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Old 04-14-2020, 08:33 AM   #1
Charlatan
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Join Date: May 2006
Location: Leesburg, VA
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Pitching Stragegy: closer vs stopper

Hey everyone. Hope you're enjoying the virtual baseball season so far.

I've got a question about the relief pitcher roles stopper and closer. Here's the difference in the roles, according to the OOTP 21 manual:

Quote:
  • Closer: The closer is used primarily in the 9th inning of games that your team is winning.
  • Stopper: Stoppers will be used to finish games when your team is winning or the score is close, and can be set to come in a little sooner than a closer does.
I am not sure Perfect Team modifies the roles at all, but it appears you can only bring your closer in from the 8th onward (and I have no idea what "8+ or later" means vs. "8th or later").

My situation is this: I just purchased a reliever who's head and shoulders above the rest of the bullpen, and I was thinking "why not make him a stopper? That way he'll get used as much as the closer, and in more important situations."

But I'm wondering if the two roles are designed to be exclusive: that is, if you use a stopper, you shouldn't use a closer, and vice versa. Plus, I wonder if having a stopper means your closer would get half as much work... so he'd be better in a different role. So the questions are:

1. Can you (should you?) use a stopper with a closer? Or just one of those roles?
2. Does a stopper cannibalize closer or setup opportunities?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

Last edited by Charlatan; 04-14-2020 at 08:35 AM.
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