Guys, MLB The Show 26 Weekend Classic 2 is underway, featuring two brand-new Weekend Classic Choice Pack rewards. However, to earn these rewards, you'll need to perform at your best in the game, ideally by first securing the best possible roster. Today, we're bringing you pitcher rankings to help you determine if they're worth using in Weekend Classic 2:

• Tier S: Randy Johnson, Felix Hernandez, Kenley Jansen
• Tier A: Ryan Helsley, Clayton Kershaw, Noah Schultz, John Franco
• Tier B: Paul Skenes, Aroldis Chapman, Jacob deGrom, Mason Miller
• Tier C: Tyler Rogers, J.R. Richard, Satchel Paige, Parker Messick 
• Tier D: Justin Verlander, Craig Kimbrel, Ryan Weathers, Mark Davis

Note that these rankings are based on a combination of actual pitching ability and the challenging environment, not just overall rating or rarity.

Tier S

Players in Tier S are practically invincible; if you have them, you're truly lucky.

Randy Johnson

Starting pitcher. Huge speed difference, with a Fastball and Splitter speed difference of over 15 mph. Surprisingly excellent control, even better than in previous years. Still one of the top left-handed starting pitchers in the game.

Felix Hernandez

Felix Hernandez possesses an Outlier, slider, and circle change, almost an upgraded version of Ryan Helsley. His control is a bit floaty, but his ball-handling skills are too strong, making his pressure output top-tier.

Kenley Jansen

One of the strongest right-handed bullpen players. His cutter is extremely accurate, and he possesses a Sinker and Circle Change. His Sweeper can be used for chase pitches. Better control than Felix Hernandez, a consistent closer.

Tier A

While Tier A players may not be as outstanding as Tier S players, they are still the mainstream first-choice players.

Ryan Helsley

As the only bullpen pitcher to possess outliers, fastballs, and cutters simultaneously, Ryan Helsley's release point is unpredictable, and his dominance is consistently strong, making him one of the most unique right-handed pitching options currently available.

Clayton Kershaw

Starting pitcher. Clayton Kershaw is very strong on Hall of Fame and higher difficulty levels, but lacks speed on All-Star difficulty levels, making him vulnerable to being hit. However, many top players still favor him.

Noah Schultz

Also, a starting pitcher. His release point is extremely unpredictable, and his control is inconsistent. On All-Star difficulty levels, he is surprisingly effective against lower-to-mid-level players, easily causing swings and misses.

John Franco

A bullpen player. A consistent left-handed long reliever, suitable for winning two innings when leading by 3-4 runs. He tends to explode against skilled opponents, but overall remains consistent.

Tier B

You can certainly use the players here, but they are not best considered your first choice, as they all have noticeable weaknesses.

Paul Skenes

His ball combinations are poor. Although there's been a slight improvement, he's still not highly recommended overall.

Aroldis Chapman

He lacks an Outlier and four-seam fastballs, and isn't currently very strong.

Jacob deGrom

Jacob deGrom is a relatively easy player to play against. Not recommended for active use.

Mason Miller

He has an Outlier and powerful ability to drop the ball. However, his ball control is extremely poor; even a perfect release might land on the edge of the strike zone, making him very reliant on luck and inconsistent.

Tier C

Tier C players generally have significant weaknesses, so players should choose carefully.

Tyler Rogers

Somewhat more effective against those who cheat by reading pitch trajectories. Tyler Rogers must be paired with white shorts to make the ball harder to spot. His effectiveness against normal players is average.

J.R. Richard

Far left-handed pitchers, J.R. Richard can currently only throw sliders; skilled players can simply ignore him.

Satchel Paige

Not only does he lack an Outlier, but his ball combinations don't complement each other.

Parker Messick

His maximum pitch speed is only 95 mph, suitable only for players with extremely limited MLB 26 stubs as a transitional option.

Tier D

So, for the final Tier D players, try to avoid them.

Justin Verlander

Justin Verlander not only lacks speed, but his overall rating is also very low. There's little reason to choose him.

Craig Kimbrel

This is a completely unreliable player; playing him might have terrible consequences. Anyone else is better.

Ryan Weathers

A free, high-rated trap card, but actually really bad; you'll know once you use it.

Mark Davis

His pitches don't complement each other, he doesn't have a Sinker, and every pitch he throws is decent but not threatening.

Key Combinations

The Only Cheat Countermeasure: Tyler Rogers + White Shorts

If you encounter an opponent who is obviously cheating and can read the ball's trajectory, remember to switch to Tyler Rogers and make your shorts pure white.

Because of the white shorts, combined with Tyler Rogers' low release point and unpredictable shooting motion, it will make it extremely difficult for the opponent to see the ball's spin, significantly weakening their ability to read the ball. Although this will make your jersey look worse, it's worth it for winning.

The Most Powerful Bullpen Combinations

• Right-handed pitchers: Kenley Jansen (controller) + Felix Hernandez (pure pressure)
• Left-handed pitchers: Ryan Helsley (with Outlier and Cutter) + John Franco

If you can only remember one name, it has to be Randy Johnson. He will definitely make your Weekend Classic 2 a success.

WoW Midnight team issued a lengthy announcement detailing a set of tank specialization adjustments that will go live after the server reset on May 12. These changes, long awaited by the tank community, are all positive enhancements, with no nerfs to Brewmaster Monk or the recently adjusted Guardian Druid.

The goal of these buffs is to bolster the passive damage mitigation of tank specializations that have been underperforming in high-level Mythic+ dungeons, while also extending the duration and improving the effectiveness of some of their cooldowns, allowing them to better handle heavy damage phases. Let's take a closer look at the specific changes for each specialization.

Blood Death Knight

Blood Death Knight changes focus primarily on its more random mechanics. Dancing Rune Weapon's parry chance has been increased from 20% to 25%. While this is an improvement, it remains a defensive stat that relies on random triggers, making it an inherently unreliable form of mitigation.

Rune Weapon empowerment triggered by Dance of Midnight talent now lasts up to 8 seconds, and its proc chance has been increased. This means you'll trigger the effect more often, with a longer duration and more parry mitigation.

Since Rune Weapon empowerment also acts as an offensive cooldown, the extended duration and higher frequency will boost your damage output as well. However, this still layers random mitigation on top of a random proc, and for a tank spec, such unreliable defensive gameplay doesn't feel ideal.

Beyond the mechanical adjustments, Blood Death Knight also receives a small increase to stamina and healing. These changes will definitely make the spec feel smoother in Mythic+ dungeons, but they won't suddenly propel it into a dominant position. Therefore, Blood Death Knight players can hold onto their WoW Midnight gold for now and don't need to rush to make specialization adjustments.

Vengeance Demon Hunter

Vengeance Demon Hunter gets several passive survivability increases, a relatively steady set of changes.

Demonic Wards' base damage reduction has been increased from 8% to 12% (a 4% hike), and Thick Skin now boosts stamina by 5%.

Mastery: Fel Blood's armor bonus has been increased. Since Vengeance Demon Hunter does not actively stack Mastery in the current meta - only picking up incidental amounts from gear - this buff's practical impact is limited.

Void Reaver now increases the damage reduction provided by Frailty to 5%. In a standard Frailty build, with two stacks, mitigation rises from 8% to 10%.

Overall, these changes give Vengeance Demon Hunter slightly less than 6% passive, all-type damage reduction, along with some extra stamina. It's definitely a survivability boost that makes you feel a bit sturdier, but again, it won't spark a massive reroll frenzy or push Vengeance Demon Hunter into the mainstream spotlight.

Protection Paladin

Protection Paladin is without a doubt the biggest winner of this round. The changes comprehensively boost its baseline durability and on-demand survivability by strengthening passive effects and cooldowns.

Passive Skills

• Blessing of Dusk now reduces damage taken by up to 20% (was 10%), scaling with lower health.
• Sanctified Plates provides an additional 5% stamina bonus.

Active Skills

• Ardent Defender's duration has been extended from 8 to 12 seconds, and its damage reduction increased from 20% to 30%. This greatly addresses Protection Paladin's gaps in defensive coverage.
• Sentinel's duration has been restored from 16 seconds to 20 seconds, matching Avenging Wrath's duration.

This isn't just a simple 4-second extension. Because you can continuously refresh Sentinel's duration with damaging abilities while it's active, that 4-second base increase actually translates into at least 8 extra seconds of coverage after extensions. The benefit is even more pronounced during high-haste scenarios such as Bloodlust.

Previously, Sentinel couldn't quite compete because of its shorter duration. Now that it shares the same base duration as Avenging Wrath, its damage reduction, damage, and healing effects can fully shine.

Combined with Ardent Defender changes, Protection Paladin's defensive cooldown uptime sees a substantial increase. Although opting for Sentinel may result in slightly lower AoE damage compared to before, its damage output remains strong.

More importantly, Protection Paladin brings unmatched group utility, which has already made it quite popular in Mythic+ dungeons. It's safe to expect that after these changes go live, its representation in high keys will climb significantly.

Protection Warrior

Protection Warrior already excels at physical mitigation, so the adjustments aim to shore up its weakness against magic and sustained damage.

Fight Through Flames now provides 6% damage reduction. The issue is that in Mythic+ settings, this talent competes with options that grant flat armor bonuses or the group interrupt Disrupting Shout, so Fight Through Flames isn't picked very often.

Phalanx talent now offers 8% damage reduction, up from 5%. This adjustment ties into hero talent tree choices. The current popular approach typically invests only one point in that branch to favor resource generation and maximum health, whereas this improvement encourages spending four points to reach Apex.

Additionally, Ignore Pain has been buffed by 8%. If you continue using the popular single-point Apex setup, this boost won't be transformative. That said, Protection Warrior's power level is already second only to Brewmaster and Guardian Druid, so it doesn't need massive buffs.

Overall, Protection Paladin is the standout highlight of these adjustments, and its competitiveness in high-level Mythic+ will noticeably rise. These changes successfully bring tank specs that were previously somewhat weaker up to a level where they can contend with Brewmaster and Guardian Druid, especially in Mythic+ dungeons.