Philadelphia Phillies: Bryce Harper lands the cover of ‘MLB The Show 19’

Though he’s only been a member of the Philadelphia Phillies for about a day, Bryce Harper has already landed his first major accolade: the cover of ‘MLB The Show 19’.

February 28th, 2019 may go down as one of the most important days in the storied history of the Philadelphia Phillies.

In case you somehow missed it, Bryce Harper has signed the richest contract in MLB history, worth $330 million over 13-years, and will call the City of Brotherly Love home for the remainder of his career.

But that isn’t the only Harper-related development to make its way down the pipeline on the final day of February.

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No, for the first time in over a decade, the Phillies finally have a player on the cover of a video game.

Sure, he’d technically been a member of the team for hours, not days when it was announced, but if you happen to cop a copy of ‘MLB The Show 19‘ you will see Harper, proudly brandishing a Phillies jersey and helmet for the world to see.

I don’t know about you, but that marketing certainly has me thinking about making a purchase.

Though landing game covers isn’t a foreign concept for stars playing in Philadelphia, as Joel Embiid is the current cover star of ‘NBA Live 19‘, Donovan McNabb graced the cover of ‘Madden 06‘, and Allen Iverson was featured on the first four covers of Sega’s ‘2K’ franchise from 2000-04, this is the first time a Phillies players has earned such a prestigious honor since Ryan Howard held the cover of ‘MLB The Show 08’.

In a way, the symmetry is almost poetic.

Much like Howard, Harper is a certified star, a home run hitter with charisma, flash, and (depending on who you ask) charm. He’s the kind of player who transcends the typically reserved nature of professional baseball players and ascends to the ranks of genuine stardom, annals typically reserved for NFL quarterbacks and scoring first NBA players.

And now, Harper’s is one of us.

After hitting more home runs in Citizens Bank Park than any other road park in the nation, Harper will now call it home, and all but certainly take advantage of its hitter-friendly status to become an even more effective player, now a member of one of the best top-to-bottom rotations in the entirety of Major League Baseball.

Though fans in the 215 will unfortunately have to wait until March 28th to see Harper actually suit up and play in a meaningful game for the Phillies, overly eager fans will be able to see Bryce’s impact on his new club first hand on the 26th, when ‘MLB The Show 19’ officially releases on the PlayStation 4.