MLB The Show 22: High Sinkers Gotta Go

[ChaseB]

Coming off the tech test and gameplay livestream for MLB The Show 22, it feels like...

Written By: Chase Becotte

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[ChaseB]

Re: MLB The Show 22: High Sinkers Gotta Go

Article goes in-depth on the whole thing, but the video is also there as a companion piece to show some side by sides from three different versions of The Show.

[LastActionHero]

MLB The Show 22: High Sinkers Gotta Go

Really good comparison article!
I find myself throwing high sinkers sometimes as well but that shouldn’t be your go to location so I’m glad they’re adressing it or at least trying to tone down the effectiveness in that location.

[jcar0725]

Re: MLB The Show 22: High Sinkers Gotta Go

Interesting read no doubt.

Sent from my thoughts

[DanH35]

Re: MLB The Show 22: High Sinkers Gotta Go

As someone who spends most of my time playing online, this is my #1 issue with the game. I’m glad they are taking steps to fix it, but after playing the tech test, I don’t think it’s quite there. What I would do is if a sinker is aimed in the top third of the zone or higher is have the game code it to be a fastball when it’s thrown.

[Caulfield]

Re: MLB The Show 22: High Sinkers Gotta Go

high breaking balls and high off-speed pitches are one thing
but the pitch I need tips on how to hit are the 57 foot curveball.

I swing at 'em, but never can get wood on the ball

[brindlerednoze]

Re: MLB The Show 22: High Sinkers Gotta Go

high breaking balls and high off-speed pitches are one thing
but the pitch I need tips on how to hit are the 57 foot curveball.

I swing at 'em, but never can get wood on the ball

I am you and you are me. Now if there was an old school mode for bounce ball we would dominate

[jeffy777]

Re: MLB The Show 22: High Sinkers Gotta Go

Great read, Chase. As an offline player who always tries to pitch realistically, I'm a bit shocked that this style of pitching is even possible in this game. During the gameplay stream, I heard the devs say more than once they they are trying to recreate "real baseball", and quite frankly this just ain't it. This honestly makes me want to avoid online like the plague.

That said, I think your suggestions for improvement are great and I hope SDS takes a long look at this article/video.

[IndianSummer]

Re: MLB The Show 22: High Sinkers Gotta Go

Great read, Chase. As an offline player who always tries to pitch realistically, I'm a bit shocked that this style of pitching is even possible in this game. During the gameplay stream, I heard the devs say more than once they they are trying to recreate "real baseball", and quite frankly this just ain't it. This honestly just makes me want to avoid online like the plague.

That said, I think your suggestions for improvement are great and I hope SDS takes a long look at this article/video.

Agreed. This is how we got the rocket bunts, trying to fix online play.

[ChaseB]

Re: MLB The Show 22: High Sinkers Gotta Go

Agreed. This is how we got the rocket bunts, trying to fix online play.

To be fair, bunts offline and online are too easy and have been that way for years.

Great read, Chase. As an offline player who always tries to pitch realistically, I'm a bit shocked that this style of pitching is even possible in this game. During the gameplay stream, I heard the devs say more than once they they are trying to recreate "real baseball", and quite frankly this just ain't it. This honestly makes me want to avoid online like the plague.

That said, I think your suggestions for improvement are great and I hope SDS takes a long look at this article/video.

Thanks for the kind words!

[IndianSummer]

Re: MLB The Show 22: High Sinkers Gotta Go

To be fair, bunts offline and online are too easy and have been that way for years.

We will just have to agree to disagree. I do timing only and it’s usually a sure way to bunt into a double play. I guess it won’t matter as much with universal DH.

[ChaseB]

Re: MLB The Show 22: High Sinkers Gotta Go

We will just have to agree to disagree. I do timing only and it’s usually a sure way to bunt into a double play. I guess it won’t matter as much with universal DH.

Oh well, I dunno I use zone, but it's a joke how easy it is to bunt against CPU or online for me. And if the shift is on it's extra free.

[Cod]

Re: MLB The Show 22: High Sinkers Gotta Go

I hope they don't make it completely ineffective. In 2021, of all sinkers in the strike zone, the highest whiff rate was at the top of zone (~20%): https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/visua...=&player_name=. So if a sinker is in the zone, it is more than 1.5x effective at missing bats compared to other locations in the zone.

Pitchers like Steven Matz actually went to the high sinker more in 2021 than in previous years. Matz has found a way to make it very effective thanks to his release point and movement of his entire arsenal. A decent breakdown can be found here: https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2021/12...sinkers-part-2. In doing this, Matz also managed to reduce opponent's exit velocity on batted balls by 3% from the previous season and dropped his opponents line drive percentage by almost half.

I do think the pitch and location needs to be toned down; however, I hope they don't take it to the opposite end of the spectrum (completely ineffective by all pitchers).

[time ed]

Re: MLB The Show 22: High Sinkers Gotta Go

Great post!

This made me think of the steps EA took with people overusing the same playcalls in Madden. They essentially iced the playcall after multiple uses. I wonder if a similar approach by SDS would help force users to mix it up instead of abusing certain pitches.

[jsou4646]

Re: MLB The Show 22: High Sinkers Gotta Go

High sinkers are just one of the reason i don’t play online anymore. Easy fix is just have them level out and not sink high in the zone. Or make their sink extremely minimal as they raise in the zone. Online doesn’t feel like a baseball simulation once we get later in the year and the cards get grosser.