MLB The Show 21

Credit for this info goes to DJ1554 and Maxumilli0n as this method was derived from the comments section of the other guide.

As DJ1554 points out, being a starting pitcher for the Pirates is super fast and easy way to get this. You can sim all games, with careful saving, and it is possible to get to the MLB in the first season. If you do this long after game release, you may want to use default rosters as it is possible the Pirates get a very good bullpen in the future which will make this harder. To do this:

-Be sure to tell your agent you want to play for the Pirates specifically when starting (NL Central team). If you have already started a RTTS, you can start a new one by pressing "X" on RTTS in the main menu.

-Setup your loadout so that you have the largest possible rating, regardless of if it is helpful for your position. This may be different for everyone depending on what you have already unlocked, but just focus on getting the combo that gives you the highest. I think I was around 70.

-Go to Settings -> File Management -> Save and be sure to save before your first outing (so you don't have to go through the setup again if you have a bad outing) and prior to simulating each of your outings. You can see which outing is yours by looking at the top left at the starting pitcher. Just keep simming outings and saving when you get good outcomes or reloading when you get bad outcomes. Shoot for all wins and <3 ERA.

-At first you will be offered a 2-position role. I chose pitcher and right field to begin, but I immediately chose to be a starting pitcher on the first opportunity it gave me. I don't think this matters, but I switched out the Curve ball for a Knuckle Curve when given the opportunity.

Doing this, I got drafted to AAA after my first 2 or 3 outings and drafted to MLB shortly after the Allstar game in the first season. Took less than an hour overall.

Of note, your Overall Rating is FAR more important than your stats. You can have the best stats in the league you are in but if you have a low overall rating, it will most likely stall your progress.

The RTTS progress is pretty slow in this game at the moment and has been acknowledged by SDS https://theshow.com/road-to-the-show-feedback-improvements-r...

This may not be the fastest method to MLB but it is how you are supposed to upgrade your player while playing better. People have some great suggestions in the comments that may be faster, but I won't be posting that as this is already to long.

First, let's start with what position you want to play and what team. Although you would like to pick your favorite team or position it may not help you in the long run as the team you choose has that position with 4-5 players with higher overall than you and maybe even a young star player in the same position that will block you from being called up. I had this issue and after simming a bit I had to change my position to another after being confronted by the coach.

So what I recommend is scouting each team's roster before starting up your career.
So from the main menu let's go to create which is in the top right corner next to settings then click on roster control.

From here choose what teams you are interested in and enter manage roster. Now for example sake let's choose the Baltimore Orioles and scroll right or left. If I want to be a LF then this would be the team since they only have 2 and they aren't that good and they aren't even on the main roster so technically Orioles have no main LF. But players do have secondary positions so scroll to RF and CF and see they have a crap ton of each from A to MLB and are more than likely using one of these to play LF instead of the players from A ball.

Now, go through this scouting process and make your decision as to team and position.
Before we start RTTS let's go through the archetype loadouts which is how we are going to get our CAP upgraded.

On the main menu, top left corner, click on your gamertag, it'll also show your overall.



On this next screen click on loadout. You will have a default archetype loadout but based on your position/s you can create loadouts with each archetype:
Sparkplug for hitters mainly contact and vision upgrade.
Slugger for power
Speedster for your baserunners
Slick fielding for defense
Painter for Starting pitchers
Filthy and Cheese for Relief pitchers and Closers


I recommend a loadout for sparkplug/slugger for hitters and painter for starting pitchers.

If you haven't noticed your archetype is bronze. It can be upgraded but we will go over that in a bit.

When you're done choosing your archetype there will also be 2 perk slots that you can put into the loadout that will each have it's advantages and disadvantages. I won't go over all of them but they are power, contact, break, velocity, speed, break.
These also come in gold, silver and bronze ranging from 1-7. Don't just choose one because it has a higher number. Remember, each number has disadvantages and advantages. For example, contact I will raise your contact but will reduce your arm accuracy, contact II will raise contact but lower power and so on(those are not accurate descriptions of each but just and example).

Now activate you loadout. Right side of the ballplayer screen.

Also while in the loadouts screen we have little circles surrounding your ballplayer. These are equipment slots. You can put equipment into your player that will boost their attributes from the sunglasses to the cleats. You can get equipment from doing a numerous amount of stuff in game and opening packs that you get while progressing.

Now back to upgrading your archetype. While on the loadout screen press X button and programs will show.

This is basically a bat...tle pass...heh. So you essentially need 100 points to unlock that silver level of your archetype and get a higher overall and attributes. Each archetype is different tasks and doesn't share points.

At the bottom of the screen is tasks that will net you points towards the next level of archetype.

Road to the Show tasks are mandatory and a couple are repeatable.
Diamond Dynasty tasks are "optional" but they require less work for missions than RTTS so it is faster. This requires you to put your player on a Diamond Dynasty team and complete the tasks.
To do DD with your ballplayer go into DD menu then manage squad and choose the position you want to put your player in. If he doesn't show in the main position then press RB to check secondary positions or out of position.
Once you have done that then adjust your lineup to have him bat first.
Now on DD menu, to play then single player mode> player vs cpu.
Choose any team you want to play against on beginner/rookie.
Make sure your player is batting 1st. When the game starts do your at bat with your ballplayer then your hit, xbh, plate appearance etc you need then quit out. Your progress should go up for DD tasks on your archetype program.
Rinse and repeat the above steps until you have the points you need.

Once you reach those 100 points you can claim 1 of 3 version of your upgraded archetype for your loadouts.


Your archetype also has gold and diamond versions that require 100 points as well and will significantly boost your overall and add extra perk slots.

Now let's move onto RTTS stuff. Each game you play you will either progress or regress certain attributes based on your performance.
If you aren't interested in fielding with your player turn off fielding opportunities in settings so you'll just be doing at bats if you aren't a pitcher.
At times certain coaches will give you 2x extra gains on certain stats that if you perform them during a certain time period of games will give you a boost.
You can also do batting practice while on the calendar and work on baserunning, pitching, hitting etc. I don't feel it was worth it because it was pretty miniscule gains.

If you are using multiple archetype loadouts make sure you change them before every appearance based on what your role will be. You can see what you role will be before you enter the game.

1 final tip. Play on casual gameplay and beginner difficulty just atleast for this player and the achievement. Any loadouts you have you can transfer over to a new player if you decide to start on a higher difficulty or position.

I can't really give you an estimate on how long it takes to get to MLB it all depends on the performance, a little RNG and how you build your player. But hopefully this will help for those who were as confused as I was when I first started and it took me almost 12 seasons because I had no idea what I was doing.
I will be uploading photos soon and if you have any tips please feel free to comment and will add if I forgot something.