Answer the question directly.. Yes. Massively. Why? It's nearly July and it's still garbage. For me, 21 had early issues but it was a fun and enjoyable game by late may/june I think I know by all star break I was definitely enjoying it, but right now I'm genuinely not interested in playing it, hence why I'm on the forums reading up is anybody is experiencing the same issues I am.
In terms of DD alone, I have not enjoyed any of 22. I've been buying these games every year since 2016 and this is the first year I feel genuinely ripped off. I understood with Covid and adding xbox etc. that the game might have a slight off year in 21, but like I said, after a few weeks it was fine. I expected DD in 22 to be a heck of a lot better though. But here we are, and I cant for the life of me understand why they removed so much stuff. 18/19/20 are far more appealing to me for DD as there are still plenty of things I didnt complete and the content didnt disappear after a month. To my knowledge, it's all still there as the 19 content was still there after 20 launched so why wouldnt it be? What made last year all the more insulting was that all the early content and daily moments rewards were just handed out for nothing in november/december, so why the hell should I ever buy the game new again? I should just wait until it's on sale the following January for 20 dollars and I'll be rewarded with the same content as somebody who paid 100 a year earlier. But hey, who am I to judge a video game developer that advertises gambling to children as if they were EA?
Gameplay wise, I'm lost by it. Showdown mode used to be the place where everything was a pop-up or lazy fly ball if you didnt get it right, now that's seemingly every mode for me. I cannot get any consistant hitting this year, especially from RH power bats, I literally cant get hits with them, last year the Awards Nelson Cruz and HR Derby Alonso were my favourite cards. This year I cannot hit with any RH power bats... but why? Well, here's the meat of my issue with hitting: I pop up hanging sliders and curveballs with good timing swings that are right next to perfect, then I hit no doubt home runs on fastballs 4 inches below the zone when I'm trying to hit a ground ball. Then I hit a no doubter off a sinker inside with Early timing, like ridiculously early timing, then I start fouling everything off 3ft outside the pole on good timing hits when i'm trying to hit the ball up the middle. I lterally cant get my head around hitting this year. I think the AI pitching is more realistic in terms of break (lots of late life) but hitting genuinely feels like RNG. I get no joy out of hitting anything. Strike calls on the black are ridiculous, and what the heck happened to Check swinging? It was poor on 21, now it's just terrible. Stealing is a joke, especially as missed pick off throws bounce off either the ump or 1B coach so you cant get to 2nd. But it's the 10 pickoff thorws you have to sit through with your 42 speed third baseman who hasnt even taken a leadoff step just stepping back on over and over again. Moments mode? Dont get me started, foul language would ensue. "Hit a Home Run", ok sure thing boss! First pitch hits me in the knee. WOOOOOOWWWW!!!!
Pitching was my favourite thing in 21. For the first time ever I did a RTTS with a SP and made it all the way to the majors, went nearly two mlb seasons. Loved it. This year, depending on the game mode, it's either a chore or just stupidly easy. It's either two fastballs (1 up, 1 down) and a slider outside the zone, goodbye. OR, 12 pitches of foul offs as you look for the swing and miss off the plate, then you either throw a fastball right down the middle and they don't swing at all or you throw outside to just walk them and they hit a double. See the RNG?
tl;dr I dunno, whatever, garbage, 19 & 20 were way better. Wont buy 23 until it's on sale for nothing.