Above: The first one is always the most difficult. Unless you hit it in your first at-bat.
Suggested player builds
The Adam Dunn
The Adam Dunn build is similar to last year’s bomber build. You want to follow the above creation steps (short, switch-hitter, etc.) on a first basemen, left fielder, or right fielder. Use your flex points to max contact and power first then pour the remnants in fielding. The build is called the Adam Dunn because, like the former Chicago White Sox player, you will either hit it 400 feet or strike out.
Continue to pour your training points into contact and power. Plate vision is also important. Keep the other statistics from decaying, but ignore them until you are a respectable offensive player in the major leagues. You will be liability in the field. Your average will go through extreme lulls. But you will be a monster.
Use any equipment that boosts your power. The Golden Thong ritual gives you staggering plus-7 to power, and the 2K1 Maple bat will give you plus-5 to power and plus-3 to contact. These are priority-one items. Having 12 additional points in power will make you a monster throughout your career. The batting gloves, gloves, and cleats don’t really matter for you.
I like to turn off baserunning when playing this character. You are far too slow to steal, and I find it tedious waiting around on the bases. I also turn off fielding opportunities early on because this guy can’t really field, either. Once you pour some excess points into speed and fielding, turn them back on.
When batting, I always start off by guessing fastball up in the zone. Pitchers won’t give you this pitch often, but you will absolutely crush it when they do. I always use power swing until I have two strikes, when I will shift down to a normal swing.
You will have the most success if you join a team with a good, speedy lineup. You will be a fourth or fifth hitter, so you need the first few guys to get on base. This isn’t mandatory at all, but it will help.
Above: Bow before the Golden Thong.
The Ichiro Suzuki
This is a purely speed-driven build. Your goal is simply to make any sort of contact with the ball and outrun the play, or draw a walk. Like the former Mariners and Yankees right fielder, you will play an old-school type of game.
First off, build a center fielder. This position comes with the perfect set of starting attributes. Use your flex points to max speed and contact. This will give you a starting speed of 90 — which makes you one of the fastest players in baseball from day one — and a decent hitting skillset.
You can also pull off a decent Ichiro build with a shortstop or second baseman.
Level up your contact hitting and baserunning attributes first. Because you play an important fielding spot, you will also need to throw some points into fielding and throwing attributes. Don’t level up your speed skill — plenty of cleats and ritual items will do that for you.
I use the Power of Pouch ritual, a silver-tier item that grants five points to speed and 10 points to stealing. Use contact-heavy bats, speed-heavy cleats, and whatever else you want.
When playing this build, I always guess low fastballs. Those are the most common pitches in the game, and I don’t mind hitting it on the ground with this guy. I use only normal swings, and I do get sassy with my drag bunts every now and then.
I also bunt in every single sacrifice situation, meaning a runner on first and/or second with less than two outs. A sacrifice doesn’t count against your average and offers a respectable 14 training points, and — about half the time — your speed will actually net you a bunt single instead.
The most important thing with this build is patience. You have to be able to take walks and foul off pitches. I like to take the first pitch of the at-bat unless I guessed correctly. I find that most first pitches are balls or fastballs in your happy zone.
I always recommend the power build first and then building one of these guys. They can get a little tricky.
Above: Note the maxed-out speed from the beginning.