Been playing the iOS 17' version for the past week (never tried 16'), and truthfully, quite a few of the animations (this is not the same as graphics) are better than MLB the Show. Yes, I am serious because I was actually shockingly amazed and impressed.
This is especially true when it comes to the outfielder's animations. RBI's outfielder's charging the ball, their gather steps, finding their footing when fielding the ball, their footwork when charging the ball, gathering their footsteps near the wall, gathering their footsteps tracking the ball, outfielder's throwing motion, running motion, proper small crow hops allowing the fielder to throw the ball a farther distance, taking small steps fielding front bloopers, transition animations from fielding to throwing the ball back towards the infield is incredibly beautiful. How the outfielder's upper body twist, leans, angles with respect to the lower body, and throwing motion was pretty impressive.
Another thing that was a very pleasant surprise was the way fielding errors were handled. They felt and looked much more organic than how they're handled in MLB the Show. When the fielder botches the ball, one is still quickly able to maneuver the player to field the ball without a sort of force field so to speak. It's not just about the speed at which the user is able to control the situation with the controller, but the way the "animation" plays out looks much more real. The recovery footwork, and how the body twist and moves, and how the player throws the ball is simply beautiful.
Pitching animation also has a better speed to their motions/movement. Some of the pitchers actually tuck their glove side arm toward their bodies in RBI. The speed of the arm whip works very well.
These are the top three things that stick out because I am still seeing the same legacy concern with MLB the Show in their fielder's throwing animation, pitching animation, and finding the ball when the fielder botches the ball.