Good morning!!

Man, I’m seeing a lot of posts about showdowns, so I figure I would share my strategy that allowed me to do 2nd and 3rd inning first run and complete all the stage 2 showdowns with about an 80% completion rate (failed twice on sinker ballers)

This strategy is for the average to above average player. This also will not work online, so don’t try it, or you will be sad.

Drafts — power > contact. You will probably be using contact boost perks so grab as many high powered guys you can. If u have a 30 contact 90 power guy, once u get that contact boost you are working with someone who can do damage. Draft 1 silver SP and 1 silver RP. The rest are hitters. Keep 1-2 speed guys on your bench.

You will probably have a few guys that will need to play “out of position” during your run. Safest spots are catcher and 2nd base.

If u get the 7th pitch perfect bronze perk, that is your HR ball to use in the actual showdowns, I can’t tell you how many times this has helped me win a close battle. Also the “contact boost after 7 innings” perk is great during your run as many of the later challenges are late inning comebacks.

Ok, onto the showdowns. When playing a showdown on veteran, what I do is move the pci slightly up so that the 2 diamonds(or altitude) buttons split the dirt on the pitchers mound and sit. (Some of the longer strike zone guys you move it up higher) I have my thumb off the actual stick and instead apply pressure underneath it. That way as a pitch comes I don’t overreact and move it out of the zone. On all star you move it even further up. The goal is that the top of your PCI hits the top of the strike zone.

Outside of sinker ballers, you just sit right there and wait. U get 1-2 meatballs an at bat. Just don’t miss it. Don’t swing at anything that isn’t in your zone. If you have a base runner on 1st, do not swing at any pitch below where you put that PCI, ever. A strike out is better then a DP. Once u get 2 strikes then swing normally at pitches, but nothing in the bottom 3rd of the zone.

Sinkerballers, similar strategy, except tilt it slightly down, you actually get more right down the middle but if your PCI is slightly up then it becomes a ground out/DP. So if you have it slightly tilted down and wait then you should be ok. Check your swing feedback. The top of the inner circle should be right at the top or bottom of the zone based on who is pitching.

Don’t force runs, don’t stretch doubles into triples. Dont tag up on fly outs with slow runners. Play super conservative.

Most importantly you have to be patient. If u find u have gotten 3-4 outs in a row pause the game and walk around for a few minutes and reset. Don’t waste outs if u get frustrated. Just trust the process. Once u get that confidence meter below 50% then u get more and more meatballs to punish and the RNG starts giving you better results.

Hope this helps, I’ve been crushing showdowns this week. Again I go into the final showdown with 7-12 runs, so it’s not perfect, but it works for me and I’d figure I would share.

If anyone has additional questions or wants additional advice let me know.

I did buy 2 headliners. That was a fun waste of money.... ugh

@Nanthrax_1 said in Highly rated players you struggle with?:

Where to start.,.
93 Didi, 95 Correa, 94 Chipper somehow, 92 Piazza..

Cards I'll never use again.. really bummed about Chipper.. no idea why I struggled with them. All were given about a 30 AB sample

I would give each 100 AB before u quit. Many times you start presssing with those players because u want a hit so bad. Just treat them like u would any other player.

For example I started off terribly with both trout and biggio. But I struggle righty on righty anyways. However once I started being more patient I saw both their BA rise. Trout leads my team in HRs

I always put my fastest bench player on that last run. Could be a 60 overall with 98 speed and I could be pulling Mickey mantle out to do it, but once that winning run hits second I pinch run to avoid any of that

Man, some people are sore losers... man, 2 games in a row I get up by some and then I’m getting pegged multiple times until “griefing” gets called or people time out. Just take the L and move forward and take a breath.....

Pulled a few diamonds that got me close to 280k, sold everything else I could to bring be to 330k. Put in a buy order last night and here he is this morning. Now I’m broke, but atleast I have a gatekeeper and someone I should be able to roll with most of the year.

If it’s David justice, I will be purchasing this card. Favorite player growing up.

That is correct

I don’t understand it as anything but a F you for hitting a HR. It takes more time to restart your game then to just quit afterwards. I did watch a streamer do it recently I was watching and immediately left his channel. It’s bush league.

Wheel spin landed on diamond. Showed me getting the pack. But pack never came into my inventory. Submitted a ticket. Wonder how long it will take for a response?

That card is awful. I finally completed his moment to unlock ketel. I will use him against the cpu to hit his home runs with, and then never again.

After the first 5 games, seeing Donaldson and ohtani every time I just did the same thing. Got my 20 wins and moved on. This was probably my least fun event this year. Did get Donaldson to p4 already. That’s a nasty card

Flashback is a card from a previous year of a current player

Legends are no longer in the league

I took Soriano and he has been wonderful. The rest of those guys are mid

I think they coded it out. I was playing with my son on a xp grind field for fun and a shot was hit to RF, I gunned it to first and replay shows he was about by almost 2 steps but they called him safe.

I’ve been using set 2 lineups to prepare for next season.

Cf mantle
LF Sosa (im gonna put Soriano here)
RF Aaron
3B chipper
SS seager
2B Rock
1B Stan
DH papi/frank/judge platoon
C (cap) but if I ever pull Maurer he goes here. I also use slamtana and the new will smith

I played a guy today with a 12-0 banner who was terrible….. like bad to the point that I’m thinking he might share an account with someone else. But it did give me hope for next week, lol

Playing events with him and doing well so far, I’ll try him in ranked. I don’t think he will do well on HOF though

Manually move the 2nd baseman in, leave first base alone, problem solved

They made sinkers harder to throw higher, I rarely see them in the top 3rd of the plate anymore for strikes. People still throw them, you just take it, and realize they probably aren’t good at pitching and wait for them to throw you a cute inside that stays in the strike zone and hit it over the fence.

Now the sweeping curve seems to be the elite pitch I see more often then not. Slides and drops