Building the Fastest Team in MLB The Show 25

MLB The Show 25 is a game obsessed with ratings—contact, power, fielding, arm strength—but few attributes warp gameplay quite like speed. Speed doesn’t just steal bases; it steals momentum, pressure, and decision-making from your opponent. In this experiment, the goal was simple but brutal: build the fastest possible team in MLB 25 Stubs using a wheel-based challenge system, then take that team into a competitive game with real consequences on the line.

The twist? The entire roster had to hit a 97 overall team speed rating. Fail to reach that number, and the punishment would be immediate and painful: load the bases for the opponent in the first inning. Lose the game on top of that, and a 100,000-stub card would be quick-sold into oblivion. This wasn’t just a gimmick—it was pressure baseball, built on wheels, luck, and raw velocity.

Why Speed Matters More Than Ever in MLB The Show 25

Speed in MLB The Show 25 affects far more than base stealing. It impacts:

First-step reactions on defense

Range in the outfield and infield

Beating out infield singles

Turning singles into doubles and doubles into triples

Forcing rushed throws and defensive errors

A speed-first team doesn’t need elite power to score. It just needs chaos. And that chaos was the entire philosophy behind this build.

Starting at Catcher: The Only Real Option

Every experiment needs a foundation, and for this one, Catcher had only a single viable answer.

Craig Biggio—listed as a catcher in MLB The Show 25—was the only card at the position with legitimate elite speed. With 89 speed, he wasn’t just the fastest catcher in the game; he was in a tier of his own. At 85 overall, Biggio wasn’t going to carry the offense, but his speed alone made him mandatory.

From the first slot, the speed rating began climbing—but the climb would be steep.

First Base Roulette: Speed Over Everything

At first base, the dream pull was Rod Carew, a perfect leadoff archetype with elite speed and bat control. Instead, the wheel delivered Rev Dixon—a card that, frankly, looked awful everywhere except the one place that mattered.

90 speed.

In this challenge, aesthetics didn’t matter. Overall didn’t matter. Power definitely didn’t matter. Speed did. Dixon made the team, and the overall speed jumped into the low 70s early—but the real test was still ahead.

Shortstop: The Captain of the Infield

Shortstop is where speed, defense, and offensive value converge. Miss here, and the entire team suffers. The wheel was stacked with danger: bronze and silver cards, awkward secondary positions, and landmines everywhere.

Then came salvation.

Elly De La Cruz.

Not the flashiest version, not the All-Star monster—but still rocking 99 speed, 99 stealing, and 99 baserunning aggressiveness. Elly instantly became the heartbeat of the roster, anchoring the infield and giving the team its first true speed demon.

At this point, the vision was clear: this team wasn’t going to overpower anyone. It was going to outrun them.

Outfield Construction: Speed First, Ask Questions Later

The outfield spins were a mix of relief and stress. Diamond pulls were desperately needed because gold and silver cards were dragging the team's speed down hard.

Victor Scott arrived with 99 speed and solid defensive utility

Justin Crawford, despite weak power, brought another 99 speed to center field

Every addition pushed the speed number higher… but not fast enough

By mid-build, the team speed hovered in the mid-to-high 70s. That’s when the stakes became real.

The Target Revealed: 97 Overall Speed

With only a few spins left, the requirement was finally revealed: 97 team speed overall.

At the current pace, that number felt almost impossible.

Every gold pull now felt catastrophic. Every non-99 speed card was an anchor. The margin for error vanished completely.

Pitcher Slot: Cool Papa Bell Enters the Chaos

Pitcher speed is usually irrelevant—unless you’re doing something insane.

Cool Papa Bell was the only pitcher in MLB The Show 25 with 99 speed, and that alone earned him the rotation spot. His pitching attributes were mediocre at best, but the rules were clear: fastest team possible, no exceptions.

Even with Cool Papa Bell slotted in, the team speed barely budged. The realization set in—the bench was going to decide everything.

Infield Gambles and a Critical Trey Turner Pull

Second base was a true coin flip. Miss here, and the challenge was dead.

The wheel stopped on Trea Turner.

A diamond pull.

99 speed.

A lifeline.

That one spin stabilized the roster and pushed the speed rating into the high 70s. Still nowhere near 97—but now hope existed.

Right Field Jackpot: Ronald Acuña Jr.

Every challenge has a moment where luck shifts the entire narrative.

This was it.

The wheel landed on Ronald Acuña Jr.—99 overall, elite power, elite contact, and of course, 99 speed. For the first time, the team added not just speed, but a legitimate superstar bat.

Acuña didn’t just raise the speed rating—he raised morale. This was no longer just a gimmick team. It could actually win.

Late Chaos, Bench Pressure, and the Final Push

After some unavoidable silver pulls and awkward reshuffling (including multiple Elly De La Cruz sightings), the starting lineup capped out at 84 speed overall.

That meant the bench had to do the impossible.

Bench spins delivered:

Chandler Simpson (99 speed)

Jeremy Peña

Corbin Carroll

And finally, the miracle pull: Tim Raines

One of the fastest players in baseball history.

With Tim Raines added, the speed counter ticked… and ticked… and finally landed on 97 overall team speed.

Challenge complete.

Barely.

The Game: Speed vs Power

The matchup was exactly what was feared—a stacked opponent with elite bats and superior overall. Early mistakes were punished quickly, and Cool Papa Bell struggled to put hitters away.

But speed changed everything.

Craig Biggio gunned down Ken Griffey Jr.

Ronald Acuña Jr. launched a game-tying home run into the water

Aggressive substitutions turned weak hitters into speed weapons

Doubles became triples

Singles turned into instant scoring threats

This team didn’t overpower its opponent. It suffocated them.

Every ball in play created panic.

The Walk-Off: Speed Wins

In the bottom of the ninth, with chaos in full effect, Tim Raines—one of the final bench additions—delivered the ultimate payoff. A perfectly placed swing, a no-doubt blast, and the game ended in the most fitting way possible: speed-built dominance sealing victory buy MLB The Show 25 Stubs.

No punishment.

No quick-sell.

No regrets.

Final Thoughts: Why This Team Worked

This experiment proved something important about MLB The Show 25:

Speed is not a gimmick—it’s a strategy.

A team full of 99 speed players:

Forces mistakes

Breaks defensive positioning

Turns routine plays into high-pressure moments

Wins games without needing perfect swings

Is it cheesy? Absolutely.

Is it risky? Extremely.

Is it effective? Without question.

This wasn’t just one of the fastest teams in MLB The Show 25—it was one of the most entertaining, stressful, and rewarding builds imaginable. And in a game where everyone chases max power, sometimes the smartest play… is just being faster than everyone else.