Cautiously Optimistic
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It has been almost 12 hours since the game has been released, but this is the most optimistic I have been about MLB The Show in at least 3-4 years. Thank you for introducing the bat PCI. This iteration should have been in the game for quite some time, but I believe it is helping hitters overall. I have played roughly 5 games online and I am liking what I am seeing out of the RNG engine this year. It feels like PCI placement is paramount and much more important than early/good/late. There may be people out there that are hating the engine thus far, but I am really enjoying it. I would prefer to be rewarded for proper PCI placement than guessing a general area the pitch is going to be and being early. SDS probably realizes that at least 40% of their player base is 25+, which means that every passing year their reaction time is getting worse. You can't fight nature, but caffeine helps! I am not built to hit 102+ mph fastballs anymore. Thanks for the idea of rewarding a player because you got the location right with the PCI, whether you were a little late or not.
As far as pitching goes, I am excited with what I am seeing there, too. I have had multiple situations occur within a BR game where an opponent strikes out on a pitch that would have been fouled off in 22. I am not suggesting that they should wipe foul balls off the face of the planet, but they need to be far less regular on sliders 8 inches inside, etc. Please continue to reward players that are able to dot up the strikezone and fool hitters with different pitch combinations. The endless foul balls creates a scenario where it is a matter of time until the opponent gets a hit.
So far, good job SDS. If the mega twitch handlers start screaming, please do not make a knee [censored] reaction and adjust hitting. The change to fielding is a nice addition that creates yet another skill gap. This is baseball...there's only so much you can do year to year. This game feels like it has a fresh spin to it and I think a lot of your player base will appreciate that. I am not sure about DD and how the life cycle of players will go this year with the release of this many high attribute cards. It is a good year for SDS to try something different with the WBC as an easy content creation tool in March. I hope everyone has fun with the game this year.
