MLB The Show 24 gameplay changes explained: Pinpoint pitching improvements, more

MLB The Show 24 puts the spotlight on pitching.

A baseball player prepares to throw a pitch in MLB The Show 24
Image via San Diego Studio

MLB The Show 24 introduces a few new gameplay improvements that bring the baseball-sim closer to the official on-field product.

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Besides reliving the best moments from New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter’s career, San Diego Studio focused on improving pitching in MLB The Show 24, among other quality-of-life changes.

MLB The Show 24 gameplay changes, explained

Spencer Strider MLB The Show
Pinpoint pitching just got a whole lot harder. Image via San Diego Studio

The MLB The Show 24 devs released a blog reviewing every major gameplay improvement included in the upcoming series entry. A few notable additions include the following:

  • Around 400 animations
  • New throws
  • New pitcher animations making it impossible to fake throws
  • Pitch clock
  • Larger base sizes

Based on community feedback, the devs left “hitting balance largely unchanged” for MLB The Show 24, as the team is already happy with hitting balance. As for pitching, San Diego Studio overhauled Pinpoint Pitching.

MLB The Show 24: Pinpoint Pitching changes

Most high-level MLB The Show players use Pinpoint Pitching, giving users the most accurate control of every pitching type. As such, it also requires the steepest learning curve, as players have to draw a line with their analog stick perfectly. In saying that, some community members argued that it became too early for players to dominate with Pinpoint Pitching once they got the hang of it. San Diego Studio responded by making the Sinker more difficult to execute and adding four new pitching gestures, bringing the total number up to 14.

Additionally, the Pinpoint Pitching gestures will now get flipped for lefty pitchers, making it harder to get comfortable with the mechanic.

“As a result of these new implementations, user skill will continue to be of the utmost importance,” the devs explained.

Inevitably, it won’t take long for high-skilled MLB The Show 24 players to master the new pitching changes, but San Diego Studio did its best to throw an unexpected curve ball at users.

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Ryan Lemay
Ryan graduated from Ithaca College in 2021 with a sports media degree and a journalism minor. He gained experience as a writer with the Morning Times newspaper and then Dexerto as a games writer. He mainly writes about first-person shooters, including Call of Duty and Battlefield, but he is also a big FIFA fan. You can contact him at ryanlemay@dotesports.com.