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MLB The Show 21: 3rd Inning Program Guide and Overview

3rd Inning Program guide mlb the show 21

MLB The Show 21

MLB The Show 21: 3rd Inning Program Guide and Overview

The 3rd Inning Program launched today in MLB The Show 21 Diamond Dynasty. The bosses are as stacked as ever, but the structure of the program has changed a bit this time around. There is less of a focus on quantity of players and more of a focus on quality of players this go around. The final reward will stay the same here with a Live series player between 85-89 being the closing reward at 650,000 XP. This new program will end 28 days from now, and the three new bosses will be available at 350,000 XP.

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The three bosses here are Awards Troy Glaus, Signature Series Dennis Eckersley, and Milestone Grady Sizemore. This looks like it will be a tough choice — or at least harder than the 2nd Inning boss picks. Eckersley is a closer and a Signature Series player, which are two things that can still be hard to find in abundance. Sizemore has five tools and can play all three outfield positions but does struggle a bit against LHP. Finally, Glaus has maxed out stats against LHP and very good attributes to go against RHP as well, plus he has a diamond glove. I suspect Glaus will be the pick for folks, especially since he can secondarily play SS, but Sizemore and Eckersley should still have some fans.

As always, I will update these program guides as more content is added by SDS. The only thing I do not include are the Daily Missions, as those are tied to each person and update each day for a small amount of XP.

Now, let’s get to the program.

MLB The Show 21 3rd Inning Program Guide

3rd Inning Program guide

Showdown

3rd Inning Program Showdown

The 3rd Inning Showdown has you picking Sizemore, Eckersley, or Glaus and meeting up with Eckersley in the Final Showdown. You can earn about 2,500 stubs and four The Show packs if you knock out every battle on your way to victory. In addition, you will earn 35,000 XP for the 3rd Inning Program.

Conquest

Pizza Conquest map

The first Conquest map involves capturing five strongholds. The Pizza Conquest map involves stealing 3 million fans as the way to force you to play at least one extra game as well. You will get at least five The Show packs and a Ballin’ Is A Habit pack, and that’s before finding any secrets. If you want to see all the secrets, here they are (courtesy JProGaming):

Finishing the map will net you 25,000 XP.

Gecko Conquest Map 3rd Inning Program

The Gecko Conquest map involves capturing 6 strongholds. You will need to capture the Angels’ stonghold on or before the 2nd turn, but otherwise this will be a straight forward map.

You will net 25,000 XP for completing this map.

Missions

There are three online missions to complete as of now. This is standard and more will be added throughout the month.

  • Competitive Dubs – Win 10 games in online modes (5,000 XP)
  • Lights Out Stuff – Tally 20 strikeouts with any Legend of Flashback pitchers in online modes (7,500 XP)
  • Relive The Moment – Tally 15 home runs with Topps Now or Monthly Awards players in online modes (5,000 XP)
  • Veteran Wisdom – Tally 10 hits with Veteran players in online modes (5,000 XP)
  • Breakout Performance – Tally 10 hits with Breakout players in online modes (5,000 XP)
  • Let’s Do It Live – Score 20 runs with Live players in online modes (7,500 XP)
  • Collect All-Star Series – Collect 15 All-Star players (15,000 XP)
  • American League Sluggers – Tally 15 RBIs with any American League players in online modes (5,000 XP)
  • National League Nightmares – Tally 20 total bases with any National League players in online modes (5,000 XP)
  • Droppin’ Dimes! – Tally 20 strikeouts with Topps Now or Monthly Awards players in online modes (7,500 XP)

Collections And Moments

Note: For any old player programs from prior Innings, they still exist if you have not completed them yet. However, you won’t get the XP for “collecting” the cards in the new Inning, nor do you get XP for the prior Inning Program anymore once it is gone.

The first set of moments involve Breakout Juan Marichal:

Breakout Juan Marichal 3rd Inning Program

  • The Dominican Dandy
    • Difficulty: Rookie
    • Win 1 game
    • Do not give up 1 hit
  • Juan More Inning
    • Difficulty: Veteran
    • Pitch 1 inning
    • Do not give up 1 run
  • I See No L’s
    • Difficulty: Rookie
    • Win 1 game
  • Finish What You Started
    • Difficulty: Veteran
    • Pitch 5 innings
    • Do not give up 1 run
  • I’ll Show You An Encore
    • Difficulty: Rookie
    • Pitch 7 innings
    • Do not give up 2 runs
  • All I Do Is Win
    • Difficulty: Veteran
    • Win 1 game

Completing all the moments will net you 1,700 stubs in total.

The second set of moments involve 2nd Half Heroes Dave Parker.

2nd Half Heroes Dave Parker

  • 1st HR Derby Champ
    • Difficulty: Veteran
    • Hit 1 home run
  • Brought To You By Parker Power
    • Difficulty: Rookie
    • Hit 1 home run
  • Seeing Beach Balls Up There – 6 games
    • Difficulty: Rookie
    • Tally 10 hits
    • Tally 5 XBH
  • Finishing Strong – 2 games
    • Hit 2 home runs
  • Back Nine Bully
    • Difficulty: Veteran
    • Tally 2 hits
    • Tally 1 XBH
  • Dave The Cobra Parker
    • Difficulty: Rookie
    • Tally 4 total bases

As for collections:

  • 3rd Inning Collection – Collect all three 2nd Inning Bosses (50,000 XP)
  • All-Star Ozzie Smith – Collect All-Star Ozzie Smith (15,000 XP)
  • All-Star Gary Carter – Collect All-Star Gary Carter (15,000 XP)
  • May Monthly Awards – Collect three May Monthly Awards players (20,000 XP)
  • Breakout Juan Marichal – Collect Breakout Juan Marichal (35,000 XP)
  • 2nd Half Heroes Dave Parker – Collect 2nd Half Heroes Dave Parker (35,000 XP)
  • June Topps Now – Collect 3 Topps Now June players (35,000 XP)

Bosses And Rewards

Here are the three Bosses at 350,000 XP, plus their quirks:

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  • Awards Troy Glaus
  • Signature Series Dennis Eckersley
  • Milestone Grady Sizemore

Here is the first set of players you get in a diamond choice pack. You only get one bite at this apple:

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  • 2nd Half Heroes Keith Hernandez
  • All-Star Yasmani Grandal
  • Rookie Richie Ashburn

Normally I look for any reason to pick Grandal when he’s available since I love the swing, but Ashburn might be the pick here for me. I have really struggled with Keith Hernandez in the past.

The second set of players you get to choose from comes from a diamond Classics choice pack. You will only get one bite at this apple as well.

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  • Postseason Didi Gregorius
  • Postseason Blake Snell
  • Monthly Awards Rafael Devers

Like with Grandal, I look for reasons to pick Gregorius when he’s offered, but I think Devers is the pick here this time around.

Here are the main rewards:

  • 5,000 XP – 3,000 stubs, stadium sound
  • 10,000 XP – The Show pack
  • 17,500 XP – Ballplayer choice pack
  • 25,000 XP – 3,000 stubs, universal rrofile nameplate
  • 32,500 XP – 3,000 stubs, Diamond unlockable
  • 40,000 XP – Headliners Set 3 pack
  • 55,000 XP – Ballplayer choice pack
  • 70,000 XP – The Show pack (x3)
  • 85,000 XP – Stadium sound
  • 100,000 XP – Diamond player choice pack (Hernandez, Grandal, Ashburn)
  • 115,000 XP – The Show pack (x5)
  • 130,000 XP – 5,000 stubs, Cleveland Indians Road 1944 uniform
  • 145,000 XP – Ballplayer choice pack
  • 160,000 XP – Ballin’ Is A Habit pack
  • 175,000 XP – 3rd Inning Classics choice pack (Gregorius, Snell, Devers)
  • 190,000 XP – Universal profile icon
  • 205,000 XP – 5,000 stubs, home run call
  • 220,000 XP – Headliners Set 6 pack
  • 235,000 XP – Gold Ballplayer choice pack
  • 250,000 XP – Bat skin
  • 270,000 XP – The Show pack (x5)
  • 290,000 XP – Diamond legend icon
  • 310,000 XP – Headliners Set 9 pack
  • 330,000 XP – Los Angeles Angels Alternate Home
  • 350,000 XP – 3rd Inning Bosses (Glaus, Eckersley, Sizemore)
  • 380,000 XP – Gold Ballplayer choice pack
  • 410,000 XP – Ballin’ Is A Habit pack
  • 440,000 XP – The Show pack (x10)
  • 470,000 XP – Oakland Athletics Road 1970 uniform
  • 500,000 XP – Classic stadium choice pack
  • 530,000 XP – The Show pack (x10)
  • 560,000 XP – Diamond Ballplayer choice pack
  • 590,000 XP – Space 3 pack
  • 620,000 XP – The Show pack (x10)
  • 650,000 XP – Diamond Live series player (85-89 overall)

About the author

Chase has written at Operation Sports for over 10 years, and he's been playing sports games way longer than that. He loves just about any good sports game but gravitates to ones that coincide with the ongoing real seasons of the NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL, and so on. As of now, he's gearing up for EA Sports College Football 25 and what should be a wild summer while still dabbling in the latest Top Spin and MLB The Show.

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