Okay, so, I’ve been messing around with MLB The Show, and I wanted to figure out how to make those pitches come in slower. I mean, sometimes those fastballs are just way too much, right?
First thing I did was jump into a few games and just watch how the pitches were coming in. I paid real close attention to the pitchers, the batters, everything.
Then I started digging into the settings. I figured there had to be something in there. I messed around with the “Dynamic” difficulty setting under hitting. The idea is that it bumps the difficulty up or down based on how well you’re doing. I thought maybe if I tanked for a bit, the pitches would slow down. It kinda worked, but it was all over the place, not really what I was looking for.
Next, I started looking at the player stats. I noticed things like “H/9,” “HR/9,” and “K/9.” So H/9, that’s basically how many hits a pitcher gives up every nine innings. HR/9 is home runs, and K/9 is strikeouts. I figured these had to influence the speed in some way, like, a pitcher with a low H/9 probably throws harder, right? I started messing with my lineups and team, trying different players to see if this actually changed the pitch speed, but it seems it only effects the difficulty of getting good hits.
Then I started thinking about the different pitch types. There are fastballs, and then there are off-speed pitches, like changeups. The changeups are supposed to look like fastballs but come in slower. So, if I used more pitchers with good changeups, maybe that would do the trick. After trying several games, I found that mixing in changeups after fastballs is a pretty good strategy. It definitely keeps the batter guessing and makes the fastball seem even faster later on.
I also noticed some stuff about the pitcher’s windup. It seemed like when there were no runners on base, the windup was slower, and that made the pitch come in a little slower too. I also noticed if a pitcher gets hot and get’s a few strikeouts in a row, the pitches tend to be faster. But this was more of an observation than something I could actually control.
- Tried Dynamic Difficulty: Messing with the difficulty didn’t consistently change the pitch speed, just the overall game difficulty.
- Looked at Player Stats: H/9, HR/9, K/9 seem to affect how easy it is to hit the ball, but not necessarily the raw speed.
- Focused on Pitch Types: Changeups are key! Mixing them in makes the fastballs seem faster and can really mess with the batter.
- Windup Observations: Pitchers seem to throw a bit slower in the windup with no runners on.
So, after all this, here is what I think: If you want the game to feel like the pitches are slower, focus on using pitchers with good changeups, and maybe try to keep the bases empty. It’s not a perfect science, but it seems to make a difference. It’s more about the mix of pitches and the situation than just a single setting. The game is designed this way for years.
It is still a game that I need to keep practicing to find more. I will keep you guys posted.
