been banging my head against the 3rd Inning grind and my take is pretty simple: stop treating 1,000,000 XP like it's all gameplay XP. I've been filling gaps with flips and cheap buys, and I've been getting mine from MLB The Show 26 stubs when I'm short on stuff I actually want to lock in, but the real juice is missions. If you're just playing nine-inning CPU games until June 7, 2024, you're making this way worse than it needs to be.

Do the boring stuff first

I know everyone wants to jump straight into Ranked with their new toys, but the 3rd Inning Showdown and The Great Outdoors Conquest map are free XP chunks sitting there. Showdown is 20,000 XP, Conquest is 30,000 XP if you finish the objectives, and in my runs the hidden packs weren't awful either. Not god tier, but not dead packs. I'd knock those out before caring about any sweaty mode.

The XP cap is where people get confused

Patch 1.05 has the daily gameplay XP cap at 15,000, afaik, but mission XP doesn't seem to care about that cap. I tested this on a night where I hit the cap, then still popped stat missions after. Got credit just fine. So stack stuff like 15 homers with Season 1 cards, 50 strikeouts with pitchers, and those PXP missions for Topps Now or Awards cards. It feels way less painful when three bars finish after one Mini Seasons game.

Boss pick isn't as easy as people say

Most people in my group are yelling Jimmy Rollins because 99 Fielding and 97 Speed at short is just comfy. I get it. Defense matters a ton this year, and Rollins feels like one of those cards that saves runs without you noticing. But Larry Walker's bat vs righties looks nasty with 115 Contact Right and 110 Power Right, and Devers having 125 Clutch plus Dead Red is exactly the kind of card that makes Ranked pitchers scared to throw heat. I haven't used all three online yet, so take that part with a grain of salt.

Don't blindly lock cards

The Collection tab is tempting because Season 1 Awards Drop 8 and Drop 9 can give a combined 40,000 XP, which is huge. But once you lock them, they're stuck. I saw someone in Discord collect cards they planned to sell later and yeah, pain. If it's a card you'll actually keep, fine. If it's just FOMO for XP, maybe chill unless you're close to that Boss pack.

My actual route right now

I'm doing Showdown, Conquest, then building lineups around whatever PXP mission is closest instead of forcing my best squad every game. If I need stubs for a keeper card, I ended up finding MLB The Show 26 Stubs On XBOX useful before locking anything dumb, but don't collect rentals just for a quick hit. Also not sure yet how annoying the Wild Card slot thing will be when Season 2 hits, so I'm picking for need, not hype. Hope this helps, lmk if I missed anything.