MLB The Show 26: 2026 MLB All-Star Game Content Launches in Diamond Dynasty

The massive All-Star week content is landing in MLB The Show 26 starting today. A huge influx of cards have flooded Diamond Dynasty, spread out amongst multiple programs, an Event, packs, and more. Business as usual continues as the 5th Inning XP program also launches today, featuring the first 99 OVR boss cards this year. There's a ton to get to, so let's get to gettin'.

5th Inning XP Program Breakdown

Generational icons and future Hall of Famers Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani are the 5th Inning Bosses. As you'd expect, most of the content at launch is 2026 MLB All-Star themed. The card art is never lacking in Diamond Dynasty, and the 2026 All-Star Game design is crisp and perfectly captures the vibe of the All-Star game and Americana. Along the path are some older premium packs which are massively appreciated for the continued pursuit of completing collections. There's also a couple of 2026 All-Star Game cards in the path including 97 OVR Catcher Drake Baldwin (Atlanta Braves) and 98 OVR Outfielder Aaron Judge (New York Yankees).

The program concludes at 300,000 XP with the Boss Choice Pack.

This is a really fun choice to have between the former teammates. This version of Trout is more offensive-powerhouse rather than the overall 5-tool elite superstar. Ohtani seems like the clear pick for my squad, as he's an elite arm with elite offensive attributes with the ability to play the same level of defense as Trout. Trout has better Speed, but the real treat is being able to dynamically change whichever Boss you choose with Diamond Parallel 5 mods. I feel like the 99 overall onslaught we get starting now will be more fun and dynamic than ever, with the freedom to truly iterate on your favorite cards and I look forward to seeing if this promotes line-up diversity as much as I think it should.

Cornerstone Ryan Howard Breakdown

Philadelphia Phillies legend Ryan Howard is the newest Cornerstone card. With the new Inning launching today, Howard represents the "power creep" as establishing a new baseline of 97 overall across Diamond Dynasty. You'll have to do Moments to complete this like previous Cornerstones, but new content also means more reasons to grind out the stat missions to double-dip on progress.

2026 AL All-Star Program Breakdown

I think it's fitting to highlight Justin Verlander from this side of the programs. Verlander announced that 2026 will be his final active season, before retiring and simply waiting for the first-ballot induction call for the Hall of Fame. We're talking about a 97 OVR iteration here, so the attributes aren't as tantalizing as we will get on the eventual 99 OVR Verlander. However, the attributes are still perfectly viable in online play and Verlander becomes more meta-relevant with some Parallel levels added. You get an Outlier 4-Seamer to go with a wicked Slider and Circle-Change. I'd rather see a Cutter on Verlander over a Curveball, but I think I can handle the 99 Break and 17% usage rate to make it a usable pitch.

Full list of players in this program:

• Nick Kurtz, 1B ATH (98 OVR All-Star)
• Justin Verlander, SP DET (97 OVR All-Star)
• Dillon Dingler, C DET (97 OVR All-Star)
• Jacob Latz, CP TEX (97 OVR All-Star)
• Ernie Clement, 2B TOR (96 OVR All-Star)
• Miguel Vargas, 3B CWS (96 OVR All-Star)
• Parker Messick, SP CLE (96 OVR All-Star)
• Randy Arozarena, LF SEA (95 OVR All-Star)
• Bryan Baker, CP TB (95 OVR All-Star)
• Joe Ryan, SP MIN (95 OVR All-Star)

2026 NL All-Star Program Breakdown

It's inevitable that the best players of today will have multiple top-tier cards in a game cycle. It is unavoidable if SDS is making a genuine effort to highlight real MLB action. The headliner of the NL side of the All-Star program is Juan Soto, who was just a Boss two Inning Programs ago.

There's going to be plenty of examples of this with the All-Star content every year. I'm personally excited that I have a new Matt Olson to start grinding Parallels with again, as the ultimate Diamond Mod form will be even better than my current P5 Diamond Mod Olson. This is the kind of replayability that was lacking in recent years, and while there's plenty of issues to point out with the game this year; I think it's important to highlight the positive side of things that sometimes get looked at from a purely negative standpoint.

Full list of players in this program:

• Juan Soto, LF NYM (98 OVR All-Star)
• Otto Lopez, SS MIA (97 OVR All-Star)
• Hunter Goodman, C COL (97 OVR All-Star)
• Cristopher Sanchez, SP PHI (97 OVR All-Star)
• Logan Webb, SP SF (96 OVR All-Star)
• Riley O’Brien, CP STL (96 OVR All-Star)
• Matt Olson, 1B ATL (96 OVR All-Star)
• Eduardo Rodriguez, SP AZ (95 OVR All-Star)
• Sal Stewart, 1B CIN (95 OVR All-Star)
• William Contreras, C MIL (95 OVR All-Star)

2026 All-Star Moonshot Event Program Breakdown

Celebrate the 2026 Home Run Derby in style with the latest Moonshot Event launching today. Take any batters you want to Citizen's Bank Park to face off against bronze and common pitchers. You should be able to knock out the missions for the program pretty quickly since you'll be blasting dingers with ease. You'll get a couple of 2026 All-Star Game packs for your efforts, as well as Event-exclusive reward 97 OVR 2026 ASG Yandy Diaz.

July Spotlight Drop 1 Program and Pack Breakdown

We're still getting the usual Spotlight content alongside the massive influx of All-Star content. You might be able to sneak some stealth-buys here if people are spending Stubs elsewhere.

The cards featured in this week's pack are:

• Eury Perez, SP MIA (97 OVR Spotlight)
• Garrett Mitchell, CF MIL (97 OVR Spotlight)
• Taj Bradley, SP MIN (95 OVR Topps Now)
• Gabriel Hughes, CP COL (95 OVR Topps Now)
• Cameron Cauley, 2B TEX (95 OVR Topps Now)

Pro Tip: Collecting all cards from July Spotlight Drop 1's pack completes this program without grinding any missions or Moments.

My Legacy - 2026 All-Star Game (Free 99 OVR Byron Buxton)

A very fun new wrinkle comes with the All-Star Game content. For the first time, there's a special My Legacy Mission subset that asks you to accumulate 250 Runs, 250 Strikeouts, and 250,000 PXP with 2026 All-Star Week cards including All-Star Game cards, Home Run Derby Cards, and Draft cards as they are released.

You will probably complete the first two tasks just by grinding all of the All-Star Game content that has been added already. Grind enough and you'll earn a free 99 OVR 2026 All-Star-Game Byron Buxton. It's non-sellable, but it's also the newest Chase card from Chase Pack 18. I can't remember there being anything like this added to the game before. I speak pretty much every week about the disappointment in the Chase cards being so unobtainable. Well, now the latest Chase card is obtainable in a way that doesn't require a bunch of Stubs.

A+

This is definitely a "tamer" 99 overall Buxton than we could have gotten...but think of the Parallel Mods! One of my favorite aspects of the mods is the added depth and separation between 99 overall cards. This is a great example of taking a solid "base" 99 and making your ideal version of Buxton. He's got 99 Speed with very weak 21 Stealing. You can work on improving his Steal attribute, and have a more lethal base-stealing version of Buxton or just pump everything into offensive and hit nukes.

2026 All-Star Game Mini Seasons Breakdown

2026 All-Star Game Diamond Quest Breakdown

2026 All-Star Game Conquest Map Breakdown

Notably, the major offline modes aren't getting exclusive card rewards. I love this because I play online the most, so having to boot up a Mini Season or Diamond Quest just to finish a collection has always been a bother. SDS stated they went out of their way to make it so the All-Star content can be completed by doing whatever you like doing. The amount of 2026 All-Star Game packs earnable in these grinds certainly supports that claim.

Weekend Classic

Weekend Classic is also launching today. Those jumping into the Ranked 1v1 solo fray will have a chance to earn a ton of rewards by racking up wins in the first 6 games played during the Weekend Classic. There's a trio of exclusive cards available as rewards in this round of Weekend Classic with two available in the Weekend Classic Choice Pack, and the other available in final leaderboard seeding payouts.

Aroldis Chapman and Ozzie Albies are the featured Weekend Classic Choice Pack players this round. Jacob Misiorowski returns to once again haunt anyone who dares pick up a baseball bat as the leaderboard reward.

I finally sat down and played into World Series this season, so I'll be jumping into Weekend Classic in Gold II. If I'm able to grab 4 wins, I'll be able to snap up Albies and Chapman at a minimum. I went 6-0 in the last Weekend Classic I played in the lower levels, so I'm expecting some tougher competition this time around. Either way, I'll definitely be adding Ozzie Albies to my team - even if I play poorly and have to buy him myself. Each of these three rewards are stellar and the perfect type of card to be rewarded for exceptional play, as they are all that good. The Miz is one of the best pitchers in baseball and subsequently also in Diamond Dynasty, so if you get your hands on the 99 OVR version you'll probably do just fine online. Ozzie is kinda nuts for a non-99 OVR second baseman, and Aroldis Chapman is every bit of the tank his best cards typically are.

Packs of the Week Round-Up

2026 All-Star Game Collection

There's a ton of new 2026 All-Star Game cards, so naturally there's a collection with some super-sweet top-end cards.

There's four different tiers to the 2026 All-Star collection.

Collect 15 - 2026 All-Star Game series cards to unlock 97 OVR Mason Miller (San Diego Padres)

Collect 25 - 2026 All-Star Game series cards to unlock 98 OVR Cam Schlittler (New York Yankees)

Collect 35 - 2026 All-Star Game series cards to unlock 98 OVR Bobby Witt Jr. (Kansas City Royals)

Collect 43 - 2026 All-Star Game series cards to unlock 99 OVR Yordan Alvarez (Houston Astros)

These are all excellent cards that should comfortably fit onto any squad. Yordan is always a powerhouse and you can't do much better from an offensive standpoint than the build on this version of him. Bobby Witt Jr. is one of the most exciting players in Major League Baseball and Diamond Dynasty, and this card puts him near the top of the list for best shortstops in Diamond Dynasty. Cam Schlittler has the benefit of not being seen a ton in Diamond Dynasty, but that might change with the addition of this card. Mason Miller is a known commodity with an Outlier 4-Seamer, disgusting primary Slider, and Circle Change/Sinker supplementary pitches that will make any hitter look foolish. The per/9's on this Miller are insane.

All-Star content is just getting started! Stay tuned to ShowZone for all 2026 All-Star content updates and breakdowns as they come!