MLB The Show 16 'What Does It Do'?

[Millennium]

I'm creating this as a type of 'strategy guide' for things that we may or may not know about MLB The Show 16. My goal is that, through testing and communication, we may have a better understanding (although we will never have a total one) of what certain ratings/systems do in The Show.

I'm keeping this 1st post as clean as possible for our most definitive findings (or as close to definitive as we can get).

[richmondn96]

I'd like to know the impact of adjusting the CPU strike frequency slider. Others have said that the CPU throws too many strikes on the lower difficulty levels and I have seen this myself. How much do you have to adjust the slider to see realistic balls and strikes?

[Millennium]

My first group of "theories":


H/9 affects gameplay in direct correlation with the batter's Contact ratings.

I believe that the higher a pitcher's H/9 rating is the lower chance the batter has of getting 'Good' contact, and is weighted against the batter's Contact rating. BOTH of these ratings affect the size of the batter's PCI. Vision and K/9 DO NOT AFFECT the size of the PCI.
The following pictures show this. The order of the pics is:

H/9 99, Contact 0
H/9 99, Contact 99
H/9 0, Contact 99
H/9 0, Contact 99, Vision 99
H/9 0, K/9 99, Contact 99, Vision 99

You'll notice that the first pick the PCI is small, the second pic it grows (as we inflate the Contact rating), the third big it grows further (as we decrease the H/9 rating), but in the 4th and 5th pics it doesn't change when Vision and K/9 are the only ratings being moved. My theory on Vision and K/9 is that they affect (in gameplay) the area outside of the PCI which allows you to foul balls off that aren't in your PCI.

[TarHeelPhenom]

What does the steal frequency slider do? Does it make the runner faster on the base path? Does it weaken the catchers arm or slow his reaction time down?

[Millennium]

Next up:

BB/9 controls the speed at which your pitching controls move, the Control rating of your pitch controls how close they go to the ball marker. Batter's Plate Discipline has NO bearing on speed of the mechanic (BB/9) but MAY have an effect on the Control rating.

I used Pulse Pitching as an example, and the video is coming, but my findings are as follows:

The pulse pitching meter grew in size and speed as the BB/9 rating was lowered. It was not affected by the Discipline rating of the batter OR the Control rating of the pitch (a 4 seam fastball in this case) . HOWEVER - the end point of the ball on almost perfect release while on BB/9 at 99 varied greatly when 4FB control was lowered, but was almost spot on every time with it at 99. I am inconclusive on the Discipline ratings affecting pitching at this time, but my theory is that is directly correlates against the pitchers Control rating (which is a median of the control ratings of all of the pitcher's individual pitch control ratings).

[XxKnicksRules215xX]

I would like to know specifically how the difficulties work, how each work, the differences between each.

[jada855]

Quote: Originally Posted by TarHeelPhenom

What does the steal frequency slider do? Does it make the runner faster on the base path? Does it weaken the catchers arm or slow his reaction time down?

From my experience with the MLB The Show Series. The steal frequency slider increases the stolen base attempts. I usually bump this slider all the way to the right so that even though I play the game in player lock mode my cpu teammates are more aggressive with steal attempts.

[cjthisguy21]

Quote: Originally Posted by Millennium

My first group of "theories": H/9 affects gameplay in direct correlation with the batter's Contact ratings. I believe that the higher a pitcher's H/9 rating is the lower chance the batter has of getting 'Good' contact, and is weighted against the batter's Contact rating. BOTH of these ratings affect the size of the batter's PCI. Vision and K/9 DO NOT AFFECT the size of the PCI. The following pictures show this. The order of the pics is: H/9 99, Contact 0 H/9 99, Contact 99 H/9 0, Contact 99 H/9 0, Contact 99, Vision 99 H/9 0, K/9 99, Contact 99, Vision 99 You'll notice that the first pick the PCI is small, the second pic it grows (as we inflate the Contact rating), the third big it grows further (as we decrease the H/9 rating), but in the 4th and 5th pics it doesn't change when Vision and K/9 are the only ratings being moved. My theory on Vision and K/9 is that they affect (in gameplay) the area outside of the PCI which allows you to foul balls off that aren't in your PCI.

May I ask what difficulty this is on??