On this page
9th Inning Brings Chipper, Splendid Splinter
The 2026 World Series starts this Friday, October 23, and there's much reason to be excited about the Brewers taking on the Rays, even if Milwaukee and Tampa Bay are quintessential "small markets" in a baseball sense. But the 9th Inning that came to Diamond Dynasty in MLB The Show 26 is not as much about the World Series, and its inclusion of Chipper Jones and Ted Williams as its Bosses does make a great case for high-profile stars.
Williams is, of course, considered one of baseball's best hitters ever, so his 125s in every Contact stat are de rigueur; it's the 125 Power against righties that really makes him a terror of a left-handed hitter, even in a Milestone Series card from his 1941 season that zeroes out his Steal rating (he had just two stolen bases) and grants him just 67 Speed as a 22-year-old outfielder. His arm and defensive attributes are more solid than great, but the chances that you're playing this Splendid Splinter in left field (or right, his secondary position) instead of using him as a designated hitter are small.
Jones, on the other hand, is considered one of Diamond Dynasty's most feared names because of his switch-hitting prowess, and a Signature Series card representing his whole career that gives him 125 Contact against righties and lefties and 116/105 Power split against righties and lefties makes him about as good as any Chipper gets at the plate. Where this card unexpectedly shines is as a defender: His lowest directional rating is an 85 Forward, and his 97 Arm Accuracy makes him unlikely to miss throws from third or his secondary position of left field. The Speed is a touch low at 64, but Larry Wayne was never really a burner — and the doubles will come with this bat.
Jones and Williams are joined by a slightly lower-profile name — Willie Wells, a Negro Leagues stalwart who played for a slew of different franchises — as the 9th Inning's Boss-level player available at 160,000 Inning XP. Wells, a shortstop with secondary eligibility at first and third and in left field, is one of the more well-rounded five-tool players in all of Diamond Dynasty, with one state — his Drag Bunt — under 80 on a non-Paralleled card. Wells might not be world-conquering, but he's absolutely sticking wherever in the lineup he's placed.
Smokey Joe Williams comes in earlier on the 9th Inning XP reward path, at 47,500 XP, and is a two-way player with an electric fastball and 125 Stamina on the mound and a merely solid set of stats as a batter and fielder — notably, his 83 Fielding is comprised of 83s in every direction, which feels a touch lazy.
The 9th Inning's Cornerstone player is one of the best that program has yielded: A Max Scherzer whose Nats branding means this card calls back to Mad Max's postseason dominance with Washington. His five-pitch array should play even if he'll struggle to touch triple digits with his fastball.
The 9th Inning XP reward path holds out the Choice Pack with Jones and Williams at 275,000 XP, and runs for the next four weeks, ending on November 20.
Ashby, J-Ram Headline Championship Series Programs; Ortiz Leads Retro World Series
The 2026 ALCS and NLCS concluding over the past week brought the Guardians vs. Rays and Dodgers vs. Brewers programs to DD, and those were headlined by ... a player from the losing squad and a reliever?
Yeah.
That's what happens when the biggest hit from the winning team on the AL side comes from Junior Caminero, who is now probably a lock to get a World Series card — maybe even MVP — and the Brewers' standout, Jacob Misiorowski, is probably on the same trajectory. Instead of Junior and Miz, the players at the end of each XP reward path are Rays second baseman Richie Palacios, who did hit .500 for the ALCS, and Brewers closer Aaron Ashby, who finished Milwaukee's sweep of the Dodgers in fine form in Game 4.
Of their cards, Ashby's is (obviously?) far better, with his sinker/curve/slider all having profiles that should be hard to hit, and Palacios getting a classic "utility contact guy" build that fills out a Rays theme team well but holds little other appeal. The card that might make lineups from the ALCS program is definitely Jose Ramirez, who slots in as a switch-hitting third baseman who can run and steal, a rare profile for the position; Petey Halpin's card, as a speedy outfielder, is also probably better than any of the Rays ones.
But the NLCS program has David Hamilton, who midpoints Palacios and Halpin as a third baseman who has great speed and just enough power to surprise, and Ashby, and even a really good Kyle Tucker, whose "led Dodgers with 4 hits in series" is maybe the saddest phrase ever used on one of these Postseason Series card but who is still a great lefty bat.
Jake Bauers and Freddy Peralta won the NLCS and ALCS MVPs, respectively, and got cards in the Postseason Collection as a result. Bauers's can, as you'd imagine, rake, with 116/120 Power R/L, but he's otherwise not a particularly great first baseman and will be a subpar corner outfielder thanks to his mere 63 Speed. Peralta's is just a tick or two away from being a great starter; his 97 MPH fastball is his bread and butter and wildly effective in real life, but lacking Outlier is a major deficiency when contrasted with the rest of the DD options.
More interesting to many will be the Retro World Series Program, released Friday, which unfurls four great names with World Series MVPs as its prizes: Brooks Robinson, Tom Glavine, Bob Gibson, and David Ortiz. Those players basically are what you'd expect: Robinson has full 99s in Fielding and Arm with a decent but largely ancillary bat; Glavine's a classic "sassy lefty" with more finesse than velo; Gibson throws really hard and dares batters to be patient or hit his seeds; and Ortiz has a tremendous bat and no argument for being used as anything other than a designated hitter or overqualified pinch hitter.
But as has been the case with all of the Retro Postseason programs, this will be a slog to complete, with 30 of the 50 Stars available needing to be earned via Moments rather than the (extremely easy) Missions.
Other News and Notes
- Weekend Classic is back with its eighth iteration of the cycle, and with some of the first Finest cards of 2026 — Bryan Reynolds of the Pirates and Nolan McLean of the Mets — as its exclusive rewards. The Bobby Witt Jr. advertised as another reward is not a Finest card, seemingly, but his Topps Update Series card that is a special insert.
- There is another Finest card on offer, though: It's a Juan Soto that appears in Chase Pack 31, and it's a devastating hitter that lacks the unexpected Speed boost the best Soto of Diamond Dynasty in MLB The Show 25 got that made that card so magical. Still: Soto is a tremendous hitter, and is going to be quite rare.
- Also new to the Show Shop: Topps Update Series-branded bats. Go crazy, folks!
- There's plenty on the Coming Soon rundown in game: A Spooky Program is advertised for October 26 through 30; a new Mini Seasons and Event Program and new Ranked Seasons and Multiplayer Program are set for Tuesday, October 27; a new Diamond Quest is coming on October 28; and, finally, the 2026 World Series Program is on the board, with a 10.TBD date that might still slip into November.
