MLB The Show 26 Game Update 2 Rundown

MLB The Show 26 dropped into early access with plenty of excitement, and San Diego Studio wasted no time responding to player feedback. Game Update 2 (version 1.002 on PS5, 1.0.34 on Xbox Series X|S, and 1.02 on Nintendo Switch) rolled out on March 15 at 4 AM PT for PlayStation and Xbox, with the Switch version following at a later date. This patch tackles some genuinely frustrating issues spotted during early access, from Diamond Dynasty freezes to Franchise trade logic misfires, and it arrives just ahead of the full March 17 launch.

DD attribute bars now reach 125

What's in Game Update 2?

This patch covers six major areas: general fixes, gameplay stability, co-op improvements, Diamond Dynasty, Franchise Mode, and Road to the Show. Rather than a single sweeping change, it's a focused sweep of quality-of-life corrections and crash fixes that directly affect competitive and solo play alike.

info

The official patch notes were published by San Diego Studio at theshow.com ahead of the March 15 rollout. All version numbers and fix details below are sourced from those official notes.

Patch Version Numbers at a Glance

Loading table...

General and Gameplay Fixes

A couple of smaller but notable bugs got cleaned up at the general level. Sliders are no longer accessible inside the Challenge of the Week pause menu, which closes a potential exploit for anyone trying to adjust difficulty mid-challenge. More entertainingly, a bug that caused foul balls to register as home runs at Rogers Centre has been squashed. That one was genuinely chaotic during early access sessions.

On the gameplay side, the fixes are more impactful:

The Bear Down UI now appears correctly in Custom Practice sessions
A freeze that hit online head-to-head matches when out-of-position players appeared is resolved
Player Lock mode stability has been improved
Pitch history (accessed by holding R2) now tracks up to 25 pitches, up from the previous limit
Several ABS challenge results that were being incorrectly upheld or overturned are fixed, with continued refinements to ABS logic overall

info

If you rely on pitch history to read opposing batters in ranked games, the expanded 25-pitch tracking gives you a much cleaner picture of tendencies late in counts.

Co-Op Stability: What Changed?

Co-op received a handful of targeted fixes that address two specific crash points and a role management bug:

Roles were not rotating correctly between users in co-op sessions, which is now resolved
A freeze that occurred ahead of matchmaking has been addressed
General stability improvements round out the co-op section

These aren't flashy changes, but if you play co-op regularly, the matchmaking freeze was a real pain point during early access.

Diamond Dynasty: The Biggest Set of Fixes

Diamond Dynasty received the most attention in this patch, with fixes spanning menus, pack openings, the XP Path, and Mini Seasons.

What Got Fixed in Diamond Dynasty?

Here's the full breakdown:

A freeze that triggered after exiting a Moment is resolved
Mini Seasons goal descriptions were displaying incorrectly after reaching the playoffs, now corrected
The Collections scrollbar is fixed
Pack opening Diamond scenes now correctly show '26 instead of the leftover '25 display
Perfect Umpires and Fast Play were not enabling in Play With Friends mode, both are now fixed
Attribute bars now extend to 125 where applicable, giving you a more accurate read on top-tier card stats
Shortcuts for My Inventory and the DD Handbook have been added to the bottom bar
Player comparison and attribute carousel bugs in My Squad are addressed
The XP Path becoming inaccessible after certain actions is resolved
Multiple logo issues and collection bugs are fixed throughout Mini Seasons

warning

If you were using the Pack opening screen as a reference for card year and noticed '25 displaying, those cards are still '26 cards. The display bug was cosmetic only, not a data error.

XP Path access restored in DD

Franchise Mode: Smarter Trade Logic

Franchise Mode got a meaningful adjustment to CPU trade behavior, which will matter a lot for anyone running a long-term rebuild or dynasty save.

The key change: CPU teams will no longer place players on the trade block if either of the following applies:

The player has more than 5 years remaining on their contract
The player was recently signed and is in the first year of a contract with a term of 4 or more years

This prevents the CPU from making unrealistic roster decisions that undermine immersion in long-term saves. Two additional fixes round out the mode:

The cursor temporarily disappearing when navigating Trade Hub screens is fixed
Duplicate "Player No Longer in Organization" popups that appeared after trade alert notifications (which could spoil trade outcomes) are resolved

Road to the Show: RTTS Progression Fixes

Road to the Show players dealing with goal tracking issues and visual bugs will find several fixes here. This is one of the more detailed sections of the patch:

Rewards for Amateur and MLB Draft goals have been adjusted
Season Goal Select text overlapping other UI elements is corrected
Visual bugs affecting Perks and team logos on the interest map in high school and college are fixed
Two-way players can now bat in the Futures Game
Two-way players can now participate in the All-Star Game as a Designated Hitter
Goal evaluation and progression tracking issues are resolved
Dynamic difficulty was not updating on offense, now fixed
Pitchers appearing on the field without a glove is fixed
Simulation value indicators that were mislabeled as higher or lower on the tracking screen are corrected
Stats and awards not being accessible during retirement in rare cases is addressed
Position change requests are now only accessible through conversations with your player's manager

danger

The two-way player fixes for the Futures Game and All-Star Game are significant for anyone building a two-way RTTS career. These events are key for progression and exposure, and missing them due to a bug was a real setback.

Two-way players bat in Futures Game

Custom Leagues and Miscellaneous

One fix for Custom Leagues made the cut: non-playoff teams were incorrectly appearing in postseason game management screens, which is now resolved. Beyond that, various commentary and presentation updates are included, though no specific commentary lines are detailed in the official notes.

How Does This Patch Change Your Game?

For most players, the biggest practical improvements come down to three areas. Diamond Dynasty players get a cleaner, more stable experience with the XP Path fix and attribute bar extension to 125. Franchise players benefit from more realistic CPU trade behavior that keeps star players off the trade block unrealistically. And RTTS players running two-way builds finally get full access to showcase events that were locked off by bugs.

The pitch history expansion to 25 pitches is a quiet but genuinely useful gameplay change for anyone serious about reading opposing hitters or pitchers in competitive modes.

San Diego Studio moving this quickly on early access feedback is a positive sign heading into the full launch window. Keep an eye on future patches as the community logs more hours and surfaces additional issues post-launch.