Players who rose or fell a level in the August 15 MLB The Show roster update

MLB put out their roster update a day early on a Thursday, with this one also including updates on ratings.

The new ratings update has two new diamond players in Trevor Story and Jose Ramirez (previously was a diamond) and one who fell from diamond, in Andrelton Simmons. It also features a couple of rookies (Bryan Reynolds and Bo Bichette), moving up to silver, who have been raking at the plate early in their career.

All of the rating updates from August 15 can be found at the MLB The Show 19 webpage.

Gold to Diamond

• Trevor Story, Rockies (Gold 84 to Diamond 85)
• Jose Ramirez, Indians (Gold 84 to Diamond 85)

Ramirez, who started the season at diamond but dropped to gold, has finally found his groove for the Indians this season.

After a very slow start (was hitting a lowly .196 with a .586 OPS after June 12’s game), he has much more so resembled the player who finished third in AL MVP voting both in 2017 and 2018.

Story is a player who helps the Rockies in a boatload of ways. He is an excellent fielder at shortstop, hits for power (27 home runs), and possesses plenty of speed (16 steals).

Up to Gold

• Michael Conforto, Mets (Silver 79 to Gold 80)
• Sonny Gray, Reds (Silver 79 to Gold 80)
• Jack Flaherty, Cardinals (Silver 79 to Gold 80)

It must have been not being comfortable pitching in New York for the Yankees because Gray is back to being an excellent pitcher this season for the Reds. His 2.98 ERA is eighth-best in the NL, and opposing hitters have batted just .206 against him.

Bronze to Silver

• Gio Urshela, Yankees (Bronze 74 to Silver 78)
• Carson Kelly, Diamondbacks (Bronze 73 to Silver 76)
• Bryan Reynolds, Pirates (Bronze 74 to Silver 76)
• Nick Ahmed, Diamondbacks (Bronze 74 to Silver 76)
• Bo Bichette, Blue Jays (Bronze 72 to Silver 76)
• Manuel Margot, Padres (Bronze 74 to Silver 76)
• Chase Anderson, Brewers (Bronze 74 to Silver 75)
• Jorge Soler, Royals (Bronze 72 to Silver 74)
• Mark Canha, Athletics (Bronze 74 to Silver 75)
• Eric Sogard, Rays (Bronze 73 to Silver 75)

Urshela has literally come out of nowhere and is in the midst of an excellent season for the Yankees.

The 27-year-old had a career .225 batting average entering the year in 466 at-bats over three seasons. This year, he owns a .337 batting average, .964 OPS, and has 47 extra-base hits (29 doubles, 17 homers).

Diamond to Gold

• Andrelton Simmons, Angels (Diamond 85 to Gold 84)

While Simmons likely remains the best defensive shortstop in the game, he’s missed plenty of action this season.

He is currently on the 10-day IL and has missed 49 of the Angels’ 123 games. His batting average (.274) is his lowest since 2015 and his OPS (.697) is his lowest since 2016.

Gold to Silver

• Blake Treinen, Athletics (Gold 81 to Silver 79)
• Elvis Andrus, Rangers (Gold 80 to Silver 79)

It was just a year ago that Treinen had one of the best seasons by a closer in recent memory finishing with a microscopic 0.78 ERA and 36 saves (also was sixth in AL Cy Young voting). It’s been a whole different story in 2019 as his ERA has gone up more than four runs to 4.86, and his walk rate has more than doubled from last year.

Down to Bronze

• Kyle Freeland, Rockies (Silver 77 to Bronze 74)
• Jeremy Jeffress, Brewers (Silver 77 to Bronze 74)
• J.A. Happ, Yankees (Silver 75 to Bronze 74)
• Blake Parker, Phillies (Silver 75 to Bronze 74)
• Wilmer Flores, Diamondbacks (Silver 75 to Bronze 74)
• Jackie Bradley Jr. (Silver 75 to Bronze 74)
• Juan Lagares (Silver 76 to Bronze 73)
• Johan Camargo (Silver 75 to Bronze 73)
• A.J. Minter (Silver 77 to Bronze 73)
• Travis Shaw (Silver 76 to Bronze 72)
• Cody Allen (Silver 75 to Bronze 72)
• Wade Davis (Silver 75 to Bronze 72)

It’s quite unclear as to why Lagares has been a silver player all season, but MLB The Show 19 has finally rectified it. He’s been awful at the plate as evidenced by his .211 batting average and .289 slugging percentage. His WAR on the year is -0.9 according to Baseball-Reference.