With the 3rd Inning Program launching recently, the next big content update to come was today's massive online rewards refresh.
Ranked Seasons 3 and Multiplayer Program 3 launch concurrently, giving online players a ton of new rewards to chase.
Of course, all online modes in Diamond Dynasty feed into the Multiplayer Program. The Ranked program itself is standalone, with a leaderboard and tiered rewards culminating in a World Series Choice Pack that offers a choice between 94 OVR All-Star Chris Sale and 94 OVR Awards Alex Bregman.
MLB The Show 26 Ranked Seasons 3 World Series Rewards Breakdown
Reaching the World Series division in Ranked Seasons means reaching the 800-range. Last season, I went 9-2 and ended up a game or two shy of World Series but ran out of time to finish my push. So, to initially reach World Series at 800 it looks like it would require 10-15 games if you're as efficient as possible. Along with the new World Series rewards, ratings have reset which brings a drop in overall rating.
The climb gets shorter if you play Ranked consistently, but are this months' rewards worth chasing?
First we'll take a look at Awards Alex Bregman.
This Houston Astros iteration of Bregman is a very balanced card, but perhaps not as sexy as some might wish to see with Ranked rewards.
His offensive profile is very balanced, with his lowest rating the 85 POW R with a spread up to 95. Cards with 90+ Vision will typically perform better on Hall of Fame difficulty and above, making Bregman a more competitive pick perhaps than an All-Star-masher. I will also throw in my attestation that Bregman has a great swing in-game, and has always been a legitimate extra-base hit machine for me.
Seeing as this is a Gold Glove Awards card, Bregman gets a Diamond shield with 90 Fielding making this the absolute best example of just a really good card.
After the recent refresh to Meta and True Overall, Awards Alex Bregman lands as the #18 Meta Overall 3B.
The other option in the Ranked 3 World Series Choice Pack is 94 OVR All-Star Chris Sale in Boston Red Sox colors.
I'm a huge fan of Chris Sale. Not just because he's become the bonafide ace of my beloved Atlanta Braves, but because he's an absolute joy to use in Diamond Dynasty. Sale possesses elite velocity and break across his entire repertoire. His 4-Seamer will touch 100 MPH and is actually his primary pitch on this card, versus his Live Series being a primary Slider. That Slider is Sale's trademark pitch, and gets 99 Break with the ridiculous 18-20 MPH speed differential off the fastball.
Add in the max-break Circle Change and Sinker and you have a top-5 SP, as this Sale debuts as the #4 Meta Overall SP. Sale is absolutely nasty, and a pitcher that should be successful for any skill-level pitcher.
Were I to make World Series this season, All-Star Chris Sale is an easy pick for me.
MLB The Show 26 Multiplayer Program 3 Breakdown
Alongside the new Ranked season is the refreshed Multiplayer Program. This is the all-encompassing program that rewards play across online DD modes, bringing free Stubs, packs, and exclusive players through earning XP.
The third Multiplayer Program gets a huge new addition with the new wheel attached to the Multiplayer Program. Identical to the wheel at the end of the Inning Programs, the Multiplayer Program Wheel rewards players for continuing to earn XP after completing the program. So, no matter how quickly you may finish this program and earn your free 50-Bundle, continuing to play after now rewards you with additional wheel spins.
This is one of the biggest additions to Diamond Dynasty in years. The game is so grind-for-reward dependent that completing the programs leaves some emptiness when everything is complete. I find the game plays great this year (at least until the return of the foul ball epidemic) so that is reward enough, but it's not our fault we've been conditioned to expect goodies for playing virtual baseball.
Now we get more goodies.
The newest batch of program-exclusive multiplayer rewards features a couple of surprisingly good cards, and a couple of so-so cards that certainly have their places.
93 OVR Standout Freddie Freeman is the final reward at the end of the program, but doesn't necessarily rate out as the "best" card in this program. Make no mistake; this Freddie card is a very solid first baseman. However, corner infield is a pretty deep position already at this point of the year. Still, he rates out top-10 but that doesn't necessarily differentiate him much from those around him. Great swing, though!
The coolest aspect of this card is the 3B eligibility. Freeman has been a first baseman his entire career, but during a 2017 Matt Adams hot streak, Freddie volunteered to play 3B to keep Adams' potent bat in the lineup. To date, this marked the only time in Freeman's career he played a position other than first base. Quite a unique card for Frederick, and not something we see very often so perhaps it warrants some play time?
Former Braves' teammate Max Fried gets an Awards series card, joining Freeman in the early-season Braves theme-team dominance.
I did not expect to see Max Fried land as the #2 Meta Overall SP when I saw him in the reward path. A legitimate MLB ace on the actual playing surface, Fried cards have often failed to translate to online gameplay in my experience. Perhaps it has just been how I sequence with him, but this insanely high ranking has me frothing at the bit to give my former ace a try in Ranked to see what he looks like against good hitters.
Fried does have 90 Fielding which is probably propping up the rating a bit. His 79 H/9 certainly isn't sexy, though he'll predictably do well against lefties. Low K/9 versus both sides is at least floated by the 98 Control and 109 Clutch. That 99 Stamina should play pretty well too, as my experience in Ranked so far with fairly efficient pitching has seen sub-90 Stamina pitchers struggled to make it into the fifth inning - even without getting shelled.
Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner is the other card to debut in the top-10 Meta Overall at their respective position. Coming in at #5 Meta Overall 2B, Hoerner brings truly elite Contact and Fielding attributes along with an 84 Speed/90 Stealing body.
I haven't used Hoerner cards in the past, but I am very intrigued with this card along with some Power mods. As is, this is still an absurdly high-level friendly second baseman that might be a fun new addition to test out once earned.
The very first card you'll earn in the program is 92 OVR Awards Anthony Volpe of the New York Yankees.
There's not much exciting here, especially compared to the other shortstops we've seen recently. Obviously a nice addition for Yankees' theme teams, the little bit of pop Volpe has probably doesn't stand out enough to warrant play for most with the rest of the shortstop player pool available.
MLB The Show 26 Headliners 08 Featuring Gil Hodges
Wrapping up the content for today is the newest Headliner pack that brings Los Angeles Dodgers Hall of Famer Gil Hodges into Diamond Dynasty with a 93 OVR Awards series card.
The above description of Freddie Freeman also applies to Gil Hodges, almost to a T. Hodges debuted last year and was absurdly good, with one of the snappiest and crackiest swings I've seen in DD in a while. This Awards version obviously won't have the same high-level attributes as the collection reward version from last year, but we're getting a pretty solid lite version here.
Balanced across the board offensively with a favoring of Contact versus Power ever-so slightly, with the ability to earn a Diamond shield at Parallel 5. Dead Red and Breaking Ball Hitter Quirks are two of the best for hitters, and Hodges has them.
This could be a sneaky good card for those still needing a first baseman or DH.
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