Executive Summary
- True Overall™ algorithm refresh: Adjusted for SDS’s new attribute balancing. San Diego Studio (SDS) is now suppressing certain ratings to keep a card’s displayed Overall lower while still making the card play like an elite. This led to inflated True Overalls, so ShowZone retrained its Deep Neural Network model to match the new structure. Our updated model is significantly more accurate than before — you’ll now see 99 OVR cards predicted closer to 99, which doesn’t mean they’re worse, just that our model is getting smarter. Truly elite cards will still go above 99 when deserved.
- Swing impact added to Meta: Player swing animations now factor into Meta Overall. Players with community-identified “meta” swings (smooth, quick swings that generate great results) get a boost, while players with notorious bad swings see a drop in Meta. We asked the community on Twitter for the best and worst swings – their input is now in the algorithm!
- Pitcher effectiveness adjustments: Meta Overall now considers which pitchers are hard to hit versus who gets shelled. Pitchers with deceptive deliveries or tough arm angles (the ones players hate facing) receive a Meta boost. Conversely, pitchers that should be good on paper but tend to get lit up will have a lower Meta Overall (even if their stats are shiny).
- Defense and Clutch matter more: Fielding ability now has a bigger influence – expect a bump for players with Diamond 🔹 fielding and a smaller boost for Gold 🟨. Also, the Clutch attribute is weighted higher in Meta. Cards with low clutch (e.g. All-Star Chipper Jones’s 66 Clutch) won’t be as highly rated in Meta Overall despite great other stats.
- Pitch arsenal quality added: It’s not just about having 5 pitches – it’s having 5 good pitches. Meta Overall now rewards pitchers who possess multiple elite pitches (high movement/control). A diverse arsenal (think prime Greg Maddux with five pitches dotting corners) boosts a pitcher’s Meta, while one-dimensional pitchers won’t score as well.
- New “Meta+” rating (coming soon to player pages): Introducing Meta+, a new stat that shows how much better (or worse) a card performs relative to the average card at its position. Meta+ 100 is game-average; each point above 100 is 1% above the average. For example, a Meta+ of 140 means the card is 40% better than the positional average. Meta+ updates dynamically as new cards release, so you can instantly see which cards truly outperform the field. Front-end display coming soon!
Introduction: ShowZone’s True Overall™ vs Meta Overall
Welcome to ShowZone’s 2025 update breakdown! If you’re new to ShowZone, we provide tools and ratings to help MLB The Show™ Diamond Dynasty players find the best cards. Two key metrics we use are True Overall™ and Meta Overall. True Overall is our attempt to mimic SDS’s card rating (the familiar 0-99 Overall) without the cap – it tells you what a card’s true rating would be if SDS didn’t stop at 99 . Meta Overall, on the other hand, rates cards based on how well they play in-game and fit the current meta, adjusting for what really wins games (power, speed, pitch mix, etc.) . In short, True Overall answers “how would SDS rate this card uncapped?”, while Meta Overall asks “how good is this card in today’s online meta?”.
For a deeper explanation of these metrics and past algorithm tweaks, check out our previous deep dive article on True Overall and Meta Overall . But for MLB The Show 25, we have several important updates – let’s dive into what’s new this year!
True Overall Update: Adapting to SDS’s New Rating Tactics
SDS threw a curveball this year in how they allocate attributes on cards. We’ve observed that SDS is intentionally lowering certain “less important” attributes to keep a card’s displayed Overall rating down, even if the card’s key stats (the ones that make it play well) are maxed out . In other words, a card might look like a modest 92 Overall in-game, but that’s only because, say, Plate Discipline or Durability was kept low – attributes that don’t significantly affect gameplay. Meanwhile, the important attributes like Contact and Power might be 100+ (over the usual 99 cap), meaning the card actually plays like a 99. This tactic lets SDS release insanely good cards while avoiding giving every new card a 99 label.
Why does this matter for True Overall? Well, ShowZone’s True Overall is designed to mirror SDS’s formula – it even uses a DNN (deep neural network) model trained on SDS’s ratings . When SDS changes up their formula or skews attribute weights, our model initially started spitting out inflated True Overall numbers for those sneaky cards. For example, a card with 100 Contact/100 Power but tanked Plate Discipline could trick our model into predicting a True Overall near 99 because it sees those huge hitting stats and doesn’t “care” that Discipline was sacrificed. The result: cards showing True Overall 98, 99, etc. when the card is rated as a 92, confusing players.
The fix: We’ve retrained and updated the True Overall model using the new 2025 card data. The DNN now “understands” SDS’s latest approach to rating suppression. True Overall should once again closely match how SDS intends to rate cards – even when SDS is playing games with the attributes. In practice, you’ll notice True Overalls are back in line (no more runaway 105s unless truly deserved), and the metric remains accurate within ~0.5 of an SDS overall point on average. The benefit to you is that True Overall stays a reliable indicator of a card’s actual overall rating as designed by SDS, even as SDS tries new balancing tricks.
To illustrate, SDS dropped several Moonshot cards this year that were only a 91 or 92 OVR in-game, yet had endgame-caliber hitting stats . How? They gave them low Discipline (which doesn’t affect gameplay at all), Stealing, Baserunning Aggression, etc. to hold the overall down. Our True Overall calculator picked up on that; after the update, it now recognizes when attributes like Durability or Discipline are artificially low and adjusts the True OVR accordingly. The result: you get a clearer picture of how good that card truly is, without being misled by SDS’s clever overall suppression.
Meta Overall Updates: Keeping Up with the Meta in ’25
Meta Overall is all about measuring actual in-game performance. As MLB The Show 25’s meta evolves, we’ve made several algorithm tweaks to ensure Meta Overall stays reflective of what’s working (and what’s not) on the virtual field. Here are the big changes for 2025:
1. “Swings Now Matter” – Incorporating Swing Quality
For the first time, we’re factoring in swing animations as part of a card’s Meta Overall. We all know that a player’s swing can make a huge difference – some swings are just butter (the ball flies off the bat), while others feel like swinging a shovel in mud. These qualities never showed up in stats, but players feel them, and now Meta Overall will reflect them.
How did we do this? We turned to the community for help. ShowZone polled the community on Twitter about swing quality – asking which players have the best swings and which ones have the worst swings in The Show (you might have seen these polls on our Twitter around May) – and the community delivered! Hundreds of responses identified the sweetest swings versus the clunkiest. (Check out the polls here to see the discussion: best swings poll and bad swings poll.)
From this feedback, we created a “swing meta” list. Players known for meta swings – those lightning-quick, smooth batting stances that generate great exit velos – now get a small ratings boost in their Meta Overall. On the flip side, cards plagued by awkward or slow swings are getting dinged a bit. For example, community consensus has long held that players like Mike Piazza and Johnny Bench have notoriously poor swings. Many fans joked that using some of these guys feels like “swinging a wet noodle.” If a card’s swing is widely panned, its Meta Overall will be a few points lower to reflect that you might not perform as well with that card. Meanwhile, players with beloved swings – think Mookie Betts or Ken Griffey Jr. with their silky smooth motions – will see a bump, making their Meta Overall a closer indicator of how they actually rake in the hands of players.
(Why swings?) In past years, we couldn’t quantify swing quality in our ratings because SDS doesn’t publish data on swing timing or bat path. It’s an intangible. But it matters a lot. By crowd-sourcing player opinions, we’re able to approximate this intangible factor. It won’t overpower the whole Meta formula, but it will make a difference when choosing between two similar hitters – the one with the sweeter swing will now grade out higher.
2. Pitcher Performance – “Unhittable” vs “BP Fastball”
Pitching has its own quirks that raw attributes don’t tell the whole story on. We’ve all encountered a pitcher card with great ratings that, for some reason, just gets rocked every time, and conversely that lower-rated arm that hitters cannot touch. Meta Overall is now smarter about this phenomenon.
We gathered community input on pitchers as well. In another set of Twitter polls, we asked which pitchers “get SHELLED” (i.e. are surprisingly easy to hit, regardless of their ratings) and which pitchers are “UNHITTABLE” (guys you hate to face because you can’t pick up the ball) in MLB 25. (See the polls here: pitchers that get shelled and pitchers that are unhittable.)
Using this feedback along with in-game trends, Meta Overall will now boost pitchers who are notoriously effective beyond what their raw attributes suggest. What makes a pitcher “meta” in this sense? Often it’s their delivery/release point (sidearm or funky windups), pitch repertoire, or extreme velocity that gives hitters fits. If the community says “Yeah, whenever I see so-and-so on the mound, I’m in for a tough game,” that pitcher is getting a Meta Overall boost. These are the guys with deceptive releases or great “tunneling” that don’t show up in a 0-99 rating but absolutely show up in-game.
Conversely, we’re downgrading the “paper tigers” – pitchers who look great stat-wise but tend to serve up batting practice. Maybe their fastball is flat or their off-speed is easy to track out of the hand. If countless players report “I crush this pitcher every time,” we believe them, and that pitcher’s Meta Overall will be a bit lower to warn you. A classic example might be a control pitcher with low velocity: say a 99 overall Greg Maddux type. In real life Greg Maddux is a legend, but in The Show, a pitcher with 89mph sinkers might be easier for players to time up, no matter how high his control and break are. Those kinds of cards will no longer sit at the top of Meta Overall just because their attributes are high; the Meta formula accounts for their in-game hittability. On the flip side, a guy like Outlier Randy Johnson or sidearm Joe Smith (just as an example) who people hate facing will rank higher in Meta than a cursory look at ratings might suggest.
To boil it down: if a pitcher plays above/below their ratings, Meta Overall will reflect that. It’s a living metric informed by the community and ongoing performance data, so you won’t be misled by a 99 OVR pitcher who actually pitches like an 85, or overlook a 92 OVR pitcher who actually dominates like a 99.
3. Fielding Matters (Diamond ≠ Gold)
Defense has taken on a larger role in MLB The Show 25’s gameplay, and we’re adjusting Meta Overall to match. In the past, fielding attributes were somewhat undervalued – many would field a subpar defender if it meant better hitting. But this year, having a Diamond fielder can noticeably impact your games (those acrobatic catches and quick reactions can save runs), so we’re giving more weight to fielding ability.
Players with Diamond-level defense (fielding attributes 90+ at their primary position, which shows a little 🔹 on their card) will get a Meta Overall boost because they’re likely to make plays lesser fielders won’t. This boost isn’t massive, but it’s enough to separate the truly elite defenders. You might notice a stud shortstop with 99 fielding climb a few spots in the Meta rankings now. Likewise, there’s a smaller boost for Gold fielders (80–89 fielding, 🟨 shield). They won’t quite match the Diamonds, but we want to acknowledge solid dependable defense too.
Importantly, this change will be most apparent for positions where defense is crucial (say, catcher, shortstop, center field). Anecdotally, we’ve all seen how a diamond fielder gets better animations – for example, an outfielder with Diamond defense is much more likely to trigger a do-or-die catch animation to save a run. Meta Overall now accounts for that: those game-changing defensive plays add to a card’s value in a way pure stats didn’t capture before.
Bottom line: Don’t ignore defense! If two players are similar at the plate but one has a big defensive edge, you’ll see it in their Meta Overalls. This should help you build lineups that aren’t just offensive powerhouses, but also tight defensively (which can win you a few extra games over the season).
4. Clutch Counts in MLB 25
Clutch has always been a somewhat mysterious attribute in The Show, but in recent editions (and especially in MLB 25), its importance has grown. When runners are in scoring position, a batter’s Clutch rating replaces their Contact attribute in determining hit outcomes. That means a player with a low Clutch might crush the ball with bases empty, but in RBI spots you’ll see them underperform. Recognizing this, we’ve increased the weight of Clutch in Meta Overall for hitters (and for pitchers, pitching clutch matters a bit more too).
All-Star Chipper Jones’ 90 OVR card in MLB The Show 25 has fantastic hitting stats vs lefties (125/103 Contact/Power vs L) and a “buttery” swing, but only a 66 Clutch (CLT) attribute. That low Clutch severely limits his hitting ability when it counts, which now pulls down his Meta Overall.
In the above example, All-Star Series Chipper Jones is a switch-hitter with an amazing swing and great vs LHP stats, yet SDS gave him a middling 66 Clutch . Many players might not have noticed that at first and wondered why Chipper sometimes feels less impactful with ducks on the pond. With our Meta Overall update, a low clutch like that will significantly cap a card’s Meta rating. In Chipper’s case, despite all his talent, he won’t rank as the top third baseman in Meta Overall because in high-pressure moments he’s just not as reliable as someone with, say, 110 Clutch. In contrast, if a card has an exceptionally high clutch (say a postseason hero card with 125 Clutch), you’ll see that reflected positively now.
This change aims to capture those intangibles of who you want at the plate in a big moment. It also adds a layer of strategy: a card like Chipper with low clutch might be better used earlier in the lineup or when bases are empty, whereas high-clutch bats are gold in the cleanup spot – and Meta Overall will guide you accordingly. So before you dismiss two cards as “both 99s with similar hitting,” check their Clutch – our new Meta will.
5. Pitch Arsenal Quality (Good Pitches > Just Many Pitches)
Lastly, we’ve refined how we evaluate a pitcher’s arsenal. Previously, Meta Overall did consider pitch mix and specific pitch combos (like sinker/cutter, 4-seam/changeup tunneling, etc., which we still account for ). Now we’re going a step further by looking at the quality of each pitch in a pitcher’s repertoire, not just the mix.
What does that mean? Essentially, having five pitches is nice, but having five effective pitches is game-changing. If a pitcher has, for example, three or more pitches with great movement and control ratings, they’re getting extra credit in Meta Overall. Think of pitchers like Greg Maddux in his prime – he might not throw 102 mph, but every pitch in his toolkit moves a ton or dots corners. Our Meta algorithm will identify those cards where almost every pitch can be a “go-to” pitch. These pitchers can keep hitters off-balance better than a guy who has one great pitch and a bunch of mediocre ones.
For example, a pitcher with 99 control on four pitches and high break (and decent velocity differentials) is likely to now sit higher in Meta ranks. In previous years, a flame-thrower with one nasty pitch might have been rated similarly to a crafty pitcher with five solid pitches. Now, the crafty five-pitch guy gets a boost because in practice, he can attack hitters in more ways. We’ve essentially introduced a new internal metric for “Pitch Quality Count” – how many pitches are rated, say, 85 or above in both control and break. The more high-quality pitches, the more a pitcher’s Meta Overall will benefit.
On the flip side, if a pitcher’s arsenal looks deep but, say, two of their five pitches have low 70s control or negligible break, we recognize those aren’t really effective weapons. That pitcher won’t get the arsenal boost and might rate lower in Meta than a simpler repertoire pitcher who at least has two elite pitches.
In summary, Meta Overall now rewards completeness and excellence in pitchers’ repertoires. Guys with multiple elite pitches (even if their velocity isn’t top-tier) will see higher Meta ratings, because they can still dominate through finesse. Power pitchers with only one or two pitch types to worry about might see a slight Meta drop unless those one-two punches are truly unhittable. This helps surface some under-the-radar arms that can excel for you, and warns you off pitchers who might look good until hitters figure out they can ignore half the pitch mix.
Introducing Meta+: A New Way to Measure a Card’s Value
In addition to the tweaks above, we’re excited to roll out a brand new metric on ShowZone: Meta+. If you’re familiar with baseball analytics, the “plus” stats (like OPS+ or ERA+) compare a player to the league average = 100. We’ve applied the same concept to Meta Overall for Diamond Dynasty cards.
Meta+ is a positional performance index. We set the average Meta Overall at 100 for each position (it’s normalized to league average at that spot), and a card’s Meta+ tells you how far above or below that average the card is. Every point above 100 equals 1% better than average (and below 100 is worse than average). For example, if a shortstop has a Meta+ of 140, that means our system considers him 40% better than the average shortstop in the current content pool. Conversely, a Meta+ of 85 for a first baseman would mean he’s 15% worse than the average 1B.
Why introduce Meta+? We wanted to give players an easy shorthand to compare cards, especially across different positions and as the year progresses. Raw Meta Overall values can creep up as new content drops (since later cards tend to be better), but Meta+ constantly re-centers to 100. This way, if today a Meta Overall of 90 at catcher is good, that might be Meta+ 120 (20% above average catcher). A few months from now, maybe new catchers have raised the bar, so a 90 Meta Overall could drop to Meta+ 100 (league average). Meta+ will update dynamically as new cards release and the “average” shifts.
The beauty is in the comparison: if your squad has a Meta+ 150 center fielder, you know he’s elite at his position without needing to deep-dive every stat – he’s roughly 50% better than a typical CF right now. It also helps identify “hidden gem” cards. Maybe a relief pitcher is only an 87 True Overall, but if his Meta+ is 130, that tells you he plays way above that – he might be as effective as some 99s relative to other relievers. And for theme teams or budget squads, Meta+ lets you quantify how your cards stack up against what others might be using.
We think Meta+ will be super handy for quick evaluations, lineup decisions, and even content creators or analysts looking to articulate a card’s value. It’s like warping the Meta Overall onto a universally understandable scale. High number good, low number bad – simple as that!
(One thing to note: because Meta+ is dynamic, a card’s Meta+ can change week to week. If a bunch of better cards at the same position drop, everyone else’s Meta+ will dip slightly since the average went up. We’ll display Meta+ on player pages and update it in real-time so you can see these shifts. It’s fun to watch the truly great cards maintain a high Meta+ all year, whereas others fade as power creep sets in.)
Conclusion: Making Sense of the New Ratings
All these updates – from the True Overall algorithm tweaks to the Meta Overall improvements and new Meta+ stat – are aimed at one thing: helping you make the best decisions for your Diamond Dynasty team. We want ShowZone’s ratings to reflect the reality of MLB The Show 25 as closely as possible, and that means constantly learning, adapting, and involving the community.
With True Overall now re-calibrated, you can trust that our ratings aren’t thrown off by SDS’s attribute shenanigans. With Meta Overall factoring in swings, pitchers, defense, clutch, and pitch quality, you have a more holistic view of how a card will actually perform when it matters. And with Meta+, you get instant context for any card’s value relative to the field.
We hope these changes make your team-building more informed and maybe even more fun. Don’t worry – we’ll continue to monitor the game’s meta (and listen to your feedback on Twitter, Discord, and beyond). If SDS drops something unexpected or the community discovers a new OP strategy, you can bet we’ll adjust our formulas accordingly. After all, Meta Overall is a living metric.
Thanks for reading this deep dive into our 2025 updates. Now go enjoy MLB The Show 25, try out some of these “meta” cards, and let us know what you think of the new True Overall and Meta calculations. Happy grinding, and see you on ShowZone!
Corey
Corey was the original founder of ShowZone.
