Hitting a baseball is one of the most difficult challenges in all professional sports. The batter must assess the pitch, judge if it will be a ball or strike, and decide whether to swing, all in a mere fraction of a second. While this takes elite mental processing in real life, video games allow us to experience the same thrill by lowering the bar of execution significantly.

MLB The Show 25introduces a new mechanic to consider in your at-bats, referred to as ambush hitting. When used correctly, it can dramatically improve your success at the dish, boosting your offensive potential. Here’s how to make use of The Show’s latest offering.

What Is Ambush Hitting?

Ambush hitting refers to arisk-reward mechanicyou can use when at the plate. Upon stepping into the batter’s box, you’ll be given the option toguess whether the pitcher will throw to the inside or the outside of the plate.

If you guess right,your PCI (Plate Coverage Indicator) will grow, making iteasier to make contact with the ballas well as giving you amore generous timing windowfor your swing. Should you guess wrong,the PCI will shrink, and getting a hit will be much more difficult.

Ambush hitting canonly be performed with the zone-hitting interface.

How To Ambush Hit

As you get ready to take a pitch, you’ll be given the option toselect either the left or right side of the plateusing the Right Stick.Flick the stick in the direction you think the pitch will be thrown(it will behighlighted in faint white), then position your PCI on that side of the plate andpress the swing buttonto try to make contact with the ball.

As you get deeper into at-bats,pay attention to what pitch your opponents like to useand where they like to throw them.Use this knowledgeto inform your ambush decision-making and you’ll begin orchestrating massive rallies!

Getting ten hits using ambush hitting willearn you the Going Pro trophy.