Before MLB The Show 22 hit the market, developer San Diego Studio promised several changes to the newest installment of its baseball franchise. New gaming mechanics provided players with three new batting swings, and the introduction to the Nintendo Switch made MLB The Show 22 one of the most accessible baseball games ever.
One of the more intriguing changes to the franchise was in its commentary, saying goodbye to commentator Matt Vasgersian after 16 years, along with Dan Plesac, Mark DeRosa, and Heidi Watney, who spent the last three years as a unit. MLB The Show 22 welcomed in Jon Sciambi and Chris Singleton as the new voices to the game, albeit to mixed reviews.
Sciambi, otherwise known by his nickname "Boog," served as a sportscaster for ESPN and the Marquee Sports Network and, more recently, a play-by-play announcer for the Chicago Cubs TV broadcasts. His partner, Singleton, a former player for the Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Oakland Athletics, joined him to provide additional commentary. San Diego Studio claimed the new duo would undergo 128 separate recording sessions, including 350 recording hours and around 45,000 lines of audio, to provide in-depth analysis at every moment of the game. Unfortunately, as one Reddit user points out, the result gives players the impression that those numbers may have been inflated.
128 separate recording sessions 350 recording hours and approximately 45,000 lines of audio…. from MLBTheShow
Reddit user tezzmaniandevil posted the classic Maury "That was a lie" meme in the MLB The Show subreddit, sparking a major discussion on the concerns over the game's commentary, or lack thereof. As of this writing, the thread has reached nearly 1,000 upvotes and close to 300 comments, with the majority agreeing on the lackluster and shallow in-game commentary. Some of the top-rated posts reflect the most over-used lines in the game, sparking countless replies of continuations to those monologues. As many reviews of MLB The Show 22 have indicated, the new commentary team is one of the weakest points in the game, and some users have resorted to muting their game in favor of background music.
It's an unfortunate step back in terms of quality for the baseball franchise, one that developers had hoped to improve with the restructuring of the team calling the action. Since launch, MLB The Show 22 has been plagued with bugs, more than what players were used to with previous installments. In the last month, San Diego Studio has released five Game Updates, and with each fix made, more issues have sparked up. While most of the current bugs are ones that players have learned to live with, the commentary team goes beyond any traditional problem and is beyond repair until next year's edition.
MLB The Show 22 is available on PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.