When can you play MLB The Show 22?

MLB The Show 22 is the latest baseball simulation by PlayStation Studios developer Sony San Diego Studio, inspired and influenced by the 2022 season of Major League Baseball, which will run from 7th April, 2022 through 5th October, 2022. The game is available on the PlayStation 5 and PS4, in addition to the Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. This year represents the first time the franchise has appeared on a Nintendo system, and is the series' first handheld instalment since MLB 15: The Show on PS Vita.

In this MLB The Show 22 guide, we're going to include a Diamond Dynasty walkthrough, crucial batting tips and tricks to help you become more effective at the plate, and an introduction on how to play baseball. You can also find valuable information like How to Earn Stubs without Spending Real Money, How to Improve Your Ballplayer in Road to the Show and Diamond Dynasty, and How to Hit the Ball Better through the links.

Please do keep in mind that MLB The Show 22 is designed and developed as a live service game, which means while efforts have been invested to ensure all of the information within this MLB The Show 22 guide remains accurate, some gameplay balance and feature details may change over the course of the game's lifespan. We'd also like to stress that, while this MLB The Show 22 guide is targeted specifically at MLB The Show 22, many of the tips, tricks, and gameplay concepts apply to previous entries as well, like MLB The Show 21 and MLB The Show 20.

Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.

MLB The Show 22 Guide: How to Play Baseball

For the first part of our MLB The Show 22 guide, we're going to explain the basics of how to play baseball. Baseball is a team-based sport where two teams compete to score more runs than their opponents. A run is scored when a player successfully passes all four bases on the field. An offensive player achieves this by hitting a pitch thrown by the defensive team. An offensive player doesn't need to cross all four bases in one turn, and is safe at any of the three bases on the route to the fourth one. However, if they are tagged between bases by the defensive team then they'll be considered out. The offensive team can only register three outs before an inning is retired. Each team plays nine innings per match.

Batting and Scoring Explained

In order to score in baseball, a player will need to hit a pitch and pass all four bases on the field. The easiest and most straightforward way to do this is to hit a home run. A home run occurs when the ball is hit out of the confines of the field, and into the surrounding infrastructure of the stadium. This guarantees one point, but a team may earn more if there are other offensive players on bases when the home run is scored.

As such, a batter doesn't need to hit a home run to contribute to his team, and can instead gradually advance between the bases over the course of a single inning. This then becomes a collaborative effort between the offensive players, as different batters attempt to drive in runs, and achieve what is known as RBIs, or runs batted in. Loading the bases with offensive players is the most effective means of scoring, but the downside is that this gives the defensive team multiple opportunities to register outs.

A grand slam occurs when a home run is scored while the bases are loaded; in other words, there are there are offensive players at first base, second base, and third base. This scores four points. Each time a player steps up to bat, this is known as an at bat or AB.

Pitching and Fielding Explained

Pitching and fielding is the defensive half of a baseball match. The pitcher stands in the centre of the diamond, which is known as the mound, and must throw the ball to batters using a variety of different techniques. The ball must pass through a rectangular area named the plate. If the ball passes through the plate without being hit, the pitcher earns a strike. Alternatively, if the batter swings at the ball but fails to make a connection, the pitcher will also earn a strike. If, however, the ball misses the plate but the batter doesn't swing at it, then the batter will earn a ball.

In a single at bat, accumulating three strikes will result in a strikeout. The batter will also be considered out if he fails to reach a base before the defensive team tags him out, or if he hits the ball into the air and the ball's caught before touching the ground. Alternatively, four balls will allow the batter to walk to first base without needing to hit the ball at all.

Between the pitcher and fielders, the defensive team's goal is to amass three outs without their opponent scoring. It achieves this by leveraging the following roles:

• Pitcher: Throws the ball to the batter from the mound.
• Catcher: Located behind the batter to catch the ball.
• First Base: Occupies the first base position.
• Second Base: Occupies the second base position.
• Third Base: Occupies the third base position.
• Short Stop: Situated between second base and third base on the batter's left.
• Left Field: Occupies the left-side of the outside field.
• Centre Field: Occupies the central area of the outside field.
• Right Field: Occupies the right-side of the outside field.

A good defensive performance begins with the pitcher, who is able to strikeout batters from the mound. However, a hit is registered when the batter is able to bat the ball into the field and find safety at a base. Should a hit occur, then the defensive unit must work in unison to prevent the batter from passing all four bases and scoring.

Foul Balls, Stealing, the Bullpen, and Pinch Hitting Explained

While the basics of how to play baseball are explained in the above sections, there are several other idiosyncrasies to the sport that you should be aware of. For starters, foul balls occur when the batter makes contact with the ball but fails to put the ball into play, meaning that it falls behind the line. In an at bat, a foul ball counts as a strike, until the batter has accumulated two strikes. After that point, foul balls do not contribute to strikes, meaning that a batter can continuously foul the ball to help tire the pitcher out.

Stealing occurs when a baserunner attempts to sprint to another base during the pitcher's throwing motion. This allows them to move between bases without the batter having to hit the ball. However, the stealing player will need to have the agility to reach the next base before the defensive team tag them out, making this a high-risk manoeuvre.

Due to the demands of pitching, MLB teams have a roster of pitchers that they'll use throughout a match. The starting pitcher is usually the one with the highest endurance, and will play on average five to eight innings. Other pitchers can warm up throughout the duration of a match in the bullpen, and each team will have different types of pitchers in their roster, such as light relief pitchers, medium relief pitchers, setup pitchers, and closing pitchers. Each of these plays a different role over the course of a nine inning match.

Finally, pinch hitting and pinch running refers to the substitution of a player for another player. Pinch hitting occurs when the next batter in the lineup is swapped for a different player in the roster to bat. Similarly, pinch running occurs when a player who's on base is substituted for another player, typically one who's faster and has more agility to steal.

MLB The Show 22 Guide: Diamond Dynasty Walkthrough

For the next part of our MLB The Show 22 guide, we're going to include a Diamond Dynasty walkthrough. For those who don't know, Diamond Dynasty is similar to FIFA 22's Ultimate Team or NBA 2K22's MyTeam, where you collect cards in order to build a dream roster of baseball players.

There are a variety of modes in MLB The Show 22, all of which earn XP which will help you to advance Programs. As you advance Programs, you'll unlock content for use in Diamond Dynasty, as well as special cards which can be used in Road to the Show and Franchise, like Equipment and Sponsorships.

All modes in MLB The Show 22 are as follows:

• Road to the Show: A single player mode where you use your created Ballplayer to rise through the ranks, from the minor leagues to the major leagues.
• Diamond Dynasty: A card collecting mode where your objective is to build a fantasy squad of players from past and present, which you can then use both online and offline.
• March to October: A truncated, single player season mode where you take a team to World Series glory, influencing their season at key moments along the way.
• Franchise: A multi-year single player mode where you manage all the aspects of a chosen franchise, including their roster and strategy.
• Moments: Bitesized gameplay missions which you can complete for Program progression, Stubs, and MLB Players.
• Challenge of the Week: A rotating arcade objective with leaderboards where you compete for the highest score and can even win real-world prizes.
• Home Run Derby: A single player and local mulitplayer mode where you can compete to win the annual Home Run Derby competition, either against the computer or with friends.
• Exhibition: An offline and online mode where you can take control of real-world MLB teams using live rosters and compete.
• Custom Practice: Offline practice mode where you can test out your pitching and batting approach in a variety of different preset scenarios.

As part of our MLB The Show 22 guide, we're now going to include a Diamond Dynasty walkthrough, which will help you to get started collecting cards and building your dream team.

Complete the Diamond Dynasty Tutorial

MLB The Show 22 has a better onboarding process than any previous games in Sony San Diego Studio's baseball simulation. You'll want to pay close attention to all of the instructions, which will help you to open your first The Show Packs and setup your starting squad. Once you've absorbed all of the information, have a browse through the menus and familiarise yourself with all of the options available. Be sure to scroll to Shop > Packs > Open Packs to see if you have any unopened packs available. Open them if you do, and if not be sure to Enter the Show Shop to see if there are any free card packs available.

Adjust Your Diamond Dynasty Lineup

If you've opened a few The Show Packs, then you'll want to make some adjustments to your lineup before you hop into a match. Browse to Home > Manage Squad and from this screen you can manually adjust your Lineup and Rotation. If you want to quickly fill out your roster then push the Options button and select Generate Best Squad. This will fill out your team with the best possible players in each position, meaning you don't have to worry about manually selecting who to play.

It's worth remembering that if you want to use your Ballplayer while playing Diamond Dynasty then you'll want to include them in your Lineup or Rotation. We recommend creating a New Squad (using R1) to put your Ballplayer in. If your Ballplayer is quite low level, then you can use this alternative squad for offline, single player matches.

Freshen Up Your Diamond Dynasty Uniform

With your team created and your squad setup, then you'll want to spend a little time making sure your new Diamond Dynasty players look good. It's down to personal preference, of course, but we enjoy making a snazzy uniform for our team. You can create your own logos with the Logo Editor or download one that's already been designed from the Logo Vault.

Play Some Diamond Dynasty Matches

There's a lot to do in Diamond Dynasty, across both single player and mulitplayer modes. You'll find all of your options, alongside your Programs, under the Play tab. You're better off exploring for yourself, but here's an overview of all of the modes available:

Single Player

• Mini Seasons: A single player miniature league with your Diamond Dynasty team where you'll take on rosters created by other players from around the world and compete to win a Mini Seasons Championship.
• Showdown: Arcade-style ladders where you must draft a team and complete challenges in order to increase your odds against challenging pitchers.
• Conquest: A board game mode where you must conquer territory and steal fans by winning baseball matches.
• Play vs CPU: Take on any real-life MLB team with your fantasy squad for prizes. The higher the difficulty is set to, the better your odds of earning rare rewards.

Online

• Ranked Seasons: Work your way through increasingly difficult divisions against online opponents by winning matches and progressing through the different divisions. Rewards will be issued based on your success.
• Co-Op: Team up with friends and combine your Diamond Dynasty card collections to create the ultimate roster to take online.
• Battle Royale: Draft-themed mode where you must assemble a squad by picking your preferred players, ensuring a level playing field. You'll be eliminated if you amass two losses, but the rewards will increase based on your winning streak.
• Events: A competitive mode designed to encourage you to explore your inventory. You'll need to build a team that fits the specification of the event, with wins contributing to Program progress.
• Play vs Friends: Use your Diamond Dynasty roster to play against friends in an unranked and customisable environment.
• Casual: Pair with any player online and play a nine-inning game without any pressure or requirements.

You can find out more information on popular modes, like Conquest, through the following links:

• MLB The Show 22: How to Win at Conquest

Complete Your Diamond Dynasty Collections

As you progress through your Diamond Dynasty career, you'll be unlocking lots of The Show Packs and MLB players. It's always a good idea to complete Collections for Stubs and rewards. If you're new to the game, then we recommend you complete the Starter Collections first, before moving on to the Live Series.

You can unlock a 99-rated Randy Johnson if you collect all of the Live Series cards, and the best way to do this is to focus on one conference at a time. For example, you could start with all the NL East teams, then complete the rest of the National League sets, before moving on to the AL East teams and finishing the American League set. Once you've done all of that, you'll be able to turn in the Live Series set and add Randy Johnson to your roster. If you don't have enough Stubs to do that, one strategy is to sell any cards that don't belong to the conference you're currently focused on, then use the Stubs you receive to purchase any players you may be missing. Do remember that once you've collected a card, you won't be able to trade it at a later date.

If you don't how to unlock a particular card, then you can select it with Triangle and scroll to the Locations tab. This will tell you which venues you'll be able to acquire the player from. You'll also be able to view a rolling history of the card's value on the Community Market. Here you can buy cards that are currently for sale, or Create Buy Orders which may help you to add the card to your collection at a discounted price. Generally, if you're considering a Buy Order, then we'd recommend undercutting the average selling price. This will either save you some Stubs or allow you to flip the card for a profit.

Spend Your Stubs Wisely

Stubs are the universal currency in MLB The Show 22 used to purchase MLB Players in Diamond Dynasty, as well as Sponsorships in Franchise, Equipment and Perks for your Ballplayer, and various cosmetics for your profile. You can also bid on items in the Community Market or purchase card packs from The Show Shop. Stubs can be earned in-game simply by playing, or purchased through the PS Store with real money. For more information on How to Earn Stubs without Spending Real Money, refer to the following page:

• MLB The Show 22: How to Earn Stubs without Spending Real Money

If you've already got lots of Stubs and they're burning a hole in your back pocket, we'd advise against spending them on the standard The Show Packs. While these are relatively cheap, the odds can be low and you'll earn plenty of these by simply playing the game and completing Programs. It's better to save up for the more expensive promotional packs, which have much better odds and rarer rewards. You can always check a pack's odds by hovering over it and pushing the Square button.

MLB The Show 22 Guide: Batting Tips and Tricks, Ballplayers, and Programs

For the next part of our MLB The Show 22 guide, we're going to include a variety of different resources to help you to better master key gameplay concepts, like batting tips and tricks, Ballplayers, and Programs.

Batting Tips and Tricks

Hitting the ball in baseball is one of the hardest things to do in sports, and there's no doubt you're struggling with empty at bats. Fortunately, we have some batting tips and tricks that can help you to learn How to Hit the Ball Better. Simply check out the additional MLB The Show 22 guides below:

• MLB The Show 22: How to Hit the Ball Better

Ballplayer

Your Ballplayer represents your personal MLB player in both Road to the Show and Diamond Dynasty. You can adjust your Ballplayer's appearance and create unique Loadouts for them, altering their effectiveness in different areas. For more information on making the most out of your Ballplayer, check out the additional MLB The Show 22 guides below.

• MLB The Show 22: How to Improve Your Ballplayer in Road to the Show and Diamond Dynasty
• MLB The Show 22: Best Ballplayer Loadouts and Perks

Programs

Programs are Battle Pass-style unlock strings which award you with Stubs, The Show Packs, MLB Players, and much more. Sony San Diego Studio will be adding more Programs to the game beyond launch to ensure there are always new things for you to do. For more information on Programs and how they work, take a look at the other MLB The Show 22 guides below.

• MLB The Show 22: Programs Explained and How to Progress Them

MLB The Show 22 Guide: Miscellaneous Advice

For the next part of our MLB The Show 22 guide, we'll be sharing various nuggets of advice to help make you a better baseball player. If you're a beginner player, then pay attention while explain where to start with this year's game.

Start with Dynamic Difficulty

If you're new to MLB The Show 22 or haven't played a baseball game for years, then during the onboarding process we'd recommend selecting Dynamic difficulty. This adjusts the difficulty depending on how you're performing, and the settings are independent for both Pitching and Batting. For example, if you're getting lots of strikeouts but can't hit the ball, then the game will scale so that pitching is harder while batting is easier. As you get better at the game, the difficulty will gradually increase, allowing you to get to grips with the gameplay comfortably at a pace that works for you.

Spend Some Time with the Options Explorer

When you first play MLB The Show 22, you'll be encouraged to play through the Options Explorer. Don't worry if you skip this, because you can always replay by selecting it from the main menu. The idea here is that you're able to test out all of the game's systems, such as hitting interface and pitching type. Get a feel for them all and try to understand the pros and cons of each one. Once you've settled on your favourite, use Custom Practice to hone your skills and get better at each mechanic.

Get Comfortable with Diamond Dynasty

Even if you don't intend to play much Diamond Dynasty, you should familiarise yourself with its interface and features because the entire game is built around the mode. Archetype Programs, for example, use a similar setup to primary Programs. In fact, all of the XP you earn in the game will help to advance the latter. Remember that there are single player modes in Diamond Dynasty, like Conquest.

Don't Forget Your Bullpen

If you're new to baseball, it can be tempting not to explore some of the finer features, such as your Bullpen. Unfortunately, you will get crushed if you don't adequately bring your relief pitchers into the game at the right time. Pay attention to the Confidence and Energy of your starting pitcher; if they're beginning to tire or they're having a bad game, make sure there's always someone loosening up in your Bullpen that you can put on the mound in their place. You can manage your Bullpen from the quick menu by pushing up on the d-pad before you pitch the ball.

Have Fun and Be Patient

Baseball can be a challenging sport, but it's rewarding when you hit a walk-off Grand Slam. If it was easy to do then it wouldn't feel anywhere near as satisfying. Remember to stay patient in each at bat, try not to swing at every single pitch, and take your time to learn all of the modes and options available to you. This is an extremely customisable game, so you can make it as difficult or easy as you'd like to, so take a bit of time to explore and tailor the title to your tastes.

That just about does it for our MLB The Show 22 guide. Do you have any tips, tricks, and advice to share? What are some of the strategies that have helped you to excel at the baseball simulation? Nail a no doubt homer in the comments section below.