Best Teams in MLB The Show 25 By Attributes

What’s the best team in MLB The Show 25? That’s the question I’ve been tasked to answer. While it may be easy for me just to say “the Dodgers” and move on — because let’s be honest, that’s the correct answer — that would be an uncharacteristically short article, and it would be doing you a disservice because the phrase best is so vague. Best at what? The Dodgers are certainly not the best baserunning team, right? What about fielding? Surely, they can’t be the best in every category. 

When you look at the team ratings when selecting a team, either in franchise mode or just playing exhibitions, the game gives you rankings for six different categories: rank (overall), Contact, Power, Pitching, Defense, and Speed. The Dodgers may rank first overall, but their contact and defense are only ranked fifth best, their power is only seventh best, and their speed is 19th best in the MLB. The only individual category in which the Dodgers lead the league in is pitching.

So, who’s the best in all the other categories? And let’s go even further: These categories are too broad. I mean, pitching alone includes nearly ten different attributes, and some teams are good at specific things like keeping the ball in the park (HR/9) or being patient at the plate (plate discipline). 

I ventured to try and find what teams are best at each specific attribute in the game (besides bunting, because screw bunting). I calculated most of these numbers by using the total rating of the top five MLB players on each team in each category. Each attribute has a max score of 495, which would mean that the team has five players with 99 ratings in the specific attribute.

As you will see below, the number of total top-five points can differ greatly based on the attribute. For instance, Velocity and Break are attributes that many players have 99s in, leading to several teams getting perfect scores in those categories. Meanwhile, a trait like stealing has very few players with 85+ ratings, leaving the top teams to only score in the low 400s or high 300s in that category.

Contact

The game ranks the Phillies as the top contact team, but as you will see below, the Phillies don’t rank in the top five in any contact attribute. They rank sixth in contact vs. right-handed pitching and seventh vs. left-handed pitching. They also finished sixth in plate vision and ninth in batting clutch. 

The Phillies didn’t dominate any one category. Still, they are good enough in each of the four contact categories (and are presumably very deep with solid contact on their bench and with role players, which is one thing my rating strategy doesn’t factor in) that they are rated as the best.

What I think is crazy is just how good the Diamondbacks are at hitting lefties. Suppose you are sitting down to play your friend or online, and they pick the Tigers, Royals, Astros, Braves, Cubs, or any other team with a lefty ace. In that case, you should consider picking the Diamondbacks as a great counter; Ketel Marte, Randal Grichuk, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and Gabriel Moreno all have 97+ contact against lefties. 

As for other takeaways, you have the Dodgers’ three MVPs (Ohtani, Freeman, and Betts) lead the way for them to take 1st place in contact vs. righties and batting clutch while also ranking fifth in plate vision. Yet they are still only ranked as the fifth-best contact team in the game, behind the Padres, which only had better ratings than them in one category (plate vision). The Dodgers and Astros dominated these categories, along with the Guardians, who proved they are truly the “moneyball” team with great OBP potential, leading the league in plate vision.

Contact R

1. Dodgers 424
2. Padres 422
3. Red Sox 415
4. Cardinals 400
5. Astros 397

Contact L

1. Diamondbacks 481
2. Astros 457
3. Angels 456
4. Braves 438
5. Giants 437

Plate Vision 

1. Guardians 433
2. Padres 416
3. Blue Jays 414
4. Cardinals 396
5. Dodgers 396

Batting Clutch

1. Dodgers 448
2. Brewers 443
3. Rangers 441
4. Mets 436
5. Astros 435

My Rankings

1. Dodgers
2. Astros
3. Diamondbacks
4. Padres
5. Guardians

Power

1. Mets
2. Rangers
3. Braves
4. Yankees
5. Angels
6. Orioles
7. Dodgers
8. Twins
9. Phillies
10. Diamondbacks

According to the game attribute groups in the Road To The Show game mode, plate discipline is apparently a power category, so I included it here. However, the two categories to focus on are the power against righties and power against lefties attributes, which is a bummer because it was the one attribute in which the Lowly White Sox were actually good.

The Mets are the biggest home run threat in the game, according to both the in-game rankings and my assessment, which sees the Mets just edge out the Dodgers with a combined lefty/righty power total of 838 attribute points to the Dodgers’ 845. You could argue that the Dodgers’ dominance in plate discipline should give them the advantage, but I still don’t know how plate discipline impacts power. If someone knows, please put it in the comments!

Anyway, the fact that the Dodgers are not at least second in this ranking really doesn’t make any sense; I don’t know if MLB The Show just didn’t want to admit what everyone else knows, which is the fact that the Dodgers have bought a practically unbeatable team that excels in every facet of the game. I suppose it wouldn’t be an enjoyable gaming experience if there was a team that was completely unbeatable, but hey, if the MLB thinks it’s just fine for the Dodgers to ruin the real-life experience, guess what? Your game is also going to suck.

My problems with Rob Manfred aside, you can see that after the Mets and Dodgers, you’ve got the Rangers also dominating the power category, specifically against right-handed pitching. You also see the Yankees in the mix as usual, and they would have been better if Aaron Judge was allowed to have a power rating in the 150s to more accurately reflect his hitting ability.

Power R

1. Rangers 422
2. Yankees 418
3. Mets 414
4. Dodgers 407
5. Twins 400

Power L

1. Dodgers 438
2. Mets 434
3. Rangers 432
4. Angels 430
5. Guardians 409

Plate Discipline

1. White Sox 435
2. Dodgers 432
3. Astros 429
4. Angels 422
5. Yankees 414

My Rankings

1. Mets
2. Dodgers
3. Rangers
4. Yankees
5. Angels

Speed

1. Brewers
2. Marlins
3. Phillies
4. Reds
5. Nationals
6. Orioles
7. Tigers
8. Royals
9. Cubs
10. Red Sox

The speed category includes three attributes, including “speed,” but this category considers more than just raw speed. It also factors in baserunning with the stealing and BR aggressiveness attributes being counted towards the speed category.

The Brewers are by far the fastest team in the league, with their trio of 90+ speed outfielders, Jackson Chourio, Blake Perkins, and Garrett Mitchell, leading the way. Young stars Brice Turang and Sal Frelick also bring their total up with their 89 and 88 speed ratings, respectively. The Nationals also have their young outfielders leading the way with speed, but their impressive attributes aren’t reflected in the in-game rankings. 

The Nationals rank in the top two of each of the three attributes in this category, so it’s strange to see them ranked fifth by the game.

The Mariners aren’t the fastest team (ranking outside the top 10 in the speed attribute), but their ability to steal bags makes up for it, despite this category being called “speed.”

The Marlins got the two spot in the in-game rankings likely due to the vast amounts of speed in their farm system. For this exercise, I only used the attributes of MLB players, which is why the Marlins aren’t well represented in the following attribute rankings.

Speed Attribute

1. Brewers 459
2. Nationals 436
3. Phillies 434
4. Reds 425
5. Rangers 419

Stealing

1. Rays 404
2. Nationals 394
3. Mariners 391
4. Royals 384
5. Phillies 378

Baserunning Aggressiveness

1. Nationals 447
2. Mariners 434
3. Rays 426
4. Red Sox 403
5. Brewers 393

My Rankings

1. Nationals
2. Phillies
3. Brewers
4. Reds
5. Mariners

Defense

1. Royals
2. Rockies
3. Brewers
4. Blue Jays
5. Dodgers
6. Cubs
7. Guardians
8. Tigers 
9. Mets
10. Cardinals

Defense entails four attributes: Fielding, Arm Strength, Arm Accuracy, and Reaction. I didn’t include blocking or durability because blocking is a catcher-specific attribute and thus not as important, and durability is not really a fielding category, you know? 

Fielding, I think, is by far the most important attribute in this category, seeing as fielding is literally what baseball defense entails. The two-arm ratings are important too, especially for outfielders and catchers, and of course, reaction is important for those moments when a ball is hit hard in the vicinity of a fielder.

I was a bit surprised to see the Rockies show up as a number one in any of these categories, but apparently the Rockies have really focused on bringing in defensive standouts like Thairo Estrada and Kyle Farmer as well as developing studs like Ezequiel Tovar (98 fielding) and Brenton Doyle (97 fielding) at the two key defensive positions of SS and CF.

The Mets were a bit of a surprise, ranking in the top 10 (just outside the top five on many attributes) in all four attributes. The Blue Jays are also a defensive threat, with top-five rankings in fielding and reaction. They could use some better arms in the outfield, though.

In terms of arms (which was assessed based on position players only), the Athletics and Red Sox actually had a mixture of strength and accuracy, with the A’s ranking seventh in both categories while the Red Sox ranked fifth in strength and eighth in accuracy. The A’s were boosted by Miguel Andujar and J.J. Bleday, who both had 85+ ratings for each attribute. The Red Sox relied on their two defensive specialists, Wilmer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela, to bring the big arm ratings, with both players having a 90+ rating in each attribute.

Fielding

1. Rockies 459
2. Royals 447
3. Blue Jays 447
4. Brewers 443
5. Mets 433

Arm Strength

1. Orioles 449
2. Cardinals 449
3. Guardians 444
4. Twins 436
5. Red Sox 434

Arm Accuracy

1. Rangers 454
2. Phillies 444
3. Mets 439
4. Diamondbacks 433
5. Braves 427

Reaction

1. Cubs 443
2. Blue Jays 434
3. Astros 432
4. Nationals 428
5. Cardinals 427

My Rankings

1. Rockies
2. Blue Jays
3. Royals
4. Mets
5. Cardinals

Pitching

1. Dodgers
2. Mariners
3. Braves
4. Guardians
5. Yankees
6. Phillies
7. Padres
8. Tigers
9. Twins
10. Royals

Pitching is the most exhaustive category with eight different attributes. The Dodgers managed to make it into the top five in six of the eight categories and are easily the no-doubt No. 1 pitching team in the game. They are the best strikeout team, give up the fewest hits (by a wide margin!), and are the most clutch pitching staff in the game. It’s unbelievable!

The Yankees’ pitching staff got close to being competitive with the Dodgers, making five top fives, including two second-place finishes in break and pitching clutch. This represents their dangerous bullpen, led by Devin Williams (99 in both categories), Luke Weaver (99 in both categories), and Jake Cousins (99 in break and 87 in clutch).

The next best pitching staff would be the Mariners, who are the best team at avoiding giving up free bases and made the top five in strikeouts, homers given up, and velocity. The Guardians also made the top five in four categories: BB/9, H/9, HR/9 (best in league), and velocity.

The other main takeaway here is that the game gave out way too high ratings for velocity and break. With so many players at 99, I feel as though they could adjust this a bit. No one should be getting 99 velocity without consistently hitting 100+ MPH on their best pitch.

K/9

1. Dodgers 420
2. Yankees 419
3. Athletics 406
4. Mets 403
5. Mariners 399

BB/9

1. Mariners 423
2. Giants 409
3. Rangers 403
4. Guardians 403
5. Twins 393

H/9

1. Dodgers 480
2. Guardians 457
3. Padres 455
4. Yankees 448
5. Mets 441

HR/9

1. Guardians 423
2. Dodgers 418
3. Cubs 410
4. Yankees 408
5. Mariners 406

Velocity

1. Marlins 495 (6 players at 99)
2. Orioles 495
3. Marines 495
4. Brewers 495
5. Red Sox 494

Control

1. Braves 410
2. Guardians 400
3. Dodgers 392
4. Rays 390
5. Phillies 389

Break

1. Mets 495 (7 players at 99)
2. Yankees 495 (6 players at 99)
3. Astros 495
4. Dodgers 495
5. Royals 492

Pitching Clutch

1. Dodgers 495
2. Yankees 471
3. Padres 471
4. Blue Jays 464
5. Brewers 461

My final ranking was with potential; this was not done in the typical 495 rating scale that I used for the rest of the player traits. For this, I simply counted the number of B or above potential players on each team. Here’s what I found:

Potential (Number Of B+ Players)

1. Diamondbacks 30
2. Dodgers 29
3. Guardians 28
4. Orioles 27
5. Tigers 26
6. Reds 26
7. Mets 26
8. Royals 25
9. Phillies 25
10. Red Sox 24