some basic questions
 

Hello all,

New to the game, obviously and I have plenty of questions, but I'll put a few down and hopefully one of you vets can provide a little insight.

I am running a league using real players but mixed from different eras and all on different teams.

1. My team has no captain, do I appoint one? I don't see a way to do it. I am tempted to put one of my best players, who is at least relatively popular with the team, but all of the suggested guys are more role players.

2. I figured out how to expand my roster for spring training. Do I do one cut down to 25 right before opening day? Or, should I send guys down earlier if I know they won't make the team? Is there any advantage to that? Should I be releasing players now if I see no future for them with the team?

3. One game into spring training and I have a chemistry problem. What can I do to address that? I can read about it, but I don't see a place to really do anything.

I'll just start with that. There is a lot to take in with this game, but it's really well done. Thanks for reading and thanks very much for any thoughts or ideas you might be willing to share.

Jeff

captain is a personality trait, not an assigned position. this also addresses issue #3, of poor chemistry. the more good or normal people you have with good work ethics, GENERALLY the better team chemistry is. (if you wanted - you could go into commissioner mode and edit personalities (or anything else really)

i'd keep the people on your spring training roster until a couple of days before opening day, even if they aren't going to make the team, just to give them an outside chance. when to release or trade people you don't think will help is really a personal thing. don't know if there is a rule of thumb that works. Me, i dump them when i have a chance to get someone better or have a free agent that'll signs with me. Otherwise, i keep them - so my minors are full ... incomplete minor leagues is a pain to me.

hope this helps. Lots of different view and perspectives in this game, and this isn't gospel or anything, just how i play my game. good luck and enjoy.

chemistry isn't an overnight fix either... it can be related to previous season's lack of success among many other things. it changes over time. if you see it increasing, even if it is currently "bad", that's all good. could you move it along faster with better personalities? sure. winning can solve most chemistry problems, too.

focus on how it is changing each increment. tbh, not something i pay attention to. i just worry about winning and avoid too many selfish, malcontent type personalities. i don't look at labels at all. are they selfish? are they greedy? good work ethic? etc... just like their ability ratings, i look at the individual stuff and ignore the overall personality.

obviously, that correlates to having better personalities, but if you are winning a lot, or about to win a lot, i wouldn't worry too much. in any 1 decisions and ignoring all other things, talent is still weighted greater than effects of personality.

now, if you have a team full of selfish, greedy people that don't care about winning... well, i've never tried anything like that. so, weighing talent > personality does have a limit, but it's probably extreme, if it exists.

ST-

i worry about 1 thing. knocking rust off my players. my best estimation: 16-20ip for pitching. your SP will get 20-24 depending on 5 or 6 man rotation, which should be enough. you don't want more than ~8 RP, or you end up with important RP getting ~10-12IP. but, each to their own... you can always start with more and send some down if they important guys aren't getting enough innings. i've seen rp have ~12ip and start out like gangbusters, but i'm a bit leary when it's that low.

i will rotate pitchers to and from, AAA if necessary.

same with batting. i try to not to go too crazy with the bench. i start with a defensive bench that can play multiple positons -- 2 guys capable of that. a catcher and +1.. that's my regular season bench, adjust to your preference what i say next. i bring up ~2-3 guys, i make my bench guys backup ~2 spots if possible and fill in with the depth guys -- most likely to be used in case of injuries etc from AAA.

i usually only have ~27-28 players in ST. injuries require more than 27 individual players used, but i deal with those as they happen and that # remains relatively consistent. i rest my catcher a bit more in ST, too. If i have a good prospect in AAA, they also come up in ST, but otherwise i stick to a minimal, yet slightly boosted roster.

also, i don't even think the depth chart matters in some respects -- not jsut SP getting 4ip and done. i've set someone to "none specified" and they just kept getting 3ip at a time in releif at an alarming rate. other than closer i don't worry about their roles, i only worry about IP. you need someone as a "2nd" closer so that he doesn't pitch 30ip. 2 su and both 8ip.. if one lags make him the single su the second half etc or even the 2nd closer if well-rated they will get good innings use. dond't upset players, ie keep them where they prefer, but be wiling to think outside the box in ST to get them work.

Spring Training Mode?
 

ST-

i worry about 1 thing. knocking rust off my players. my best estimation: 16-20ip for pitching. your SP will get 20-24 depending on 5 or 6 man rotation, which should be enough. you don't want more than ~8 RP, or you end up with important RP getting ~10-12IP. but, each to their own... you can always start with more and send some down if they important guys aren't getting enough innings. i've seen rp have ~12ip and start out like gangbusters, but i'm a bit leary when it's that low.

i will rotate pitchers to and from, AAA if necessary.

same with batting. i try to not to go too crazy with the bench. i start with a defensive bench that can play multiple positons -- 2 guys capable of that. a catcher and +1.. that's my regular season bench, adjust to your preference what i say next. i bring up ~2-3 guys, i make my bench guys backup ~2 spots if possible and fill in with the depth guys -- most likely to be used in case of injuries etc from AAA.

i usually only have ~27-28 players in ST. injuries require more than 27 individual players used, but i deal with those as they happen and that # remains relatively consistent. i rest my catcher a bit more in ST, too. If i have a good prospect in AAA, they also come up in ST, but otherwise i stick to a minimal, yet slightly boosted roster.

also, i don't even think the depth chart matters in some respects -- not jsut SP getting 4ip and done. i've set someone to "none specified" and they just kept getting 3ip at a time in releif at an alarming rate. other than closer i don't worry about their roles, i only worry about IP. you need someone as a "2nd" closer so that he doesn't pitch 30ip. 2 su and both 8ip.. if one lags make him the single su the second half etc or even the 2nd closer if well-rated they will get good innings use. dond't upset players, ie keep them where they prefer, but be wiling to think outside the box in ST to get them work.[/QUOTE]

Good stuff, thanks.

This raises another question for me. How does the AI handle spring training games? If I sim games rather than play them all out, will the computer have starters go shorter to give more pitchers some work? Will the computer use more PH's to get more players ABs? Etc, etc..

Basically, does the computer get that it's spring training and adjust accordingly? Or, do I have to set up the manager in the game to reflect all of that?

Thanks again to both of you guys for answering so quickly, I really appreciate it.

yeah, it operates in ST-mode and it is different. basically yes to all of that you asked.

sp get 4ip, assuming they don't blow a tire so bad in one inning they have to be pulled etc etc.. injury or whatever reasons. more ph used etc. the batters don't always play entire games, either.

i'm not so sure it really cares much about the depth chart, maybe more so with batting? i think it subs guys at the bottom of the order much more often than at the top/middle, even if all your starters are ~80/80. i try not to look anymore, but i remember a distinct drop off in PA after 3-4-6 players, and i assumed that's what is happening. also, why i try to limit bench.

i think it even adjusts to how many RP you have in pen... if you go too low in ST it basically jsut rotates them at 3ip. go too high and X of 7 rp don't get enough work that you plan to use in reg season.

this hasn't changed recently that i can recall, but i haven't played '19 as much as i normally would at this point in time. if you see a distinct deviation from what i describe, clearly they've changed that. i don't expect it for st, though

Delete