Tuesday’s content drop features two lowkey names that deliver high-powered cards. Prime Ralph Kiner (Pittsburgh Pirates) and Charisma Tyler Matzek (Atlanta Braves) join the fray and pack quite a punch.

Diamond Duos Pack 12

Prime Ralph Kiner (Pittsburgh Pirates)

Ralph Kiner’s 99 overall cards typically have nearly maxed offensive attributes. Kiner cards also typically lack Speed and Fielding attributes strong enough to warrant an extended look. However, with the Designated Hitter firmly in place now in MLB The Show 23, Ralph Kiner suddenly stands strong as one of the best DH options in the game.

Kiner has immense Power against both sides, mashing RHP with 125 Power and LHP with 116 Power. With his Contact ratings of 106/125 against RHP/LHP respectively, Kiner has an offensive profile to envy. A fairly low Clutch rating of 86 and fairly bad Speed at 52 are the big knocks on Kiner’s offensive profile. Defensively, we get what we expect here as Kiner is someone you really don’t want in the field – especially this year. You can try to hide him at 1B but there’s a strong chance he isn’t bailing out any bad throws on the infield.

Kiner also brings some serious Quirks into the equation. Dead Red, Breaking Ball Hitter and Bad Ball Hitter are some of the most coveted offensive Quirks in the game. What’s interesting with Kiner is he also features Rally Monkey, Pinch Hitter and Table Setter which all make him an extremely deadly option to pinch-hit with late in the game. That low Clutch rating will rear its ugly head throughout the game with runners in scoring position. The jury is still out on how much it matters but it’s been something I look at all year.

Is Ralph Kiner bringing DH platooning to the meta? The Quirks and attributes support that unconventional usage. Speaking of Meta, Prime Ralph Kiner’s Meta Overall rating of 105.41 across his eligible positions which has him as the 14th best overall card at those positions . Kiner’s Meta Overall rating at DH of 104.09 ranks him as the 17th best offensive player in the game.

Charisma Tyler Matzek (Atlanta Braves)

At this point I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that we see elite versions of players that typically don’t get elite cards. I still find myself blown away in the best way that Tyler Matzek gets a 99 overall Charisma series card this early in the year. It’s honestly one of many reasons that I absolutely love this new Sets and Seasons format of Diamond Dynasty. It opens up the kind of content we can see and getting a card like this isn’t just cool for Braves fans like me – it adds an elite LHP option to many bullpens across the meta.

The core attributes are amazing. 125 H/9, 125 K/9 and 125 PCLT are absolutely perfect on a reliever like Matzek. The BB/9 at 83 will give you a fairly big PAR to work with but it comes down to how you utilize the stuff that Matzek possesses.

Matzek throws gas and has pretty firm Control on the heater with 93 Control. Matzek also brings a Slider to the mix at 85 MPH with max 99 Break and 86 Control. It gets a little dicey after the primary and secondary pitches. Matzek also has a fairly slow Curveball that’s around 81 MPH with 72 Control and 78 Break. That means you probably don’t want to use the Curveball a ton but it should allow you to at least break a hitter’s timing if used properly. Matzek also has a Cutter that sits around 90 MPH with 76 Control and 73 Break. This Cutter, despite being his 4th best pitch, might be the key pitch in the mix. You’ll most likely have better luck using the Cutter to get hitter’s off the Slider rather than the Curveball. The Curveball might be best used as a get-me-over strike against RHP or a good first pitch to lefty hitters.

This Matzek has no Quirks so it’s all attributes and pitch mix here.

Charisma Tyler Matzek’s Meta Overall rating of 88.66 might not look the strongest amongst all bullpen arms. However, in terms of lefty relievers he’s the 4th best option ahead of guys like the recently released Retro All-Star Game Sean Doolittle and Live Series Josh Hader. For me, he’d go directly into my bullpen on my Braves theme team and might even wander into my main squad’s bullpen if I can land him at a decent price.

What about you? Are either of these cards making your squad?