I'm not understanding any logic behind taking pitches until you have two balls. Did you mean two strikes?
I play in one-pitch mode, and always take until I have two strikes. It's quite effective in my experience.
Also, Do. Not. Let. The. AI. Do. Anything. For. You.
For longer answers to the last bolded piece, I put together what I might refer to as "The Dirty Person of Illegitimate Paternity's Guide To Winning At OOTP" in the OOTP 13 Forum.
Relevant posts in that thread:
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ml#post3399538
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ml#post3399560
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ml#post3399567
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ml#post3399646
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ml#post3399729
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ml#post3400072
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ml#post3400184
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ml#post3400212
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ml#post3402017
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...ml#post3414004
I got a PM recently from somebody asking me about something I hadn't addressed in there - positioning the defense. Here's what I wrote to him (or thought I had, apparently the PM didn't send?).
I only play corners in when a bunt has already been attempted, as I haven't found it to be significantly more effective in preventing successful sacrifices, and I seem to rarely give up bunt singles in either my historical or current leagues anyway.
I only play the IF in if the game is within 1 run or tied in the 8th inning or later. Otherwise, I'm counting on my offensive approach to make up the difference, given enough chances remaining in the game.
I'm not certain how significant shifting the field to the left or right is, so I came up with a system I follow. I don't shift against any batter the first time up. If a batter is a pull hitter, and gets 1 hit against me, I shift to the appropriate side the next time he comes up. If he gets 2 hits, I go back to no shifting, and then alternate along odd/even lines from then on.
I never shift the outfield. I always pitch out for the first pitch with a base-stealing threat on 1B or 2B, as the AI tends to go on the first pitch. I may have mentioned that somewhere else in my shower of links. Apologies if I did so.