Last month, Sony San Diego (SDS) released MLB The Show 26 to the general public. Before its release, the game received criticism on social media for its “dated” graphics and questionable decisions on certain gameplay mechanics. And now that the game has been out for some time, it’s a good time to give MLB The Show 26 a fair review. After weeks of playing through it, we believe that the graphics are far from the only problem with this title.

Gameplay

To say that gameplay is different this year would be an understatement, to say the least.

In previous installments of the franchise, dating back to when Sony began using the current engine, MLB The Show played small, in the sense that bloopers weren’t much of a thing outside of simulation play & home runs were king. It’s a difference to PS3-era games from The Show, and even non-SDS titles like Professional Baseball Spirits. Now, things have changed.

This is thanks to modifications made to MLB The Show’s attribute rating system. The developers added new fielding attributes that take into account how a player moves in all directions: left, right, back, and forward. What that has done, in part, has made animation outcomes far more favorable to hitters. Even players with 75-80 Fielding to one side are subject to slower movements.

From a simulation standpoint, this is fine – in a sense. It has led to more unique positive outcomes when it comes to hitting. More jam shots are getting down, and more hits on contact made near the bat label. However, there is a major drawback.

When it comes to competitive style (i.e., what is used in Diamond Dynasty and Online Ranked), almost every game I’ve played has led to 10-15 hits per game, at the minimum. For both sides, nonetheless. It becomes an exhausting process to pitch, especially when taking into account how much Pinpoint – and pitching, as a whole – has been nerfed over the years.

The question that needs to be asked is whether competitive play should balance out things to prioritize high-input contact? I’m not going to dispute the notion that Perfect-Perfect doesn’t get rewards; on average, I’ve seen about an 80% success rate when it comes to Perfect-Perfects being a hit. That’s fine. I’m concerned about whether this game is drifting too close to being an offensive slugfest.

Another issue that I’ve seen with respect to pitching is far too many brush-off animations. Even on pitches not anywhere close to a hitter, the player will automatically move away from the plate significantly more than I’ve seen in past years. Maybe this isn’t a coincidence, since Discipline was removed as an attribute.

In any event, it’s too much.

Pitching did get somewhat of a buff with “Big Heat.” However, I’ve only anecdotally seen it be a successful mechanic with high-velocity pitchers on occasion. To me, it’s not a worthwhile mechanic.

Before I move on to the next section, I have to touch on what has infuriated me is PCI shrinkage.

Now, maybe I’m out of touch on this subject. As someone who regularly plays in the 800-900 ranks in Diamond Dynasty, it was more noticeable to me last year on Hall of Fame and Legend. And I also understand that many people who play MLB The Show don’t play on those levels regularly. However, the developers stated it was going to be addressed – and it wasn’t.

So, what is PCI shrinkage? It is when the PCI shrinks significantly to same-sided hitters (i.e., LHP vs. LHH, RHP vs. RHH) on breaking balls, specifically sliders and sweepers. Don’t believe me, take a look at yourself:

Before MLB The Show 26 was released, gameplay director Chris Gill stated that this feature would be removed. This came weeks after he passionately defended its presence, indicating that it was necessary to combat foul balls (which, certainly, have not gone down this year).

And yet, the exact opposite happened. I suspected this was the case when I played through the game initially. And to prove it, I went back to MLB The Show 25 for a test.

I modified the rosters from last year’s game and used two players, Juan Soto and Tanner Scott, and modified Scott’s H/9 attribute in ‘25 to match his 85 H/9 against lefties in ‘26. Then, I made sure that Soto’s vision, Contact vs. LHP, and Power vs. RHP, was the same in both games. Lastly, I ensured that the hitting & pitching difficulties were the same. After all, I went into custom practice in both games to see what the PCI looked like on a slider.

Here’s the result.

 Do you get my point?

UI & Presentation

For MLB The Show 26, the UI in most game modes was left either untouched or changed ever so slightly – except Diamond Dynasty.

Sony changed the UI to include a different background, featuring a custom stadium as opposed to just a colored background. Additionally, player cards were changed across all game modes.

I understand the need to change things but the UI, even weeks after release, behaves very slowly. On top of that, basic functionality is either bugged or doesn’t work altogether.

While some of the bugs have been fixed, others that are still present in the game include Buy Now prices listed on Diamond Dynasty cards that are not sellable (usually happens when looking at another card that can be sold), no Game History whatsoever in the home profile section, and missing records in Diamond Dynasty.

The developers also added new commentary from Robert Flores, available in Diamond Dynasty. I’m going to be completely honest: it’s too meta, and Flores sounds like a mobile game commentator. I don’t need endless verbiage telling me that I’ll “get ‘em” next time.

Diamond Dynasty

The UI was the marquee change in Diamond Dynasty this year. Aside from that was the addition of PXP modifications.

These can be activated by completing PXP and stat-based objectives with each player. Each comes with bonuses and drawbacks, as one could theoretically lower attributes depending on which one is picked. And to be honest, I haven’t found many of them to be useful at this stage of the game.

Now, maybe that will change down the line. I do believe that these mods are good for non-99 OVR cards that will be in the 94-98 OVR range. That’s because those mods could take a good card into a potential end-game option. But for lower OVRs, these don’t seem worth the trouble.

There are a couple of other things that I have noticed this year that have made Diamond Dynasty a little weird. One, SDS only added one boss pack at 500,000 XP in the 1st Inning Program, which I believe is just very bizarre and one designed to activate meaningless engagement.

Last year, Sony made the conscious decision to move the Inning Boss packs to earlier points in the Inning Program. And for the average player, I don’t think four weeks is enough for the vast majority of players to get those cards. That’s indicated in the marketplace. As I write this review, the 1st Inning Bosses go for roughly 40,000 Stubs, more than double what those bosses went for at the end of each program in ‘25.

What’s even more ridiculous is how barren many of the Assorted Programs have become. For reference, let’s go over Spring Breakout programs from ‘25 and ‘26.

Last year, the Spring Breakout Program netted players over 40,000 XP and six Diamonds. This year? Three Diamonds and 3,000 XP in total, inside the Spring Breakout Program from ‘26.

We’ve also seen pack price increases on Headliners packs from 7,500 Stubs to 10,000 Stubs,  and only three cards inside each pack (I guess shrinkflation hit Diamond Dynasty, as well). Plus, subpar collection rewards. If anything, the pack-exclusive cards look more appealing in ‘26.

Then, there are the obvious server troubles, as well as the presence of bots yet again in Diamond Dynasty.

Storylines

Storylines is easily the best game mode in MLB The Show 26, hands down.

The game, at launch, didn’t have all the scheduled players featured in it. However, it did feature Mule Suttles and Roy Campanella, plus Peanut Johnson. To hear the stories about Campanella, including him almost being a Phillie, and this year’s featured Negro League players, is a great entry point for youngsters and even older fans who want to learn more.

Could I live without the graphics used in Bob Kendrick’s narration? Yes. But it’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

Road to the Show

Before I get into the meat of Road to the Show, I have to point out another instance where Sony’s marketing of the game and what the product actually is were completely different.

In February, Road to the Show director Kyle Saul indicated that players could choose secondary positions at launch. On the surface, it’s a great idea, especially in this day and age, where many players move around in both the infield and outfield.

Turns out, though, that this can’t be done. You can’t choose secondary positions at launch, and a social manager on the SDS forums noted that this isn’t possible at all. So, my question, again, is why the inconsistency?

Getting back to Road to the Show, this year’s version includes more streamlined functionality. It includes goals that change regularly and can affect a player’s potential and tokens earned, the ability to simulate and gain tokens, as well as a Hall of Fame tracker.

All of these are good quality-of-life additions. I won’t deny that. And, like last year, players can also go to college. However, much like last year, I question what the benefit of actually doing that, aside from getting the experience of playing in the College World Series.

Doing so ages a player three years and can positively affect MLB Draft stock. However, the raw benefits of doing so are minimal. Going to college only gets a player a small amount of Tokens. For example, when I did a pitcher playthrough, I only received 25 Tokens for committing to Wake Forest. But in a separate one where I skipped college altogether in the first round, I received 80 Tokens, plus a multiplier for in-game accomplishments.

Realistically speaking, college should have exponentially more benefits than it does. It should come with a much larger base OVR jump, plus an exponentially faster path to the Majors.

Franchise

March to October is gone, although it’s technically still alive through Streamlined Franchise. So, this is the only game in town.

The big shakeup in Franchise was a new trade system, highlighted by Untouchables and a slower trade response setup that replaces the old meter.

I, quite frankly, don’t understand some of the logic behind Untouchables. For one, teams can add up to 20 players, a very high number given that most MLB teams have, at most, anywhere from one to three true untouchable players. It also makes for some weird AI decisions.

It does make the trade system more challenging. However, it can still be “cheezed” based on the goofy logic present in the game.

Team budgets have also been modified based on market and team tendencies, meaning that small-market clubs won’t be big spenders. Again, a positive step forward, albeit one that should have been made years ago.

Moving on to some other things that I found very odd, free agents that linger around late in the offseason and Spring Training don’t lower their expectations as the start of the MLB season nears. Many of them still want multi-year deals at this time, even though this is something virtually never seen in real life and something that a game like Out of the Park Baseball nails.

Also, the AI lineup logic is still weird. Yes, teams will now move their top hitters up to the top two lineup slots in the game. However, there were far too many examples that I saw the AI stack left-handed after left-handed after left-handed hitter in the lineup.

The Verdict

Yes, there are some new good things. However, this has easily been the most unenjoyable launch of MLB The Show that I’ve ever seen.

Server problems are nothing new, although it’s been a much larger problem than it should be in 2026. But when combining everything that I noted above, how can I give a high grade to a game that A) is bare-bones to the core and B) is not what was advertised by Sony?

Simply, I can’t. I’ve been very critical of Sony’s inability to pay attention to detail and properly quality assure that things work. This year, it’s on another level of poor quality.

Score: 4/10

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