MLB The Show - General Discussion

[Meacon Keaton]

1 hour ago, Ruki said:

THEY KEEP TELLING ME TO STEAL THE BASE BUT I SUCK AT IT AND NOW THE COACH IS GIVING ME A TALKING TOO. THIS IS YOUR FAULT!

I only ever use the Showtime slow down to steal. When you’re in your lead, hold R2 and break for second as soon as you see the slight movement of the pitcher going home.

[Ruki]

How much power do I need to get a home run? I've only managed it once. Lots of caught pop flies.

[DMN in the House]

7 hours ago, Meacon said:

I only ever use the Showtime slow down to steal. When you’re in your lead, hold R2 and break for second as soon as you see the slight movement of the pitcher going home.

I never thought of that. I'm still on 18, but I never use Showtime, just never needed it playing RF, but that is an amazing use of it.

[Gabriel]

4 hours ago, Ruki said:

How much power do I need to get a home run? I've only managed it once. Lots of caught pop flies.

The better your contact ratings are, the less power you need to really drive the ball. Essentially, what it comes down to is where on the bat you connect, plus your power, wind and the pitch speed.

I've had years in my franchise where I have two or three guys with 80+ power ratings, only to see someone who tops out at 65 slug more homers than them by a wide margin because of contact ratings and the differences in how various guys play. I'm not there right now. I'm in 2026 or 2027 now in MLB 18, and Vlad Jr led the way with 47 dingers for my team. I did have a guy I drafted knock out 20+ dingers though too, despite the fact that his power ratings are something like 52 Vs RHP and 63 Vs LHP. I'm not sure how he managed so many in the games I simmed, but the games I played, I noticed that because he was hitting in front of a power trio of Guerrero, Jorge Soler and Teoscar Hernandez, that I was getting a lot more good pitches with him... because nobody wanted to walk him and put a man on base with those three guys coming up after him.

I also noticed that I was getting more hard contact hits with him. Lots of big line drives and extra base hits. When I drafted him, I figured he'd end up in my leadoff spot because his speed and stealing ratings were both 90+, but after the first month of using him in the minors, I moved him to cleanup because he was just raking at the plate, and it continued up to the majors.

If you're getting a lot of flyouts and pop-fly's, there's a good chance that you're getting under the ball too much. Aim your swing a little bit higher, and that should help.

[Ruki]

.... What IS a contact swing? I've just been switching between power, contact and normal all willy nilly

[Gabriel]

1 minute ago, Ruki said:

.... What IS a contact swing? I've just been switching between power, contact and normal all willy nilly

Power swings, obviously, give you more power in an attempt to hit a home run or extra base hit. They also lower your chances at contact. You can notice the batter's reticle or whatever you're using get smaller if you use a power swing, because it lowers your chances of connecting with a clean hit.

A normal swing gives you a balance between power and contact.

Contact swings will increase the range in which you can hit the ball and give you better contact, but at the expense of power. In Franchise, you'll find certain guys will perform better for you with different types of swings. For instance, you won't want to be swinging for the fences with a guy who has no power, but is speedy. Instead, use normal or contact swings to get on base. I manage a lot of extra base hits with speedy guys and the contact swing. Similarly, you won't want to use a contact swing too often with guys who are slower on the base paths unless you're desperate to keep the inning going.

In RTTS, it comes down to your ratings and what you're hoping to accomplish in each at bat. It sounds like your guy doesn't have big power, so contact swings might be a good thing to get in the habit of using. You won't be sending dingers out of the park, but your average and on base percentage should see an increase. You're also less likely to get as many fly-outs or pop-ups, so long as you're not getting under the ball too much.

One thing that I do personally, is whenever I'm on a two-strike count, I use the contact swing unless it's a full count. Contact swings are also great if you're not good at laying off breaking balls or fastballs that are out of the zone. Because your hitting space (the reticle or whatever you use) gets larger, you're less likely to miss unless you misjudge the pitch coming at you. You're also severely less likely to hit a home run, but solid contact is better than no contact. That said, it's not impossible to hit dingers with the contact swing. If you connect perfectly on the pitch, you can still knock one out of the park with a hitter with average power. If your hitter has good to great power, you don't need to connect as cleanly, but it's still less likely that you'll send one over the fence with that swing, so it's not something I would count on.

If you need a home run, Power is a good way to go, but you need to judge the pitch accurately and connect solidly. I try to only use a power swing when I'm in a three-ball count, because it stands to reason that the pitcher is going to deliver something juicy to avoid walking you. I do use my gut on occasion though and choose my swing method based on how things are feeling, but I tend to stick to my rules unless I really feel like I need a certain type of hit, or that the pitcher is going to give me something sweet.

My rules: Normal swings only, except for in two-strike or three-ball counts. Two-strike counts get Contact swings. Three-ball counts get Power swings. I typically only veer away from that if I'm trailing a game and know that I have a better chance at scoring if I play small ball, or if I'm at the end of the game and something just feels right. Sometimes I'll go right to the Contact swing though in an effort to lessen the chances of a double play.

Contact swings are more likely to get you those weird shallow outfield pop-fly singles, or line drives that hang just over the head of the infielder.

[DMN in the House]

I use different swing types based on the situation during the at-bat. In most counts I use normal swings, but if I'm up 2-0/3-0 and the pitcher has to pitch to me I'll sit fastball and load up on power. If I'm down two strikes I'm using contact swings to try and stay alive until I can get something to hit.

[Ruki]

I just swing for everything.... probably only works (0.363 hitting right now) because I'm on the beginner mode

[Maxx]

Death, taxes and my minor league team providing me no run support whatsoever to go with my sub 2.00 ERA in RTTS

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

3 hours ago, Maxx said:

Death, taxes and my minor league team providing me no run support whatsoever to go with my sub 2.00 ERA in RTTS

My team has been killing it. I'm 6-0!

[Toe]

I simmed forward to the first offseason with the Texas Rangers. My team lost 90 games, but we didn't expect to win anything anyways. What I did play was fun, though - Shin-Soo Choo and Asdrubal Cabrera had career years, I had some fun moments with rookie players collecting some first milestones, and we beat up the Angels a lot.

At the deadline, I made some deals to acquire some prospects and then flipped them to the Yankees to get Migual Andujar. I also freed up some money for the off-season and picked up a few decent bullpen arms. 

In the off-season, I replaced my coaching staff, re-signed everyone (including Choo and Cabrera), and then added Matt Kemp to primarily DH and play a little LF. Nomar Mazara is still a work in progress, but Joey Gallo took a big step and with his stats is capable of playing 1B, 3B, RF, CF, or LF. I did want an upgrade at 3B defensively, so I was able to get Moustakas on a short 2 year deal for $6 mil a season while other teams went in on Rendon and Donaldson. I've also added a few more arms to the bullpen. I feel like I've got a good offence and defence - it's just my pitching that's lacking. Mike Minor is my best starting pitcher. 

1B - Andujar

2B - Odor / Cabrera

3B  - Moustakas / Cabrera

SS - Andrus / Cabrera

LF - Choo / Kemp / DeShields

CF - Gallo / DeShields

RF - Mazara / Kemp / DeShields

DH - Kemp

I also drafted a short stop in the first round that is essentially Trea Turner with a slightly weaker bat. He's already good enough to play in the MLB, and has a ton of potential. 

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

I always wait for Knight's rosters to come out before starting a franchise.

I have been playing mostly Diamond Dynasty and a bit of RTTS. In my RTTS, I called up just after the minor league All-Star break. Threw a complete game shutout to the Jays in my debut. 

[Toe]

7 minutes ago, Ms. Canadian Destroyer said:

I always wait for Knight's rosters to come out before starting a franchise.

I have been playing mostly Diamond Dynasty and a bit of RTTS. In my RTTS, I called up just after the minor league All-Star break. Threw a complete game shutout to the Jays in my debut. 

Yeah, that's why I'm not spending too much time in each season. Once those rosters come out, I'll start my real franchise with either the Oakland A's or the Atlanta Braves. 

[Meacon Keaton]

10 minutes ago, Ms. Canadian Destroyer said:

I always wait for Knight's rosters to come out before starting a franchise.

I think I read on OS that his won’t be ready until mid-summer?

[Maxx]

Search the vault for some with the username MeandBettyWhite, he's transferred over a lot of last year's OS rosters, and he was updating it pretty regularly for the first week.   

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

25 minutes ago, Meacon said:

I think I read on OS that his won’t be ready until mid-summer?

They've been tweeting that they'll be out earlier this year than normal.

 

[Meacon Keaton]

9 minutes ago, Ms. Canadian Destroyer said:

They've been tweeting that they'll be out earlier this year than normal.

 

I have no idea who or what I was thinking then. For the better!

[Ruki]

The Blue Jays traded me after the amazing season I was having. Highest hitting percentage in the league!!!

The Blue Wahoos? What the shit kind of name is that?! They have a losing record!

[Meacon Keaton]

9 minutes ago, Ruki said:

The Blue Jays traded me after the amazing season I was having. Highest hitting percentage in the league!!!

The Blue Wahoos? What the shit kind of name is that?! They have a losing record!

It's a fish, you goose!

[Ruki]

You're a fish!