Rad, wasn't expecting to get something this nice so quickly.
Barrel Batter went great as far as I'm concerned. Playing it as Bowser isn't as bad as I thought it would be.
My batting, overall, was strong. Too strong, actually - I scored an unnecessary run, meaning that Waluigi had to get out on the Body Check plate appearance, not just Bowser. There were some missed pitches and I didn't use the all-out fastest batting strats that there are but I got all three of Bowser's PAs done in the correct order and took just the one replay on top of Bowser's HR cutscenes - solid stuff. I was honestly pretty pissed that the game decided to take Monty (60% chance to succeed with Body Check) away from second base leaving me only Piantas (40% chance to succeed) and I guess Luigi (50% chance to succeed) as valid Body Check targets- thankfully I got the favorable dice roll anyway, so all's well that end's well.
Defense went great. I'm always happy to lay down an immaculate inning, although Mario hitting the foul ball might have cost a few seconds. Still, didn't feel like pitching too aggressively to contact this go around. It's not like Bowser MVP was in any doubt, but that perfect game automatically achieved that goal for Bowser, by the way. ;)
I hope someone finds the ambitious to beat this run, because I'd love to return to this category! I'm just going to be focusing on other characters in the meantime.