When creating your own custom player in MLB The Show 23, you are quickly presented with numerous choices regarding how your player will look and act–one of the most important being your batting stance. Aside from the overall appearance of your player, which can look just like you using the facescan option, the more important choices like this one lie in the other options on the “Create a Player” screen. After you are done customizing how your player will look, you are immediately given the option to create or choose a batting stance and animation.
Players who decide to create their own batting stance will be given an almost overwhelming number of options to choose from. There’s the hand rotation, hand waggle rotation, and the back elbow offset settings that all need to be adjusted, among a plethora of others. For those who might not want to mess with these settings themselves, you are also able to choose a batting stance from a list of generic stances, as well as those from current and former players. This is where most players will be drawn, as it allows you to simply pick a batting stance with existing settings.
However, choosing an existing batting stance comes with its own set of challenges. Certain stances affect your overall contact and power as well as your swing animation and position of the bat. If you’re looking for the best overall batting stances that give you the highest chance to knock in some runs and don’t require much maintenance, we have you covered. Below, you can see our picks for the five best batting stances in MLB The Show 23.
1. Mike Trout
Why not start out with the best overall hitter in baseball? Mike Trout has been at the top of the MLB’s hitter power rankings for a decade, and that’s not stopping in 2023. The Los Angeles Angels player has one of the smoothest batting stances and swing animations in MLB The Show 2023. The stance is incredibly easy to learn and time once you’ve had a few swings at the plate. It’s compact, powerful, and will send balls soaring through the skies as you ascend from the minors to the show.
You can find Mike Trout’s batting stance on Page 48 in the “Current Players” batting stance tab.
2. Legend Stance 7
It’s time for a generic player’s stance to enter the spotlight, and there are none better than Legend Stance 7. This batting stance is mostly based on Barry Bonds’ stance, and who wouldn’t want to copy the MLB’s all-time home run champ (controversy aside)? Compared to Mike Trout’s stance, Legend Stance 7 favors power over a mixture of power and contact. However, it’s a relatively simple stance to master and you might be surprised at how many home runs you knock as you continue using it.
You can find Legend Stance 7’s batting stance on Page 39 in the “Generic Players” batting stance tab.
3. Shohei Ohtani
The MVP of the World Baseball Classic was not going to miss this list. Shohei Ohtani is one of the purest hitters in the MLB, and that translates completely in MLB The Show 23. This starts with Ohtani’s batting stance, which is slightly more advanced than either Trout’s or Legend Stance 7’s. It will require some more time to master since it has the player’s hands and bat higher in the air compared to a more traditional stance. This means players have to do some work to get the timing down, but they can adjust the position of their hands if they really need to. Either way, Ohtani’s batting stance is one of the best you can use in MLB The Show 23 if you’re just looking for raw hitting ability.
You can find Shohei Ohtani’s batting stance on Page 35 in the “Current Players” batting stance tab.
4. Cody Bellinger
While Cody Bellinger has had some down years in the MLB, his batting stance is still of the cleanest that players can use in MLB The Show 23. The stance features a horizontal bat and hand placement up around the player’s head level and normal feet positioning. This makes for a simple swing that allows players to get to the ball quickly and can be used in a variety of ways. Whether players are trying to go to the opposite field or attempting to pull the ball over the wall, Bellinger’s batting stance won’t fail you often.
You can find Cody Bellinger’s batting stance on Page 4 in the “Current Players” batting stance tab.
5. José Ramírez
Last up, we have the Cleveland Guardians’ third baseman, José Ramírez. A candidate for the MVP in 2023, Ramírez has one of the more user-friendly batting stances in MLB The Show 23. The stance sees players have a slightly open stance with the bat up over their head facing the field. However, what makes this stance so easy to use is Ramírez’s front leg kick which happens whenever you start to swing at a pitch. This leg kick can be used to time pitches to great effect, as the leg will usually be in the middle of its motion by the time a pitch arrives. As you continue to practice with the stance and swing, you should be able to time pitches much easier than you could with other stances.
You can find José Ramírez’s batting stance on Page 39 in the “Current Players” batting stance tab.
And that does it for our top five batting stances in MLB The Show 23.
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