We knew we were getting another Field of Dreams Program thanks to the handy content schedule within The Show. This year it was the featured program, which meant that we had a limited amount of time to get our grind in. This surprised me as last year’s program wasn’t a timed program. Last year’s Field of Dreams was an “Other Program” and not an Inning Program. There was a time-sensitive nature as you could earn program points with Event wins, but once the event ended you could still finish the program thanks to Moments, Showdown, and Conquest.
On top of that, the actual content structure was massively different this year. Last year, there was a Field of Dreams pack that was made available in the Show Store and could also be snagged during the program grind. Endgame versions of players like Mike Piazza, Mike Schmidt, Lefty Grove, and Lou Brock in this pack. There were four other cards available directly in the program path that you earned along the way as well: Prime Tom Henke, Awards Brooks Robinson, Milestone Felix Hernandez, and Signature Series Roberto Clemente. All of this combined with the usual mix of packs that were to be expected in a Show program.
This was an insane content drop that included the aforementioned Field of Dreams stadium as a free new stadium, the first new stadium added to The Show in a lifetime. This was up there with the All-Star Program in terms of sheer content, and as someone who’s in love with the history of baseball, this was one of my favorite content drops of all time.
Field Of Dreams Program Postmortem
This brings us to the Field of Dreams Program postmortem for ’22. Before I get into the actual content, I have to get back on my soapbox for a minute.
The Field of Dreams stadium was a laggy mess all year. This stadium was given out for free last year and was an absolutely beautiful stadium to play in and look at — and played as you would expect. This year, the stadium was included in the “Classic Stadiums” pack that has been exactly the same for years. Every year, it’s the same boring stadiums that you collect for the same boring Polo Grounds and there’s no fanfare about it — it just exists. So Field of Dreams returning and being included in this pack spruced it up a little. But there was a huge problem, and that was that the frame rate at Field of Dreams was unplayable for pretty much everyone. Once I pulled the stadium, I immediately used it in my next game and I could not believe how bad it was playing. I thought it was a bad connection to my opponent or something else latency-based. Then I experienced it again and again. I then used it offline and had the same issue.
The stadium was broken.
I wasn’t the only player having this issue. It eventually made its way into The Show 22’s normal discourse. It was a major problem. But not according to SDS. There wasn’t a word out of them about the issue nor any assurance that it would be addressed. Months went by and still nothing. I can only imagine the number of bug reports that got sent in to SDS on this very issue based off how prevalent the discussion was online. You know, the bug reports they tell us to utilize in every stream?
As the Field of Dreams featured program was announced, we all expected there to be an event that was stadium locked at Field of Dreams just like last year. And there still wasn’t any fix released or even hinted at by SDS. By this point, SDS had been wearing L’s left and right with The Show 22 all year. As usual, they had very poor communication with the player base, but we’ve all just accepted that’s how they roll. The changes in content had upset quite a few, but many like me were generally fine with it.
Then right before this program was set to go live, SDS finally pushed a patch that fixed the stadium. Did it really take months to fix this issue? If it did, that’s fine but communicate with your players. If SDS came out and said, “Look, we know about the issue but it’s extensive. We don’t recommend using the stadium until a fix is implemented but we are working on it with no ETA,” then a lot of us would have been a bit more understanding. But SDS clearly has a hardline stance that they don’t directly comment on, well, just about anything wrong with their games.
Now back to our regularly scheduled content.
Was It Worth It?
The Field of Dreams Program this year was like every other featured program. There wasn’t anything unique or alluring. We got our usual deluge of packs coupled with new bosses. No program-exclusive cards to grind for like last year, just more unexciting “Henchmen” in Classic packs that would have been decent the first month of the game but are yawn-inducing at this point. There were three unique styles to the Boss packs, one featuring current-day players close to retirement, Future Stars, and finally a Legends-only pack. Players could choose one each out of each respective pack, then earn a fourth choice pack that allowed a pick of any of the bosses.
I was really hoping for a similar program to last year. That was such an enjoyable grind that came with a load of content and really felt like a celebration of baseball history. Unlocking endgame cards like Henke, Robinson, and Hernandez along the way with missions for each was a really fun wrinkle in the program. And, of course, getting 99 Roberto Clemente for free in the first year he was ever in the game was a huge moment.
SDS could use the Field of Dreams program every year in a similar manner to highlight different players. It really could be a huge celebration each year, and I think a lot of players would enjoy that style of grind. Sadly, they opted to make this “just” a featured program that was fairly dry.
There were some good cards in this program, to be sure. But I can’t help lament what could have been.
Ranking The Bosses
9. Yadier Molina
In what should be his final season, Yadier Molina gets a 99 overall Milestone card that’s easily the best Yadi we’ve gotten. He comes with the elite defense and arm you’d expect with very solid hitting attributes for a catcher. I don’t think he’s a top-tier catcher by any means, but if you’re a Yadi or Cards fan, I think you’ll enjoy this card quite a bit online.
8. Al Kaline
This version of Kaline is a lefty-killer that has pretty minimal pop against RHP. That alone makes him less desirable with the bevy of RHP dropped into the game as of late. He too has the elite fielding and arm you want from a Kaline, but 63 speed in the OF is a hard sell. There’s already a ton of OF options superior to Kaline overall, and his speed pretty much drops him from consideration for me. With the OF to come, Kaline kind of just gets lost in the mix. But 125/125 against LHP makes him an elite pinch-hitting specialist that could also be a late-game replacement on defense if you’re one of the 14 people who use double switches.
7. Joey Votto
TikTok superstar Joey Votto gets his Signature Series in this program. A fairly balanced offensive profile at 1B doesn’t get you very far, and this card is only a 99 because of his 125 discipline rating, which has absolutely no tangible effect online. Gold fielding with subpar speed, Votto is simply another card that will probably only be appreciated by Reds fans.
6. Riley Greene
Riley Greene has quickly become a community favorite and gets vindication from his ho-hum Topps Now card earlier this year. Offensively the card will truly shine at P5 when he’s essentially 100+ everything (he gets diamond defense at P1). The big knock on Greene is the CF primary. He’ll never get that diamond shield in the corners where he’s better suited, but he’ll have decent enough speed to get to most balls hit his way and does have a good arm.
5. Ron Santo
Ron Santo checks in with a very solid debut 99. I feel like Santo will get overlooked because George Brett, Austin Riley, and Rafael Devers all exist but this is a very good 3B. The diamond fielding and essentially maxed everything at P5 is nice to look at, but the defense won’t be as relevant. The offensive profile at P5 is very nice and Santo has a good swing. If you haven’t collected George Brett yet, this Santo is a sleeper-starter. You could play Austin Riley in LF, Rafael Devers at 1B, and slot Santo in at 3B and be okay with it. Santo does have 2B and SS secondaries as well, so he certainly stands a chance at making some squads out there.
4. Brian Roberts
Brian Roberts also gets a 99 that is quite a bit better than I would have guessed. Max contact versus RHP with 85 power will play, especially with diamond defense and elite speed at 2B. I always harp on speed in the middle of the diamond and Roberts fits that mold. This card at P5 is in the conversation for top 2B in the game thanks to his sweet swing and switch-hitting. Considering Jackie Robinson has more utility than 2B-only Roberts, you could find a spot for both of these guys in your starting squad pretty easily.
3. Zack Greinke*
*This ranking of Greinke is contingent on SDS fixing his pitch tipping. There’s precedent for this with Darren O’Day, but Clayton Kershaw is also tipping pitches from the stretch this year and hasn’t been fixed yet to my knowledge. If Greinke doesn’t get fixed, I probably drop him to the bottom tier as he’d only be as effective against players who don’t know he tips pitches.
As for the actual card, this Greinke is easily the best Greinke we’ve gotten and probably ever will. Greinke throws absolute heat and can run up to triple digits on the 4-seam with a nasty slider to boot. The sinker is a little too close to the 4-seam in terms of velocity, but you should still be able to mix it in with some success. Notably, Greinke gets a standard changeup and not a circle-change, which is worth mentioning due to the changeup being easier to use with pinpoint pitching. This is especially relevant out of the stretch, and I actually I value that a fair amount. He also gets his infamous eephus curveball that falls into the 70-MPH range with huge, slow break. Be careful to not spam this pitch too much, and you should be able to do a lot of great things with it. The 98 H/9 is on the lower-end in terms of top SP, but SDS still hasn’t completely blown the doors off with H/9 yet, so I think this is very usable. I think this is a very good SP online if the pitch tipping is fixed.
2. Grayson Rodriguez
Grayson Rodriguez blazes into the number two spot for me. Coming with an Outlier 4-seam, G-Rod also packs a nearly perfect pitch mix to go with 107 H/9. Despite the cutter being his fifth best pitch, I think in execution it’s just below the slider. The cutter is slow enough compared to the 4-seam that running it away from RHP can get some ugly swings. The 79 BB/9 makes front-dooring a little tougher with this card, but if you’re able to execute you’re going to be able to pick your opponents apart with ease.
1. Oneil Cruz
Finally, we have the best SS in the game coming in at number one. Oneil Cruz was probably the most requested Future Star card all year, and we finally get it. I think Cruz easily slots in as the best SS for several reasons. First, 99 speed at SS is absolutely insane. That alone would allow him to get to a lot of balls that slower SS couldn’t get to. On top of that, Cruz is 6-foot-7 and has an ungodly reach that will add even more to his range. We all know that SDS didn’t truly fix dives, so adding a super-tall, blazing fast SS to your infield with the broken dives is just truly next level defense.
But that isn’t the sole reason Cruz is the best card in the program and best SS in the game. The dude also bops. Stock 115 power versus RHP and 112 power versus LHP is ridiculous on a SS. He’s not going to hose you on PCI either with 98 and 93 contact against RHP and LHP. At P5, Oneil Cruz will have 103 CON R, 98 CON L, 120 POW R (!), 117 POW L to go along with his elite speed/range. I didn’t even mention his stock 99 arm yet. Not only will he get to just about every ball that a fielder could possibly get to, no matter the animation he will throw an absolute missile to 1B. Cruz is a must-own card, and I think he could very well end up being the best overall SS all year. I know he’ll be in my online/offline lineup permanently as I work toward P5.
Bottom Line
The Field of Dreams featured program didn’t live up to last year’s offering. Instead of being a time capsule of love for baseball history, it settled in as “just another” featured program. We got the best SS (Cruz) in the game and arguably a Top 5 SP (Rodriguez) with an assortment of good cards. But at this point in the year, SDS and The Show need to kick it into another gear. We’re into the 99 overalls now but even that doesn’t feel exciting. Players defect when Madden launches every year, but this year feels a little different. With no major gameplay updates, no communication, and the vanilla cycle of Headliners packs and stagnant programs, MLB The Show 22 is on life support. When the gameplay is lacking, at some point the content doesn’t matter anymore even if it’s flashy. The Show has typically nailed content, and I think they’ve still done a good job in that department this year.
But it’s August. After the Griffey Jr. debacle, SDS put themselves in a corner for the next month or so. Madden 23 has released to much fanfare (especially by its standards) and stolen plenty of players as usual. I personally have my eyes on NBA 2K23 and PGA Tour 2K23 as my enjoyment of The Show feels like it has run its course. I’m still holding out hope that SDS changes course and really reinvigorates their game, but I’m not holding my breath.
