Alright, so I was messing around with MLB The Show 23 the other night, specifically trying to figure out the catcher signs. You know, those little finger signals the catcher flashes between his legs. I always saw them, but never really knew if they meant anything in the game, like if I was supposed to react to them or if they actually told the pitcher what to throw.
It started bothering me because I like to get into the details, you know? Makes the game feel more real. I remember spending ages trying to get the timing right on check swings, thinking there was some hidden trick. Turns out, it was mostly just practice. So I figured maybe these signs were like that – something important I was missing.
First thing I did was jump into pitching practice. Just me, the catcher, and a batter standing there. I wanted a controlled environment. I started throwing pitches, watching the catcher’s hand closely before each pitch. He’d put down one finger, maybe two, sometimes wiggle them. I tried to see if there was a pattern. Like, okay, one finger equals fastball, two means curveball, that kind of thing.
Spent maybe thirty minutes just doing that. Throwing fastballs, sliders, changeups, everything. I kept notes, trying to match the sign to the pitch type I selected. Honestly, it felt all over the place. Sometimes one finger seemed to correspond to a fastball, but then later it’d be for a slider. It wasn’t consistent at all. Not like you’d expect if it was a real system you could use.
So then I thought, maybe it’s buried in the settings? You know how these games have tons of options. I quit practice mode and went digging through the menus. Looked under Gameplay, Presentation, Sliders… everywhere I could think of. Was searching for something like “Catcher Sign Display” or “Interactive Signs”. Found nothing. Absolutely zero options related to making the signs functional or even explaining them.
My Takeaway on the Signs
After all that poking around, here’s what I landed on. When I’m pitching, those signs the catcher puts down? They seem to be just for looks. Purely cosmetic. They add to the atmosphere, make it feel more like a real broadcast, which is cool, I guess. But they don’t actually dictate the pitch I select or give me any special info. I still use the regular pitch selection menu like always.
It kinda reminded me of when I first got the game, I kept trying to see if arguing balls and strikes with the ump animation actually did anything. Spoiler: it doesn’t. Sometimes things are just there to look good.
Now, maybe it’s different when the computer AI is pitching to me. Does their catcher’s sign actually tell the AI pitcher what to throw? Hard to say for sure, that’s kind of behind the scenes. But for my own pitching, it seems like a dead end.
So, here’s the rundown of what I did:
- Went into practice mode to isolate the signs.
- Tried matching finger counts to pitch types repeatedly.
- Searched through all the game settings menus.
- Considered if it only applied to the AI.
Bottom line: As far as I can tell from actually trying it out in MLB The Show 23, don’t worry about decoding the catcher signs when you’re pitching. They look authentic, which is nice, but they don’t seem to impact the gameplay mechanics you control. Just focus on picking your pitch and hitting your spot. That’s my experience, anyway.
