Negro Leagues Collection Featuring Larry Doby, John Donaldson Live Now

With Jackie Robinson Day rolling out a fresh batch of Storylines cards, we’ve now got our first major Negro Leagues Collection, featuring two legends — one of whom might just break the meta.

Collection Rewards: Doby and Donaldson

Here’s the breakdown of what you get for stacking Negro Leagues Series cards:

• Collect 13 Negro Leagues cards to unlock 89 overall Larry Doby

Larry Doby is a pretty well-rounded card with some positional flexibility. Doby is a CF by trade with fairly decent Fielding attributes to back up the offense. He offers a clean lefty swing, decent power, and respectable fielding. Even better is the middle infield eligibility at 2B and SS. Doby will probably fly under the radar considering the other collection reward, but this is a good card that should be fun. If you haven't used him, Doby has a sweet swing.

Now the real chaos begins.

John Donaldson is now available at 90 overall — and he’s free (eventually) if you grind.

Donaldson is routinely considered one of the most dominant pitchers in the game, and SDS releasing him this early is pure blissful chaos. He boasts an elite pitch mix, double Outlier (Slider and 4-Seam), and deceptive speed variation that hasn't stopped giving hitters nightmares. When Storylines Drop 3 hits in early May, most players will have the cards needed to unlock him without spending a Stub. Those that want the best possible squad right now? He'll be worth however many Stubs you drop.

Elite Heat

In the span of just a couple content drops, the starting pitcher meta has been completely flipped:

• Randy Johnson is back in the game as a Chase card and already commands a hefty price tag.
• Kerry Wood, available via Headliners, is relatively cheap and packs a punch.
• Satchel Paige is free in Multiplayer Program 2 Drop 1, and his pinpoint control + funky delivery makes him a nightmare.
• And now, John Donaldson enters the mix with overwhelming effectiveness and zero cost outside of your patience unless you want to spend to get him now.

This might be the best early-season pitcher pool we’ve ever seen in The Show. SDS is handing us meta arms at every budget level and John Donaldson might very well be the best of them all. With exit velocities being on the lower side, dominant pitching is really taking hold of the online meta.

Are you waiting to unlock Donaldson or working hard to get him now?