MLB The Show 24: Best Hitting Tips

Hitting in baseball is one of the hardest things in sports. After all, even the best hitters in the game fail to do so more than 70% of the time. And that’s no different in MLB The Show 24 where hitting can often be the most difficult part of the game. Thankfully, it’s not nearly as hard as its real-world counterpart. Once you get down the basics of hitting, you’ll be crushing long balls and driving in runs with ease. Below, we’ve collected some of the most helpful tips for hitting in MLB The Show 24. While you’ll still need to put in the work, these tips should make things much easier. 

MLB The Show 24 Best Hitting Tips

Again, practice is going to be the most important thing to getting good at hitting. The more you play, the better you’ll be able to spot the ball coming out of the pitcher’s hand and be able to tell what type of pitch they’re throwing. With that, you can better time your swing and have a better idea of where the ball will break before it gets to you. That said, here are a few tips to help make that process a little bit easier.

Use Zone Hitting

There are three different hitting interfaces in MLB The Show 24: Zone, Directional, and Timing. Timing is the simplest because you only need to focus on timing the pitch correctly, but have no control over where the ball will go once it’s off your bat. Directional gives you some control because you can influence the direction by tilting the left analog stick. However, Zone gives you the most control, which is why you should switch to it.

Zone hitting gives you access to the Plate Coverage Indicator (PCI). Moving this around the strike zone, you have full control over where your hitter aims the bat when you swing. At first, it can be tough to get used to, but it’s smart to start using it out of the gate because you won’t be able to push and pull easily without it. Learning this out of the gate means you won’t have to relearn hitting later, so you might as well switch right away.

Change Your Hitting View to Strike Zone

Even using the best hitting interface, you still need to be able to see pitches as they come toward the plate. Unfortunately, the default hitting view pulls your view back too far to really see the ball coming out of the pitcher’s hand. That’s why you’ll want to switch to one of the Strike Zone hitting views. All three work, though most competitive players use Strike Zone or Strike Zone 2. Strike Zone 3 gives you a bit more of the game’s presentation, so if you want to keep that spirit around, use that view.

To change your hitting view, first head to the main menu. From there, you need to select Settings>Settings>Gameplay>Gameplay and then toggle Hitting View to whichever style you prefer. You can also do this during gameplay if you want a preview of what it’ll look like in real time.

Work The Pitch Count

This tip is going to take some work on your part. If you swing at every pitch thrown at you, you’ll make the pitcher’s job much easier. You want to work the pitch count in your favor. That means taking a macro view of the game. While every at-bat counts, you don’t necessarily need a hit every time at the plate. Instead, you want to focus on forcing the pitcher to throw as many pitches as possible, while angling for hits.

Often, this means it’s smart to take the first pitch unless it’s a surefire strike. Swinging at something on the edge of the strike zone probably won’t be a hit anyway, so getting that pitch count up will help more in the long run. As pitchers get tired, they become easier to hit. If you can work their pitch count up quickly, you’ll have a much easier time at the plate. Sure, they can replace them with relievers, but if you’re causing your opponent to use the middle of their rotation, you’re doing a good thing. Those players usually aren’t as good as their starters and closer. Either way, more pitches usually lead to an even easier time at the dish.

Use The Correct Swing Type

Generally speaking, you’re fine using the Normal Swing type most of the time. However, it’s important to know your hitters and the situation before you step to the plate. For example, if you have a runner in scoring position and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is stepping to the plate, you should consider using the Power Swing. As a power hitter, Vladdy can drive balls out of the park with any swing type, but using the power swing gives you a very good chance of, at worst, getting a sacrifice fly.

The same is true for hitters more suited to contact hitting. When those types step up, you might want to take advantage of their skills and go for a Contact Swing. You won’t be hitting dingers, but you’ll put the ball in play and let that player use his speed to make a play. Knowing your lineup and selectively using the different swing types is key to mastering hitting in MLB The Show 24.

MLB The Show 24 is available now on PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox platforms.