MLB 15 The Show News Post

MLB 15 The Show: Directional Hitting Guide

10:59 AM - April 11, 2015 by RaychelSnr

MLB 15 The Show’s directional hitting has taken me back to MVP ’05, where moving the left stick in a direction would attempt to influence the ball to go that way. It’s a system that’s pretty confusing if you’re locked into zone hitting, but once you wrap your head around it, it can be very useful in key situations. The fact that your swing will revert back to a timing-based version if you don’t pick a direction, complete with hitting stats based on each player, means you still have a viable way of making contact if a particular at-bat isn’t going your way.

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# 21 sink4ever @ 04/12/15 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Black59Razr


	You nailed it on the head! I found this article because I couldn't figure this feature out. Then, I realized, this feature is bass-akwards. In previous versions, when I was trying to hit a flyball, I would move my PCI slightly down. Reason being, I want to get my bat under the ball. Alternatively, if I wanted to hit a ground ball, I would move my PCI slightly up, making my bat get on top of the ball. The same would be for trying to hit the ball the opposite way. I would actually move my PCI slightly inside. And slightly outside if I was trying to pull the ball. Now, this new feature is counter-productive in that aspect; especially with the new camera shift feature (which I think is a great idea, by the way! Maybe by next year, it can be thought out more). So, by using this years method, I would always press down with my super fast leadoff hitter. I wanted to put the ball on the ground and let his legs do all the work. He has no power, so I don't want to put the ball in the air. However, I kept hitting fly ball after fly ball. The same was true for my power pull hitters. They were hitting everything the opposite way. This is what I believe needs to change to make this feature work. Moving the PCI should, in fact, move your solid hits. However, it should not induce flyballs, groundballs, pulling or going opposite field. Those results should come from the pitch location, the player's attributes and timing of the contact. Directional hitting, or moving the PCI, should only move your solid hit zone. And the camera shift should only make it easier for the human player to sit on what he is looking for. Now, is that what is already going on here? Because, in my small sample size, that is not what's going on here. When I press down to sit on a low pitch and hit a grounder, with the contact button, I repeatedly hit 250 foot lazy fly balls, on thigh high pitches.

I'll apologize in advance if I'm mis-reading your concern, but you seem to be confusing the two systems. There's Zone hitting (with the PCI that you move to be where you think the pitch will end up) and there's Directional hitting (where you pick a direction to try to hit the ball). There is no PCI for Directional hitting. If you're seeing a PCI move around as you move the left stick, you're using Zone hitting.

# 22 Wiggy @ 04/12/15 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nemesis04


	Yes, you are correct.

Sorry about that. I got my directions crossed up in the article. You are correct.

# 23 geisterhome @ 04/17/15 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sink4ever


	I'll apologize in advance if I'm mis-reading your concern, but you seem to be confusing the two systems. There's Zone hitting (with the PCI that you move to be where you think the pitch will end up) and there's Directional hitting (where you pick a direction to try to hit the ball). There is no PCI for Directional hitting. If you're seeing a PCI move around as you move the left stick, you're using Zone hitting.

The is left stick movement really just influencing the direction or do we have a better chance of making solid contact if we for example move the left stick in if the pitch is going there?

# 24 sink4ever @ 04/18/15 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geisterhome


	The is left stick movement really just influencing the direction or do we have a better chance of making solid contact if we for example move the left stick in if the pitch is going there?

I would tend to think you'd have a slightly better chance of good contact. Obviously you'll have more success trying to pull an inside pitch than an outside pitch, so there is a slight connection between the two. Mainly it has to do with the direction you're trying to hit the ball, but there are many other influences at work such as pitch location, swing timing, and hitter tendencies.

# 25 ManiacMatt1782 @ 04/18/15 12:22 PM

I gotta be honest, I am very against this for online. It's timing only essentially, and doesn't take much skill to use.

# 26 Black59Razr @ 04/19/15 01:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sink4ever


	I'll apologize in advance if I'm mis-reading your concern, but you seem to be confusing the two systems. There's Zone hitting (with the PCI that you move to be where you think the pitch will end up) and there's Directional hitting (where you pick a direction to try to hit the ball). There is no PCI for Directional hitting. If you're seeing a PCI move around as you move the left stick, you're using Zone hitting.

Thanks for bringing it up because I think I may be confused. So, when I press down on the stick, the camera shifts lower and the bottom of the plate has the yellow line/arrow thing. And almost every time I put that ball in play, it's a pop fly. Which leads me to believe that there's a PCI hidden underneath there. Maybe I just don't have a big enough sample size. Perhaps I should go hit 100 balls in BP and truly test it out.

# 27 tcorb95 @ 04/22/15 01:07 PM

Many times with directional I get belt high fastballs maybe a little higher and usually pop them up, miss, or foul them off. Those high fastballs are ones that power hitters crush but typically my home runs come off of low pitches. Even when i get the "GOOD" to flash i still foul and pop up many fastballs. How do I put these mistake pitches into the seats or at least get more extra base hits?

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