Breaking Down What MLB the Show 2021 Got Right, Wrong with Final Player Ratings

Jacob deGromChristian Petersen/Getty Images

Diamond Tier: Jacob deGrom, NYM (96 overall); Max Scherzer, LAD (92); Corbin Burnes, MIL (90); Brandon Woodruff, MIL (89); Gerrit Cole, NYY (89); Trevor Bauer, LAD (89); Justin Verlander, HOU (88); Zack Wheeler, PHI (87); Shohei Ohtani, LAA (87); Freddy Peralta, MIL (87); Kevin Gausman, SF (86); Walker Buehler, LAD (86); Tyler Glasnow, TB (85); Shane Bieber, CLE (85); Joe Musgrove, SD (85)

Gold Tier: Lance Lynn, CWS (84); Aaron Nola, PHI (83); Jack Flaherty, STL (83); Stephen Strasburg, WAS (83); Charlie Morton, ATL (83); Yu Darvish, SD (83); Mike Clevinger, SD (83); Noah Syndergaard, NYM (82); Jose Berrios, TOR (82); Sandy Alcantara, MIA (82); Alek Manoah, TOR (81); Lucas Giolito, CWS (81); Chris Bassitt, OAK (81); Dylan Cease, CWS (81); Adam Wainwright, STL (80); Huascar Ynoa, ATL (80); Frankie Montas, OAK (80); Mike Soroka, ATL (80); Marcus Stroman, NYM (80); Pablo Lopez, MIA (80); Luis Garcia, HOU (80); Nathan Eovaldi, BOS (80); Tyler Mahle, CIN (80); Anthony DeSclafani, SF (80); Lance McCullers Jr., HOU (80)

A lot of injured pitchers in the diamond-tier group, including 38-year-old Justin Verlander who has not pitched since July 24, 2020.

No glaring omissions from the diamond group, though Sandy Alcantara has an awfully strong case to join them after back-to-back seasons as a bona fide ace atop a really good Miami rotation.

Huascar Ynoa benefited from his surprising hot start, but with a 4.05 ERA in 91 innings he looks more like a good No. 4 starter than a gold-tier level pitcher. Alek Manoah ranked ahead of Luis Garcia, Ian Anderson and Casey Mize from this year’s crop of rookie pitchers is a bit surprising, though it’s hard to argue with his results.

Most Underrated: Logan Webb (79, silver)

Webb went 7-0 with a 2.71 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 100 strikeouts in 96.1 innings after the All-Star break. He should have been bumped up to the gold tier at least a month ago, and failing to push him across the 80 overall threshold in the final update was a big whiff.

Cal Quantrill (76 overall, silver) also stands out as an underrated starter after he logged a 2.89 ERA with 121 strikeouts in 149.2 innings this year.