So with the new online game viewer I wrote from OU, all of a sudden a lot of online GM's are watching their teams play out games. And across all the leagues I am in, the sentiment is that the AI Manager is quite terrible. I'm sure my fellow GM's will chime in, but here is a few examples of terrible managing:
1. Double switches - The biggest gripe comes from the NL managers with how the game does double switches. They are seeing countless times where a pitcher will bat, only to immediately be taken out the next inning. Here is one example:
Game Log - St. Louis Cardinals vs Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, June 14th, 2040
Cisneros batted as the last out in the bottom of the 7th in a tie game, only to be replaced in the top of the 8th.
There are other complaints and I'll get more concrete examples from them.
2. There's been a lot of gripes about bullpen usage in general. However, it has mostly been limited to "why did he pitch XXXX in a tie game in the 9th", or "Why did he use my best reliever for only one batter?" I will try to get more concrete details and examples
3. Usage of intentional walks. I've noticed the AI giving out free passes when I am UP in a game. For instance:
Game Log - Bryan Bombers vs Portland Beavers, Friday, May 4th, 2029
In the bottom of the 8th, I am up 5-1, and the opponent leads off with a double. The next batter, a weak 6/3/5 hitter (on 1-10 scale) is intentionally walked. Why would anyone do this in this situation? You have 4 runs... if the man on second scores you are still in good shape. Giving up 2 or more runs starts to get things close. The intentionally walked batter ends up scoring and they ultimately tie the game.
Intentional walks are only used if giving up one run pretty much closes out the game. In this case, if the intentionally walked batter also scores, well... it doesn't really matter at that point, the game is out of hand (or over). But up a few runs, the LAST thing you want to do is give them more baserunners; Concede the run in the hopes of preventing a big inning.
4. Using pinch runners. Example:
Game Log - Tampa Bay Devil Rays vs Detroit Tigers, Wednesday, June 6th, 2040
Bottom 9, down one run, my backup catcher leads off with a walk. He has a speed of 2. I have my entire bench, including a 10/10 speed/steal guy and a few other speed guys, but he's not pinch run for. With 2 outs, one of my guys hits a double to the gap but he can only get to third, and I lose on the next batter.
This happened again here:
Game Log - Portland Beavers vs Evansville Otters, Tuesday, May 15th, 2029
bottom 9, down 1 run, lead off hitter with a speed of 1 gets on, but is never pinch run for. This is slightly less egregious as my bench was getting thin by this point, but there were 3 players left, including a 7/9 player.
A third time:
Game Log - Portland Beavers vs Guelph Royals, Friday, May 18th, 2029
Again, down 1 in the 9th (seems to happen a lot to me). In this case, the batter on first with a speed of 2 WAS pinch run for, but only after he was advanced to second. Why was he not pinch run for as soon as he got on base?
I'll ask the GM's to keep track of the gripes and post them here as they see them.