If it ain’t one thing, it’s another.
That seems to be the story surrounding Diamond Dynasty in MLB The Show 26. Just over a week removed from the bombshell cheating scandal that’s emerged, players are starting to notice something else: some pitchers are borderline unhittable. But not because the players using them are adept at dotting the zone.
In recent weeks, Josh Hader’s Live Series card and Michael King’s Mexico City card have come under fire from players. But why are these cards causing so much frustration? According to players, it comes down to specific pitches behaving in ways they seemingly should not.
Operation Sports App
Your ultimate companion for sports gaming. Access in-depth coverage, thoughtful discussion, and a community built around the games—and sports—you love.
Your ultimate sports gaming companion.
Their Primary Pitches Are Triggering Contact Swings
For Hader, the issue allegedly centers around his two-seam fastball. For King, players are pointing to his sinker. The complaint is not simply that the pitches are difficult to hit or that both pitchers have annoying deliveries. Some in the community claim that these pitches produce contact-swing-like results even when players square them up with normal swings.
In other words, even if your timing and PCI placement are as perfect as they can be, balls batted into the field of play can still have lower exit velocities than expected.
The screenshot above is from a Ranked game I played about a week ago, in which my opponent brought in Hader while trailing by two runs late. As you can see, my swing timing was either perfect or damn close. Combine that with my PCI placement, which is right on the ball and slightly under, and I expected a very hard-hit ball with a decent launch angle. That’s not what I got — the ball was a routine out to center.
The reason why my exit velocity was so mediocre was that Hader’s 2-seamer forces the player into a Contact swing, even when pressing the normal hit button. The same goes for King’s sinker.
While this isn’t a new issue by any means (some players have been complaining about it since the game came out), Weekend Classic seems to have driven Diamond Dynasty players to their absolute limit. Many players reported facing King repeatedly in MLB The Show 26‘s premier competitive mode over the weekend, only for opponents to eventually pivot to Hader or a submariner once King started getting hit. Others claimed they knew exactly where King’s sinker was going, timed it well, and still watched too many well-struck balls die harmlessly in the outfield.
Is There Any Way Around The Glitch?
Unfortunately, until San Diego Studio patches the issue out of the game, there is no way around the glitch at this moment — if a player starts King or brings Hader in out of the bullpen, you’re gonna have to deal with it.
However, it isn’t as much doom and gloom as you may think.
Personally, I’ve had plenty of success against Hader, so long as my timing is good. Getting a perfect-perfect output is extremely hard, but you can find the gaps and even the seats if the conditions are just right. I find the most success against Hader in stadiums with short porches (like Yankee Stadium or Oak Street), rather than the ubiquitous Coors Field, where a ton of sweaty players prefer to play.
The problem is consistency, or a lack thereof. On some occasions, you’ll hit Hader or King well and be able to mount base hits. On others, however, the low exit velocities will be too much to overcome, especially if your opponent is delivering on offense.
Hopefully, SDS patches this issue out soon. Because if they don’t, players won’t have to install cheating software to gain an unfair competitive advantage.
Published: May 11, 2026 03:29 pm