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Heavy hitters are making big marks at the end of what was supposed to be a light week for content in MLB The Show.
May Spotlight Drop 3 Yields Nick Kurtz
Getting the 2025 AL Rookie of the Year and one of MLB's preeminent power hitters a great card was a challenge for most of the 2026 MLB season so far, as Nick Kurtz struggled for most of April, hitting just five home runs and posting an OPS almost 100 points shy of what he put up a season ago. But May has been a different story: Kurtz already has more RBI than he did in April, is slashing .325/.460/.577, and is generally back to the form he enjoyed during his rookie campaign, if not exceeding it.
So he's a worthy recipient of the functional equivalent of a Player of the Week card in Diamond Dynasty — and that his is the free one at the end of the XP reward path in May Spotlight Drop 3 makes that card being monstrous even better. This 94 OVR Kurtz lacks Vision, but more than makes up for it with no other batting stat below a 94, and his 109 Contact against righties and 110 Batting Clutch mean he will be a terror at the plate more often than not.
Kurtz is also probably better than both of the Pack-based Spotlight players this week — Nationals left fielder Daylen Lile and yet another Brewers hurler of note, Aaron Ashby — as Lile has a mere 65 Power against lefties (though a strong 101/111 Contact/Power spread against righties) and Ashby's absurd per nine stats — none lower than a 100 H/9 against lefties — are undermined considerably by 69 Control, which is less nice than it appears on paper. His five-pitch mix is also filthy but lacking a great fastball, as a four-seamer at 98 MPH is his fifth pitch and a sinker with good-not-great velo and break is not an upper-tier primary pitch.
Topps Now players of note this week include Brandon Sproat — another Brewers pitcher — and his trio of cutter-sinker-four seam that all sit within the 93-97 MPH range; Mets utility man A.J. Ewing, a solid Contact-heavy option at his secondary position of second base; and Blue Jays rookie Yohendrick Piñango, a nice lefty outfield bat who has the Pinch Hitter quirk. Sproat and Ewing are on the reward path, while Piñango is in the Pack.
Jim Rice, Repeatable Rewards Make May Flowers Conquest Map a Must-Do
If Kurtz residing at the end of a XP reward path is a plus for DD players, though, the Jim Rice and 20 The Show Packs that come with completion of the May Flowers Conquest Map plainly make it the first must-do Conquest Map of the year.
First off: Rice is a beast, with a swing that has delivered year after year in MLB The Show, and this one is statted beautifully. No hitting stat is lower than an 82, meaning he'll be solid at everything — but also exceptional against lefties, with 104 Contact against them — and his fielding stats are quite good for a left fielder, with his Arm split of 90 Strength and 93 Accuracy making it elite. With Parallel levels and mods and maybe a Red Sox Captain boost, this card will deliver more than a few important knocks.
But the gleaming prize here is the 20 The Show Packs at the end of a nine-Stronghold Conquest Map, which is not just a generous one-time reward but a potentially economy-changing repeatable one. While The Show Packs are the lowest-tier multi-card Packs available in game, exchanging a few hours of low-stakes Conquest gameplay — which is trivially easy to do on Rookie or Veteran — for 20 of them over and over is liable to churn up a significant bit of supply for both all manner of Live Series cards and also Chase Packs that will contain more valuable prizes.
Consider that the repeatable reward for the much-loved USA Conquest Map was generally 10 The Show Packs for a map with 30 Strongholds, and the value on offer here becomes even more obvious.
Whether that's enough to turn the tide of sentiment for a community that has been largely negative about Diamond Dynasty this year is anyone's guess — but it's great for the grinders.
Other News and Notes
- How popular was the Rivalry Weekend Recap Program, and the Shohei Ohtani at the end of it? Well, almost 13,000 players have gotten that card — which requires focused play — to Parallel I already in just the 48 hours since its release. For perspective, the Live Series Ohtani, which is still Diamond Dynasty's most expensive purchasable card, has just over 50,000 Parallel I completions.
- The Showdown introduced earlier this week with Kevin Gausman as its ultimate reward? Also popular, as almost 40,000 players have him at Parallel I. But is Gausman popular as an ace or being tried and discarded? Just under 10K Parallel II completions so far suggests the latter.
- This week's Chase Pack player is a 96 OVR Ted Simmons — who, as we are required to note and chuckle at, is another switch-hitting catcher, and might be the best one for a while. He favors Contact to Power, but is bad at nothing except stealing bases and bunting, even having 58 Speed.
- A free Pack with Memorial Day cosmetics is new to The Show Shop.
- Game Update 10 dropped this week; its changes are minimal.
- Next Friday shapes up as a significant one in Diamond Dynasty: A new Program, Collection, Event, Mini Seasons, Diamond Quest, and Conquest are all on the way, with May Spotlight Drop 4 also coming but likely to be relegated to an afterthought.
