Baseball's pennant push is in full swing, and several teams are feverishly trying to claw their way to a division title. For those of us whose teams have already been eliminated from postseason consideration (my beloved Tigers included), the only baseball we really have to look forward to right now is next season's entry of Sony's stellar MLB: The Show franchise. While this year's title was an excellent addition to the series, there are definitely some nagging issues holding the game back from the elusive "GOAT" status.

With plenty of time still left in this year's development cycle, I figured I would put together a couple critical aspects of the game that should be altered for the upcoming season.

1. Revamp the Batting System

Before anyone gets any ideas, I am not proposing an analog swing system in MLB 11. With that clarified, hitting in The Show series has been one of my biggest gripes since the series debuted on the PS3. My main issue with the game's hitting mechanics really boils down to the fact that even though the user has the ability to control where the PCI is positioned in the hitting zone, there are far too many instances where hits feel random, or determined by a CPU algorithm or player statistics rather than by human control. It is beyond frustrating to work the count against a pitcher like Cliff Lee and then hit a soft dribbler to shortstop -- only to check your batting feedback, which tells you that you had perfect timing and hit a meatball.

To make matters even worse, the developers are still committed to mapping the game's hit-influence mechanic to the right analog stick. By flicking the right stick in a multitude of directions before a pitcher's delivery, you will cue up a canned reaction by your batter to automatically attempt to hit the ball in the direction that was cued up. Not only is this system not ergonomically conducive because of your right thumb already being tied to a button press for hitting, but it is another prime example of a hitting engine that relies more on CPU and statistical information rather than user input.

You are never actually given one-to-one control over your batter's upper torso/hands to make the swing-influence adjustments as the pitch is delivered, rather once the influence is cued you are locked into said influence.

The bottom line is that hitting in MLB 10 is not as much fun as it should be, especially on the higher difficulties without slider tweaks. Hitting a baseball is all about minute adjustments made by the hitter as the ball is being delivered. That aspect needs to be translated to this hardball franchise.

I propose a timing-based hitting system that ties one-to-one swing influence adjustments to the left stick. A perfect example of this proposed system can be seen in The Bigs 2. Since only 17 people on Operation Sports seemed to play 2K's best baseball outing in years, let me explain. While at bat you will notice that before a pitch is even delivered, you are able to control your batter's torso, which in turn influences that player's hand/arm position while swinging the bat. The end result is a hitting system where the user feels completely in control over the end result.

2K was able to make batting in The Bigs 2 feel organic and fun. So much so, in fact, that I was very surprised that MLB 2K10 did not include a similar setup.

Now, in no way do I want MLB 11's hitting system to become an arcade slugfest, but I am confident that the developers could implement a timing-based one-to-one body/arm mechanic with the left stick while implementing proper hitting zones based on a player's real-life statistics. Batting in a baseball game needs to be its most immersive gameplay mechanic in my opinion, and I feel that far too much control is taken away from the gamer with The Show's current setup.

2. Give Users Complete Control Over Analog Sliding

Batting issues aside, the one area where The Show has struggled in my eyes is in regards to the complete lack of control you have over analog sliding. For some reason, the developers will not allow sliding to be set to a completely manual configuration, instead sticking us with the rather annoying "assisted" gameplay option. Yes, the game does give you minor control over slides, but the problem I run into is that the slides I end up doing are either grossly different from what I intended, or my player ends up not sliding at all.

After countless games and observations, the answer became apparently clear that sliding works in the game, but only when the game determines that a situation is worthy of it. For example, you can only slide into home if the other team is trying to make a play on you, and that play is remotely close. Otherwise, you will not be able to make your player slide into home plate. The same concept goes for doubles, triples, bloopers, gappers -- you name it. Unless the CPU decides that you are in a potential slide zone, you will not be able to cue up your "assisted" slide.

Sony needs to completely remove the slide-assist option to stop the CPU from determining what type of slide, and when to slide, based on the given situation. Other baseball games that will remain unnamed (may or may not have been released five years ago) gave users complete manual one-to-one right stick control on slides. Once you’ve experienced this level of control, it is mighty hard to go back to the current system in The Show.

3. Roster Auto Load and Dynamic Rosters

The game's basic interface needs to be overhauled, and my biggest pet peeve deals with the lack of roster auto load. I can not even describe the amount of frustration that goes along with having to load my rosters manually every time I boot up the game. It may sound like a small gripe, but when practically every other sports game on the market has been including this feature for years now, it should not be ignored. This leads me to my next point.

The Show needs some form of dynamic rosters. After playing games like MLB 2K10, NBA Live 10 and NBA 2K10, the thought of dealing with weekly roster updates is almost unbearable. If MLB 2K10 demonstrated anything, it is that "living rosters" fit perfectly with a baseball game.

Out of the big four sports, baseball rosters see the most turnover during a season, along with the most stat differentiation. There is something about MLB 10’s weekly roster and statistical updates that leave me with a shallow feeling. If my favorite player is on a hot streak, I want that instantly updated so I can use that player in a exhibition game or online -- I do not want to have to wait a week to get those details. Sports gaming today is all about instant gratification, and MLB 11 should step it up in terms giving fans rosters and player ratings on a daily basis.

4. Include a Dedicated Playoff Mode Complete With Presentation

I am a little surprised the MLB series does not include a dedicated playoff mode with playoff-specific presentation. I’ll admit it, oftentimes my franchise team fails to make the playoffs. As someone who plays each and every one of his team's 162 games, the last thing I want to do if we fail to make the postseason is start up a new season from scratch in hopes of making it to the Fall Classic. Plus, if I do fail, I never get to experience The Show’s playoff atmosphere or see the game's World Series victory celebrations. I feel as if I am missing out on an major aspect of the game's presentation, and it actually bums me out quite a bit (sad I know).

Think about it though, I am sure the developers have dumped some serious time into making a cool World Series celebration, yet I'd venture to say that not even half of the game's clientele has even witnessed it because of the extreme time commitment necessary. I’d like to at least have the option in MLB 11 to set up my own playoff bracket. This way I could set up a series against the CPU or even some buddies just to experience how the game handles the postseason and don't feel so left out.

The developers could take this mode one step further and add it as an online feature so that you could play a full playoff series against friends. Imagine creating your own Yankees/Red Sox postseason memories online, with your PSN ID replacing the phrase "Bucky freaking Dent." I can see it now: "Bumble freaking 14 just won the pennant."

It is puzzling to me that, for as much as MLB 10 did right in terms of the authentic baseball experience, the development team would omit such a key mode from the game. I mean, how else are Pirates fans ever going to see their team in the World Series? If I want to lead even the lowliest of teams to baseball's promised land, while also witnessing some cool presentation elements along the way, I should have that right.


So there you have it, four additions that I think can elevate MLB 11 to sheer Ruthian levels. Sound off below with thoughts.

Christian McLeod is a senior staff writer at Operation Sports specializing in baseball and football games. Born and raised in Michigan, you can currently find him trying to justify that the Tigers still have a shot at the AL Central and glued to NCAA 11. Follow him on Twitter @Bumble14_OS, talk to him on the OS forums at Bumble14, or find him on Xbox Live/PSN via Bumble14.