With another year comes another annual MLB The Show release from Sony San Diego Studio. In years past, the gameplay feature premiere has been the least eventful. Most of the core gameplay changes are under the hood things that are hard to show in action rather than feeling over the course of many hours. This time, however, SDS introduced the most core mechanical and quality of life changes they have ever shown off in a feature premiere.
With many complaints about the hitting engine, SDS appears to have corrected many issues while not completely dismantling the current system for casual offline players. Here is every change shown off in the MLB the Show 23 gameplay feature premiere and tech test.
10 Fielding
Fielding has undergone the most transformative change in the game. In years past, focus on fielding has been limited to new animations and urgency in throws for online play. This year, the usual new animations extend to foul balls, first base picking, fielding and throwing urgency, and plenty of new dives. SDS’s Ramone Russell stated, “We have hundreds of new gameplay animations, many of them fielding.” Changes to how core defensive stats affect gameplay were also shared.
The Fielding rating accounts for non-throwing errors, start transitions, and jumps. The perfect throwing window has been changed to be either faster or slower based on the defender with the ball. Throw accuracy now adjusts the green throwing window based on the reaction rating. Infield throws will be more diverse, with a yellow throwing window to first base resulting in a ball in the dirt, with the first baseman’s fielding determining if the ball is picked from the dirt. The gameplay team also claimed there were far too many outfield assists in years past. They now hope that a smaller throwing window in the outfield will aid with that.
9 Quality of Life
Quality of Life changes extend to giving the player more information available without sifting through menus or waiting for post action camera cuts. Rather than having to wait for post camera cut to learn important information like launch angle or exit velocity, that information will be immediately shown in the bottom right while the play is still going on.
This was an especially frustrating problem for game modes like Road to the Show, where after an at bat or end of an inning for the pitcher, the game would sim forward, and you would have no access to that information.
8 Reworked Quirk System
The quirk system has always been somewhat controversial. The menu in general was very cluttered, and it was hard to discern for newer players which quirks actually did anything. Many were simply descriptive of a player with a higher stat than normal and didn’t affect gameplay. Many quirks have been outright removed or reworked.
New additions include: pickoff artist, which aids pickoff moves, making them more effective and resulting in outs more often; Table Setter, which boosts a pitchers stats when there is nobody on base; Break outlier, which helps pitchers maintain pitch break better when they are tired; And Bad ball hitter, which gives a boost to batters when making contact on pitches outside the strike zone. Vladimir Guerrero was specifically mentioned as one of the players who will benefit from this quirk.
7 New Clutch Attribute
A new attribute added to MLB the Show 23 is clutch. The attribute existed prior with batting and pitching clutch but appears to have been reworked to a singular clutch stat. With runners in scoring position, certain attributes will be swapped with the clutch stat.
Pitchers will replace the clutch stat with their hit per nine stat, and hitters hitting side — either righty or lefty — will replace contact against either side. This should not affect pitchers too much, but hitters with lower contact stats will be far more viable either starting the game or coming off the bench in key situations, especially in a shorter form game like in Battle Royale.
6 On Screen Displays
Key on screen displays have been changed. More concise visual information will be shown for a particular at-bat, with currently relevant stats — like hitters against a lefty or righty — will only show those numbers. Pressing left or right on the d-pad pre-pitch shows that and currently active quirks.
Statcast info is more easily shown and updates in real time. Stats like first pitches thrown for a strike, swing rate, contact made, whiff, and hard rate are among these. Swing analysis now shows more specific timing along with your hitting type like directional or zone. Exit velocity and launch angle are available immediately rather than praying it shows up after a swing or an at-bat.
5 PCI Changes
Small but important changes have been made to the plate coverage indicator. The center PCI dot, referred to by the gameplay team as the “bullseye region,” is now more indicative of the perfect-perfect timing window. Making contact with the ball around this region determines whether a perfect-perfect hit is either a flyball, line drive, or ground ball.
SDS were careful to reiterate that positioning of the PCI is still the biggest determining factor in which of these you end up with. The contact rating is also now more determined by real statcast data of expected outcomes based on historical launch angle and exit velo information. The bottom left info window shows swing timing and grade on the left, PCI placement on the right, and your results on the bottom.
4 Gameplay Styles
Big changes are coming to the gameplay styles system. Casual, sim, and competitive are still in the game, but reworked. Casual and sim are similar to last year, with comp completely redone. SDS emphasized changing the system due to competitive players feedback and their esports involvement going forward. “Too much contact” was the key phrase uttered here, which lead to them seeking changes. “Enhance the pitcher batter matchup.” There should be fewer flyballs, pitchers should have an easier time striking batters out, and it should reflect the current rising major league strikeout rate.
Frustration from internal teams as well as fans were shared, sharing how difficult it was getting guys out with two strikes as additional pitches were fouled off. They feel fewer “cheap hits, flairs over corner infielders, especially with two strikes and risp” will be happening. The range for early and late swings generating good results has been narrowed, leaving fewer weak contact hits. Good contact results and PCI placement will have better results on competitive game mode settings and in Diamond Dynasty.
3 Plate Vision
Sony San Diego Studio were very blunt, stating “50% of vision has been removed.” This should significantly reduce long at-bats with tons of foul balls. One of their mission statements was to reduce the number of bad PCI placement foul balls and even some hits.
Casual gameplay modes should maintain their old vision rate. This is a fluid situation, as if the system ends up too hard or frustrating top players, they will likely start to revert to the old system before long. Hopefully, this new system ends up working for the better and encourages better lineup diversity.
2 MLB Rule Changes
Many of the new rule changes coming to the MLB this season will be making their way to MLB the Show 23. The new infield shift ban, which limits the infield to two defenders on each half of the diamond, will exist. The default is set to new MLB rules, and SDS mentioned they will be paying close attention to how teams approach the new shift rule in spring training and beyond to make changes accordingly.
The new pitch timer, which forces pitchers to throw the ball within 30 seconds between at-bats — 15 seconds with the bases empty, and 20 seconds with runners on base. If the player holds the ball after these points, a ball will be issued to the count. Diamond Dynasty was specifically mentioned with this new rule, but it will presumably be in offline game modes as well. There is no telling how the CPU will be affected by this rule, specifically whether they will occasionally wait too long and issue you a free ball. The new pitch over limit capping pitchers at three attempts is currently not in the game.
1 Universal DH, Two Way Players, & Diamond Dynasty Teases
Lastly, SDS teased some Diamond Dynasty changes in the coming weeks. The universal designated hitter rule is making its way to Diamond Dynasty, removing some of the strategy in subbing out your pitcher in a key spot. Two-way player functionality is also better handled. For example, Shohei Ohtani’s live series card is a starting pitcher with secondaries in the outfield. He can DH — or even come off the bench and do both.
Presumably, younger versions of Babe Ruth and some of the Negro League stars being highlighted in the game will work similarly. Gameplay director Luis Martinez also teased some big Diamond Dynasty changes to be shown off in the coming weeks.
