Switch-hitters have taken over almost every Ranked match, and it feels no less than a pandemic in MLB The Show 25’s Diamond Dynasty mode. The online meta is a mess with the same lineup of switch hitters ready to mess with any matchup you try to set up.
As a pitcher, it seems kinda pointless to worry about matchups anymore because rivals simply wipe out any platoon advantage when the next guy walks up to the plate. So, if you’re not stacking the lineup with players that can bat from both sides, you’re basically playing on hard mode.
It’s a balancing issue that needs to be addressed, and that’s exactly what we’ll be discussing today.
Switch-Hitters Are Over-Represented in Diamond Dynasty
Switch-hitters are the bread and butter for easy pickings, and currently, most competitive squads are built around them in Diamond Dynasty. Revolving the game around switch-hitters really pulls the fun out of the game, especially for those who care about their card collections.
Those classic one-sided hitters are turning stale these days, and loading the lineup with switch-hitters has become the norm. Such a formation, rather, contrasts with real baseball play, where you rarely see more than two or three of those versatile hitters in a squad.
The Real Culprit: Meta Design & PCI Shrink
If we hunt for the real culprit, it’s the PCI shrink on outside sliders, and breaking balls against same-handed hitters is way too severe. The game punishes you the second you put a right-sided bat to a right-sided pitcher, or vice versa.
Your PCI, the sweet spot for hitting shrinks down, especially on those low and away pitches everyone loves to spam. At that point, you’ll often find yourself reacting instead of actually competing.
So now, the path to winning seems to be the one with a loaded lineup of switch-hitters. It’s not even a smart “meta” anymore; it’s the only real way to keep up. It feels like SDS overstated their balance changes after all the home runs people were blasting on tough pitches. However, one-sided hitters are almost unplayable. Now, if your player can’t play both sides, you might as well bench him.
Let’s be honest, that’s not how it’s supposed to work, and the community consensus is essentially the same — nobody ikes the current state of the PCI shrinkage.
How Can SDS Actually Balance This?
To work on the current sad state of Switch-Hitters in MLB: The Show, here’s what we can expect from SDS:
SDS needs to stop shrinking the PCI so much. They should dial it back, especially on those outside pitches when you’re matched up against same-handed batters. Let single-sided hitters have their moment if balance is the goal.
Real baseball doesn’t necessarily limit switch-hitters, but what we see in The Show’s meta is much more extreme than reality. To fix that, SDS could set a cap on switch-hitters and try to limit their usage in Diamond Dynasty.
One-sided hand stars shouldn’t be left rotting either. SDS may add quirks or clutch bonuses, so they can remain reliable matchups. In essence, when legendary righties and lefties start pulling in clutch moments, people will start playing them again.
What’s Next
What we need from SDS is an effective rework. Until same-handed matchups keep getting punished, we’ll keep seeing the same switch-hitter lineup in every ranked match. I mean, Diamond Dynasty doesn’t even feel like the real baseball experience anymore.
SDS needs to tone it down by holding back those high-end switch hitters. It’s time for a real rebalance.
