“Maverick” to represent KC Royals in MLB: The Show tourney

As other sports use online gaming to keep connected to their audience, MLB has added that attraction with the KC Royals represented by a speedy outfielder.

The popularity of NASCAR’s iRacing events during the nationwide lockdown no doubt gave Major League Baseball the idea of having a video game competition. One player from each franchise will play for their respective team and the KC Royals’ video game future rests on the shoulders of Brett Phillips.

Other notable names representing their teams include Carlos Santana of the Cleveland Indians, Lance McCullers of the Houston Astros, Rhys Hoskins of the Philadelphia Phillies, and Ian Happ of the Chicago Cubs.  The games will be available to watch through Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Twitch.

The players will play each other one time each for a total of 29 games and then enter an eight-team playoff format.  Each game will only consist of three innings which would seem to ensure that interesting strategies will play out. Major League Baseball will give $5,000 to each team’s local Boys & Girls Club with an additional $25,000 going to the winning player’s Club.

For Royals fans, Phillips first set of games will occur on Monday, April 13th starting at 8:00 p.m. CST.  He will take on Hunter Pence of the San Francisco Giants, Matt Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals, Tommy Kahnle of the New York Yankees, and Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays.

One of the more interesting parts of the competition will be viewing how the players interact with each other.  We will be able to see some personalities come out we may not always get a glimpse at and trash-talking is sure to happen.

Here’s to hoping Maverick can request many flybys after victories and make the playoffs.  Not only for bragging rights but to provide additional prize money to the worthy Boys & Girls Club of Greater Kansas City.