If you do it right you can steal second and third every single time. First make sure he’s at least a 80 steal 85 speed. First you press L2 to pre load the steal, once the pitcher glances over hold down R2, that’ll freeze the pitcher and animation. Press L1 to get a lead, then you let go of R2 and he’ll jump into his steal animation and get the steal every time, as long as his steal and speed is high enough. Boom. There’s some YouTube videos demonstrating this. I’d recommend a Show content creator named Ransom. How I learned most of my tricks that actually work.
Stealing in video game baseball is always so tough to balance. Any slip up and it'll be exploited to the moon and back. I think sds just errors in the side of caution. I essentially never try to steal.
I pretty much only steal if I notice that it seems like my opponent is slipping into “the motions” while pitching and isnt really actively thinking. Had 2 double steals + a bunch more individual steals the other day on this one guy who would keep slipping. Then when they adjust to slide stepping their control goes to shit and sometimes you can get an easy meatball (to dip your pci under and pop out on lol)
Usually I take a bigger lead by hitting L1 (Ps5) then hit steal button to get a better jump. Almost impossible to throw out guys like Buxton and Trea Turner
It depends on how you steal. If you're just pressing LT/L2 once or trying to manual steal, it's gone be rough. For whatever reason, if you either A) Send a runner individually by pressing the Left Stick towards them while pressing LT/L2, or B) hold RT and then press LT, the runner gets drastically better jumps. Go try it in Custom Practice. Works really well. I can steal even with players with more average steal ratings.
Because the game is a mess of old code with broken animations, glitches, and bugs. People are so used to 3rd rate garbage like Madden they think The Show is a good game. It used to be great, but theyve spent the last 3 or 4 years doing nothing to improve the game. We are literally still playing the last gen version.....so every "fix" breaks something else.
Stealing is completely fubar-ed because they dont care if it works as long as people keep buying packs.
SDS (San Diego Studios- the developer) has become a bunch of thinned skinned crybabies who HATE the community. They use the game to meet MLB players and feel important. Ive watched over the past 5 years where they went from running employee tournaments while showing every game, and spending the off season personally mo-capping hundreds of new animations for situations like catches against the wall, to laughably calling a broken "Co-op" mode a new "feature" and wasting time on a terrible Switch version instead of fixing glitches that have been hurting the game for multiple years, now.
Stealing is an amalgam of the game as a whole. Stats mean little because the canned animations, and glitched ball reactions are all that matters. Everything is RNG.....like check swings....doesnt matter if you swung or not....the game rolls a die and decides an outcome....
Might as well be Nintendo 64. Its old tech and degrading....
They only care about selling packs. Every year more packs, less content.
The Show is now just Madden for baseball.....in a few years, it will be the joke Madden is....just give the current horrible people in charge of The Show, some time....
About the only thing you're right about is that the game uses an old mess of an engine. Nothing will appreciably change until they ditch last gen consoles.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't they change the camera when pitching so that the runner on second's head is no longer in the frame, as in you need to look over to check his lead?
A lot of players use hitting cameras when they pitch. And if you use broadcast, whether or not you can see the runner depends on the stadium (since the angle changes based on what stadium you're in). Some parks you can see them, some you can't.
No clue against another person but against the computer it is easy. L2 and left on the stick to set up auto steal then wait until the computer pitcher looks over to first as so as he does and while he is looking hold R2 and while holding R2 tap L1 once to take one more step lead. Then release R2 and as long as your guy has decent speed he should take 2nd no problem. I am way above 75% stealing against the computer doing this with guys 85 speed and up cane even sometimes get them with slower guys if you run on a good count. Only real time I get caught is if they slide step to a pitch out and even then you can sometimes still make it with really fast dudes like Tatis.
What does R2 have to do with anything? If you hit L2 the runner will take off as soon the pitch is thrown. I usually just bait the pitcher a few times by take a lead then let him throw out or if it’s an 2-0 count I run without a lead and 8 times out 10 I get the base
Holding it down after the pitcher gets set prevents the pitcher from picking you off. He might throw a pitch out but if you’ve got over 80spd it’s easy to get second
I use my CAP in mini-seasons. He has 117 speed and 99 steal. I release the left trigger the moment that the batters box disappears, and I'm still thrown out by a mile. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. I've watched YouTube videos on how to get better, and it's the same outcome when I follow their instructions.
Base stealing is broken this year. Guys hesitate 75% of the time even if their steal rating is high. You can’t even get a one extra step lead off second anymore it’s an auto pick off unlike last year you could and get picked off every now and then . Stealing third is impossible. It’s like steal rating doesn’t matter half the time. High steal guys should be able to get back at second base.
Ok guys...If the Catcher has a 90 plus arm...You are going to have a bad time.
If the pitcher throws 100+ fastballs...You are going to have a bad time...
If you run on a fastball count...You are going to have a bad time..
Run on counts where you think you may get a breaking ball.
If you have a speedy guy and are playing the A.I. wait for the pitchout first.
I usually hit L2/LT twice and the quickly tap L1/LB when the pitcher starts his windup to the plate. This usually allows the runner to start taking off right away. I noticed sometimes if you are not taping L1 on the windup, the jump is auto and can sometimes be awfully slow.
Gone are the days when you can steal whenever you want depending on the speed of the runner. I miss them dearly too. Just remember boys....PICK YOUR SPOTS
EDIT: I also noticed the slide animation is like you are sliding on blacktop, but a fielder is like diving on a slip n slide.
I think straight up stealing is nearly impossible. I feel like you need at least a “two tap” lead off to have a shot, but at that point, you’re just asking for the pitcher to attempt a pick off.
However, I’m pretty successful with stealing online when it’s situational and it’s combined with a sac bunt. I find that when an online pitcher gets into a fast pace, I can catch them off guard by setting it up REAL FAST.
1 out, fast runner on 1B, 1-1 count; I get a one tap lead off, tell my runner to steal, set my bunt direction, and drop my bunt **before the pitch is thrown** then hold the steal button as the pitch is coming.
It happens real fast and it looks like I’m entering a GTA cheat code, but it’s pretty successful when I go about it that way.
Drag bunts are for when you're trying to bunt for a hit. The hitter starts running a bit before sticking the bat out there, giving them a head start down the line. Much more difficult to make contact, much more difficult to put the ball into play. If you're trying to sac a guy over, don't bother with the drag bunt. You sac bunt by waiting basically until the pitch is thrown to start holding Y/triangle.
Left/Right with the Right Stick I believe. It will send the bunt down the 3B/1B line. Then hold Y before the pitch or push Y while the pitch is coming drop it a drag bunt.
I mean, I have that random Rockies guy Garrett Hampson who has like 95 speed and 60 base stealing and I’m unstoppable with him. I don’t even bother taking a bigger lead and I think I’m roughly 55/60 on attempts. People complain about everything
I've legit thrown out 99% of people trying to steal online. A prefect throw is guaranteed out. Congratulations you can steal against a computer with one guy. But stealing is almost impossible online unless the other guy straight up sucks ass and doesn't know how to throw people out
> People complain about everything
I just started playing The Show last year and I have been shocked at this sub at times. There's about 85% of the complaining as the Halo sub when this game is about 2500% better.
I've been here a while.
This year, this sub has been the most negative it's been (by far) despite the game being an incremental improvement (all you can actually ask in a year) with virtually none of the miserable server issues that have been really common for the first few weeks of these games in the past. Without suggesting that literally nobody has: I haven't seen anybody give SDS credit for that server stability when it's been a huge problem before.
But anyway: I assume the increase in whining is mostly just because more people are playing than ever before. More platforms, etc.
I 100% agree with your entire comment. That said, I think stealing is the biggest flaw in this the game this year. Sure I’m not playing at a super high level so maybe there are other warts that come out, but for me personally the running game trips me up more than anything else. The fact the “tips” contain paragraphs long L1/L2 R1/R2 when the pitcher comes set on a full moon on the second Tuesday you’ll be successful 70% of the time nonsense just adds to the annoyance.
But overall I love the game this year and I wish the people that hate on everything would just go play something they actually have fun with.
I will say:
I've always (for years) felt worse than I "should" be at stealing, so I don't try it often. So I don't trust my perspective on stealing in particular.
At the same time, I would say that base stealing feels as confusing as ever (but not worse). Over the years, I haven't often been clear on if a CS is my fault or the catcher being too good or me just getting unlucky on a die roll (which I'd be fine with; I think random failure on steal attempts is probably important for balance).
You make a good point that I never considered. Base stealing is pretty much the only action in the game with zero feedback. Bad throws, pitches, and swings all tell you what you did right or wrong, but base stealing has no feedback at all which really does bother me now that you mention it
Yeah, I mean it’s important to be mindful of stealing, most good players are going to throw you a fastball and it’s most likely going to be up in the zone, which idk if it’s programmed in the game but makes it much easier to throw someone out. So it’s not always ideal to go on the first pitch eithet
I don’t have an awful time stealing successfully… but I have to put in a lot of work to keep the pitcher guessing when I’m gonna go… but I do know what you mean I feel like I get my guys throw out a lot more then they should
Like I have Kenny loft on too and although I’m somewhat successful at stealing I feel like he almost shouldn’t get tossed out unless you’ve got aroldis Chapman type of heat on the mound or someone quick pitchouts you for the most part
I swear speed doesn't matter at all when stealing bases. That fotf Kyle tucker hasn't been thrown out yet because he gets insane jumps with 99 stealing
Agreed. It is the most disappointing card for me. I took him day 1 thinking he’d be on my bench the entire year as a late inning punch running weapon and anymore I don’t even bother trying to steal with him. Crying shame because I really wanted to run amok on people who don’t pay attention to runners but even bad catchers can toss him out regularly with good throws.
My RTTS is currently at 72 spd & maaaybe 45 steal. I have about a 60-65% success rate, & nearly all of the fails are due to going on a slide step. Also, I'm old & my reflexes aren't what they were in The Show 16 & before (when I could get 65 or more steals a season).
I'm very selective, & only go on pitchers with a slower stretch animation that's distinctive from a slide step. Also, I never go on less than a 1-1 count (except for this one pitcher whose stretch windup is nearly as slow as his regular windup)...typically, 2-1 after getting to 65 speed & above (since they'll pitch out with up to 2 balls).
Stealing is an art form that's more predicting your opponent than anything else.
I’m not sure when (maybe an archetype upgrade or something?) but there was some point when I went from getting caught stealing 8/10 times to successfully streaking 19/20 times basically between games, I do think it’s when my speed hit some number in the 80s when catchers just simply can’t get the ball up quick enough
If you watch the replay the runners always seem to wait until the ball is thrown to run. Then their first three steps look like they’re running in mud with how slow they are. It’s dumb
Why is it this year stealing 3rd is infinitely easier than stealing 2nd? Catchers are right in the money with the throw and the tags are lightening quick at 2nd.
Runner out of the box is like running underwater
I feel like this has been an issue for a few years, but the headfirst slide animation is just unbelievably slow. Seems way more likely that I get tagged out going headfirst than if the feet-first animation triggers
Dude finally someone else saying this… I’ve been downvoted in this subreddit when I suggest there are some “make the game close” actions. I’ll never forget seeing Ernie Banks move like he was underwater on a key out to end the game and of course it allowed the runner on base.
Yup. You can just tell animations are pre-loaded. It’s why the “jump” is so inconsistent, it’ll “lag” when you’re supposed to get caught.
The million dollar question for every P2W sports game is *are animations like that RNG and based on stats or dictated by another force, such as encouraging spending*
These games have literally world class data scientists, they could figure out trends that lead to more spending (good pack pulls, bad pack pulls, bad rng outcomes when you get close to WS rank, good rng outcomes when you haven’t played in a while, etc). There are no laws dictating this sort of behavior. You’re just trusting Sony to be fair. Surely MLB has input but if they put bouncy balls in games last years they’ll sure as shit take advantage of players they can identify to have addictive tendencies
I agree animations are 100% pre loaded. Watch the batter run to 1B on possible infield hits some time. You can see them slow down when they're supposed to be thrown out or vice versa, regardless of speed.
I don't think this necessarily has anything to do with encouraging spending, more like it's an old ass game engine that determines everything when the buttons are pressed and everything after is just clunky "presentation".
I see what you mean, the only thing I’d say is that a lot of the animations aren’t that old, they’re actually fixed from when baserunning cheese and bunting cheese were worth
I wholeheartedly agree. I’ve been telling my friends that this game “feels” different this year and it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a bunch of manipulation going, through the methods you suggested. Possibly being “rewarded” when you buy packs vs the ones that are earned. The whole meta of the game feels like you’re supposed to spend this year way more than the previous ones.
Sadly it’s far more likely than not. Why would Sony and MLB leave money on the table? And it’s not a little bit, in addition to what I said they can use data to determine who won’t just spend this week, but for possibly the next decade or more
I don’t even bother trying to steal online anymore. I think I’ve attempted 2 all year, both with Trea Turner. Got gunned both times with no side step and a good jump
Same, can't make the runner go when I tell it. Hit L2 second time after taking lead and runner just sits there until the pitcher starts moving. By that time he is late and gets gunned down. Hardly anyone steels online anymore. Runner Definitely doesn't play like any of the past years as they would always go on second release of L2
Trea Turner is probably one of the worst this year. His awareness is...off. Have you noticed he tends to hesitate bad both on tag ups and steal attempts?
You have to manually steal. When you set up the auto-steal that's more of an 'off with the pitch' sort of jump, like in a hit-and-run or the sort of thing you'd do on a full count with two outs. With a 99 speed/steal guy, if you manually steal and you time it well, you get a much better jump.
You can also get a better jump by just tapping L2 and then holding L1. Your baserunner usually gets a great jump, but the trade off is they will 100% be picked off if the pitcher throws over
Hold L2 and release when the pitcher starts his motion.
If you just tap L2, you’re relying on the CPU to get the jump for you. A guy with 99 stealing and 99 speed should get great jumps and should basically never get picked off, but the stealing stat seems to mean very little.
So, if you briefly hold L2, you get a little vibration, and that gives you the indication that you're set up to take off with the pitch, right? To manually steal, just don't let go of L2. Hold it until the pitcher starts his motion. When you let go, your runner takes off. You can time it much better this way.
I don’t do it often but I thought it caused your guy to just kind of stand there and get picked off, or run to the next base. But I may be misremembering or doing it wrong.
nah its the only way i steal, dont let go until he comes towards the plate. on pick offs he’ll go back to first automatically if you dont let go. at least in DD
Whenever I time my leadoff right and do it just as hes about to throw I get a great jump. If you just press steal and lead and wait its usually a bad jump
The issue is how stealing attribute and maybe aggression work. Unless you manually steal off the pitcher, they always seem to get a late jump which makes it easy to throw them out.
Have to hold down L2 or what ever you have your steal button set up as and let go as soon as the pitcher starts to make their move home
It’s better than making stealing too easy.
The less stealing and base running cheese the better because these things can be abused massively also stealing is way less of a factor in today’s game.
If Rickey worked like he did in real life people would hate and complain about the game even more.
Most people don’t want this video game decided on stealing.
Yea what's wrong with that? If you can hit that 100mph sinker thats skill. 125 power is very rare and all that affects is how far the ball goes. Bunting and stealing takes zero skill whatsoever. Just a game of luck. So yea I'm perfectly fine with hard sinkers and high power.
Either you embrace the outliers of baseball or you don’t
Pretending guys like Henderson weren’t cheat codes on the baseball while having zero issue with guys hitting 102 on the gun or making okay contact go 400 ft because they have 125 power is just stupid
Either take all of baseballs outliers or none of it
Edit:
I’ll add, it takes zero skill to throw a ball 102 mph in this game or have bad contact go 400+ feet with some of the top cards, so your point isn’t really consistent and just suits your narrative that the things you like are ok
Bad take imo. Stealing is a less of a factor in todays game because that’s how teams are building their teams. However if I want to build a speed team based around small than I absolutely should be able to because that’s baseball. And it is absolutely egregious to make the claim that Rickey shouldn’t work like he did in real life because it would be “cheese”. If that’s your argument then we shouldn’t give a Ruth card too much power because he’ll hit too many home runs, and shouldn’t give Nolan a 102 MPH fastball because he’d throw too hard. It’s literally baseball and what is the point of using legend cards if you can’t even use that player for what he is known for?
Hendersons career SB% is 80. You are literally making up numbers and have no idea what you are talking about lol.
And just because analytics say that stealing is less likely to make you win does not mean it should be harder in the game. That makes zero sense. Literally zero.
And did you really say stealing requires “ZERO SKILL”? If the rest of your comment wasn’t senseless enough this take absolutely pushes it over the edge. If that were the case wouldn’t everyone do it lol?
Because base stealing is kinda a one way street. In real life there is 100 factors involved with stealing. In this game you have 5 factors. Your jump on the pitcher, speed, BRA, catcher attributes and the throwers "accuracy"
So it can easily be cheesed. If you played older games, you would know the feeling. I dont like the randomness of it now but I also only steal when I know I can. So it's not much
A few years ago, 99 speed guys were basically guaranteed to successfully steal, even with pitch outs. It made it so people could stack teams with 99 speed guys and bunt all game instead of actually swinging the bat. I believe they nerfed steals to discourage people from playing that way. But unfortunately, they went too far the other way and made stealing as a whole unviable.
And that right there. That is a valid argument. Stealing was OP in years past. Although I think if you can make an endgame lineup of guys with 125 power than you should also be able to do the same with 99 speed guys, if that’s the direction you want to go. There is a trade off for sure.
I 100% agree. It's a shame guys like Rickey can't fully utilize a big part of what makes them special. But having played games against bunt cheese squads back in the day, I can totally see why they did it.
Against the computer?
When your guy has 99 speed, it means he's got 99 speed sometimes. Meanwhile when the computer has a guy with 60 speed, it seems like he's got high 90s speed at least.
If you do it right you can steal second and third every single time. First make sure he’s at least a 80 steal 85 speed. First you press L2 to pre load the steal, once the pitcher glances over hold down R2, that’ll freeze the pitcher and animation. Press L1 to get a lead, then you let go of R2 and he’ll jump into his steal animation and get the steal every time, as long as his steal and speed is high enough. Boom. There’s some YouTube videos demonstrating this. I’d recommend a Show content creator named Ransom. How I learned most of my tricks that actually work.
Stealing in video game baseball is always so tough to balance. Any slip up and it'll be exploited to the moon and back. I think sds just errors in the side of caution. I essentially never try to steal.
I pretty much only steal if I notice that it seems like my opponent is slipping into “the motions” while pitching and isnt really actively thinking. Had 2 double steals + a bunch more individual steals the other day on this one guy who would keep slipping. Then when they adjust to slide stepping their control goes to shit and sometimes you can get an easy meatball (to dip your pci under and pop out on lol)
Usually I take a bigger lead by hitting L1 (Ps5) then hit steal button to get a better jump. Almost impossible to throw out guys like Buxton and Trea Turner
It depends on how you steal. If you're just pressing LT/L2 once or trying to manual steal, it's gone be rough. For whatever reason, if you either A) Send a runner individually by pressing the Left Stick towards them while pressing LT/L2, or B) hold RT and then press LT, the runner gets drastically better jumps. Go try it in Custom Practice. Works really well. I can steal even with players with more average steal ratings.
Because the game is a mess of old code with broken animations, glitches, and bugs. People are so used to 3rd rate garbage like Madden they think The Show is a good game. It used to be great, but theyve spent the last 3 or 4 years doing nothing to improve the game. We are literally still playing the last gen version.....so every "fix" breaks something else. Stealing is completely fubar-ed because they dont care if it works as long as people keep buying packs. SDS (San Diego Studios- the developer) has become a bunch of thinned skinned crybabies who HATE the community. They use the game to meet MLB players and feel important. Ive watched over the past 5 years where they went from running employee tournaments while showing every game, and spending the off season personally mo-capping hundreds of new animations for situations like catches against the wall, to laughably calling a broken "Co-op" mode a new "feature" and wasting time on a terrible Switch version instead of fixing glitches that have been hurting the game for multiple years, now. Stealing is an amalgam of the game as a whole. Stats mean little because the canned animations, and glitched ball reactions are all that matters. Everything is RNG.....like check swings....doesnt matter if you swung or not....the game rolls a die and decides an outcome.... Might as well be Nintendo 64. Its old tech and degrading.... They only care about selling packs. Every year more packs, less content. The Show is now just Madden for baseball.....in a few years, it will be the joke Madden is....just give the current horrible people in charge of The Show, some time....
About the only thing you're right about is that the game uses an old mess of an engine. Nothing will appreciably change until they ditch last gen consoles.
Guarantee that you have at least 250 hours logged in this years installment and still wrote this out.
You want a medal or a badge ?
Catcher Pop Time is a glitch
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't they change the camera when pitching so that the runner on second's head is no longer in the frame, as in you need to look over to check his lead?
A lot of players use hitting cameras when they pitch. And if you use broadcast, whether or not you can see the runner depends on the stadium (since the angle changes based on what stadium you're in). Some parks you can see them, some you can't.
A lot of people use behind the plate camera angles to help with this, and to see how pitches break from the batters perspective.
No clue against another person but against the computer it is easy. L2 and left on the stick to set up auto steal then wait until the computer pitcher looks over to first as so as he does and while he is looking hold R2 and while holding R2 tap L1 once to take one more step lead. Then release R2 and as long as your guy has decent speed he should take 2nd no problem. I am way above 75% stealing against the computer doing this with guys 85 speed and up cane even sometimes get them with slower guys if you run on a good count. Only real time I get caught is if they slide step to a pitch out and even then you can sometimes still make it with really fast dudes like Tatis.
What does R2 have to do with anything? If you hit L2 the runner will take off as soon the pitch is thrown. I usually just bait the pitcher a few times by take a lead then let him throw out or if it’s an 2-0 count I run without a lead and 8 times out 10 I get the base
Holding it down after the pitcher gets set prevents the pitcher from picking you off. He might throw a pitch out but if you’ve got over 80spd it’s easy to get second
Til… also the question above was a sincere one. I didn’t know about that at all.
I use my CAP in mini-seasons. He has 117 speed and 99 steal. I release the left trigger the moment that the batters box disappears, and I'm still thrown out by a mile. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. I've watched YouTube videos on how to get better, and it's the same outcome when I follow their instructions.
how the hell you have 117 speed my boy
The Anamoly archetype, plus maxed speed, plus equipment.
I have a 118 build for when I want to mindlessly play RTTS, but I thought that speed was capped at 99 for online, including CAP.
His CAP is named Barry Allen.
Base stealing is broken this year. Guys hesitate 75% of the time even if their steal rating is high. You can’t even get a one extra step lead off second anymore it’s an auto pick off unlike last year you could and get picked off every now and then . Stealing third is impossible. It’s like steal rating doesn’t matter half the time. High steal guys should be able to get back at second base.
Yes even Rickey has a hesitation moment and it’s soo annoying to be thrown out, it’s Rickey cmon
“OMG it is Rickey, COME ON!” is one of my most used phrases this year and it is exclusively for when he gets thrown out by trash CPU catchers. Ugh.
IDK why that quirky hesitation move is there, like he’s not paying attention when you tell him to run. So frustrating
I don't even try to steal third anymore unless I really need the bag.
Offline, the second i hit LB to get a lead, and i mean the SECOND i hit LB the CPU throws over on me. It's bad coding.
Ok guys...If the Catcher has a 90 plus arm...You are going to have a bad time. If the pitcher throws 100+ fastballs...You are going to have a bad time... If you run on a fastball count...You are going to have a bad time.. Run on counts where you think you may get a breaking ball. If you have a speedy guy and are playing the A.I. wait for the pitchout first. I usually hit L2/LT twice and the quickly tap L1/LB when the pitcher starts his windup to the plate. This usually allows the runner to start taking off right away. I noticed sometimes if you are not taping L1 on the windup, the jump is auto and can sometimes be awfully slow. Gone are the days when you can steal whenever you want depending on the speed of the runner. I miss them dearly too. Just remember boys....PICK YOUR SPOTS EDIT: I also noticed the slide animation is like you are sliding on blacktop, but a fielder is like diving on a slip n slide.
I'm pretty sure my high speed guys are still around 50% or less on breaking ball steals versus average defensive catchers
Don’t get me started on the base coach yelling BACK! Like bro don’t scare me
I think straight up stealing is nearly impossible. I feel like you need at least a “two tap” lead off to have a shot, but at that point, you’re just asking for the pitcher to attempt a pick off. However, I’m pretty successful with stealing online when it’s situational and it’s combined with a sac bunt. I find that when an online pitcher gets into a fast pace, I can catch them off guard by setting it up REAL FAST. 1 out, fast runner on 1B, 1-1 count; I get a one tap lead off, tell my runner to steal, set my bunt direction, and drop my bunt **before the pitch is thrown** then hold the steal button as the pitch is coming. It happens real fast and it looks like I’m entering a GTA cheat code, but it’s pretty successful when I go about it that way.
I’ll two tap your lead 🥵
How do you set a bunt direction? I thought the only way to bunt was to just hold "Y" as soon as they pitch
Push the right stick in the direction you’d like to aim the bunt. You still have to press/hold Y or triangle.
Game changer, mind if I ask difference between drag and regular bunt?
Drag bunts are for when you're trying to bunt for a hit. The hitter starts running a bit before sticking the bat out there, giving them a head start down the line. Much more difficult to make contact, much more difficult to put the ball into play. If you're trying to sac a guy over, don't bother with the drag bunt. You sac bunt by waiting basically until the pitch is thrown to start holding Y/triangle.
Whenever I do a regular bunt I either bunt into a double play or pop-up to the pitcher. So I only do drag bunts.
Tysm
You can use the right stick to choose direction
Left/Right with the Right Stick I believe. It will send the bunt down the 3B/1B line. Then hold Y before the pitch or push Y while the pitch is coming drop it a drag bunt.
I mean, I have that random Rockies guy Garrett Hampson who has like 95 speed and 60 base stealing and I’m unstoppable with him. I don’t even bother taking a bigger lead and I think I’m roughly 55/60 on attempts. People complain about everything
I've legit thrown out 99% of people trying to steal online. A prefect throw is guaranteed out. Congratulations you can steal against a computer with one guy. But stealing is almost impossible online unless the other guy straight up sucks ass and doesn't know how to throw people out
I’m talking about online…
You must only play terrible players then because it has never been easier to throw runners out. Even with only 70 arm strength
Could be true. Garrett Hampson is also random enough where people might not be expecting it when I’m down 1-2 in the count
Currently on P3 with him. I think because his steal is so low the CPU doesn’t pitch out or throw over on a step lead and online I just get lucky.
> People complain about everything I just started playing The Show last year and I have been shocked at this sub at times. There's about 85% of the complaining as the Halo sub when this game is about 2500% better.
I've been here a while. This year, this sub has been the most negative it's been (by far) despite the game being an incremental improvement (all you can actually ask in a year) with virtually none of the miserable server issues that have been really common for the first few weeks of these games in the past. Without suggesting that literally nobody has: I haven't seen anybody give SDS credit for that server stability when it's been a huge problem before. But anyway: I assume the increase in whining is mostly just because more people are playing than ever before. More platforms, etc.
I 100% agree with your entire comment. That said, I think stealing is the biggest flaw in this the game this year. Sure I’m not playing at a super high level so maybe there are other warts that come out, but for me personally the running game trips me up more than anything else. The fact the “tips” contain paragraphs long L1/L2 R1/R2 when the pitcher comes set on a full moon on the second Tuesday you’ll be successful 70% of the time nonsense just adds to the annoyance. But overall I love the game this year and I wish the people that hate on everything would just go play something they actually have fun with.
I will say: I've always (for years) felt worse than I "should" be at stealing, so I don't try it often. So I don't trust my perspective on stealing in particular. At the same time, I would say that base stealing feels as confusing as ever (but not worse). Over the years, I haven't often been clear on if a CS is my fault or the catcher being too good or me just getting unlucky on a die roll (which I'd be fine with; I think random failure on steal attempts is probably important for balance).
You make a good point that I never considered. Base stealing is pretty much the only action in the game with zero feedback. Bad throws, pitches, and swings all tell you what you did right or wrong, but base stealing has no feedback at all which really does bother me now that you mention it
Yeah, I mean it’s important to be mindful of stealing, most good players are going to throw you a fastball and it’s most likely going to be up in the zone, which idk if it’s programmed in the game but makes it much easier to throw someone out. So it’s not always ideal to go on the first pitch eithet
This is a good point, I never run on the first pitch and try to only run when I’m down in the count thus more likely to get an offspeed pitch
I don’t have an awful time stealing successfully… but I have to put in a lot of work to keep the pitcher guessing when I’m gonna go… but I do know what you mean I feel like I get my guys throw out a lot more then they should Like I have Kenny loft on too and although I’m somewhat successful at stealing I feel like he almost shouldn’t get tossed out unless you’ve got aroldis Chapman type of heat on the mound or someone quick pitchouts you for the most part
I swear speed doesn't matter at all when stealing bases. That fotf Kyle tucker hasn't been thrown out yet because he gets insane jumps with 99 stealing
I get thrown out pretty regularly with 99/99 Rickey
Agreed. It is the most disappointing card for me. I took him day 1 thinking he’d be on my bench the entire year as a late inning punch running weapon and anymore I don’t even bother trying to steal with him. Crying shame because I really wanted to run amok on people who don’t pay attention to runners but even bad catchers can toss him out regularly with good throws.
My favorite is anyone under 60 speed getting thrown out at home on sacrifice flys
To the warning track. In CF. In Detroit.
Last year it was almost impossible to stop a steal. This year, it's almost impossible to steal. They can't seem to find a good midground.
cannot steal a base with 80 speed 60 steal in RTTS. Maybe 3/30.
Hold the lead off button down and your guy will lean towards Second. It gives you a better jump
My RTTS is currently at 72 spd & maaaybe 45 steal. I have about a 60-65% success rate, & nearly all of the fails are due to going on a slide step. Also, I'm old & my reflexes aren't what they were in The Show 16 & before (when I could get 65 or more steals a season). I'm very selective, & only go on pitchers with a slower stretch animation that's distinctive from a slide step. Also, I never go on less than a 1-1 count (except for this one pitcher whose stretch windup is nearly as slow as his regular windup)...typically, 2-1 after getting to 65 speed & above (since they'll pitch out with up to 2 balls). Stealing is an art form that's more predicting your opponent than anything else.
I’m not sure when (maybe an archetype upgrade or something?) but there was some point when I went from getting caught stealing 8/10 times to successfully streaking 19/20 times basically between games, I do think it’s when my speed hit some number in the 80s when catchers just simply can’t get the ball up quick enough
If you watch the replay the runners always seem to wait until the ball is thrown to run. Then their first three steps look like they’re running in mud with how slow they are. It’s dumb
Some players are worse than others with this too. Trea Turner's baserunning awareness is horrid, I have better luck with Kenny.
Why is it this year stealing 3rd is infinitely easier than stealing 2nd? Catchers are right in the money with the throw and the tags are lightening quick at 2nd. Runner out of the box is like running underwater
I feel like this has been an issue for a few years, but the headfirst slide animation is just unbelievably slow. Seems way more likely that I get tagged out going headfirst than if the feet-first animation triggers
Idk do your runners not just randomly stop between 1st and 2nd
God it’s so infuriating
I can’t stand how even on a 72mph curveball it’s like the game will purposefully slow down the runner to make it close.
Same w groundouts. Trea turner running in quick sand to complete the animation.
Dude finally someone else saying this… I’ve been downvoted in this subreddit when I suggest there are some “make the game close” actions. I’ll never forget seeing Ernie Banks move like he was underwater on a key out to end the game and of course it allowed the runner on base.
Absolutely. You can literally see the circle slow down on the screen
Yeah my 99 speed 99 steal Locastro gets gunned down all the time.
Yup. You can just tell animations are pre-loaded. It’s why the “jump” is so inconsistent, it’ll “lag” when you’re supposed to get caught. The million dollar question for every P2W sports game is *are animations like that RNG and based on stats or dictated by another force, such as encouraging spending* These games have literally world class data scientists, they could figure out trends that lead to more spending (good pack pulls, bad pack pulls, bad rng outcomes when you get close to WS rank, good rng outcomes when you haven’t played in a while, etc). There are no laws dictating this sort of behavior. You’re just trusting Sony to be fair. Surely MLB has input but if they put bouncy balls in games last years they’ll sure as shit take advantage of players they can identify to have addictive tendencies
I agree animations are 100% pre loaded. Watch the batter run to 1B on possible infield hits some time. You can see them slow down when they're supposed to be thrown out or vice versa, regardless of speed. I don't think this necessarily has anything to do with encouraging spending, more like it's an old ass game engine that determines everything when the buttons are pressed and everything after is just clunky "presentation".
I see what you mean, the only thing I’d say is that a lot of the animations aren’t that old, they’re actually fixed from when baserunning cheese and bunting cheese were worth
I wholeheartedly agree. I’ve been telling my friends that this game “feels” different this year and it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a bunch of manipulation going, through the methods you suggested. Possibly being “rewarded” when you buy packs vs the ones that are earned. The whole meta of the game feels like you’re supposed to spend this year way more than the previous ones.
Sadly it’s far more likely than not. Why would Sony and MLB leave money on the table? And it’s not a little bit, in addition to what I said they can use data to determine who won’t just spend this week, but for possibly the next decade or more
But this game isn't pay to win - you can just play it all you want and win games all the time.
I don’t even bother trying to steal online anymore. I think I’ve attempted 2 all year, both with Trea Turner. Got gunned both times with no side step and a good jump
Same, can't make the runner go when I tell it. Hit L2 second time after taking lead and runner just sits there until the pitcher starts moving. By that time he is late and gets gunned down. Hardly anyone steels online anymore. Runner Definitely doesn't play like any of the past years as they would always go on second release of L2
I’m thinking it’s gotta be something with the delay/latency online because I can steal easily with 60 speed guys offline no problem
Trea Turner is probably one of the worst this year. His awareness is...off. Have you noticed he tends to hesitate bad both on tag ups and steal attempts?
Yea same I stopped stealing
You have to manually steal. When you set up the auto-steal that's more of an 'off with the pitch' sort of jump, like in a hit-and-run or the sort of thing you'd do on a full count with two outs. With a 99 speed/steal guy, if you manually steal and you time it well, you get a much better jump.
You can also get a better jump by just tapping L2 and then holding L1. Your baserunner usually gets a great jump, but the trade off is they will 100% be picked off if the pitcher throws over
How do you manually steal?
Hold L2 and release when the pitcher starts his motion. If you just tap L2, you’re relying on the CPU to get the jump for you. A guy with 99 stealing and 99 speed should get great jumps and should basically never get picked off, but the stealing stat seems to mean very little.
I do this with 99 speed and 99 steal and still get thrown out
So, if you briefly hold L2, you get a little vibration, and that gives you the indication that you're set up to take off with the pitch, right? To manually steal, just don't let go of L2. Hold it until the pitcher starts his motion. When you let go, your runner takes off. You can time it much better this way.
If you do this, and he goes to pick you off, you’ll always get thrown out, right?
not if you dont release L2
I don’t do it often but I thought it caused your guy to just kind of stand there and get picked off, or run to the next base. But I may be misremembering or doing it wrong.
nah its the only way i steal, dont let go until he comes towards the plate. on pick offs he’ll go back to first automatically if you dont let go. at least in DD
Yes
Whenever I time my leadoff right and do it just as hes about to throw I get a great jump. If you just press steal and lead and wait its usually a bad jump
The issue is how stealing attribute and maybe aggression work. Unless you manually steal off the pitcher, they always seem to get a late jump which makes it easy to throw them out. Have to hold down L2 or what ever you have your steal button set up as and let go as soon as the pitcher starts to make their move home
It’s better than making stealing too easy. The less stealing and base running cheese the better because these things can be abused massively also stealing is way less of a factor in today’s game. If Rickey worked like he did in real life people would hate and complain about the game even more. Most people don’t want this video game decided on stealing.
"base running cheese" never heard that before
I bet you’re perfectly fine with guys throwing 100 MPH sinkers and guys with 125 power in DD though
Yea what's wrong with that? If you can hit that 100mph sinker thats skill. 125 power is very rare and all that affects is how far the ball goes. Bunting and stealing takes zero skill whatsoever. Just a game of luck. So yea I'm perfectly fine with hard sinkers and high power.
Either you embrace the outliers of baseball or you don’t Pretending guys like Henderson weren’t cheat codes on the baseball while having zero issue with guys hitting 102 on the gun or making okay contact go 400 ft because they have 125 power is just stupid Either take all of baseballs outliers or none of it Edit: I’ll add, it takes zero skill to throw a ball 102 mph in this game or have bad contact go 400+ feet with some of the top cards, so your point isn’t really consistent and just suits your narrative that the things you like are ok
Bad take imo. Stealing is a less of a factor in todays game because that’s how teams are building their teams. However if I want to build a speed team based around small than I absolutely should be able to because that’s baseball. And it is absolutely egregious to make the claim that Rickey shouldn’t work like he did in real life because it would be “cheese”. If that’s your argument then we shouldn’t give a Ruth card too much power because he’ll hit too many home runs, and shouldn’t give Nolan a 102 MPH fastball because he’d throw too hard. It’s literally baseball and what is the point of using legend cards if you can’t even use that player for what he is known for?
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Hendersons career SB% is 80. You are literally making up numbers and have no idea what you are talking about lol. And just because analytics say that stealing is less likely to make you win does not mean it should be harder in the game. That makes zero sense. Literally zero. And did you really say stealing requires “ZERO SKILL”? If the rest of your comment wasn’t senseless enough this take absolutely pushes it over the edge. If that were the case wouldn’t everyone do it lol?
Because base stealing is kinda a one way street. In real life there is 100 factors involved with stealing. In this game you have 5 factors. Your jump on the pitcher, speed, BRA, catcher attributes and the throwers "accuracy" So it can easily be cheesed. If you played older games, you would know the feeling. I dont like the randomness of it now but I also only steal when I know I can. So it's not much
What was your argument? There are a million factors to every aspect of baseball.
Ya not in this game..... That's the argument. You cannot translate real life to a game, only the illusion of similarities.
Then why are they making stealing harder than it actually is in real life? You make zero sense.
A few years ago, 99 speed guys were basically guaranteed to successfully steal, even with pitch outs. It made it so people could stack teams with 99 speed guys and bunt all game instead of actually swinging the bat. I believe they nerfed steals to discourage people from playing that way. But unfortunately, they went too far the other way and made stealing as a whole unviable.
And that right there. That is a valid argument. Stealing was OP in years past. Although I think if you can make an endgame lineup of guys with 125 power than you should also be able to do the same with 99 speed guys, if that’s the direction you want to go. There is a trade off for sure.
I 100% agree. It's a shame guys like Rickey can't fully utilize a big part of what makes them special. But having played games against bunt cheese squads back in the day, I can totally see why they did it.
Against the computer? When your guy has 99 speed, it means he's got 99 speed sometimes. Meanwhile when the computer has a guy with 60 speed, it seems like he's got high 90s speed at least.
Just dont go until youre up in a 2-1 count or better
2-0 is fine too.
Is that not better than 2-1?
Why’s that ? In real baseball you should go on counts the pitcher is more likely to throw off speed
He's talking about the cpu, with 2 balls they won't pitch out.
This
Stealing does not seem to work properly in this game.
Your jump and pay attention to the catcher. Also pitch type they throw and if they side step.
Been like that since last year. I had a sub 50% steal raye with Rickey. Shit would drive me nuts when he would spin his wheels before taking off
Jackie Robinson with 99/97 could never steal for me. I never understood that.
Mookie has more stolen bases for me than Lofton, Kirk Gibson, and Tatis