Getting to play major league baseball is a huge part of playing MLB The Show 23; it's literally in the name of the game. But the standard experience is to spend a few years mired in the minor leagues before finally getting the call-up to the big leagues.
Players can potentially get this call within their first few months of playing ball in MLB The Show 23. It requires some careful planning and a specific build, but it's worth it to get to play with the current rosters as quickly as possible.
Updated on July 24th, 2023 by Hodey Johns: It's postseason time in baseball and gamers are still excited to make their own characters and get called up. After checking the community for tips, it became clear that some players are still stuck with their characters in the minor leagues after two or three seasons. If players are doing this, something has gone horribly wrong. Some extra tips have been added to ensure that anyone who follows this guide, at any skill level, can expect to be called up in the first year. Some of the information within the original article has also been reworded for clarity so gamers know exactly how to build their character and what performance goals to meet.
Find A Team With A Need
The most important step in this process is choosing a team that needs the player's position. If players decide to play a shortstop and then pick a team with one of the best shortstops, gamers can realistically be in the minor leagues for a decade before getting called up.
However, there are teams with a desperate need at shortstop. Go into franchise mode and look at a variety of teams and positions. If the team has a player above 75, either pick a different position or a different team.
Gamers who choose to be a two-way player will be called up based on the team's availability at starting pitching, not the team's availability at the position on the field.
Do Not Simulate Games
In doing a couple of tests, it's rather easy to get a player to about 80 or higher in one season. But when simulating the season, breaking 60 is actually an optimistic goal. Some gamers may do this for several seasons and, it's true, the player will get slightly better but it's by a small amount.
These teams will often fill in the gaps between seasons. If the gamer selected a spot because there was a hole at, for example, right field, this team could execute a trade for Aaron Judge and sign him to a long-term contract. When simulating games, this means the player can possibly never play in the big leagues. Each game played personally is simply better progress and it isn't even close.
Choose An Appropriate Archetype
Although players might want to use a power hitter, the league judges position differently. A slugging shortstop is not valued as highly as a shortstop that hits for contact or focuses on defense. Conversely, teams need a right fielder that can hit for power and could care less about their contact and fielding.
Eventually, players can change their focus their specialization on the other two facets. But when it comes to getting on the team quickly, it's vitally important to choose an archetype that matches the position. After locking down the spot, feel free to change it up.
Equip The Highest-Rarity Perks
As players go through their journey, their player path will slowly unlock perks of increasing rarity, eventually culminating in diamond-rarity perks. These provide raw bonuses that will immediately bump the player's overall rating higher.
The fundamentals of the game are up to the player. Craft the best batting stance to make better contact. But these numbers boost the value of the player in the organization's eyes. Use the perks that make the player's overall rating go higher.
Buy Relevant Equipment
Having the best equipment on does the same thing that the best perks do. If they boost the statistics that the team cares about the most for the position, the player's rating will increase. The best equipment can give a player a rating so high that they'll immediately be viewed as better quality than the starting player at the position.
This can get expensive but don't feel the need to spend too much money. After a few months in the minors, players will easily have enough stubs to buy gold-level gear for each slot, which should be plenty to get called up for a team with a particular need. After getting some items in each slot, save up for the big-ticket purchases.
Turn Dynamic Difficulty On & Don't Touch Sliders
This year, experience is reduced based on reduced difficulty and exponentially reduced if the sliders are changed. Many players in the past have learned to hit home runs by making the game easy and getting called up that way. Unfortunately, the growth achieved by doing this is no longer meaningful.
After the player gets called up, then feel free to turn the difficulty down, the dynamic difficulty off, and move the sliders around to make the game easier. Doing so earlier means it takes weeks just to go up a single point in rating.
Level Up The Lowest Attributes
The best teams in the majors understand how well-rounded a player has to be. A player with a minimum fielding rating is not something they want to see. If given the choice between leveling up power once or leveling up fielding, arm accuracy, and arm strength a few times, always take the latter option while in the minor leagues.
It's easier to level up low attributes than high ones. Each point these attributes increase goes toward the overall player rating.
Don't Skip Fielding And Baserunning
Go into 'Mode Specific' in the settings and turn both baserunning and fielding on. It's understandable to not want to play th game and do only pitching or hitting only. But until getting to the MLB, these aspects build attribute points.
Every attribute counts toward player rating, from baserunning aggressiveness to arm strength. Some will matter more for a given position but they all count a little bit. Missing out on these points means a lower rating and that means getting stuck in the minor leagues for longer.
Be Patient
When the player's rating surpasses the starter's rating, the team will consider bringing the player up. There are deadlines and the first one is a few months into the first season. If gamers have followed the advice in this guide, they'll make it as soon as that call-up deadline hits.
MLB The Show 23 is available now for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.