In a way, Sony Santa Monica’s MLB The Show steps up to the plate each year in distinctly the same way the digital recreations of players in their game do — Sometimes, they hit it out of the park, others, they strike out completely, and sometimes they just hit it for a single base.
That last situation is what MLB The Show 26 has managed to do. This year’s entry in the series is still very much the best all-around baseball simulation game on offer, but it seems content to be just fine this season.
Throwing in a new technicality
Let’s start with the really good: new technicality.
First off, MLB The Show 26 really revolutionizes its pitching with the new Bear Down Pitching. From the first time you step into this year’s Show, it makes sure you know how to get the very best out of its pitchers. For a limited time, you’ll be able to make your pitcher focus on boosting velocity and control on pitches. However, use it, and you lose it, so think about whether the right time is when you bring in your cleanup pitcher, or when you are pitching into a start-hitter scenario.
Secondly, Big Zone Hitting is the biggest addition to MLB The Show‘s offence since the addition of Ambush Hitting. This new Point of Contact Indicator [PCI] upgrade is essentially the opposite in effect. Where Ambush Hitting rewards you for lining the bat up perfectly with almost guaranteed homeruns, or perfect contact at the very least, Big Zone allows for you to extend your bat’s reach so that you make contact with more pitches. You’ll lock yourself out of the ability to make perfect contact, so be warned if you are trying to score on the Homer or Grand Slam, but you’ll find yourself able to get some offence going.
A World Hidden Away
Let’s start with this year’s biggest addition to the batting lineup: the World Baseball Classic.
This year’s marketing really focused on the tournament that celebrates Baseball’s growing international appeal, which is now in the Top Ten for professional sports.
I think it’s fair to say that players all had different ideas of what in-game World Baseball Classic content was going to look like. Personally, I wanted two things: a procedurally generated bracket I could take part in as a team or two, and an opportunity in Road To The Show for my custom player to earn the chance to wear Canada’s jersey.
However, I think very few people’s desire was to collect more than 100 player cards in Diamond Dynasty. Now, look, I get that the constantly-updating Diamond Dynasty is what keeps the lights on, keeps bums in seats, and keeps transactions happening. I am overall fine with that. I just wish there were some things World Baseball Classic for those of us who would love it to also be a part of Franchise and Road To The Show.
Road to Cooperstown
Road To The Show is where I spend most of my time when I am playing outside of review periods, and I am happy to say that this year, it is quite enjoyable for the most part.
This year’s big addition here is the Legacy system — a new measurement of how well you are performing overall. It used to be that you just kind of played Road To The Show until it decided to tell you what a good job you are doing by inviting you to the Home Run Derby, or sending you up to The Show itself. Now, you get a fully-scored slider bar that goes up and down depending on your performance — starting in the school years and in the minors by tracking your progress towards being called up, and eventually settling into telling you how close you are to finding your bust on display in Cooperstown, New York.
While I love the added reality and pressure this addition brings, there are strikes.
First of all, the whole UI is a mess now! Looking at stats in your Legacy tab or the new Missions tab shows red and green text that often drowns into the background and requires squinting or moving closer to the TV to see. Submenus also now lack a lot of the animation and depth that have been present in the past.
Cutscene animations have seemingly regressed now to the point where they appear to be still renderings like those found on ArtStation or Deviant Art, which is not the best for a Triple AAA game in 2026.
As in past years, most of the simulated life occurs as your player hangs out in the clubhouse, in a hotel room, or on a team plane, while developments unfold on your cellphone. And they are starting to appear dated, clunky in animation, and just plain ugly.
MLB The Show 26 Storylines Sits Out
For the past few years, Storylines has been where MLB The Show shines. It’s back this year with four new stories putting you in the cleats of Negro League greats, but where it chose before to honour them with verbose productions full of old-timey filters and meticulous lessons delivered through scenarios, it now feels like an afterthought, or a before-I-let-you-go-type deal.
Verdict
The more time I spend with MLB The Show 26, the more I feel like the bat is breaking, and one last mediocre hit could do the series in. However, there is no denying that this is still the best and most addictive baseball simulator out there right now.
The new offence and defensive upgrades of Big Zone Hitting and Bear Down Pitching work in tandem to make the strategy section feel new. But we are in 2026, and the rest of the package is starting to feel…veteran.
I really find myself wishing we got so much more out of the advertised World Baseball Classic content. MLB The Show 26 is still sliding into the bases in 2026. The problem is that they are based on things that have already been touched before for the most part.
[The publisher provided a copy of the game for review purposes.]
Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
