MLB The Show 25 debuted a new competitive mode, the Weekend Classic. Suffice it to say, there are some serious kinks that need to be worked out. In my first couple of matches, my opponents were blasting the ball out of the park like vintage Canseco and McGwire. On the mound, they were hitting corners with laserlike precision. I got 10-run mercy ruled twice.
After taking to social media, I realized I wasn't alone in this. The matchmaking in the Weekend Classic is currently broken. The mode allows players to tank their overall ranking and play several tiers below their actual skill level.
They're doing it, in most cases, to get the Weekend Classic rewards easily. The rewards they unlock are based on their actual rating, but they're playing against opponents far below their skill level and getting easy victories. Yep, scummy.
Their skill level is high enough to easily get back to their actual rank, so yes, the practice of smurfing has now reared its ugly head in MLB The Show. Not everybody is doing it intentionally. Since matchmaking is broken, sometimes you just get a bad draw. Or, in the case of this person, multiple bad draws.
Here's an example from X of a ridiculously lopsided matchup:
This was a Weekend Classic game, FWIW.
— Mills (@MillsTwitch) April 13, 2025
1302 vs 100 rating.
This is embarrassing from a matchmaking standpoint. https://t.co/1fLSwrWu0z
If you run into a single smurf (and the odds of doing so seem pretty high right now) there's zero chance you'll earn the best rewards. You've been royally screwed over by the game for matching you up with someone you had no business being on the field with.
Make of this explanation what you will, but X user Big Tomk22 brought up an interesting point. Pitcher stamina does not reset before this competitive event. He apparently threw games just to get his pitchers ready, then found out it earned him easier matchups. Pitcher stamina should reset, I'm in agreement there. But I hate this is the way some people will get around it. Hopefully, a fix for that aspect is in the works.
There's also the issue of "freeze-offs." Sometimes, the game locks up, and the win gets credited to the last person to quit out. Nothing quite like rewarding someone for no-lifeing it. If this happens to you and you're the one who quits, you can no longer earn the prize for winning six games.
The mode's leaderboards are also glitched. There's no penalty for losing games. Your overall ranking will decline, but you're not penalized on the Weekend Classic leaderboard. Many players have displayed their boards on which people with losing records are significantly above people with one or two losses.
Weekend Classic games are nine-inning games based on the ratings of the players involved. The highest-rated player's ranking determines the matchup's difficulty setting. Quick Counts, Guess Pitch, and Balks are all turned off. The games feature no squad restrictions and are only available in one-on-one play.
It's a new competitive game mode mixed with current options which include regular Ranked Play and Battle Royale. I was excited about it, until my experience this weekend. With any luck, Sony San Diego can get this under control soon.