On top of the Halladay and Friends Program releasing, we have The Doc’s Clinic Event, the Always Intense choice pack, and the Headliners Set 15 pack. Let’s run through all the goodies below.
The Doc’s Clinic Event
- Any AL East, NL East players
- Rookie, Veteran, breakout, All-Star, 2nd Half Heroes, Postseason Series players
- Max team overall of 94
- 3-inning games
- Difficulty: All-Star
- Free entries (as always)
The event runs until May 24.
Rewards
- 1 win – The Show pack
- 3 wins – 500 stubs
- 5 wins – Headliners Set 14 pack, 2,500 XP
- 7 wins – Rewind choice pack
- All-Star Aaron Nola, 2,500 XP
Aaron Nola consistently stinks in The Show for whatever reason (well, the reason is the pitch mix I think). He does get a sinker here and 96 H/9 is good for an events pitcher reward, but you might still struggle with only having four pitches here.
- 10 wins – Headliners Set 15 pack, 2,000 stubs
- 12 wins – 2nd Half Heroes Paul Molitor, 1,500 XP
Paul Molitor was an early favorite this year, which was surprising because people usually don’t like his cards very much. With his gold card starting to be outclassed even as a pinch hitter, it’s nice to get a fresh diamond version here. He should have just enough power to make the high contact worthwhile, but he now can only play 1B in this version — and a bad 1B at that. However, I think you can survive using him at 1B if you feel super confident in his card after mashing with the gold version.
- 15 wins – Ballin’ Is A Habit pack (x2), 1,500 XP
- 18 wins – 2,000 stubs
- 20 wins – Rewind choice pack, 2,500 XP
- 23 wins – The Show pack (x5)
- 25 wins – Ballin’ Is A Habit pack (x3), 2,500 XP
- 27 wins – The Show pack (x5)
- 30 wins – Rewind choice pack, 5,000 XP
Always Intense Choice Pack
This works like other premium choice packs with a “top tier” round and then a base round consolation prize if you miss out. Here is the top round:
- All-Star Mookie Betts
- Signature Series Tom Glavine
- Awards Brandon Crawford
Mookie Betts was in every lineup last year with his 99 overall card, so I think by default you’re going to have a lot of fans of this card. It’s mostly warranted it seems since you’re getting someone who can play all the outfield spots and 2B while ripping line drives all over the place. I’m just a little fatigued by him still so I probably won’t use him much.
I feel like we’re still waiting for a peak Tom Glavine card that’s meta, but I don’t think this will be the one. His pitch mix is good, and I can’t argue too much about the peripherals, but I’m just not sure if this style of pitcher can be super effective at high levels in The Show.
Brandon Crawford will probably be the player I choose because he has a top five swing to me, plus you’re getting elite defensive stats and decent enough splits when going against LHP. It also looks like the community believes in him the most so far as he has the highest going price on the marketplace of anyone in this pack.
Here is the consolation round:
- 2nd Half Heroes Matt Chapman
- Prime Al Leiter
- Milestone Juan Pierre
- Prime Brad Hand
- Awards Wil Myers
Of these five players, I probably am most interested in Matt Chapman. I have a soft spot for his cards, so one with actual solid hitting could be intriguing for me. I’ve been more down than usual on slap-heavy hitters this year, so while I want to be excited about Juan Pierre and his 99 speed, I’m not sold as of now. Wil Myers looks perfectly solid, but there’s just so much OF talent. Neither pitcher stands out to me, but Brad Hand being a LHP and a Prime player does boost him a bit for me.
Headliners Set 15 – Breakout Ralph Kiner
Like all other Kiner cards, this baby can mash and not field worth a damn. If you put him in CF, you’re a brave soul. That said, the hitting stats here are so good, and he really does dominate at the dish. His swing is also top tier to me, so you just have to cope with the lack of athleticism if you want him in your lineup every game. Otherwise, he’s the ultimate pinch hitter.
The odds on Headliners packs to pull a diamond are 1:10 (as always), albeit that diamond might not be Breakout Ralph Kiner. In addition, this year you can buy one pack of the Headliners choice pack, which gives you 1:3 odds of pulling a 90+ overall diamond (and of course costs more stubs).
