Hitting home runs in MLB The Show 23 is incredibly satisfying. There is a reason that fans of the franchise pick up the game every year despite so few changes. The excitement of putting a ball over the fence, hearing the crowd go wild, listening to the announcers lose their minds, and watching the celebration is a unique experience.
But many players will find these moments are all too rare. Sometimes players go through a drought that makes the game not fun. With just a few pointers, every gamer should find the ball carrying out of the ballpark in MLB The Show 23 at least a few times in every gaming session.
Difficulty Settings & Sliders
This entry must be addressed; players can obviously hit more home runs with the sliders set to maximize the ease of play and the difficulty settings turned all the way down. For even more potential, turn dynamic difficulty off so that the game does not get harder due to player success.
There need to be two warnings about this. First is that experience gains in this year's edition are nerfed for players who touch the sliders. Next is that some players would consider this "cheating" or making the challenge too easy. This is, however, a game, and gamers should be empowered to play in a way that they find to be the most fun. Those who want to smack home runs for the best teams in baseball should be free to do so with zero judgment.
Use Zone Hitting
When picking out the best hitting settings for each player, the is no doubt that the upside of zone hitting is simply too good to resist for the vast majority of gamers. Being able to pinpoint a ball's location and hit it will always make the ball go further than generally guessing the ball's approximate spot.
For newer players, the other settings will be easier to use and it's still possible to hit home runs. But zone hitting will pump out home runs consistently for gamers who can spot the ball.
Centering On The Top Reticle
Another new feature to the game this year, players get three circular reticles in their zone when hitting. The three reticles represent the sweet spot for each type of swing. A contact swing will have the best hits when the ball hits the lowest zone.
Power hitters should be focusing their power swings on the top reticle for maximum effect. Anywhere between the center reticle and the top one is an ideal spot; try not to let it go too much higher than the top reticle, otherwise the ball will be an easy pop out. The best starting pitchers will take advantage of these badly aimed swings.
Swing Adjustment On Low & High Pitches
As all the best relief pitchers know, most pitches try to target the corners. Notice that the sweet spot for power hitters can't touch the bottom corners and will go over the top of the box on the high corners. This creates an interesting dilemma.
Power swings on low and inside/outside pitches will often just be groundouts due to this issue. Therefore, it's important to use a regular swing or even a contact swing (contact swings are capable of hitting home runs). On high pitches, either use a power swing and be careful not to go all the way up with the zone or use a normal swing.
Timing The Swing For Inside & Outside Pitches
A common grievance for experts of the game is that they'll get a perfect-perfect (perfect timing and location) yet still fly out mildly to an outfielder. There is some license for "error" here. Swing slightly late on outside pitches and slightly early on inside pitches.
This will drive them to the away or pull side, respectively, with much greater power and exit velocity. This may increase foul ball frequency, but at least it avoids flying out to center. Center field is the furthest from the plate and the hardest place to hit home runs, so avoiding it is encouraged.
Crafting A Slugger's Batting Stance
Crafting the right batting stance is its own article, but it is vitally important. To be clear, it is better to have no perks or equipment and use a slugger's stance than it is to have the best equipment in the game and an average stance.
For players that don't like to tinker too much with stances, use the default Generic Stance 1, then go to animations and use One-Handed Swing 3 and Stride 2. Also, select switch-hitting. These changes alone add lots of power.
Equipping The Right Gear
The developers are well aware that players will pay lots of extra money for the best gear. Check out the equipment guide and make a wishlist. The good news is that players will unlock plenty they can auction off, so it should only take a few weeks to get every piece a slugger needs.
Look for anything that boosts power and contact. Even cheap silver pieces make a big difference while saving up for a diamond-quality piece.
Keeping The Contact Stat
Players who want to exclusively focus on power will still want to retain a reasonable amount of contact. With zero contact, timing a hit of any variety becomes almost impossibly difficult. Plus, the zone size shrinks to a size so small that not even expert gamers can line it up with a pitch.
Just check out the stats on some of the best right fielders. They're amazing sluggers but the best of the still hit for a bit of contact since that makes their home run swings more likely to land.
Choose Power And A Specific Position
When making a player for Road to the Show, choose the power archetype and then select either first, third, left, or right field. These positions get better boosts to power than other positions.
laying a two-way player is immensely fun, but it must always balance pitching with hitting. The other positions require balancing either defense or speed with power. Not having to sacrifice anything for power is going to result in more home runs.
Equipping & Leveling Power Perks
Finally, as players level up in Road to the Show, they'll get access to Power perks of higher quality. Eventually, power hitters will be able to equip a diamond power archetype with four diamond power perks to make the home runs start flowing.
This is a guide for hitting the most home runs possible. Players who want to hit home runs in addition to contact, fielding, and speed should feel free to take these tips and tweak their build instead of merely copying it. It is possible to be a great five-tool player with an emphasis on elite power.
MLB The Show 23 is available now for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.