Super Mega Baseball 4 celebrated its launch last week, and with it comes a brand new game mode: Shuffle Draft. The game-mode is a non-timed draft mode where you can draft players from any of the selected leagues within the game. You can select whether or not you want to draft only the best players, or have a balanced selection. Then, you can take that draft team into any game mode.

Some may be wondering, “How exactly should I draft my team?” Here's a guide suggesting on Shuffle draft, what you should look out for, and which positions you should focus on.

The Best Offense Is A Good Defense

Arguably the most important position in the sport of baseball is the pitcher. Sure, it's nice to have a lot of powerful hitters who can send the ball flying, or good shortstops due how demanding the position is. But first and foremost, you need a good pitcher with a big arsenal of pitches under their belt. How else could you hit home runs if you're struggling to get strikeouts on defense?

When drafting a pitcher, don't just look at their overall and assume they're good based on that stat alone. You should be looking at a few things:

  • How many pitch types do they have in their arsenal?
  • Are they a Starting Pitcher only? Or can they also be a reserve pitcher?
  • What's their chemistry/traits?

A good pitcher will have at least 3-4 pitch types in their arsenal. The max a player can have is 5 in SMB4. If you see a player available with multiple pitch types, see what kinds they have. Our pitching guide recommends every pitcher should at least have a Curveball (CB) and 4-Seam Fastball (4F). Forkballs (FK) and Change-Ups (CH) are also good too, but don't sweat it if they don't have them right away.

There are three types of pitchers in Super Mega Baseball 4. Starting Pitcher (SP), Reserve Pitcher (RP), and Closing Pitcher (CP). Some players may be both SP/RP, or RP/CP, it all depends on the player. We recommend drafting at least two SP/RP players. They'll mainly serve as reserve pitchers, but in case one of your pitchers gets injured, you'll have a backup who can start the full game.

This way, you won't have to drastically change your rotation, or have another SP play a game earlier than they should.

We recommend you draft your pitchers early. You don't have to draft them all in a row, but at least one of your first three picks should be a pitcher (especially if you're going for a balanced draft).

Stats, Traits, and Secondary Positions

Next up is where things get tricky, as you'll want to draft players with:

  • Positive Traits/Chemistry Type
  • Good Power/Speed/Contact
  • Secondary Positions

You'll obviously want to draft players with high power so you can get home runs, but in case they can't, they should be fast. Contact is also nice for new players, as it'll give you a better chance of hitting the ball. However, if you play the game a lot it gets easier to hit the ball and predict what the pitches will be like.

But the other important thing is the position(s) of these players. For example: you'll have a left-fielder (LF) with a great overall, power, and speed, but they'll only play the one position. You may then see another LF with slightly worse stats but they also play First-Base (1B). The latter may not be as good, but having them may help in the long run.

Sometimes in SMB4's Season or Franchise mode, you'll have players be tense before the start of a match. In these situations you usually sub them out, but you'll need a replacement. That's why it's good to have a roster full of players with secondary positions. It doesn't have to be so every player has one, but having most players on your 22-man roster with a secondary position helps.

Last but certainly not least is player traits and their chemistry type. We explained this in greater detail in our chemistry article, so be sure to check that out if you'd like to learn more.

Essentially, you want to draft as many players as possible without negative traits. Sometimes you'll see a player who has good stats and can play two positions, but you also might notice they have negative traits.

When drafting, you're going to want to see what chemistry type the player has before selecting them. The more players you have with the same chemistry types, the bigger the boost you'll receive from each player's traits.

Now, it'll be impossible to draft a team with good overalls, stats, positive traits, and who all play a secondary position. But that's what makes Shuffle Draft fun. It forces you to do some research and strategizing before just blindly selecting players.

Shuffle Draft Position Draft Order

It won't really matter in which order you draft non-pitchers, but here's some recommendations on an order you can draft in:

  • Starting Pitchers
  • Fielders & Shortstops
  • Basemen
  • Catchers
  • Closing Pitchers

We recommend drafting Fielders and Shortstops early on. Fielders can't afford to make mistakes, especially if they drop a ball that should've been an easy out. Shortstops are usually the busiest players on the field and will need to have good speed and power to make a play.

Basemen and Catchers come next. Catchers can stop runners from stealing a base with a well-timed pitchout. A baseman with good speed can get the ball before it flies to the outfield and save the play.

Lastly, you can focus on getting closing pitchers (CP) or other depth players who can play multiple positions. If you're doing a balanced shuttle draft, then there won't be many great players left by the end. Don't worry about that too much, as they'll mainly ride the bench until you need them.

 

Super Mega Baseball 4 launched on June 2nd for PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. The game comes with two editions. There's a standard edition, and the Ballpark Edition, which will add three new stadiums over the course of the summer. EA Play Members can also play a 10-hour trial of the game and get it for 10% off.

ClutchPoints released a review of Super Mega Baseball 4. For more guides and gaming info, check out ClutchPoints Gaming.