JUPITER, Fla. – How realistic are video games these days?
Hitting remains the toughest part to master for Marlins infielder Graham Pauley when he plays MLB The Show against friends or random people around the world.
“I probably lost [the games],” Pauley said. “I'm not very good. The hitting, 100%. It’s hard.”
A three-person crew worked out of an office in the Marlins’ renovated Jupiter Academy on Friday tracking down around 20 players – from Pauley to shortstop prospect Starlyn Caba – for facial captures to be used in MLB The Show 2026, which launches on March 17 on several platforms.
Each player put on a hairdresser bib, had his hair sprayed with water to push it off of his forehead and had his face touched up for the scan.
With 48 cameras positioned in a 360-degree setup, the MLB The Show crew took two photos: one of the entire head and the other with a color chart touching the nose and exposing just the eyes and forehead. It will take three to five days for the photos to be processed, and the players’ faces are typically updated every four to five years unless one is needed sooner based on appearance changes.
The video game is popular amongst the Marlins, including manager Clayton McCullough and his son, Kyle.
“He loves playing against me, because he won't tell me what the buttons do, and the controller is a lot different now than it used to be when I played video games,” McCullough said. “So he's throttled me a few times. He usually picks the all-time greats, and I get like the [Double-A] Tulsa Drillers [of the Dodgers’ system]. I let him have it, but he plays a lot. He plays with the Marlins. He makes his own teams.”
When Connor Norby was at the Triple-A level with the Orioles, he played as a rather generic version – but still pretty close resemblance – of himself. Around that time, Norby asked and received his own 99 card, something players covet.
In MLB The Show, the Real 99 Diamond is only for the player. It’s a personalized 1-of-1 item that has powerful attributes and lets other gamers know it’s really them behind the controller. The way Pauley and catching prospect Joe Mack explained it, with a 99 card, the player has the best stats in the game and is the best at one’s position. For example, if the average is 100 for a batter’s eye or power, the player would get 115 or 120.
Now up in the big leagues, Norby isn’t as big into playing the game as he once was. Back then, Norby wondered whether it might help him in real life but there wasn’t any crossover.
“When it's all you do for your job, you want to kind of get away from it when you can,” Norby said. “I'll play it every now and then. It's pretty cool, for sure. It's the same thing as having your own baseball card. It's not what you try to attain. It's a perk, and it's definitely one of the cool things that happens because of it.”
For players who choose to do so, the video game is a unique opportunity to play as themselves. It’s a “pinch-me” moment to show how far they’ve come.
This year’s video game will also feature all 20 World Baseball Classic federations, so the nine Marlins on the 40-man roster competing in the tournament can represent their respective countries in virtual form.
Growing up in upstate New York, Mack (MLB Pipeline's No. 62 overall prospect) played as the 2000s Yankees that featured Derek Jeter. His video game system of choice was Nintendo GameCube and his favorite games were MVP Baseball 2004 with Albert Pujols on the cover and Mario Super Sluggers.
Mack, who also had his face captured during the 2022 Arizona Fall League, is on the 40-man roster. He could technically make his Major League debut in the video game before he does in real life.
“We did a headscan, and I got the real 99 card and everything, so it's pretty cool,” Mack said. “I wasn't that good. No, I'm just kidding. It was a lot of fun. I had some good stats in there. It was just cool to just play as yourself. It was like, ‘Wow, I'm in a video game.’”
For others, the game is a chance to step in a teammates' shoes. Pauley had 6-foot-8 flamethrowing right-hander Eury Pérez in mind.
“I’d like to see what it's like being that tall from up on the mound,” Pauley said.