Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr, Ernie Banks, Ty Cobb, and Tedd Williams are all some of the best baseball players to ever put on a uniform. In MLB The Show 21, players can use them in Diamond Dynasty, and they'll go a long way in helping teams win a championship. Yet, they never won a World Series while they were playing.
RELATED: MLB The Show 21: 10 Pro Tips For Conquest Mode
How can this happen? Baseball is a team game, and sometimes those teams just don't carry as much weight as they should. When gamers make a character in Road to the Show, there is always the fear that this character might break every MLB record and yet retire with a broken heart. However, it doesn't have to be that way. Here are some tips and tricks to make sure that a custom player won't have to wonder "what if?"
This article is written for gamers that are working hard to climb the mountain and into stardom. But when hard work isn't enough, there is a rather easy way to make sure the player is impossibly awesome.
The sliders won't help the team improve, but they can give the individual such a significant advantage that they control more of the game than previously believed. If retirement is lurking and a World Series title hasn't shown up, go ahead and tweak them.
Players of previous entries might think this advice is terrible, but recent changes have given it wisdom. Unlike in the past, new players will retain the upgrades from prior Road to the Show save files.
In addition to the attribute increases, playstyles can be leveled up and used among all created players. These go all the way up to diamond rank. Starting with these benefits, along with practice that comes with more games, will give players a jump start.
The default narrative in Road to the Show will assume that the player is fine with playing whatever for whoever. Do not allow the game to determine the player's position and team.
RELATED: MLB The Show 21: How To Play With Friends
This might be exciting, but the team can be terrible and will often select the player without a position in mind. This can lead to many years wasting away in the minor leagues – and each year in the minors is a year not winning the World Series.
When selecting a team, these are the most important qualifications:
- The team is good
- It has a lot of spending money
- It has a single, glaring hole
The first point might seem trivial, but it matters a lot. Many players take their favorite team and try to make it better. This is heartwarming, but often an exercise in futility. Players who make a position player can hit five home runs in a game, but it won't matter if the pitchers are giving up ten runs in each. Though pitchers can hold a team to a couple of runs, that's just a really long loss.
Cap spending is the most important statistic for players who intend to stay with a team for a long time. It's not visible from Road to the Show, but it's on each team's front page in franchise mode. If this number is low, the team can't sign many good players. The higher the number, the better the talent.
RELATED: MLB The Show 21: 10 Pro Tips For Diamond Dynasty Mode
However, don't pick a team that doesn't need help at any position. Players who make a center fielder for the Angels will either be traded, or never see the major leagues. Mike Trout is in that position and he's not giving it up.
For example, the Dodgers are incredible, but their highest-ranked left fielder is 73 OVR. For pitchers, the Braves have four solid starters and then their fifth is a 74 OVR. Players who perform well in the minors will be called up as soon as possible to fill these glaring holes. Both of these teams are gunning for a postseason. Check these positions out in franchise mode before moving forward.
Think back to the list of players at the beginning of this article. Notice how there aren't any starting pitchers on that list. Yes, some great starting pitchers have no won the World Series, but the best of the bunch is Robin Roberts. That's not exactly a household name. Why is it that legendary starting pitchers tend to win more championships than legendary hitters?
The starting pitcher controls more of their own destiny. A starting pitcher that wins all of his starts gives his team 20% to 25% victories for free. This gets even more powerful in the playoffs. Gamers that work their starting pitcher up to an ace role will get to start games one, four, and seven of the World Series. This means the team only needs to win one of those other four games.
This isn't to say that pitching is the only way, but it helps. Players that make a hitter should consider making a slugger instead of a small-ball player, since teams don't always manage to pick up RBIs. Even a player who slaps a single and then gets two steals can wind up stranded. Sluggers create their own luck by landing pitches over the fence.
This is not an NBA2K game. Signing a big, fat contract doesn't give players any special rewards, but it does come with a huge penalty. Signing for tons of money means gamers can't sign great players. Always choose to play for $30,000 per year, freeing up the team to sign some expensive and exciting talent.
Be patient. Maximizing these odds will only yield an occasional World Series victory, even with the sliders being abused. That's all right. This is sure to put players in contention every year to make deep playoff runs. It's only a matter of time before gamers are wondering if they have enough fingers for all of their championship rings.