Even in games with lots of statistical data like MLB The Show 21, opinion is a large factor when determining the best strategies. The "best" pitching staff might strike out a lot of players but allow more than average home runs. Meanwhile, the "worst" pitching staff might have a high ERA but allow very few walks. Everyone will have a preference.
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So a guide to the best batting stance will have to accommodate personal taste. A single change can lower a player's batting average by 50 points, or turn their home runs into pop flies if they aren't sure of what to do. This guide will be useful for all players from those looking to hit .400, to those who want to get consistent bunt singles, to those looking to win a home run crown every year of their career.
Updated on July 29th, 2021 by Hodey Johns: This guide has been helping players who are meticulous in crafting a batting stance that works for them. The best batting stance is something that serious gamers should tweak, try out, and tweak some more. But what about the gamers who just want to use a default stance and move on? Three sections have been added just for casual players looking for a great stance without needing to tinker around too much.
The first part of crafting a perfect batting stance should take place before ever playing the game. Each change made will be done with a goal in mind. The only question is what that goal might be.
Players should start by visualizing the results they want, and follow these steps to make a stance that is conducive to this. Is the goal to only hit home runs or line drives? Is it ideal to hit to one side of the field or toward all sides? Should the player completely high pitches or be more well-rounded? Answer these questions before messing around with the Motions & Sounds menu.
One of the easiest ways to get the results needed is to pick a player, current or former, that hits similar to the way that the player wants. Ted Williams, for example, hit for a little power, a lot of average, and was a dead pull hitter. Don't worry – these preset stances can be tweaked for small changes.
But don't be afraid to craft a custom stance either. Even the default stance can be turned into a deadly force on the diamond with some creativity. Pick one that looks good, and proceed to edit it.
One part of what makes a stance successful is how the player is designed on the field. Certain positions have natural affinities to hit for power, contact, or balance.
It's possible to design a third baseman who can lay down a solid bunt single, but it won't be as effective as a second baseman who does the same. Keep the affinity of the position in mind when thinking about strengths and weaknesses.
While many, even most, of these batting stance adjustments are for flavor, some make a practical difference in the game. One of these is the position of the bat. This positioning affects the speed of the swing and the time spent in the zone.
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Moving the bat further back will move faster through the zone, resulting in harder hit balls; however, this also increases misses and fouls. Moving the bat closer will create a wider contact area, at the expense of power and exit velocity.
The position of the front foot will change the tendency of balls to go left or right. Right-handed hitters will have a tendency to "pull" the baseball left, while lefties have the opposite issue.
A closed stance means the front foot is closer to the plate than the back foot. This will cut down on pull, whereas an open stance does the opposite. An open stance is good for gamers that are too late on pitches, while a closed stance is benefits gamers that are too early. For players with solid timing and a desire to hit to all fields evenly, keep the feet even.
Height and weight don't change anything, but posture makes all the difference in the world. Bringing the hips down will let players hit low pitches into the air, but cause them to pop out on high pitches. Bringing the hips up will let players crush high pitches, but force grounders on low pitches.
The same logic applies to how close the athlete's hips are to the plate. Bringing the hips back will crush inside pitches but will dribble outside pitches to the infield. Bringing the hips forward can help swat outside pitches, but the tradeoff is getting sawed off on the inside.
This is the most often missed step in creating the perfect stance, and it's easily the most important. After getting the stance looking right, leave the stance creator and go to the Animations tab. Scroll down to the Swing Type selection. The default swing is balanced, a two-handed swing hits for better contact, and a one-handed swing hits for more power.
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Always make the stance first and then change the animations. Doing this in reverse order will clear the animations after making the stance.
With hitting, timing is everything. The stride will drastically change the timing from when the button is clicked to when the bat makes contact with the ball. Slower strides have more power but take longer to connect the bat to the ball. Quicker strides have less power, but bring the bat to the ball faster for better reaction times.
Players should make this decision depending on how well they can predict a pitch or tell what kind of pitch is thrown early. A quick stride is great for players on harder settings when they have to decide on whether to swing or not in a fraction of a second.
Players will be able to hit for better contact and power against opposite throwing pitchers. Lefties beat righties and righties beat lefties. Batting switch is recommended for most stances, but there are two large caveats.
First, bunt-first players should always be right-handed because this gives them a faster jump to first base. Second, gamers will have to recommend that their weak and strong spots are vertically inverted when changing sides of the plate. If this is hard to remember, then stick to the more comfortable side.
Why pick a generic batting stance? Simply, picking another player's stance, even when adjusted, still looks like it is ripped off of that other player. Unique gamers want a player that performs differently than anyone who has ever played or is currently playing and so these generic stances will help out.
The folks over at Sony San Diego have been busy and there are now thirty-three pages of generic batting stances to upload. If this sounds daunting, it should. Thankfully, there are dedicated gamers who test out each and every stance and report back with their findings.
Balanced players should take a look at Veteran Stance 145. Anybody interested in power should consider Legend Stance 18 because it has that open stance and high arms that gamers seem to favor for slugging. Contact hitters will be grateful that a slew of two-handed hitting options exists, Generic Two-Handed Stance 2 is one of the best for small-ball enthusiasts.
Of course, the easiest way to go is to pick somebody that made a Hall of Fame career doing exactly what the player desires to do and copying that stance. The record books are full of 500-home run club members and lifetime .325+ batting average careers.
Gamers looking for juice should look no further than Mickey Mantle, whose stance laces balls from both sides of the plate over fences. Balanced players have seen the most success with Chipper Jones (2008), another switch hitter that can do it all. And he's not known for his stance, but Rickey Henderson is the best contact hitter with that low posture and closed stance; he's a bunting nightmare.
There is a reason the game is released every year. With arguably the freshest and most exciting faces of all time, baseball has never had more talent, so picking somebody at the top of the game right now is a smart move. There's a staggering forty-seven pages of players to sift through, but thanks to some hard work, playtesters have found the best handful.
For power, gamers have flocked to Robinson Cano and his wide and open stance, plus the bat is tucked back nicely. One of the most well-balanced player stances in the game belongs to Charlie Blackmon, it works out in the game as well as it does on the field. Dink-and-dunk players are drying up in modern-day baseball, but thankfully Luis Arraz is a phenom at contact hitting and his stance works wonders.
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