By now, everyone has caught up on Starling Marte's 80-game suspension and Jung Ho Kang's legal troubles.
What you haven't been told about quite yet is how the absence of the Pirates' two best position players, according to MLB: The Show 17 on Sony's PlayStation 4, affects the team when battling in a video game with the 2017 Pirates.
Here's the deal: Sony and its first-party developers who make MLB: The Show 17 in San Diego don't dictate who the Pirates' best players are. I would argue that including Kang in the top two is a heck of a reach based on one down year for Andrew McCutchen and with a pretty dang decent corner outfielder in Gregory Polanco.
But, this is the way they built their game, and Kang is rated an 85 (Mike Trout is a 99 for comparison). No. 1 on the team is, of course, Marte, but only by two points with an 87 rating. Gerrit Cole comes in at an 86, but I'm leaving the rotation out of this. According to The Show, Kang has earned the same rating in barely a season of action that McCutchen, also an 85 and just three seasons removed from being named MVP, has earned.
Regardless of whether it's deserved or not, Kang is good great in the game. Just have a look at this 549-foot home run I smoked with his bat in the course of play:
Jung Ho Kang is the ninth 'most valuable' third baseman available in The Show. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS
I hit a home run with Kang every 6.3 at bats. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS
Starling Marte is the second-most expensive center fielder in Diamond Dynasty. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS
You can see a sharp dip in Marte's value after his ban. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS
The Pirates drop to a 71 and 72 overall at 3B and RF respectively. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS