Major League Baseball’s regular season has come to a close and playoff baseball is upon us. As the remaining teams begin battle to determine the eventual World Series champion, the content cycle in MLB The Show 23 keeps chugging. September had plenty of stellar performances but there can be only one Lightning Guy.

Let’s jump into the program so we can talk more about Juan Soto.

MLB The Show 23 September Monthly Awards Program Breakdown

The program structure largely remains the same, though there are some new wrinkles. For starters, the online missions that SDS recently introduced have returned. Considering the newest Event is September Monthly Awards themed, players have the option of progressing through the Monthly program even quicker. This was long overdue and it’s exciting to see that SDS realized this and appears to be keeping it for good.

The other wrinkle is in the form of Mini Seasons. There’s a new Monthly Awards themed Mini Seasons where you can build a squad of Monthly Awards, Topps Now, Captains and Live Series cards as you march through the offline Seasons mode. There’s missions to be completed along the way as well and you’ll be able to earn up to five booster packs featuring Monthly Awards cards. Winning the Mini Seasons Championship will also net you a 99 overall Retro Player of the Month Carlos Pena.

There’s an associated collection for these cards as well.

Mini Seasons Collection

Collect the following cards from Mini Seasons to progress in the program:

• Ramon Urias, 3B Baltimore Orioles (97 OVR) – 2 program stars
• Cole Irvin, SP Oakland Athletics (97 OVR) – 2 program stars
• Andres Munos, RP Seattle Mariners (97 OVR) – 2 program stars
• Bryan Reynolds, CF Pittsburgh Pirates (97 OVR) – 2 program stars
• Ty France, 1B Seattle Mariners (97 OVR) – 2 program stars
• Carlos Pena, 1B Tampa Bay Rays (99 OVR) – 15 program stars

With a potential 25 program stars to bear earned, this is a great addition for offline-only players. There’s some really fun team builds that can be made to fit this Mini Seasons run with an interesting 99 overall reward on top of the program stars.

Topps Now Collection

As usual, the best possible start to the Monthly Program is making sure you’re caught up on Topps Now. Lock in the required cards from September’s Topps Now program and you’ll earn 10 program stars right off the bat. You’ll earn the two Captains (Jack Flaherty and J.D. Martinez) and a couple Monthly Awards cards to get your grind started immediately.

Moments

September’s program features a total of twenty-two Moments worth 2 program stars each. Complete all the Moments for a total of 44 program stars, which will get you nearly half way through the program.

PXP Missions

The PXP missions for September are as follows:

• Tally 500 PXP with Captain Jack Flaherty – 5 program stars
• Tally 200 PXP with Captain J.D. Martinez – 5 program stars
• Tally 1,000 PXP with September Monthly Awards hitters (including Captain Martinez) – 5 program stars
• Tally 1,000 PXP with September Monthly Awards pitchers (including Captain Flaherty) – 5 program stars
• Tally 5,000 PXP with any September Monthly Awards players – 15 program stars

Completing all PXP missions will earn you 35 program stars.

Stat Missions

As mentioned previously, the online stat missions have returned. No matter how you prefer to play Diamond Dynasty, you can play your way and earn progress.

*Online stat mission requirements are in (parentheses). The listed program stars are earned separately between offline and online, but both can be earned.*

• Tally 27 (18) IP with September Monthly Award pitchers – 6 program stars
• Tally 30 (15) Strikeouts with September Monthly Award pitchers – 5 program stars
• Tally 50 (25) Total Bases with September Monthly Award hitters – 5 program stars
• Tally 15 (8) Extra Base Hits with September Monthly Award hitters – 5 program stars

There’s a total of 21 program stars up for grabs for both offline and online stat grinds, respectively.

Event Collection (Optional)

The newest Event is Monthly Awards themed and adds another layer of program stars for online players to rack up. Collect the following players:

• Collect Monthly Awards Tyler Naquin (5-win reward) – 6 program stars
• Collect Retro Player of the Month Fernando Tatis Jr. (20-win reward) – 25 program stars
• Collect Retro Player of the Month Tyler O’Neill (12-win entry reward) – 30 program stars

Set 3 Player Exchange (Optional)

Finally, there’s an exchange within the program that requires 500,000 exchange points from your Set 3 cards. This exchange only pays out 10 program stars and is no where near being worth it. I highly advise you save any potential exchange cards for Team Affinity as there’s plenty of ways to complete Monthly Awards without doing this.

Highlight Heroes

The two cards I want to highlight from this program are both relievers. We got 99 overall cards in the program, outside of the Lightning Guy, but only one of them felt worth highlighting to me. The other is actually 97 overall Jake Diekman. Diekman features a funky delivery from the left side and is typically one of the stronger southpaw relief options. The Monthly Awards version this month features 125 H/9, 125 K/9 and 125 Clutch. The BB/9 is scarily low at 67 and the Control ratings are pretty weak across the board. But how many high-powered lefty relievers feature a five-pitch-mix with elite velocity and meta pitches? Jake Diekman does. With bullpen options a premium right now, I think having Diekman in your bullpen is well worth it as the nasty stuff and wonky delivery can help offset the lack of Control.

The other reliever I want to highlight is 99 overall James McArthur. The Royals’ reliever features 125 H/9, 102 K/9, 115 BB/9 and 125 Clutch. McArthur also features a meta pitch-mix with a primary Slurve with 99 Control and 99 Break at 83 MPH, a Sinker with 99 Control and 99 Break, a Slider at 87 MPH with 95 Control and 97 Break, a 4-Seamer at 93 MPH and a Cutter at 90 MPH with 81 Control and 87 Break. There isn’t elite velocity here and McArthur’s 4-Seamer is actually slower than the Sinker. But a Sinker/Slurve/Slider combination with a hard Cutter to boot should be really strong against right-handed hitters. Exercise extreme caution against lefties, however, as the lack of a Changeup or Splitter limits McArthur’s effectiveness.

LF Player of the Month Juan Soto (San Diego Padres)

Meta Overall rating: 111.87 – #9 LF

Talk about going out with a bang. The final Lightning Guy for MLB The Show 23 is Juan Soto in peak form. Soto is far beyond elite just from an attributes standpoint, featuring 125 CON R, POW R and POW L. The 107 CON L doesn’t look too bad considering Soto also has 125 Clutch.

Beyond the offensive attributes, Soto has long had one of the community’s most favored swings. Soto cards typically mash despite the attributes, so loading up a Soto card with these attributes amounts to nothing less than an early Christmas present. We’ve seen a lot of cards not get Quirks, but Soto gets Dead Red at least which gives him a boost against Fastballs.

Oh yeah – this Soto actually has decent defensive attributes as well. Featuring 81 stock Fielding, 87 Arm Strength and 84 Reaction, Soto isn’t the worst fielder we’ve seen. The 60 Speed isn’t strong and I always advise against slow outfielders, but I might actually consider this card in my outfield depending on who I want to run at 1B and DH. I haven’t acquired all the elite cards throughout the year, so the Mike Trouts of the world aren’t in my collection. This Juan Soto card just might start in my outfield.

The Closer

The September Monthly Awards Program delivers one of the strongest Lightning Guys we’ve seen. With some solid relievers included as well, this final Monthly Awards closes on a strong note. Juan Soto is one of the most popular players in Diamond Dynasty and gets an amazing card. SDS stays the course and includes online missions as well as introducing a Mini Seasons option which only expands the possibilities for players.

This very much feels like an “old school” SDS program in that it features strong content and has variety included. Things have gone astray throughout the year, with the advent of Sets and Seasons as well as SDS erring more on the side of premium pack content. Getting to grind however we choose for an amazing card that is free feels like the Diamond Dynasty we all fell in love with.

What are your thoughts on the September Monthly Awards Program? Will you start Juan Soto in your outfield? Will any of the other cards in the program make your squad? Let us know in the comments below!