Hitting is arguably the most important of MLB The Show 25. It’s something that almost all players, except for exclusive pitchers, have to do at least three times a game, regardless of whether you’re in Quick Play, Road to the Show, Diamond Dynasty, or another game mode. Unfortunately, hitting also happens to be one of the tougher aspects in MLB The Show 25, especially if you’re a new player who’s not used to the controls.
While the game does help you out with tutorials and offers you to try out some different settings to optimize your preferences, those can only take you so far. To really step up your game in MLB The Show 25, you need to ensure you’re using the best overall settings that make it easiest to hit and hit well when you’re at the plate.
Below, you can find a list of every hitting setting in MLB The Show 25, which ones you should use, and a little background on the settings themselves.
List Of Best Hitting Settings In MLB The Show 25
In total, there are dozens of individual hitting settings that you can customize to your liking across any game mode in MLB The Show 25. However, you can only unlock the full slate of settings if you use a certain Hitting Interface.
The Hitting Interface is the general method you use to hit the ball and what you press on your controller to do that. There are three different Hitting Interface options in MLB The Show 25, and different players feel strongly that their favorite option is the best one. It mostly comes down to preference and what you feel comfortable with, but there are only two interfaces that unlock the entire list of hitting settings.
You can either use the Zone or Directional Hitting Interface to unlock the rest of the settings in the hitting menu. If you use “Timing,” then a plethora of the hitting settings are locked. Timing is the easiest Hitting Interface to use, though, so if you want an uncomplicated hitting experience in MLB The Show 25, then you can choose that one and never think about hitting settings again.
For those of you who want full control over your hitting, you want to go with either Zone or Directional. I’ll explain why later on, but for now, here’s a list of the best hitting settings that use the Zone or Directional Hitting Interface.
All Hitting Settings In MLB The Show 25
- Hitting Interface: Zone
- Swing Input: Buttons
- Guess Pitch: Off
- PCI Anchor: Preset
- PCI Anchor Dots: On
- PCI Center: Bat
- PCI Inner: Basic
- PCI Outer: None
- PCI Color: Some bright color that you can see easily (red, yellow, etc.)
- PCI Opacity: 70%
- PCI Fadeout: None
Naturally, all of these settings depend on whether or not you select the Zone Hitting Interface. If you choose Timing, then none of the PCI settings matter to you. If you pick Directional, you have the best of both worlds, but you’ll also need to pick more Directional-specific settings.
You can find these settings in MLB The Show 25 by going to the “Settings” menu in any game mode, going to “Control,” and then looking at the “Hitting” section, which is the first one that shows up.
Best Hitting Interface In MLB The Show 25
As I previously mentioned, the Zone Hitting Interface is the best option in MLB The Show 25. This is the most advanced way to hit in the game, but it also provides you with the most control over how you swing at pitches and connect with the ball.
With the Zone interface, you use your left analog stick plus an input to swing at balls. You can either use the buttons as your input, the right analog stick, or a combination of the two. For the most part, I would say to go with the buttons, as this easily allows you to choose between a normal swing, power swing, or contact swing. If you have to use your right stick, you might mess up and pick the wrong swing since the direction you pull the stick can be finicky at times.
If you decide to go with the Timing Hitting Interface, you’ll be limiting yourself to just swinging at pitches solely based on when you think they’re going to cross the plate. You don’t have any control over your swing path with this interface, though, so you might miss more pitches or foul off pitches even if your timing was “good.”
What Is PCI In MLB The Show 25 And Should You Use It?
Easily one of the most daunting aspects of using the Zone Hitting Interface in MLB The Show 25 is the PCI settings. PCI stands for plate-coverage indicator, and it’s used to give your hitter more control over their swing path, where they connect with a ball, and the timing of their swing.
PCI gives you a reticle in the strike zone that you can fully customize in terms of how it looks and behaves. You’re able to place the PCI reticle in different spots depending on what kind of pitcher is on the mound and you can customize the color and size of the reticle, along with what icon appears. Personally, I’ve always found it makes the most sense to use the “Bat” icon.
By using the PCI reticle and settings, you’re able to get a better idea of where your hitter is going to contact the ball. If you’re a new player, this can be extremely difficult to understand and learn the first time you’re at the plate. However, if you think of the PCI reticle as a crosshair on a gun in a shooter game, it starts to make more sense.
You simply want to put the PCI reticle where the ball is going and then swing when you think the timing is right. If you place your PCI reticle in the wrong position, your hitter likely won’t make good, or any, contact with the ball, regardless of how on-point your timing was. So pairing PCI and timing together gives you maximum control of your hitting.
Of course, some players have always been vehemently against using PCI, claiming it overcomplicates hitting in MLB The Show 25. It’s ultimately up to you, but if you’re playing in an online environment against real players, you almost always want to use PCI.
In Road to the Show or another offline game mode, though, you can mostly get away with using the Timing Hitting Interface and simplifying things for your hitter.
Best Hitting Camera Angle In MLB The Show 25
Finally, the last setting I’m going to cover for your hitting needs is the camera angle. While this might seem not as important as the other settings I’ve gone over, it can actually make a massive difference in your plate approach and how you see the ball from the pitcher’s hand.
You can customize your camera angles in MLB The Show 25 by going to the Settings menu, tabbing over to the “Camera” section, and then viewing the different camera angle options. You want to primarily focus on the “Offense” section if you’re honing in on hitting.
Primarily, you’re looking at changing the “Hitting View” camera angle. There are a plethora of different options here, but the default option is “Catcher.” While there is nothing wrong with this camera angle, you can certainly do better.
My personally preferred camera angles are the “Strike Zone” options. I’ve been going back and forth between Strike Zone 1 and 2, as these both offer terrific looks at the pitcher and the ball as it’s coming towards the plate. I find that these options allow me to better understand the timing of pitches, and that gives me a better chance to properly place my PCI reticle.
However, I highly recommend going into a Practice mode in MLB The Show 25 and trying out a bunch of different camera angles to see which one you prefer. Maybe you really do prefer the default Catcher angle, but there are a ton of others to try. They include Fish Eye, Offset, Retro, Wide, Zoom, and all the Strike Zone options I mentioned. Each camera angle also has different sub-options as well.
When it comes to hitting in MLB The Show 25, whatever settings make you hit the ball better and farther is what you should be using. If you were looking for a starting spot, though, I hope I laid out everything nicely so that you know where to begin at the very least.
