In Diamond Dynasty, one new starter can change the whole way your team plays, and Randy Johnson does exactly that. If you've got some MLB 26 stubs saved up for roster moves around the 2nd Inning grind, he's the kind of arm worth planning around. He isn't the easiest pitcher in the game to control, and that's part of the deal. What makes him so nasty is the discomfort he creates. Hitters don't see many deliveries like his, and when that fastball jumps out of his hand, people rush. They swing early, miss badly, or roll over pitches they usually square up.

Why players are rating him so highly

A lot of the community still puts Félix Hernández and Sandy Alcántara slightly ahead of him, and honestly, that makes sense. Félix is cleaner. Sandy is steadier. Randy is different. He's the guy you use when you want punchouts and you don't mind living with a little risk. That's why his value feels higher in the right hands. If you can get comfortable with his release and stop overthinking every pitch, he starts to feel oppressive. The path to unlock him isn't terrible either. You can move through the 2nd Inning Program by clearing Moments first, then jumping into Showdown, then stacking stat missions with players who cover more than one objective at a time. That little bit of planning saves a ton of time.

How to actually pitch with Randy

Plenty of players make the same mistake with him. They see the velocity and just start firing heaters over and over. That works for an inning or two against weaker hitters, then it falls apart. Randy is at his best when the fastball sets the picture and the slider ruins it. Throw the four-seamer up, especially inside to same-handed batters or above the zone when someone's clearly gearing up. Then send the slider off that lane and let it disappear. Against righties, the low-and-away slider is still the money pitch, but don't lock yourself into that spot every time. Mix in early-count strikes. Let some pitches catch more plate than you'd normally like. His movement and angle do a lot of the work for you.

Where he gives you the biggest edge

He's especially brutal in Ranked Seasons and short Events because opponents don't get much time to settle in. That's a huge deal. Some pitchers get better the longer a game goes, but Randy can win the first few innings almost by himself if the other player hasn't seen him much. Offline, he's just as useful for a different reason. Conquest games are perfect for piling up strikeouts and pushing parallel progress without much stress. When you start building a full rotation, don't copy and paste the same style five times. Use Randy as the high-voltage strikeout threat, keep Félix around for games where command matters more, and let Sandy carry those longer matchups where efficiency wins out.

Making him part of a smarter rotation

The best thing about adding Randy Johnson isn't only what he does on his own. It's what he does to the rest of your staff. Once opponents deal with that tall left-handed release and the slider tunnel, facing a command-first righty the next game feels completely different. That's how you create discomfort over a full run of games, and it's also why people keep searching for the fastest way to get stubs in MLB The Show 26 when a card like this shows up in the meta, because one elite starter can make your whole lineup strategy feel sharper.