The Major League Baseball Playoffs are about to begin, which means an onslaught of Postseason content is incoming. Before Postseason and Finest wrap up the year, Ken Griffey Jr. finally gets a 99 OVR alongside a huge new legend. We also take a look at the new Cornerstone player, September Spotlight Program, and highlight the new Weekend Classic rewards.
99 OVR Cornerstone Andrew McCutchen (Pittsburgh Pirates)
The Cornerstone player this month is Andrew McCutchen in Pittsburgh Pirates form. This card feels like a very good "career tribute" card from an attribute perspective. An offensive monster with a great swing, Cutch also carries 90 Speed but has a weaker steal factor of 52. Cornerstone Cutch also has "only" 80 Fielding, which gives him a Gold Shield, but falls short of the elite defense most 99 OVR outfielders want this time of year.
Enter Parallel Mods. Cards like this no longer feel boring, even if I don't personally grind them to Diamond Mods myself. You can take this card and slap a Speed/Defense Diamond Mod and have the equivalent of the "endgame" McCutchen cards that have headlined collections in the past.
Read more about Parallel Mods here and learn how to evolve your cards and truly make them your own.
8th Inning XP Program Breakdown
Any time is a great time for Griffey Time, and this year it's the 8th Inning XP Program. Ken Griffey Jr. joins new legend Roy Campanella in the Boss Pack. Elsewhere in the path, Finest Jake Arrieta is the main henchman, which sets the tone for a pretty zesty drop in terms of sheer star power.
Getting the Boss Pack at 275,000 feels really good this time of year. One thing I've loved about The Show 26 is how easy programs are to complete this year. I haven't really felt like I was slogging through a grind this year, which has kept me way more invested than I typically am heading into the Postseason.
September Spotlight Drop 3 Breakdown
The featured players in this week's program are:
- Brandon Lowe, 2B PIT (99 OVR Spotlight)
- Rhett Lowder, SP CIN (97 OVR Topps Now)
- Pavin Smith, 1B AZ (97 OVR Topps Now)
September Spotlight Pack 3 Breakdown
The players featured in this week's pack are:
- Cole Carrigg, CF COL (99 OVR Spotlight)
- Andrew Alvarez, SP WSH (99 OVR Spotlight)
- Cole Ragans, SP KC (97 OVR Topps Now)
- Jackson Holliday, 2B BAL (97 OVR Topps Now)
- Mark Vientos, 3B NYM (97 OVR Topps Now)
Cole Carrigg is already an extremely fun player to use, and I feel like a guaranteed future Diamond Dynasty Hall of Famer.
A switch-hitter with above-average attributes across the board offensively, with 90 Speed, solid defense, a 99/99 arm, and eligibility at six positions, including Catcher.
94 OVR Cole Carrigg vs 99 OVR Cole Carrigg
Weekend Classic Rewards Breakdown
Those venturing into the Weekend Classic can potentially earn these rewards depending on their division and leaderboard placement.
Each Weekend Classic features a two-player Choice Pack seeded at various reward levels. These players are typically elite, with leaderboard-exclusive cards occasionally popping up as well.
Cal Raleigh and John Donaldson are two very prominent names in Diamond Dynasty over the last couple of years. Raleigh is a max-power, elite offensive catcher who can also handle the position very well defensively. Switch-hitting with a sweet swing always plays, and Raleigh gets a massive card here commemorating his 60-HR season in 2025.
John Donaldson is one of the most feared arms in Diamond Dynasty. A primary slider with Outlier, as well as a secondary Outlier 4-seamer, makes Donaldson impossible to hit already. Add in the slurve that's 12+ MPH slower than the slider, and a forkball with 99 Break that will absolutely make you look like a fool. Donaldson is a challenge even for the best hitters, and would be my instant pick if I ended up with one of these Choice Packs.
The featured leaderboard reward for this Weekend Classic is Finest Babe Ruth.
The influx of Finest cards is a hint at what's to come after the Postseason, and Babe Ruth gets a 99 OVR here in what will be an incredibly rare card. Seeded in the top 10 leaderboard rewards of higher-ranked divisions, cards like this typically sit around 1 million Stubs for a while.
This is a vintage endgame Babe Ruth card. 125 in every major offensive attribute (sans 110 Vision) with ugly Fielding and passable enough Speed to not be a complete slug on the basepaths. In short, this is the hit-big-bombs and trot slowly Babe Ruth that I personally want to see in my virtual baseball video machine game.
Chase Pack 28 Featuring Finest Larry Walker
Wrapping up this week's content is the newest Chase Pack featuring Rockies Hall of Famer Larry Walker.
Donning Rockies colors in Finest form, Walker gets a very nice card here that showcases his Hall of Fame skill set. This Finest variant highlights his 1999 season, when he took home Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards, as well as being named an All-Star in a top-10 MVP balloting season.
The latest Chase Pack can always be found in a 50-pack Show Bundle, as well as randomly seeded in standard Show packs. Walker will cost a pretty penny, but Rockies fans will scoop this up for theme teams and have a blast with the card.
There's your breakdown on all of the new content hitting Diamond Dynasty today. Who are you taking as your 8th Inning Boss choice? Let us know in the comments!
