MLB The Show 16 chooses to defy the adage that “clutch” does not exist.

The keepers of baseball’s sacred statistical texts insist that a timely hit or a game-winning home run — the “clutch play” — cannot be predicted, or manipulated into existence. They say it’s all a collision of mystical factors beyond any one performer’s control.

MLB 16, the latest game in a series built on adherence to baseball’s tiniest orthodoxies, flies in the face of accepted belief with its newest gameplay feature, “ShowTime.” It slows down time for critical moments when a user is controlling an individual player. But ShowTime’s tentative and uneven application means that most of MLB 16‘s appeal — and there still is plenty — resides mainly in the striking visuals and tried-and-true features delivered by an iterative sports franchise.