April 23, 2026 6:34 PM PDT
To maximize your rewards in MLB The Show 26’s Team Affinity (TA) quickly, it’s crucial to have a solid strategy. This means completing Moments, stacking your lineup with team-specific players, and using the right game modes to earn rewards efficiently. Here's a guide to help you level up fast and unlock all the rewards in no time!
1. Complete All Moments First
The first thing you should do is tackle all the Moments for every team. These are simple, short tasks that require you to hit or pitch for each team, and completing them is key to making fast progress.
- Reward: Each team typically offers two Moments, each worth 10,000 points.
- Benefit: Completing these Moments will help you reach the initial 70,000-point milestone. This milestone unlocks your first Diamond player, who is crucial for the Parallel XP (PXP) missions that come later.
Start with the hitter and pitcher Moments for each team. These don’t take too long and set you up for bigger rewards.
2. Optimize Your Lineup (The "Grind Squad")
Next, you’ll want to create a "Grind Squad" — a lineup made up entirely of players from the team or division you’re targeting. This can drastically speed up your progress.
Stack Missions:
- By using a full lineup of one team, every hit, run, and inning pitched will count toward multiple missions simultaneously. This means you’re not just working on one objective at a time, but two or three.
WBC Players:
- World Baseball Classic players also count toward the team’s affinity progress. So, if you have any WBC players linked to an MLB team, you can add them to your squad to stack even more progress.
Target Relief Pitchers:
- Teams with solid relief pitchers can be more efficient to grind. Instead of trying to complete all 30 teams at once, focus on those with high-value relievers to earn quick points.
3. The Best Grinding Modes
Some game modes are much better for grinding rewards than others. Here’s how to make the most of them.
Mini Seasons (Classic Mode):
- Mini Seasons is often considered the best offline mode for grinding rewards. Here’s how to make it even better:
- Strategy: Play on Rookie difficulty at a high-elevation stadium (like a “max elevation” or “Costco” ballpark). This will boost your offense, making it easier to rack up home runs and total bases for missions.
- Efficiency: You only need to win enough games (usually around 14–16) to secure a top-4 seed, then play the playoffs. Each playoff victory gives you valuable vouchers worth 5,000 points.
Play vs CPU:
- Playing a full 9-inning game against a low-rated team, like the White Sox or Nationals, on Rookie difficulty is a quick way to knock out pitching and hitting requirements. You can complete most of your missions in one or two games, especially if you're focusing on total bases or strikeouts.
Conquest:
- Use your TA players in Conquest mode. Complete division-specific Conquest maps to earn PXP and repeatable mission points. You’ll be progressing toward both TA rewards and other valuable rewards, all while advancing through missions.
4. Focus on High-Value Missions
To maximize your time, prioritize missions that unlock new players or provide a big point boost.
PXP Missions:
- Once you unlock your first Diamond player, keep them in your lineup. You’ll need them to complete PXP missions. Earning 500 PXP with that player gives you a substantial point boost that speeds up your progress significantly.
Pitching Innings:
- Missions like pitching innings or strikeouts are often quicker to complete than total base missions. Use your TA pitcher boss in Conquest or Play vs CPU to get through these missions easily.
To maximize your rewards in MLB The Show 26’s Team Affinity (TA) quickly, it’s crucial to have a solid strategy. This means completing Moments, stacking your lineup with team-specific players, and using the right game modes to earn rewards efficiently. Here's a guide to help you level up fast and unlock all the rewards in no time!
1. Complete All Moments First
The first thing you should do is tackle all the Moments for every team. These are simple, short tasks that require you to hit or pitch for each team, and completing them is key to making fast progress.
- Reward: Each team typically offers two Moments, each worth 10,000 points.
- Benefit: Completing these Moments will help you reach the initial 70,000-point milestone. This milestone unlocks your first Diamond player, who is crucial for the Parallel XP (PXP) missions that come later.
Start with the hitter and pitcher Moments for each team. These don’t take too long and set you up for bigger rewards.
2. Optimize Your Lineup (The "Grind Squad")
Next, you’ll want to create a "Grind Squad" — a lineup made up entirely of players from the team or division you’re targeting. This can drastically speed up your progress.
Stack Missions:
- By using a full lineup of one team, every hit, run, and inning pitched will count toward multiple missions simultaneously. This means you’re not just working on one objective at a time, but two or three.
WBC Players:
- World Baseball Classic players also count toward the team’s affinity progress. So, if you have any WBC players linked to an MLB team, you can add them to your squad to stack even more progress.
Target Relief Pitchers:
- Teams with solid relief pitchers can be more efficient to grind. Instead of trying to complete all 30 teams at once, focus on those with high-value relievers to earn quick points.
3. The Best Grinding Modes
Some game modes are much better for grinding rewards than others. Here’s how to make the most of them.
Mini Seasons (Classic Mode):
- Mini Seasons is often considered the best offline mode for grinding rewards. Here’s how to make it even better:
- Strategy: Play on Rookie difficulty at a high-elevation stadium (like a “max elevation” or “Costco” ballpark). This will boost your offense, making it easier to rack up home runs and total bases for missions.
- Efficiency: You only need to win enough games (usually around 14–16) to secure a top-4 seed, then play the playoffs. Each playoff victory gives you valuable vouchers worth 5,000 points.
Play vs CPU:
- Playing a full 9-inning game against a low-rated team, like the White Sox or Nationals, on Rookie difficulty is a quick way to knock out pitching and hitting requirements. You can complete most of your missions in one or two games, especially if you're focusing on total bases or strikeouts.
Conquest:
- Use your TA players in Conquest mode. Complete division-specific Conquest maps to earn PXP and repeatable mission points. You’ll be progressing toward both TA rewards and other valuable rewards, all while advancing through missions.
4. Focus on High-Value Missions
To maximize your time, prioritize missions that unlock new players or provide a big point boost.
PXP Missions:
- Once you unlock your first Diamond player, keep them in your lineup. You’ll need them to complete PXP missions. Earning 500 PXP with that player gives you a substantial point boost that speeds up your progress significantly.
Pitching Innings:
- Missions like pitching innings or strikeouts are often quicker to complete than total base missions. Use your TA pitcher boss in Conquest or Play vs CPU to get through these missions easily.
