This week, Season 3 officially arrived in MLB The Show 23. This new content drop includes the always popular All-Star Game Team Affinity, as well as new Monthly Awards cards and much more! After many players were disappointed with the content in Season 2, is this new season enough to keep players interested heading into the second half of the MLB season? Let’s take a look and find out.
Season 3 XP Reward Path
The new season brings a brand new XP Reward Path. This is full of the usual rewards like equipment, stubs, and random packs. There are few different rewards specific to this path. First are the AL All-Star and NL All-Star packs. There are 4 of each of these packs in the reward path, allowing you to pick one of the seven players. The players inside are based on this year’s MLB All-Star game.
There are also five new 99 OVR boss cards available in choice packs. You can earn three of these bosses by completing the reward path. These five new bosses are:
- All-Star Game Mike Cameron
- 2023 All-Star Marcus Semien
- 2023 All-Star Zac Gallen
- Jin Kim Series Buck O’Neil
- Home Run Derby Joc Pederson
On top of this, the new XP Reward Path includes a 99 OVR Jin Kim Series John Donaldson card. This two-way card is part of a new set cards based on the legends featured in The Negro Leagues Storylines game mode.
Team Affinity 3
The third Team Affinity set has arrived. This set features tons of throwback All-Star content. On top of All-Star cards from previous MLB The Show games, each team has a new 97 OVR throwback All-Star card. Each team also has a new 95 OVR team captain to earn.
While it would have been nice if the Team Affinity cards were 99 OVR, there are plenty of new collections to complete for 99 OVR cards. The new Team Affinity Season 3 collections offer plenty of powerful new All-Star cards. These new collections rewards are:
- Collect 90: 2023 All-Star Corbin Carroll, LF Arizona Diamondbacks (99 OVR)
- Collect 80: 2023 All-Star Jose Ramirez, 3B Cleveland Guardians (99 OVR)
- Collect 70: 2023 All-Star Matt Olson, 1B Atlanta Braves (99 OVR)
- Collect 50: 2023 All-Star Luis Arraez, 2B Miami Marlins (99 OVR)
- Collect 30: 2023 All-Star Shane McClanahan, SP Tampa Bay Rays (99 OVR)
- Collect 20: TA3 Captain Spencer Strider, SP Atlanta Braves (95 OVR)
- Collect 15: TA3 Captain Freddie Freeman, 1B Los Angeles Dodgers (95 OVR)
Ranked Seasons 4
The fourth Ranked Seasons program has arrived. This new program also brings plenty of All-Star content. By either reaching World Series rating or completing the program, you can earn one of Jin Kim Series Satchel Paige (99 OVR), 2023 All-Star Series Sean Murphy (99 OVR), and 2023 All-Star Series Juan Soto (99 OVR).
Set 3 Collection
Season 3 brings with it the new Set 3 cards. That means there is a new Set Collection offering several great cards just for collecting the new cards in the game. The Set 3 Collection choice pack is awarded for collecting 150, 220, and 300 Set 3 cards. This choice pack includes 2023 All-Star Series Adley Rutschman (99 OVR), 2023 All-Star Series Ronald Acuna Jr. (99 OVR), and Jin Kim Series Martin Dihigo (99 OVR). Along with this choice pack, these other milestones will earn you these rewards:
- Collect 190: 2023 All-Star Austin Riley, 3B Atlanta Braves (99 OVR)
- Collect 120: Jin Kim Series Jackie Robinson, SS, Negro Leagues Legend (99 OVR)
- Collect 90: Jin Kim Series Hilton Smith, SP/LF/RF, Negro Leagues Legend (99 OVR)
- Collect 50: 2023 All-Star Alexis Diaz, CP Cincinnati Reds (99 OVR)
June Monthly Awards Program
The June Monthly Awards Program celebrates the players that had the best performances during the month of June. This program is highlighted by the Lightning Player of the Month, Angels SP Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani was absolutely on fire during June, as he hit 15 HRs in the month to go along with a .394 batting average. The Angels phenom is joined in the program by plenty of henchmen featuring players who also played their best in June.
All-Star Event
The newest event celebrates the upcoming MLB All-Star Game. The new event has players use Set 2, Set 3, and Core series cards at T-Mobile Park in 3-inning games. The rewards for this event are:
- 5 Wins: All-Star Game Will Smith, CP San Francisco Giants (95 OVR)
- 20 Wins: Home Run Derby Jim Edmonds, CF St Louis Cardinals (97 OVR)
- 12 Win Streak: 2023 All-Star Jonah Heim, C Texas Rangers (99 OVR)
June Topps Now
Three more cards were added to round out the June Topps Now Program. Collecting these and the rest of the June Topps Now cards will give you a good head start on the June Monthly Awards Program. These three new cards are:
- Domingo German, SP New York Yankees (99 OVR)
- Jarren Duran, CF Boston Red Sox (95 OVR)
- Jared Triolo, 3B Pittsburgh Pirates (93 OVR)
New Packs
To round out the new content, there are some new packs in The Show Shop. First, Chase Pack 5 is here and features Milestone Series Elly De La Cruz (99 OVR). De La Cruz is one of the most exciting up and coming players in the league, and this card celebrates him hitting for the cycle last month.
Meanwhile, the 26th Diamond Duos pack is here. This pack features two 99 OVR cards from the new 2023 All-Star Game Series. These two cards are Giants CP Camillo Doval and Astros RF Kyle Tucker.