The latest Diamond Duos pack dropped and features two Charisma Series cards – SP Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals) and SS Ozzie Smith (St. Louis Cardinals). Let’s take a closer look at how these cards stack up against the rest.

Diamond Duos Pack 8

Charisma Series Max Scherzer

Mad Max gets his first 99 overall card of the year with this Charisma Series card. Max Scherzer typically comes loaded with a pretty good pitch mix and I think that holds true here. While Scherzer lacks a Sinker or even a 2-Seamer, he brings respectable velocity and a solid range on speed differentials that should help you keep batters off-balance. While the idea of coupling a Slider, Slurve and Cutter together might seem less then ideal considering they break in the same direction – the speed differentials and depth of the break are key.

Scherzer’s Cutter has a 5 MPH speed differential from the 4-Seamer, the Slider has an 11 MPH differential and the Slurve has a 17 MPH differential. So yes, these pitches break in the same direction, but their varying speeds will allow them to be tunneled off each other and truly disrupt a hitter’s timing. The Slider has max Break and max Control, which alone can be a deadly combo with a hard 4-Seamer. When you factor in a fairly hard Cutter with enough of a differential to generate early swings and a Slurve that’s considerably slower, you have enough here to work with. You can then drop in the Circle Change at 84 MPH and manipulate your opponent’s timing with five unique speeds.

With a card like this, you can typically use the Slider as the primary pitch and work off it with the 4-Seamer and other pitches to truly carve up hitters.

Attribute wise, Scherzer’s H/9 is a rather pedestrian 95 but he possess an elite 108 BB/9 to pair with his considerable Control. Mad Max gets a little madder with runners in scoring position as he buckles down with his 102 PCLT which off-sets the H/9 a bit.

The major knock on this card is the lack of Quirks. This version of Scherzer has exactly zero, which doesn’t make him unusable but certainly doesn’t help his cause any.

Charisma Series Max Scherzer clocks in as the 11th overall SP with a True Overall of 101.78, but falls way down the rankings with a 17th overall ranking in Meta Overall. A solid pitch mix with good speed differentials will allow this Scherzer to have some success, but ultimately this card lacks true staying power as it’s dwarfed by many cards already available.

Charisma Series Ozzie Smith

The second featured card in this pack is The Wizard himself – Ozzie Smith. I feel like Ozzie has a bit more value this year as contact hitters seem to be thriving with the new hitting improvements in MLB The Show 23. Smith should be slicing liners and stretching for extra bases with his 92 Speed. You can also play mindgames with your opponents as they’ll have to keep an eye on Smith thanks to his nearly maxed Stealing capabilities.

Offensively, Smith brings switch-hitting to your lineup with very good Contact and Clutch ratings and a bit more pop than typically expected. This version of Ozzie Smith doesn’t feature the wild Power we saw last year, but there’s plenty of pop in this bat to shoot balls into the gap. I think you can slot Smith in at SS and not feel like you’re hiding his bat.

Defensively, we get the expected 99 Fielding with 90 Arm and nearly maxed out Accuracy and Reaction. With fielding more important than ever, especially on tough throws on the infield, Ozzie Smith is arguably more relevant than he’s ever been with this Charisma Series release.

Charisma Series Ozzie Smith is quite literally a current top-10 SS as he ranks in at 10th overall in both True Overall and Meta Overall. If you want a knock on this card, the lack of secondaries limits versatility. Smith will only ever play SS for you, but he’s going to play an immaculate SS for you with elite speed and brings enough to the table offensively to warrant an extended look.

Diamond Duos Pack 8 is currently available in the Show Shop for 7,500 Stubs with a maximum of 5 purchases allowed. For the high-rollers, the Diamond Duos Choice Pack is available at a cost of 40,000 Stubs that features increased odds at pulling the Diamond Duos featured cards as well as a guaranteed Gold and Diamond uniform item.

Do either of these new cards make your Squad? Let us know in the comments below!