MLB The Show 23 Adds July Monthly Awards and Number Retirement Programs

MLB The Show 23 got a ton of new content this week. Several new programs were added including the Number Retirement Program and the July Monthly Awards Program. These new programs bring several new highly sought-after cards to Diamond Dynasty.

MLB The Show 23 Adds July Monthly Awards and Number Retirement Programs

July Monthly Awards Program

The July Monthly Awards Program is the largest of the new programs added this week. This program features Chicago Cubs CF Cody Bellinger as this month’s Lightning Player of the Month. Bellinger was on fire for all of July, as he hit .400 for the month along with 8 HRs and 24 RBIs.

Bellinger is in the midst of a phenomenal comeback season with the Cubs. Since his 2019 NL MVP season, Bellinger has struggled. From 2020-2022, Bellinger hit .203/.272/.376 with only 41 HRs, which is less than the 47 he hit in 2019 alone. However, since signing with the Cubs this offseason, Bellinger has found his old touch. He is currently 4^th in hitting in the NL with a .329 average and has 18 HRs and 58 RBIs on the season.

This program isn’t just Bellinger. There are 23 total cards in this program to collect. These will certainly help those trying to reach those Set 3 collection rewards. Alongside the 99 OVR Bellinger there are some heavy hitters like 98 OVR Bobby Witt Jr., 98 OVR Tyler Glasnow, and 98 OVR Whit Merrifield. The full list of players in this program are:

• Cubs CF Cody Bellinger (99 OVR)
• Royals SS Bobby Witt Jr. (98 OVR)
• Rays SP Tyler Glasnow (98 OVR)
• Blue Jays 2B Whit Merrifield (98 OVR)
• Angels LF Randal Grichuk (98 OVR)
• Brewers RP Joel Payamps (98 OVR)
• Astros CF Chas McCormick (98 OVR)
• Red Sox 1B Triston Casas (97 OVR)
• Rays 3B Isaac Paredes (97 OVR)
• Braves RP Joe Jimenez (97 OVR)
• Twins 2B Edouard Julien (97 OVR)
• Rays CP Pete Fairbanks (97 OVR)
• Red Sox CF Jarren Duran (97 OVR)
• Angels LF Taylor Ward (97 OVR)
• Guardians SP Aaron Civale (97 OVR)
• Brewers C William Contreras (96 OVR)
• Mariners SS J.P. Crawford (95 OVR)
• Cardinals RP Giovanny Gallegos (95 OVR)
• Cubs RP Javier Assad (95 OVR)
• Mariners SP Logan Gilbert (95 OVR)
• Cardinals SP Steven Matz (95 OVR)
• Astros 3B Yuli Gurriel, Captain (95 OVR)
• Dodgers SP Walker Buehler, Captain (95 OVR)

Number Retirement Program

This weekend, the Los Angeles Dodgers are retiring number 34 to honor Fernando Valenzuela. In honor of this, the new Number Retirement Program features new versions of several legends that have had their jersey numbers retired in the past. This includes legends like Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray, and Cal Ripken Jr. The full list of players in this program is listed below:

• Dodgers SP Fernando Valenzuela (99 OVR)
• Yankees CF Mickey Mantle (97 OVR)
• Orioles SS Cal Ripken Jr. (97 OVR)
• White Sox RF Harold Baines (97 OVR)
• Athletics CP Dennis Eckersley (97 OVR)
• Orioles 1B Eddie Murray (97 OVR)
• Cardinals SS Ozzie Smith (97 OVR)
• Braves SP Warren Spann (97 OVR)

Number Retirement Event

Along with the new Number Retirement Program comes the Number Retirement Event. This event has players use Topps Now, Live Series, Milestone, and Monthly Awards cards in 3-inning games at Dodger Stadium. 5 wins in the event will earn you 95 OVR Jim Thome, and 20 wins will reward 97 OVR Eddie Matthews. If you are able to get 12 wins in a single event entry, you’ll earn 99 OVR Michael Young.

Ranked 5 Program

The Ranked Season program has reset, with a whole new set of objectives and rewards. The new World Series pack contains three of the most powerful cards we have seen so far in MLB The Show 23. This World Series pack includes 99 OVR All-Star Gamer Series Byron Buxton, 99 OVR Award Series Rafael Devers, and 99 OVR Kaiju Series Al Leiter.

Roster Update

The 6^th roster attribute update was this week. Live Series cards had their attributes adjusted based on the player’s real-life performance. Six players passed the 85 OVR threshold to become Diamond tier cards. These six new Diamonds are:

• Braves 1B Matt Olson
• Braves CF Michael Harris II
• Cubs CF Cody Bellinger
• Royals SS Bobby Witt Jr.
• Padres SS Ha-Seong Kim
• Twins SP Pablo Lopez

New Packs

There were three new packs added to The Show Shop this week. The first goes along with the Number Retirement Program. The new Number Retirement Choice Pack costs 50,000 stubs and has a base and rare round (1:5 odds).  Sadly, there was no discount for the first pack of this kind as we had previously with the Draft and All-Star packs. The players in this pack are:

Rare Round:

• Blue Jays SP Roy Halladay (99 OVR)
• Dodgers CF Duke Snider (99 OVR)
• Astros 2B Craig Biggio (99 OVR)

Base Round

• Pirates LF Willie Stargell (97 OVR)
• Braves 3B Chipper Jones (97 OVR)
• Athletics SP Catfish Huner (97 OVR)
• Yankees C Jorge Posada (97 OVR)
• Rockies 1B Todd Helton (97 OVR)

Diamond Duos Pack 31 is now available in The Show Shop. The new duo features 99 OVR Kaiju Series Zack Wheeler and 99 OVR All-Star Game Series Barry Larkin. There is also a new Chase Pack available. The feature player in the 6^th Chase Pack is 99 OVR Award Series Jacob deGrom. This card is based on deGrom’s 2018 season where he had 269 strikeouts, a 1.70 ERA and won his first Cy Young award.

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