Defining the Most Important Attributes in MLB The Show

MLB The Show 25 is rapidly approaching, which means an influx of new and returning players will be making their Major League debuts. For those of you who want to dip your toes back into The Show’s Diamond Dynasty game mode, the sheer volume of cards, attributes and series’ can be overwhelming.

So, The Show Gazette is here to help you understand some of the more important attributes that impact a Diamond Dynasty card’s on-field performance, breaking it up into three categories to make it as easy to digest as possible.

Keep in mind these are all pre-launch predictions, so the important attributes listed are subject to change.

HITTING

Hitting has largely remained the same over the years in terms of important attributes to look for, with the exception being the reimagining of the “clutch” attribute for MLB The Show 23. Unless a massive overhaul to the hitting engine has taken place for this year's launch (which probably would have been revealed already), we expect these to remain the same as prior games.

• Contact — The contact attribute is split in two to signify the size of your bat zone against each handedness of the pitcher (Contact vs. Right, Contact vs. Left). The higher the contact rating, the larger the Plate Coverage Indicator (PCI). The lower the rating, the smaller PCI. The PCI, which you can think of as a hitting zone, will mitigate your room for error when squaring up a pitch. This will make it easier for players who struggle to put the middle of the PCI perfectly on a pitch. This attribute is particularly important on harder difficulties. The PCI becomes smaller as the difficulty increases, so higher contact will somewhat offset the PCI shrinkage on Hall of Fame, Legend and GOAT difficulties.
• Clutch — The clutch attribute functions exactly the same as contact, with one major difference. Clutch still determines the size of the PCI; however, it only kicks in when runners are in scoring position (this does NOT include runners on first base). In these situations, clutch completely overrides contact, making it incredibly important when trying to score runs. Pro tip: Keep players with high clutch on your bench for late-game pinch-hitting opportunities.
• Power — The power attribute has dominated Diamond Dynasty for quite a while, especially on All-Star difficulty and below. This stat influences the maximum exit velocity a batter can achieve under consistent conditions. Although low power doesn't mean a card can’t hit home runs, it does reduce the frequency of such outcomes. High power aims to replicate exit velocities, striving to make the game as consistent as possible, despite baseball's inherent unpredictability. It's essential to remember that having high or max power does not guarantee that perfect swings will always result in home runs. Power hitters are also influenced by a card’s relationship between its contact and power ratings, but that’s overcomplicating things for the purposes of this article.

PITCHING

Pitching attributes are all about offsetting the batters’ contact and clutch while also showing the control that a pitcher can have. Perfect inputs when pitching have much more variance than perfect inputs for hitting. This makes it very important to try and marginalize the impact of “randomness” through a pitcher's attributes.

• H/9 — The attribute stands for “Hits Per 9 Innings” and is a direct representation of the real-life stat of the same name. The point of this in DD is to counteract the batters' contact numbers. The higher the H/9 of a pitcher, the smaller the PCI will be for the hitter. The benefit of this is your opponent will have to be as close to perfect as possible to barrel pitches. This helps eliminate less-skilled hits against you.
• Pitching Clutch — This is the same for pitchers as it is for hitters. When there are runners in scoring position, this replaces a pitcher’s H/9. This directly battles against the hitter's clutch attribute to establish a new PCI size. This is valuable to have in important situations.
• BB/9 — This isn’t as obvious as it would seem. Despite a designated “control” attribute, BB/9 is what impacts the size of the Perfect Accuracy Region (PAR). The PAR is shown as a large circle surrounding the center of the baseball and represents the possible area in which the ball can go when a perfect input is made. PAR is the most important factor when trying to get a pitch to go in a desired location. Since BB/9 is the only overarching attribute that changes the size of the PAR, it is instrumental to prioritize if consistent control is something you want.

DEFENSE

Defense is a strange thing to judge since different things matter more at different positions, but that type of detail can wait for another day. It is important to note that the actual defensive rating has much less of an impact and can be made up for if either of the below attributes is highly rated.

Based on the Feature Premiere’s defense — especially in the infield — will be emphasized in MLB The Show 25.

• Reaction — This determines if a defender gets a good jump on a batted ball. The higher the reaction, the more likely it is a player will make a quick and accurate first move toward a ball. This helps reduce the likelihood of misplays, particularly in the infield on hard-hit ground balls. When judging a defensive player’s quality in a game, looking at “reaction” as opposed to “defense” is typically seen as a better indicator of production.
• Speed — Speed is important for hitters; however, it is much more impactful when defending. This is particularly true in the outfield. Fast outfielders can overcome low defense or reaction ratings if their legs get them to the ball in time. This is why you sometimes see random out-of-position players in the outfield, like Jimmy Rollins in centerfield or Trea Turner in leftfield. Historically, speed can make up for other shortcomings.