MLB The Show 19: Diamond Dynasty Update and Patch 1.11

Today was a pretty eventful day for MLB The Show as new Headliner packs were pushed out, as well as two new Battle Royale Flawless rewards. The day also included a brand new roster update, sure to get a rousing stir from the community and stub investors looking to cash-in.

But arguably the biggest news of the day was the release of patch 1.11.

Patch notes suggest power hitters should see increased exit velocities on balls that are squared up in Diamond Dynasty. The hope is that home runs and scoring will go up as more good swings create truer batted ball outcomes. Wind was also turned off for Diamond Dynasty games, ensuring fly balls won’t hang up in the air so long that nothing finds the outfield grass or clears the fence.

Headliner Pack 10 offers a couple highly intriguing cards sure to be considered fan favorites and strong lineup options. Signature Series Dustin Pedroia (Diamond, 98 OVR 2B) and Signature Series Legend Larry Doby (Diamond, 97 OVR CF) both represent upgrades for most lineups. Pedroia, always a popular player with the fans, represents a strong second base option with the likes of Roberto Alomar and Joe Morgan. Doby may represent an excellent left-handed bat with a good amount of pop.

New flawless Battle Royale rewards were also introduced this week in the form of Signature Series Felix Hernandez (Diamond, 96 OVR SP) and Signature Series Willie McCovey (Diamond, 99 OVR 1B).

Hernandez has been a request from the community since last year. Armed with a 98 mph fastball, a 95 mph sinker and a devastating 80-mph sweeping curve, “The King” will likely find himself in rotations for the remainder of the year — at least for those of us lucky enough to complete a flawless run.

McCovey will represent some serious thump from the left side of the plate at 1B. 116 PWR vs. R will certainly play in most lineups, and considering the new patch aimed to buff power hitters, McCovey should be a potent weapon as well.

As far as the roster update goes, this week was a bit of a buckshot. Matt Chapman and Anthony Rizzo both went from gold to diamond, though many pundits believed Rizzo hadn’t yet showed enough at the plate to warrant such a change. Chapman was a likely candidate for the bump after his bat really heated up the last few weeks. He immediately becomes a strong live series option at the hot corner.

The question remains as to when Ronald Acuña Jr. will get the call to diamond. His bat remains his calling card, though his defense is not as bad as it’s rated in The Show. He remains a bottom of the barrel option defensively in the outfield, holding just a “common” designation. However, he remains one of the more used cards in Events when he qualifies because his bat is so strong.

As far as how I fared with my predictions — not bad. Mike Soroka, Josh Bell and Matt Barnes all got upgrades, though Soroka failed to reach the silver tier. Charlie Morton, Trevor Story and Hunter Pence all failed to move. Pence is an awfully peculiar case as he’s having quite possibly a Comeback Player of the Year type campaign, but no love this time around.

Sixty players were impacted in the latest roster update. Here’s a look and how some others fared:

Moving Up

Diamond: Matt Chapman (85), Anthony Rizzo (85)

Gold: Josh Bell (81), Joey Gallo (80), Gleyber Torres (80), Gary Sanchez (80), Matt Barnes (80), Matthew Boyd (80)

Silver: Ketel Marte (76), Luke Weaver (76), Austin Meadows (76), Christian Vazquez (75), Sonny Grey (75), Derek Dietrich (75), Robbie Erlin (75), Rafael Devers (75)

Moving Down

Gold: Andrew Miller (83)

Silver: Yasiel Puig (79), Daniel Murphy (79), Matt Carpenter (79)

Bronze: Maikel Franco (74), Archie Bradley (74), Jesus Aguilar (73), Odubel Herrera (72)