Cleveland Indians All-Star shortstop, Francisco Lindor has been announced as the cover athlete for R.B.I. Baseball 18. The game is scheduled to release in March for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android devices. No other details have been revealed.
In his first three MLB seasons, Lindor (“Mr. Smile”) finished second in Rookie of the Year voting (2015), led the Indians to their first World Series appearance since 1997 (2016), won a Rawlings Gold Glove Award (2016) and Louisville Silver Slugger Award (2017) and garnered a pair of consecutive top 10 finishes in the American League Most Valuable Player voting (2016, 2017). The switch-hitting shortstop, a native of Puerto Rico, finished 2017 with career highs across nearly every offensive category, including home runs (33) and RBI (89).
Lindor follows in the footsteps of past R.B.I. Baseball cover selections Corey Seager (2017), Mookie Betts (’16) and Anthony Rizzo (’15). The classic video game, which was relaunched by Major League Baseball in conjunction with the MLB Players’ Association in ’14.
