MLB The Show 18: How to Hit Home Runs

How to Hit Home Runs in MLB The Show 18

There’s no perhaps no sports play more iconic and well-known in American sports than the home run. Baseball is designed to be played within a field, and when you’re able to hit the ball so hard that you actually power it completely out of the field of play, there are few things cooler than that. Hitting virtual home runs in MLB The Show 18 may not be as satisfying as the real thing, but it’s as close as most of us will ever get, so let’s dig into how to hit them.

Despite what you might read or see, there is no 100% guaranteed way to hit home runs every time. It’s dependent on a ton of different factors including difficulty, contact, timing, hitter power attributes, pitcher attributes, etc. Over the years, San Diego Studios has continued to fine-tune hitting in an attempt to make it as realistic to the real thing as possible. However, highly skilled players can, and will, overcome developer’s efforts and make a mockery of “realistic stats,” crushing home runs at the highest difficulties and against top tier human opponents, which is why you’ll see crazy stats from the best Diamond Dynasty and 1v1 players.

There are a few things you can do to make hitting home runs easier in MLB The Show 18 (aside from the obvious of turning down the difficulty), but ultimately it just takes practice and getting your timing right. There are a lot of different hitting control options you can choose from, but we (and many others) highly recommend using Zone hitting with a Strike Zone camera angle. This combination allows you to see the pitches coming at you much better, and cuts down on the complexity/randomness of some other hitting control schemes. With Zone, what you need to do is try to line the ball up with the dead center of your target reticle using the left analog stick and then use your button prompt of choice (we prefer button pressing, so in this case X or Square for power, but it’s all personal preference).

The further you are from the center, the worse your contact with the ball will be, and it will decrease your chances of hitting a home run. And of course, you need to have good timing. If you’re able to line up the reticle perfectly dead center, and have your timing be “good” (which is dependent on the speed and type of the pitch, and when you actually go to swing), that will maximize your chances of hitting a home run. Still even at that point, pitcher and hitter attributes are going to factor  in as well. Just like baseball in real life, you could get a great piece of the ball, but it still just misses going out and ends up in a right fielder’s glove.

You can use square to hit with power instead, and that will increase your chances of hitting a home run IF you are able to still line up and time your hit perfectly. However, keep in mind that it will reduce your chances of actually making contact, so your timing needs to be way more precise for this to be advantageous to you. You’ll swing and miss pretty hard if it’s not. You can still hit home runs just fine using the X button as well. Try not to use the circle button (contact) ever if you’re going for home run hitting.

So to sum up, make sure your player has good power stats (contact helps too to make sure you have a nice big reticle to work with), and that you’re using a hitting style that you are comfortable with and are able to consistently get the most out of. Again, we like Zone with a Strike Zone camera, but the best option is whatever you’re comfortable with.

The does it for how to hit home runs in MLB The Show 18. For more guides and FAQs answered, be sure to search Twinfinite.