It's pretty clear from the many vids that the graphics are not overwhelming: from textures to player faces to player models to cemented-on hair. IMO, 2K5 is the better-looking game when all is said and done.
If VC was interested in how the game was received by reviewers and most gamers, after not including franchise mode and many other modes and options that were in 2K5, they needed to look at ramping up the graphics to MLB 2K7 level (or something like Natural Motion). But they chose otherwise. And the review scores the game gets are naturally going to reflect that choice.