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The Splendid Splinter and a terrific Tiger come to Diamond Dynasty in fine form as the Summer Series' crown jewels.
Summer Series Heats Up Diamond Dynasty
The return of the Summer Program in Diamond Dynasty breaks up a run of Series Programs which felt very much like rewrapped Team Affinity content. And with Tarik Skubal and Ted Williams helming it, alongside some other coveted boys of summer, that doesn't seem like a bad thing.
Structurally, the Summer Program is nothing new: The XP reward path has five "free" cards that will be obtained by playing the Moments or finishing the Missions — most of which involve either strikeouts from pitchers or hits from hitters — tied to it, with a 96 OVR Corey Seager being the 100-Star player; there's a Collection, with 98 OVR Skubal (29 items locked in), 97 OVR Williams (21), and 96 OVR Rob Dibble (13) being the rewards at its three tiers; there's an Event, called Summer Break, with an exclusive player (96 OVR Roman Anthony); the Summer Diamond Quest has 95 OVR Dick Allen and Gary Sheffield a new Conquest map has its own exclusive player (95 OVR Zach Neto); the Summer Mini Season has four exclusive players (95 OVR Jeromy Burnitz and 94 OVR versions of Tony Fernandez, Carlos Rodon, and Mike Napoli) and some decent rewards (three Premier Packs!) for its statistical Missions.
But the quality of the players in this Program is verging on full-on endgame-caliber.
Skubal, who arrives as one of the first two 98 OVR cards in Diamond Dynasty for MLB The Show 26, might be slightly disappointing based on the lack of Outlier on his primary pitch, a four-seam fastball that sits at 99 MPH, but Outlier II applying to his 95 MPH sinker is going to make those pitches almost impossible to differentiate — and then there's his 99 Break circle change. Add in that Skubal's a tall lefty, and this feels like an appropriately great card that might be his last as a Tiger in DD, given that he'll be the prize of this trade deadline.
Williams stands out from a rung lower as a sterling left-handed bat, with triple-digit attributes in every batting stat but Power against lefties; this is a great example of a card that really does benefit from maxing out Parallel Mods to accentuate his strengths, as it'll be more difficult to make him more than an above-average defender but easy to make him a monster against righties.
And there are "lesser" players that will be staples: A 96 OVR Willi Castro that can be a switch-hitting bat anywhere in the lineup but catcher would be fantastic even without his excellent non-hitting stats; a 96 OVR George Brett looks like a doubles machine, while a 95 OVR Jacob Wilson will be incredibly difficult to get out; Dibble is consistently great in DD, and this one has a fearsome fastball-slider combo.
But the Chase Pack player might be the best of the bunch, as has been distressingly common. The 98 OVR Cal Raleigh that joins Skubal as the only other 98 Club member has 115 Power against righties and 120 Power against lefties, making him likely to crush many of the balls he makes contact with. His 56 (!) Vision is probably fair for his 2026 struggles, but this Big Dumper is going to thump like it's 2025.
June Spotlight Drop 2 Brings Blaze, Braden, and Bryce
This Thursday's lesser release is obviously June's Spotlight Drop 2, so it seems fair that San Diego Studio had a little fun with it, presenting a trio of killer Bs in the form of 96 OVR Braden Montgomery, Blaze Jordan, and Bryce Eldridge.
Montgomery's the one at the end of the XP reward path, and is unsurprisingly the least of the three, though he does have a 99/87 Arm in terms of Strength and Accuracy, respectively. Jordan is probably the best of the trio, boasting no batting attribute below 90 and Contact/Power stats that are not hard to get to or beyond 100; as a primary third baseman, he's got positional value in a vacuum, but is also helpfully kitted with secondary positions (first and both corner outfield spots) to make room for the multiple good to great Cardinals options at third.
Jordan is possibly the best-known of the three, too, but Eldridge has had the flashiest 2026. It's unfortunate, then, that he's stuck at first, as a bad corner outfielder with 45 Speed and a poor arm for those positions; his bat is plenty good and he has an unusual 10 Quirks, but he's not as versatile as Jordan.
For the second straight week, a great Topps Now player is also part of the Spotlight Drop: Rockies center fielder Cole Carrigg has a lot of green in his contact profile, and he can also play catcher, where his 90 Speed is extraordinary and his 99 Arm Strength will definitely play. (He's also a switch-hitting catcher, of course.) Topps Now Pedro Ramirez, available in the Spotlight Drop Pack, is a decent jack-of-all-trades who slots in well at his secondary position of second base.
Other News and Notes
- Chase Pack 15's featured player being Raleigh means there have somehow been 50 switch-hitting catchers in Chase Packs this Diamond Dynasty. Do not fact check this.
- This week's new player-specific Program, the second in a week, honors George Springer's 300th homer with a 96 OVR Milestone Series card that boasts good but not great pop.
- Another Blue Jay is available in the Dad Conquest map, where a 95 OVR Milestone Bo Bichette honoring his 25/25 season is the ultimate reward. If you like your second basemen to destroy lefties but struggle against righties, Bo's your guy.
- While this week's content comes on a Thursday — likely because SDS employees have Friday off in observance of the federal holiday of Juneteenth — next week's is set for Friday, June 26, with a return of The Show LIVE covering something that is mysteriously hinted as with "stay tuned for details..." in game rather than confirmation of a full Program, though a new Mini Seasons and Event are both advertised.
