MLB 13 The Show Video and Blog - Hitting Enhancements: Beginner Mode & More

[slickkill77]

They fixed Longoria's stance! FINALLY

[sydrogerdavid]

Painted! Planted! Spaced! Windowed! Arch Patterned!

In addition to the solar panel and truck grille in LCF!

[WarningTrackPower]

This is awesome. I hated seeing "good" timing in years past, but this year it seems like it will work properly.

I was playing '12 last night and I got to a front door slider that was middle in and had "good" timing. Everything about the swing looked like it was going to be pulled into left center field. Instead the ball rockets into the right center field gap. I wasn't "late" by any means but the result of the hit made it appear that way.

I'm hoping (at least on higher difficulties) that if you're even a tad late on inside pitches that you will get jammed easier and will make less solid contact. I really hate seeing opposite field HRs on inside pitches with "just late" timing. I have a good feeling this year that the devs have come close to perfecting this.. not only the timing windows per player (pull/balanced/push) but also with regards to pitch location and the timing of each third of the strike zone.

Great job guys.

EDIT:
Also, at the 2:00 mark of the video, David Ortiz smashes a shot down the line and the ball doesn't lose speed like it did last year. The improved physics look very nice.

A bit of a side note here:
I would like to add that most defensive shifts put on Ortiz (and most likely other pull hitters like him) usually only have an extreme shift in the infield. The outfield plays straight up for the most part. It appears in the video that the outfield had been shifted as well. I believe the thinking that most managers have when putting a shift on like this is; "he has good power to the outfield but he's unlikely to beat us on the ground to the opposite side". If the outfield does shift, they would probably only shade him a little toward the pull side, but nothing drastic. Considering his (lack of) speed, they'd probably take a few steps back as well.

[Bobhead]

It's a long shot, but perhaps this revamped timing window means I can safely raise the pitch speed slider up a few clicks? It will be interesting to see what ball physics 2.0 means in terms of my personal settings and whatnot.

[barsoffury]

Very cool. I myself was never a really good hitter, ( usually a .230-.240 guy in franchise) but in a weird way it didn't bother me. I loved the challenge. Of course with sliders we can adjust things so we're not hitting a ton.. The push/pull thing seems good, will be interesting to see how it plays out.

[rts5002]

Wow. How is it that every year SCEA-SDS makes February the longest month of the year?

[Scott]

Very awesome blog...Really excited about the whole Push/Pull implementation...

[Qb]

Looking good! While I was able to hit well enough on All-Star with mostly default settings, I always had a nagging feeling there was a slight disconnect between input and the resulting ball path/trajectory. I have high hopes hitting will be more rewarding with these changes and perhaps I can hang on HOF this year... that was my ".220 level" in the past.