MLB 25 was a pretty good game, with upgrades in graphics and player simulation, and you could even simulate or recreate recent games. As 2025 draws to a close, preparations for MLB The Show 26 have already begun
MLB The Show 26 builds upon this title with further improvements, including changes to graphics, gameplay, and Franchise Mode. Since MLB 26 won't be released until next year, we can only speculate on whether these changes will be even better based on the official announcements.
Gameplay
Defense And Animation Enhancements
The development team has been striving to make the game more realistic, allowing players to simulate any situation that occurs in the game as closely as possible. Therefore, they have added more animations, and below are some of the animations they have released.
New Catches On The Run Animation
The new animations allow outfielders to cover bases and throw in a more realistic and efficient manner.
New Cut Off Throws Animations
New animations allow corner infielders (first and third basemen) to handle the ball more naturally and prevent runners from advancing extra bases.
Knee Down Catchers Animations
A complete new animation set has been added for kneeling catchers to support smarter, more realistic movements. This is a defensive approach different from the traditional crouching catcher.
In addition to the new animations, player attributes will also be adjusted. In MLB The Show 25, Pop Time existed as Quirk. Now it will be a rating scale of 1-99, giving each catcher a different level of this ability to assess their speed in throwing to second base to stop runners.
Reaction attributes will also be further subdivided in MLB 26, divided into four directions: forward, backward, left, and right. This more realistically simulates the differences in outfielders' reaction abilities to balls coming from different directions, as some players are better at rushing to catch the ball, while others are better at retreating to catch it.
New Features For Ball Strike System
In addition to the above, the official announcement also mentioned several new features in the new game. However, they didn't provide specific details, only stating that the details would be revealed gradually before release.
- Bear Down
- Big Zone Hitting
- PCI Sensitivity
- Fixed Zone
- Free Anchor
PCI Sensitivity is a long-requested feature from players. It primarily adjusts the movement sensitivity of the plate cover indicator (PCI), similar to adjusting aiming sensitivity in a shooting game. High sensitivity allows for faster movement of the crosshair but makes it harder to control accuracy, while low sensitivity has the opposite effect.
Anchor Mirror feature ensures that your ball's anchor point remains at the last set position. This feature may have been partially implemented in MLB The Show 25.
ABS And PitchCom Systems
Automatic Ball Strike Challenge System (ABS) is a system being tested in minor leagues and introduced into the game. It's essentially a robotic referee that can automatically judge the quality of the ball.
This feature will likely be primarily used in single-player modes, such as Franchise mode. Allowing players to challenge calls as batters, pitchers, or catchers will increase the depth and realism of the game, but it could also make simulated umpire errors more frustrating.
PitchCom system, already present in MLB 25 (where catchers indicated pitching positions on lower difficulties), will be further enhanced in the new game.
Franchise Mode
MLB The Show 25 saw improvements in Franchise Mode last year, but it was far from perfect and still needed refinement. The new game features numerous adjustments to this mode. Currently announced changes primarily focus on improving trade content and streamlining Franchise Mode, though these are relatively minor.
MLB 26 will also improve the lineup and rotation logic. The CPU's lineup decisions will be more in line with modern baseball principles. The new logic will consider players' on-base percentage and recent performance, rather than assigning unsuitable players as leadoff hitters.
Road To The Show
While Road to the Show mode received significant improvements in MLB 25, it still failed to satisfy players, and the limited MLB The Show 25 stubs it rewards are hardly appealing.
The new version of MLB 25 adds 11 playable universities to the amateur year introduced last year, including University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Oregon State University Beavers. It will also be announced that players will have more to do later in their careers.
Based on the currently released information, the changes to Road to the Show haven't satisfied players. Simply adding a few more schools to the existing very short college season without extending the season is merely a superficial change lacking substantial content. Adding more schools is less effective than deeply developing each of the 20 schools, motivating players to experience the unique characteristics of each.
The promise of more to do later in their careers likely just refers to the addition of a formal retirement process, which also fails to provide long-term motivation for play.
What Improvements Are Needed?
While MLB The Show 25 has received much praise from players, there are still some issues that need to be addressed in the new game, namely network connectivity.
Due to latency and instability in online connections, the actual hitting feel is distorted, making the online game feel one level harder than advertised. While the offline gameplay is very smooth and excellent, it's a completely different experience compared to playing against real people, so this is something that urgently needs to be addressed.
Although there's some cool content, the amount of information about the new game isn't huge. In particular, details about updates to the management and career modes are limited, but we should see more in-depth information about the game modes closer to release.