The Plate Coverage Indicator penalty has been driving players nuts since MLB The Show 23. Now, with MLB The Show 26 around the corner, fans still loathe the painful routine: you think you’ve squared up a tough pitch, get the timing right, but your PCI just shrinks to nothing on that low-and-away slider.
People expected SDS would finally change it or get rid of it completely, but they did not. Recent gameplay updates make it obvious: PCI shrinkage is here to stay.
How PCI Shrinkage Actually Works
PCI shrinkage comes down to seven key factors. First, your player’s contact rating sets the base size. Then, a bunch of modifiers kick in during the pitch. If it’s a breaking ball and it’s low or on the outer half, the PCI shrinks even more. Same-handed matchups are rather brutal, where PCI gets even smaller.
Ambush swings, clutch situations, and greater difficulties all make things harder. Fans often complain about same-side sliders or curves. The PCI is tiny, and your swings turn into whiffs of weak contact. SDS fixed other stuff quickly, like wind or stat quirks, but this one’s still here.
What The MLB The Show 26 Reveals Say
MLB The Show 26 released a gameplay trailer on February 4, showing no real changes to PCI shrinkage. Instead, we’ve got new hitting options — Big Zone Hitting lets you pick a part of the strike zone.
Fixed Zone Hitting lets you lock your PCI in one spot for the whole at-bat. And if you want, there are sliders for PCI sensitivity, so you can tweak the feel. These help newcomers and Zone hitters without messing up the core penalty, yet PCI shrinkage stays unchanged.
They did add better scouting with pitch history by count, handedness, and matchups to Dynasty mode. However, there are no changes to shrinkage here. Prepping turns smarter, but if you guess wrong on a tough pitch, expect to get punished.
Why It Stays For Balance
It’s all about balance in Diamond Dynasty. Without it, people would just spam contact swings at the edges and load up lineups with no real strategy. Switch-hitters get a real edge here since they skip same-side penalties. If SDS scraps PCI shrinkage, hitting turns way too easy, like the old games where you could foul off pitches all day with just good timing.
The penalty doesn’t seem to impact the more elite users as much as it does the casuals. And because of that, PCI shrinkage on sliders away remains a contentious topic in the community. One could argue that it ensures there’s a skill gap and that not every pitch should be equally hittable. However, that method has led to the over-abundance of switch-hitting teams online.
It’s a tricky subject. And everyone has a different opinion on it.
