It took much longer than expected, but on July 31, we finally had our first player rating update for "MLB The Show 2020." Due to the pandemic causing a long delay to the start of the MLB season, player ratings have stayed stagnant, until now.

Just as we did in last year’s game, we will take note of the players who went up or down a tier level in the rating update (players who went from common to bronze, or bronze to common, are not included). For those not akin to how the tiers work, a bronze player is rated between 65-74, silver between 75-79, gold between 80-84, and diamond at 85+.

There are three new diamond players in the live series. It was mostly a positive ratings update as only one player mentioned here was downgraded compared to 13 who were upgraded. Let’s hope this is the first of many more rating updates in the future as there are many that are skeptical of whether the season will be able to finish due to some games already being canceled because of COVID-19.

All of the player rating updates can be found at The Show Nation.

Gold to Diamond

  • DJ LeMahieu, Yankees (2B) - 84 Gold to 85 Diamond
  • Shane Bieber, Indians (SP) - 83 Gold to 85 Diamond
  • Sonny Gray, Reds (SP) - 80 Gold to 85 Diamond

What an incredible beginning to the 2020 season it has been for Bieber. He has yet to give up a run in his 14 innings through two starts, and his 27 strikeouts tied the MLB record for most through two appearances with Karl Spooner of 1954 as per Yahoo Sports.

Silver to Gold

  • Brandon Woodruff, Brewers (SP) - 79 Silver to 80 Gold
  • Cristian Vazquez, Red Sox (C) - 79 Silver to 80 Gold
  • Dinelson Lamet, Padres (SP) - 79 Silver to 80 Gold
  • David Fletcher, Angels (2B) - 79 Silver to 80 Gold
  • Carlos Carrasco, Indians (SP) - 79 Silver to 80 Gold
  • Mike Soroka, Braves (SP) - 78 Silver to 80 Gold

Soroka probably should have started off as a gold player when the game came out after a 2019 that saw him finish second in NL Rookie of the Year voting and sixth in NL Cy Young.

He has a 1.59 ERA in his first two starts of 2020.

Bronze to Silver

  • Leury Garcia, White Sox (CF) - 74 Bronze to 75 Silver
  • James McCann, White Sox (C) - 74 Bronze to 75 Silver
  • Ross Stripling, Dodgers (SP) - 74 Bronze to 75 Silver
  • Danny Jansen, Blue Jays (C) - 74 Bronze to 75 Silver

While Garcia hasn’t necessarily hit well to start the year (5-23 for a .217 average), he does have two home runs.

Over the previous three seasons, he was averaging just one homer per 54 at-bats.

Silver to Bronze

  • Freddy Peralta, Brewers (RP) - 76 Silver to 71 Bronze

It was an ugly first start in 2020 for Peralta as he was yanked after just three innings where he gave up four runs. He was also given a position change in the video game from starting to relief pitcher.
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