We’re getting closer and closer to the World Series and Season 5 in MLB The Show 23. While the staggered Postseason content feels a bit awkward timing wise overall, the Division Program drops some pretty interesting cards.

Let’s dig in.

MLB The Show 23 Division Series Program Breakdown

Like pretty much every program in Diamond Dynasty, you’ll need to accrue 100 program stars in order to complete the program and earn all the rewards. The big-daddy reward in this round is the 99 overall 2023 Postseason Nick Castellanos waiting at the end of the program path.

Moments

In the Division Program, there’s a total of ten “normal” Moments worth 2 program stars each. There’s also an optional “Extreme” Moment for you to sink your teeth into if you’re so inclined. This Extreme Moment requires you to tally a total of 16 Total Bases in one inning. If you do this successfully, you’ll earn another 10 program stars meaning you have a potential 30 program stars just from Moments alone.

PXP Missions

The expected round of PXP missions is here as well:

• REPEATABLE: Tally 2,500 PXP with Division Program players – 5 program stars
• Tally 1,500 PXP with 2023 Postseason cards – 5 program stars
• Tally 1,000 PXP with 2023 American League Division Series cards (Astros, Orioles, Rangers, Twins) – 5 program stars
• Tally 1,000 PXP with 2023 National League Division Series cards (Braves, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Phillies) – 5 program stars

Offline Stat Missions

The offline stat missions appear to be a bit easier to accomplish, thanks to the team specific missions combining two teams into the same mission. This should hopefully makes things a tad quicker for the offline grinders out there:

• Tally 30 Strikeouts with Division Series Program RP – 5 program Stars
• Tally 21 Innings Pitched with Division Series Program SP – 5 program stars
• Tally 10 Home Runs with Division Series Program hitters – 5 program stars
• Tally 20 Hits with Division Series Program hitters – 5 program stars
• Score 10 Runs with Diamondbacks or Rangers hitters – 5 program stars
• Tally 15 Extra-Base Hits with Astros or Phillies hitters – 5 program stars
• Tally 9 Innings Pitched with Braves or Twins pitchers – 5 program stars
• Tally 10 Strikeouts with Orioles or Dodgers pitchers – 5 program stars

Online Stat Missions

*Please note: Online stat missions do not stack with offline missions. All stats are separated between online and offline progress.*

There’s another significant spread of missions for online players. Considering the Event is Division Series themed, you can make quite a bit of progress just from spending time in the Event grinding stats – regardless of win/loss performance.

• Get On Base 15 times with 2023 American League Division Series hitters (Astros, Orioles, Rangers, Twins) – 5 program stars
• Tally 2 Wins with American League Division Series pitchers – 5 program stars
• Tally 5 Runs Batted In with National League Division Series hitters (Braves, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Phillies) – 5 program stars
• Tally 1 Quality Start with National League Division Series SP – 5 program stars
• Tally 5 Extra-Base Hits with Division Program hitters – 5 program stars
• Tally 15 Total Bases with Division Program hitters – 5 program stars
• Draw 3 Walks with Division Program hitters – 5 program stars
• Score 3 Runs with Division Program hitters – 5 program stars
• Tally 15 Strikeouts with Division Program RP – 5 program stars
• Tally 14 Innings Pitched with Division Program SP – 5 program stars
• Tally 5 Home Runs with Division Program hitters – 5 program stars
• Tally 10 Hits with Division Program hitters – 5 program stars
• Score 5 Runs with Division Program hitters – 5 program stars
• Tally 8 Extra-Base Hits with Astros or Phillies hitters – 5 program stars
• Tally 5 Innings Pitched with Braves or Twins pitchers – 5 program stars
• Tally 5 Strikeouts with Orioles or Dodgers pitchers – 5 program stars

Mini Seasons Voucher Collection

You can still earn Postseason Vouchers in the 2023 Postseason themed Mini Season. Every voucher you exchange is worth 3 program stars. If you haven’t completed a Mini Seasons run yet, those vouchers can be used in any Postseason program that gets released so you can balance the progress in this program and potentially use vouchers in the future.

Event Collection (Optional)

The newest event is of course Division Series themed, so program progress for the Division Series Program can be earned:

• Collect 2023 Postseason Cody Bradford (5-win reward) – 6 program stars
• Collect 2023 Postseason Anthony Santander (20-win reward) – 25 program stars
• Collect 2023 Postseason Edouard Julien (12-win entry reward) – 30 program stars

Conquest

Finally, the Division Series Program in MLB The Show 23 features a new Conquest map. Completing this map is obviously a great way to earn progress in the Stat and PXP mission categories. Doing so will earn you 20 program stars.

Rewards

This program is pretty card-heavy but there’s some other goodies to be earned as well:

• 1 Jumbo Show Pack
• 20 total Set 4 cards including 5-97 overall cards, 4-98 overall cards and 11-99 overall cards
• 14,000 XP

Getting 20 cards in one go is huge for those of us that haven’t completed the Set 4 Collection yet. The extra 14,000 XP is huge too, as the season winds down and completing the XP Reward Program path will surely earn Head Start Rewards in Season 5. All cards earned within the program are listed below:

• Nick Castellanos, RF Philadelphia Phillies (99 OVR)
• Yordan Alvarez, LF Houston Astros (99 OVR)
• Pablo Lopez, SP Minnesota Twins (99 OVR)
• Austin Riley, 3B Atlanta Braves (99 OVR)
• Josh Jung, 3B Texas Rangers (99 OVR)
• Bryan Abreu, RP Houston Astros (99 OVR)
• Lourdes Gurriel Jr., LF Arizona Diamondbacks (99 OVR)
• Will Smith, C Los Angeles Dodgers (99 OVR)
• Merrill Kelly, SP Arizona Diamondbacks (99 OVR)
• Jose Abreu, 1B Houston Astros (99 OVR)
• Michael Harris II, CF Atlanta Braves (99 OVR)
• Chris Paddack, RP Minnesota Twins (98 OVR)
• Tommy Pham, RF Arizona Diamondbacks (98 OVR)
• Brusdar Graterol, RP Los Angeles Dodgers (98 OVR)
• Ranger Suarez, SP Philadelphia Phillies (98 OVR)
• Brandon Marsh, LF Philadelphia Phillies (97 OVR)
• Matt Strahm, RP Philadelphia Phillies (97 OVR)
• Aaron Hicks, RF Baltimore Orioles (97 OVR)
• Tyler Wells, RP Baltimore Orioles (97 OVR)
• Pierce Johnson, RP Atlanta Braves (97 OVR)

 

That’s A Deep Drive To Left Field

Let’s take a closer look at some of my favorite cards in the Division Series Program. With 11 (!) new 99 overall cards in this program, we’re getting more juicy attribute cards than we usually do in programs. They aren’t all top-end 99 overalls, per se, so these highlighted cards are just the ones I expect to be popular or I personally find interesting.

CF 2023 Postseason Michael Harris II (Atlanta Braves)
Meta Overall rating: 103.02 – #63 CF

Not necessarily a top-flight offensive threat, Harris is still a solidly rounded card that can feasibly see some playing time with plenty of Outfielders rotating out soon. The elite Fielding and Speed means he’ll be tracking down pretty much everything in the field and the 100+ Contact against both sides is great. The Power is also pretty solid for a player of Harris’ caliber. This might be the Braves homer coming out in me, but I think this looks like a really fun card and I’ll probably have him starting in my Outfield once teammate Ronald Acuna Jr.’s All-Star Game card rotates.

C 2023 Postseason Will Smith (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Meta Overall rating: 107.67 – #9 C

Another card that shows up at the right time, Will Smith will be a popular option to replace the rotating All-Star Game Adley Rutschman. Will Smith is one of my favorite cards in Diamond Dynasty – period. I think Smith has one of the best swings in the game that always helps his cards play above their respective attributes. Show me a Will Smith card that features 100+ in the key offensive categories and I’ll show you my starting Catcher. Diamond Fielding and exceptional 67 Speed (for a Catcher) certainly doesn’t hurt. Smith also has the ability to play 3B if you’re so inclined.

LF 2023 Postseason Yordan Alvarez (Houston Astros)
Meta Overall rating: 103.55 – #84 LF

This might not be the absolute best version of Yordan we can get, but anytime there’s a 99 overall Yordan Alvarez it’s attention grabbing. This 2023 Postseason version kills righties as expected and merely holds its own against LHP. Though the Fielding comes stock at 71, you’re of course much better off running Alvarez at DH if you’re going to use him. Unless you want that 46 Speed costing you more runs than this card can probably help contribute offensively.

RF 2023 Postseason Nick Castellanos (Philadelphia Phillies)
Meta Overall rating: 102.99 – #83 RF; 1B: 107.95 – #18

Division Series hero and Doomsayer, Nick Castellanos is the ultimate reward in this program. While I watched Castellanos and his Phillies destroy my beloved Braves, it was a safe assumption that he’d get a pretty gnarly card for his performance.

I’d argue this card is a bit underwhelming compared to what it could have been. I mean – the dude hit 4 Home Runs and was absolutely torching the ball so it wouldn’t have been too crazy if he received 125 Power against both sides. Instead, we have to settle for a measly 118 Power against both sides with 108 CON R and 125 CON L. Of course, those numbers are still plenty good and Castellanos has an incredible swing. He also features 81 Fielding and a nice 69 Speed rating which means he won’t be a complete log in the outfield. Castellanos also features 1B eligibility where he ranks as a top-20 option at the position.

The Closer

The 2023 Division Series Program provides plenty of big and popular names, though the overall power level of the cards is a tad underwhelming. This feeling is mostly just continuation from the year-long power imbalance that came with the first year of Sets and Seasons. We’ve seen so many 99 overall cards this year, including alternate versions of guys in this very program. That reduces the excitement a bit as we’re just getting different numbers on virtually the same card.

Whether you think the cards are worth the grind or not, there’s plenty of fun cards here to at least enjoy for a bit. Grabbing 20 free Set 4 cards is also a huge win that will certainly help me as I race to complete the last couple tiers of the Set 4 Collection.

There’s the Division Series Program in Diamond Dynasty for MLB The Show 23! How do you feel about the cards in this program? Have you started grinding online more with the addition of online stat missions? Let us know in the comments!