Just as everyone's favorite pitchers and catchers report this week ahead of the MLB's spring training sessions, Sony opted to reveal the launch dates for MLB 14: The Show today. The Sony-published baseball game will arrive on PS3 and Vita on April 1 with the PS4 version stepping up to the plate in May.

Sony San Diego discussed some of the game's new features in a PlayStation Blog entry, such as cross-platform save compatibility and the guarantee that players will be able to transfer their careers from this year's game to future versions. MLB 14: The Show will also include community-created challenges, an online franchise mode with draft, free agency, trading and scouting support and some as-yet-unannounced improvements to the Road to the Show career mode.

Additionally, Sony will implement a universal in-game currency for MLB 14: The Show called "Stubs." Stubs will be earned from general gameplay (similar to experience points) and can also be purchased using real-life dollars. Sony stressed that it is "not designing the system to pressure players into spending money. It will be the same system it's been in years prior, just all rolled together with a new name." Stubs can be used to purchase career mode boosts like training points for players' Road to the Show athletes and increased franchise budgets. [Image: Sony]