MLB The Show 22 has arrived and the big program on day one is the Faces of the Franchise Featured Program. Moving away from Inning/Team Affinity Programs and consolidating the DD grind experience, players have been treated to a launch-day feast featuring some of the best and most popular players in Major League Baseball. These cards can be acquired for free simply by playing and earning XP. This is standard fare for Diamond Dynasty, but the names involved in this initial program tower over previous iterations that typically featured under-the-radar MLB players with modest low diamonds to start the year. With 30 cards in the program to grind toward or snag off the marketplace, what better way to start the year than a good old-fashioned power ranking of the Faces of the Franchise cards in MLB The Show 22?
From top to bottom, I’m ranking these cards based off of what I believe to be the best cards overall. This is a sight-read ranking based off attributes and relative knowledge of the player’s unique swings. As many experienced DD-players will know, some players will play above or below their attributes depending on how good their swing is in-game. I did my best to consider all factors when putting these rankings together. I’m not necessarily advocating that anyone try to acquire these cards in the order I’ve listed them. Instead, I’ll always advocate that you should pursue the cards you think you’ll enjoy the most. If you want the best or most competitive team you can assemble, by all means use this list to your liking and hopefully it helps in that endeavor.
Part of the fun of Diamond Dynasty is being able to pair current-day favorites with legends from baseball’s vast history. If I rank your favorite player 17th, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t unlock him. Do and play what makes you happy!
With that out of the way, here are my Power Rankings for MLB: The Show 22’s Face of the Franchise Featured Program:
MLB The Show 22 Faces of the Franchise Rankings
The Elite
#1) Jazz Chisholm – Byron Buxton has long been a fan-favorite player in Diamond Dynasty for myriad reasons. He has an amazing swing, typically good-to-great attributes that play even better in combination with that swing, plus max speed and fielding. But what if I told you Byron Buxton could play the infield as well? That’s essentially Jazz Chisholm. While Jazz might not have max speed and defense, he does have Diamond defense stock and has plenty of speed of his own. If you get Jazz to Parallel 5, then he’ll have 95 Field and 96 Speed. So, very Buxton-like, which is why these two are essentially 1A and 1B for me with Jazz getting the slight edge as I adore his swing.
#2) Byron Buxton
#3) Cedric Mullins
#4) Bryan Reynolds
#5) Devin Williams – It’s borderline absurd that this Devin Williams card is only a 90 overall. With 112 H/9 and 114 K/9, Williams brings some of the best key attributes you can ask for. His primary pitch being the Bugs Bunny circle-change affectionately known as The Airbender comes with max control, and you’ll be able to throw it virtually anywhere you want. While his three off-speed offerings are all in the same speed range, they all break in different directions and every single pitch has max break. Coupled with a high-90s fastball, you should easily be able to keep your opponents off-balance. I think this is easily the best RP card available, and the first card you should target if you’re looking to strengthen your bullpen.
A-Tier
#6) Aroldis Chapman – No Outlier, no problem. Throwing absolute gas with max break on his splitter and slider, even with his new wind-up animation, I expect Aroldis Chapman to be one of the most used Face of the Franchise cards. He should stick in your bullpen for quite a while.
#7) Mike Trout – It might seem sacrilegious to not have Mike Trout in the absolute highest tier, but let’s be honest, SDS had to nerf The Goat a fair amount in order to deliver a measly 90 overall version. This card is very good. But in my estimation, it falls a bit behind some of the other OF options in this program. The same can be said for Ronald Acuna Jr. Both of these superstars have good cards here — please do not mistake their upper-mid ranking as a knock on the cards. But both guys come with fairly mediocre fielding compared to the higher-ranked OFs, and this list was meant as an all-encompassing ranking. Defense aside, these cards (and their S-tier swings) will absolutely mash.
#8) Ronald Acuna Jr.
#9) Corey Seager
#10) Kyle Tucker
#11) Rafael Devers
#12) Emmanuel Clase – In theory, Clase might project to be higher on this list. With an Outlier cutter in his possession, Clase certainly brings the heat with a max-speed 4-seamer as well. But Clase’s cutter only has 75 Break and a relatively minor speed differential between all three of his pitches. 106 H/9 will certainly play, and I think you can be successful with this card for sure. But, at least for my personal pitching style, he ends up middle of the pack for me.
#13) Mitch Haniger
#14) J.T. Realmuto
#15) Logan Webb
#16) Francisco Lindor
#17) Wander Franco – Wander Franco and Francisco Lindor are fairly comparable attributes-wise. In a sense, they are mirror versions of each other, hailing from their respective East divisions. I’m giving the slight edge to Lindor here because he is a bit better against RHP, and you’ll face more RHP than LHP overall.
Serviceable Stewards
#18) Josh Bell – Lots of folks might have been disappointed with Bell’s reveal as the Nationals Face of the Franchise. But the 6-foot-4 first baseman comes in with pretty solid and balanced offensive attributes while hitting from both sides. He’s slightly better against RHP as well, which should prove to be quite a strength. I’d ignore his OF secondaries because he’ll drop to bronze fielding with a terrible arm and virtually no speed. At worst, Josh Bell is a well-rounded pinch-hitter in this early part of the year.
#19) Luis Robert
#20) Cody Bellinger
#21) Jake Cronenworth
#22) Casey Mize – If I’m way off on any of these cards, it might just be Casey Mize. Pretty solid on the attributes end, Mize is another pitcher in this program that doesn’t have the strongest speed differentials between his pitches. While his 4-seam and sinker will have around 10-14 MPH difference with his off-speed, all three of those off-speed pitches are roughly in the same range. But I think this card potentially has the most helium of any of the cards on this list.
#23) Joey Votto
Not-Too-Shabby, Not-Too-Great
#24) Sean Murphy
#25) Tommy Edman
#26) Marcus Stroman
#27) Alek Manoah
#28) C.J. Cron
#29) Andrew Benintendi
#30) Carson Kelly – Carson Kelly ends up in the lowest tier for me, but that doesn’t necessarily mean this card doesn’t have a use. Kelly absolutely mashes LHP and could potentially make for an elite-platoon option if you employ that strategy. In fact, the two catchers in this tier might end up making a solid platoon as Sean Murphy has better power against RHP and diamond defense. If you’re looking at the No Money Spent route, grinding for each of these free cards and platooning might be a sneaky strategy to maximize your early catcher deployment.
Bottom Line
All-in-all, I don’t find any of these cards to be truly terrible. And to a degree, a lot of the cards grouped together that play similar positions have pretty similar attribute spreads as well. But that’s part of the fun here. The program offerings are balanced enough that you aren’t getting hosed because you took the card representing your team. Carson Kelly is ranked dead last but has a very usable card. Jazz Chisholm is ranked first, but you might prefer Tommy Edman because you’re a Cardinals fan.
The added element of random cards being earned as you first progress through the program until you get to the Choice packs might even add more nuanced enjoyment. I’m sure a lot of people want Mike Trout but might not pull him in their first AL West no-sell pack. Maybe you get Kyle Tucker and absolutely rake with him and end up not using Trout by the time you get him.
But that’s my initial ranking of the Faces of the Franchise cards. Where do my rankings line up with yours? Who did I have too high and who am I sleeping on?
