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.

Throw a cutter inside to a batter so that it cuts further inside. Most batters see its slower and swing at it. U can also try to dot the outside line with it by setting it up just outside the strike zone and it will cut into a strike. Don’t throw it low or up or in the middle of the strike zone, or bye bye

That’s unfortunate. I have 4, as I bought 2 recently thinking it would be numerous types of cards

22-5 so far this round. Seeing the ball really well. Quick counts definitely favor the hitter. Also Randy Johnson is undefeated in the events. I think I’m like 8-0 with him

They should add jumping as a stat in the show next year. 5’8” j-ram would be maxed at 125 as well as any bronze defense or higher level SS. Tony rizzo would also be 125.

I love marte, might be one of my favorite cards. I just went 4-5 with him in a HOF game (albeit again against a guy who was ranked 580). But its still HOF, so it counts.

Peg the guy at bat, so that he is aware he is cheesing, then throw an outside offspeed pitch for him to roll over into a double play

@mrwonderful95 said in These new programs....kinda stink tbh:

@ohmslyce3931_xbl said in These new programs....kinda stink tbh:

I much preferred last year's inning programs and stat based missions for each card you earned as opposed to slogging through this crappy "Earn PXP with these players" missions. Change my mind or help me to see this is a better system,, SDS.

Honestly I think it’s just to make people use cards that they typically wouldn’t use which creates more lineup diversity. For example, I was building an events lineup and putting utley, Howard, etc in the lineup to get the xp. Yes, I have better players at those positions but I don’t really offline grind so that’s how I attain it.

This…

I played an event game yesterday with 67 Howard and first and that 74 Delgado or whatever in left, with gold holiday pitching. Won the game, Howard hit a HR, holiday pitched 2 innings. Way more fun the playing vs CPU, and events games records don’t matter.

Ketel marte

I agree that they seemed to mail in the content this round

2-1 so far. 2 of three went to extra innings. Seems to be HR or bust so far. You get a pitcher in yellow and he gets yanked immediately. I might sit my god squad for this once I lose game 2. Outside of trout, nobody is hitting. Of course I’m played 2 WS banners so far as well

@mubby_33_psn said in New event coming opposite of moonshot:

I dont play a lot of events but I felt like this moonshot was already low scoring. I had one game where my opponent scored 6 runs. Most of the other games were 1-0 or 2-1. One game I played went 5 innings. After that I stopped playing. I can only imagine what the scores would be with diamond pitchers and common hitters.

This might just be you bro. I almost run ruled someone twice. Once 9-0, second 10-1. Most games were 3-5 runs