The Playstation MLB sim has a lot of the same things as previous editions Kyle Gibson Jersey , but some new wrinkles, and changes to old modes, make it worthwhile."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Diamondbacks Farm TeamsGameday ThreadsDiamondbacks NewsDiamondbacks Game ReportsFang FoodRandomnessMLB: The Show 19. The Snakepit ReviewNew,14commentsThe Playstation MLB sim has a lot of the same things as previous editions, but some new wrinkles, and changes to old modes, make it worthwhile.EDTShareTweetShareShareMLB: The Show 19. The Snakepit Review(NOTE: All screenshots in this article were taken by me in-game)If you’ve wanted to have a Baseball video game that has licensed MLB teams and MLBPA players, but is a standard game and not an Out of the Park GM sim, The Show has been your only bet since about 2014. Thankfully, Sony has used their exclusivity well, and has put out solid games year after year (Glances vaguely in the direction of Madden to see if that point was clear.)With yearly sports games, though, it can be hard to justify a new purchase if subsequent editions of the game are too similar, save for updated rosters. On the other hand, if you change around things too much and, to use a baseball term, swing and miss, it’s going to affect your sales of MLB: The Show 20.I think this year’s edition threads that needle pretty well, for the most part. Look, I would hang that flag above my childhood bed even if I wasn’t born at sea.The biggest change to the actual in-game play is that hitting has become somewhat harder. Using the zone receptacle , if you use “Zone” type hitting, becomes very important as you try to square up a pitch and get good contact. Also, on higher difficulty levels, the pitches come at you faster. However, it’s not so much harder that you can’t adapt to it with enough playing time. It is a bit of an adjustment if you’re used to previous editions of The Show, however. The presentation of the game remains solid, with a few updates. Matt Vasgersian, Mark DeRosa and Dan Plesac are still your play-by-play announcer and color guys, respectively. Do DeRosa and Plesac still sound way too similar that it’s hard to differentiate between the two sometimes? Reader, they do. Heidi Watney of MLB Network joins as a sideline reporter, which is a fun new wrinkle that makes the “in-game” broadcast seem more like an actual broadcast. Also, as a new feature, you can unlock certain announcer calls for Vasgersian to say for Home Runs/etc. Even before you unlock them, you can preview them. What follows is some extremely cursed 2019 energy: Other game modes Logan Morrison Jersey , like “Retro Mode”, which lets you play an RBI Baseball type casual game, and “Diamond Dynasty”, which let’s you create your own online team and through your skills and microtransactions, you can dominate, are still there. As well as “Franchise”, which is more-or-less the same as previous year’s franchise modes. New game modes, and some modifications to an old one are the hallmarks of the 2019 edition,The game is realistic in the sense that a Diamondbacks team based off of last year’s only has two runs late in a gameOne of the newest mode is “March to October.” This has a double meaning, as the MLB season takes place from the months of March to October, but also means your team is marching to October. Get it? GET IT?!?In this mode, you can choose any of the 30 MLB teams. When you choose one, a video plays as a setup to this season. I can summarize the Diamondbacks video as such:“Boy, y’all were hot trash last year, huh? Lost your best player too, eh? Well, you could still be good. Maybe. Good luck with that.” In this mode, a season is mostly simulated, except it will stop and put you in control in a game situation where you have to pull out a win, usually. If you do, your team gets “Momentum” and will win a lot of the next few simulated games. If you lose, you get cold and lose games. The goal is to succeed enough that you make it to the Playoffs and the World Series. The general idea is that with enough breaks or momentum, any team can go all the way, even the Marlins.Occasionally, it will throw player challenges at you. You take control of a single player in a game, and if you do well, that player will get a stats boost for the rest of the season. It’s a fun mode for those who might not want to go face-first into Franchise mode, but still want to experience a season.March to October main screenThe biggest change to The Show this year is that the game’s marquee mode, “Road to the Show” has undergone a lot of cosmetic changes, and some updates and wrinkles that make it a new experience. Apparently, it’s all story-based? You start out as a Cowboy? Maybe this will lead to the invention of Baseball or one of the leagues, but it just seemed out of place. Also there’s a lot more Horse customization options than I remember ever needing to be in Baseball. This horse hit .244 in his first season in Double-A.... Wait, I’m being told I loaded up the wrong game on my PS4. ApologiesLast year, RTTS introduced the “Archetype” system Orlando Arcia Jersey , where when you created your player you chose what kind of player they could grow into (A power guy, contact, speedster, high-velo pitcher, high-control pitcher, etc.) The system is still there, but the types have been reworked a little bit. You can now choose any archetype no matter your position if you choose to be a hitter. Last year you were limited to what you could choose by if you were infield/outfield/catcher. Also, the Max Cap for all attributes if off, and you can now get up to 99 in every category. Some will just be harder than others to do so, but it is possible.New in RTTS as well are personality types, and connections. Basically, how you react to the dialogue options given to you can put points in a personality type, and if you level those up, you get certain perks you can use in the game. The personality types are:LIGHTNING ROD: You’re just kind of random, like wearing packages of lunch meat as a hat, but you are a catalyst for your team.HEART AND SOUL: You just care so so so so so much, and people see that. CAPTAIN: You’re a leader. You’re the guy talking to the cops after that night club incident in Miami that somehow left a Lamborghini in a tree. MAVERICK: You’re kind of a dick, to be honest.You also build up relationships with your teammates, which gives you and the teammate boosts. If you really nurture those relationships, you become the pinnacle of stereotypical-male friends: “Bros.”There are also mini-games during workout sessions that are basically timing-based. If you do well, you get more attributes. That’s basically the long-and-short of RTTS stuff, but the new modes do add a layer of depth. The last new game mode I’ll go over in this review is “Moments” In this mode you can relive, or change, moments in Baseball history. There are individual moments you can try to recreate (Jose Bautista’s Bat Flip in the ALDS) or you can relive a certain stretch of a player or team’s history (Babe Ruth, The 21st Century Cubs, etc.) If you remember around NBA 2K11or so, this is very similar to the Michael Jordan history mode. It’s another fun challenge mode, but you do kind of get taken out of it cause not all of the past players were licensed, so “Boston Braves Second Baseman” is quite literally the name of a player. https://twitter.com/david_j_roth/status/907978087614251008My favorite quirk of The Show is still the ability to import, through a USB stick, your own music in the game. I will one day recreate, in RTTS, this tweet:Overall, MLB 19: The Show is a deep enough baseball sim Jonathan Villar Jersey , and has enough changes, to justify purchase if you have a Playstation 4 and the funds. As I mentioned before, for its specific type it’s the only game in town. However, it is a good one, and worth your time. Chris Davis broke his record-breaking slump. Khris Davis is setting records for home runs. A Rockies pitcher just misses a no-no. Free agents are lowering their demands. The Yankees have problems."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Chicago Cubs recapsChicago Cubs minor leaguesChicago Cubs essaysChicago Cubs game threadsWrigley Field renovationsFull archiveLibrary Bleed Cubbie Blue Community GuidelinesCurrent time in ChicagoBCB Specials & Site InfoWinter 2019 music threadsCubs StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Cubs newsYahoo Cubs team pageYahoo Cubs reportYahoo Cubs depth chartYahoo Cubs transactionsYahoo Cubs photosOdds Shop About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub 鉁昅LB newsMLB Bullets got a hitNew,14commentsChris Davis broke his record-breaking slump. Khris Davis is setting records for home runs. A Rockies pitcher just misses a no-no. Free agents are lowering their demands. The Yankees have problems.CDTShareTweetShareShareMLB Bullets got a hitBrian Fluharty-USA TODAY SportsNo spoilers on Game of Thrones. I haven’t seen it yet. Of course, I probably will have seen it by the time you read this, so spoil away. (Please don’t.)This says it all: Orioles first baseman Chris Davis got a hit, ending his record-setting 0 for 54. Three hits, in fact. Two of them were doubles. Joon Lee talks with Davis and his Orioles teammates about how Davis broke out of his slump. All of the Orioles praised Davis for his professionalism and dedication as he worked his way through the worst slump in MLB history.It’s kind of a cruel irony for Davis that while he struggled through this streak, the hottest hitter in baseball was Athletics outfielder Khris Davis. In fact, Davis (with a K) because the first player in the history of the A’s to hit ten home runs in his first 18 games.Young Rockies ace German Marquez came within five outs of a no-hitter against the Giants on Sunday. He ended up settling for a one-hit shutout.Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado was visibly upset that he couldn’t snare the grounder that ended up being the only hit of the game.The Astros have now won nine straight games. Daniel Kramer looks at the Astros current hot streak.Today is Jackie Robinson Day in baseball, and unfortunately that means another story about the falling numbers of African-Americans in the sport today. Bob Nightengale looks at the current state of the situation and MLB’s efforts to increase African-American representation, both as players and executives. Nightengale quotes Ken Griffey Jr. who sums it up very well: “It’s not a black problem or a white problem, but it is a baseball problem.”David Schoenfield looks at the current state of the National League East.Cliff Corcoran looks at MLB’s proposed rule to limit pitching changes by forcing pitchers to face at least three batters. Corcoran looked at every game so far this season and concludes that if this rule were in place in 2019, it would shave an average of ten seconds off the length of a game. (The Athletic sub. req.) Corcoran points out that in many cases, this rule would just force a pitching change to happen later in an inning and only after a struggling pitcher got lit up for one or two more hits. This rule doesn’t seem like a good idea to me. Try the pitch clock first. The Mets have reportedly spoken to the representatives of free agent pitcher Dallas Keuchel. No deal is close, but the Mets are feeling the pressure to replace the struggling Jason Vargas.Both free agent pitchers Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel have reportedly lowered their asking price. Ben Weinrib looks at what the two pitchers are now asking for and which teams might bite.Graham MacAree thinks that the contract extension signed by Braves infielder Ozzie Albies may end up being the new normal. Albies’ deal has been widely criticized for being too owner-friendly, but MacAree thinks that it may be the first of many deals like that.Mark Feinsand has eight players who are candidates for a contract extension. Hopefully a better one than Albies signed. Michael Beller explains how Reds pitcher Luis Castillo’s decision to throw more changeups has led to terrific results this year.The Yankees got bad news as reliever Dellin Betances will miss at least another six or seven weeks after a setback in his rehab program.Mike Axisa writes that yes, the Yankees have had terrible injury issues this season, but the problems with the Yankees are much deeper than just having too many injuries.At least CC Sabathia came off the injured list and pitched the Yankees to a win on Sunday.R.J. Anderson argues that the Dodgers have completely messed up reliever Joe Kelly, who was one of their big free agent signings this past winter. Anderson reports that the Dodgers have changed both what Kelly throws and the way he’s used out of the bullpen. The results have been very poor, so far. Reds outfielder Yasiel Puig says he’s excited to “beat my old teammates” as Cincinnati plays in Dodger Stadium this week.Free agent pitcher Edwin Jackson has agreed to a minor-league deal with the Athletics, the team he played for last season.The Indians designated infielder Brad Miller for assignment, despite him hitting a solid .250/.333/.438 in the early going this year. Miller responded to the DFA by saying “Obviously they don’t want the best guys up here.”David Laurila speaks with Reds reliever Michael Lorenzen about hitting as Lorenzen transitions into being a two-way player.Mets broadcaster Ron Darling will take a leave of absence as he will undergo surgery to remove “a large mass from [his] chest.”Some kid flew a drone over Fenway Park during a game. Don’t do that. For one, it’s illegal.The Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs and the Rochester Red Wings hit a combined 15 home runs in Saturday’s game. The IronPigs won, 20-18.And finally, more minor league home run news. Orioles minor leaguer Jean Carlos Encarnacion hit a walkoff grand slam and stood and admired it for a really, really long time.Two runners had scored before he started to run. And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.