sleepers to have great cards are always the cards that fans end up loving the most.

All-Star Edgar Renteria

Edgar Renteria was the forgotten piece of the dominant teams of the early 2000s. Everyone remembers the MV3, which will be mentioned later, but Edgar was overlooked on a team full of stars.

His career undoubtedly peaked in 2003. That season, he had a slash of .330/.394/.480. Although that line is good, it’s nothing that would stand out among 150 years of baseball greats. Renteria’s card would be a fine addition to anyone’s collection for two reasons.

First, he hit a whopping .391 against left-handed pitching that year, which ultimately lead to a 1.173 OPS against southpaws. He would be nearly maxed out against left-handed pitchers in the game and at the sometimes light-hitting shortstop position, that would be a huge advantage to platoon.

Second, Edgar also stole 34 bases that season, which would put his speed in the upper echelon of players in the game. With more walks than strikeouts that season, he would always be a threat to get on base, then immediately take second.

His one downside is that he would likely be rated as an average defender. With a -1 DRS that year, his fielding would hurt the rating of his card. Shortstop is a premium defensive position so low attributes in that area would be the main reason that he wouldn’t be a mainstay in many lineups.

Renteria’s unique blend of power and speed would likely lead him to be on the bench of many teams along with a premium pinch hitter against lefties.

Prime Dizzy Dean

Dizzy Dean’s peak is up there with the best in franchise history. He would be a force to be reckoned with on the mound of the virtual diamond.

Jay Hanna “Dizzy” Dean is undoubtedly one of the top pitchers in Cardinals’ history. His peak with the team was from 1932-1936, and he was good enough to get a statue out in front of the stadium, which seems like good enough reason for him to be in the game in the first place.

Dean’s most attractive quality would be his pitching stamina. Over those five years, he averaged 306 innings per season, maxing out 325.1 in 1935. With a renewed emphasis on stamina for pitchers in this year’s game, that would be huge for getting a bunch of innings out of him.

Although his strikeout numbers aren’t on par with the fireballers of today’s game, his minuscule 1.5 BB/9 in 1935 would lead to fantastic control on his pitches, which would likely be four or five different offerings.

Dean likely wouldn’t be one of the more popular pitchers in the game, solely due to his low strikeout numbers. But players who prefer control over velocity would love to use this Cardinal great.

MVP Willie McGee

It’s not often you get a player with 95+ speed in MLB The Show, but Willie McGee might be one of the guys to earn that honor. In his 1985 season, he swiped 56 bags en route to an 8.2 bWAR season.

McGee led the NL in hits, triples, and batting average that season, hitting a huge .353 in the best season of his career. He was equally good from both sides of the plate as well, hitting .356 vs right-handers, and .348 versus lefties. Although he did hit for power substantially better against lefties, slugging .571 against southpaws that year.

Defensively, McGee won a gold glove that season, posting an Rtot of 5 with 11 outfield assists. With his crazy speed, plus elite fielding, McGee would undoubtedly be a top-notch option in center field for many teams, while also in the running to hit leadoff.

Despite not putting up the power numbers we often think of for an MVP in the modern era, Willie’s insane production on the bases, league-leading batting average, as well as the slugging percentage to take extra bases lead him to the first Cardinal MVP that decade. His card would be a blast to use in MLB The Show and would definitely make my team if that time ever comes.

Cy Young Chris Carpenter

Chris Carpenter had three top-three Cy Young finishes in his Cardinals career, but his award-winning season is the year this card is replicating.

In his second season year in St. Louis, the formerly failed Blue Jay threw the best season of his career to that time. In a hefty 241.2 innings, he posted a 2.83 ERA and a 1.055 WHIP.

His repertoire would be filled to the brim with out pitches, likely having four secondary dealings to compliment his fastball. This coupled with his 1.9 BB/9 would be a recipe for another elite control pitcher from the Cardinals collection.

Like Dean, his stamina would be off the charts, throwing the second-most innings in baseball that season. He also finished top ten in K/BB ratio, so his ability to strike batters out and not give them a free pass would be among the best in the game as well.

Carpenter would be a desirable card for many players, but it would require him to release his rights to be used, which isn’t always on former player’s priority lists.