[DJP53916]

I'll put my answers in bold to have them stand out for you.

Originally Posted by BleedCubbieBlue12

Hey guys!

A couple of questions ..

New to this all, and just wondering how you guys play your games at the very beginning..


Do you guys play every game or sim through a lot of it until key games?

I don't typically play through every game. I tend to sim no more than a week at a time, though. My team is in rebuild mode, so I have intentionally slowed my pace of play, focus my attention on my minor league system, independent leagues, etc.

When playing a game, first question is; batting.. Is there a lot of difference in taking a pitch, rather than just doing "swing away" every time, or hitting the space bar to auto the at bat? Any info on that would be great.

Taking a pitch for me has led to slight upticks in both walks and strikeouts. Swing away tends to result in more contact, but there are still enough walks and strikeouts as far as I am concerned. I pretty much just select whatever based on my mood and gut feeling at that moment.

With Pitching; There's Pitch at, Pitch around, Pitch to contact.. now, in my eyes,

• Pitch around would be used on main hitters, like power hitters?
• Pitch at is just a general pitch
• Pitch to contact would be if people are on base, say first base and you want to turn a double play, is that right? Info on that would be amazing too..

Pretty much, yeah. You could also use pitch around when you have a situation like first base open, and you want to set up a double play scenario, but you don't necessarily want to just intentionally walk the batter.

And just a few more things (sorry I'm a pain);

I had a season underway, but I am going to start a new one as I have a few queries and things I want to change/try..

• With my 25 man roster and 40 man roster, if I have a guy who is coming off of the DL, and I want to put him into the active roster, is there a way to take a guy from the 25 man active roster and just keep him in the 40 man roster, to be able to make room for said player coming off of the DL?
  
  Yes. As long as the player still has minor league options remaining, you can demote that player to the minors to make room for your returning player. I do tend to send my recovering players out for a full rehab assignment, especially if my likely to demote player is playing well. Since you are playing a team in win now mode, this may not be of interest to you.
  
• How does the MiL work with their ratings (Say people have a prospect rating of 5 stars and they're currently only on one/two stars) and they're either in AAA or AA and they're around 18-21 years old, how do you get their ratings up closer to their potential?
  
  Pretty random. If the player with a higher potential rating plays well as he climbs the ladder, the current rating will move towards the potential rating.
  
• Any way to get the best out of your star players, eg, Bryant, Rizzo, Baez for the Cubs?
  
  There isn't a lot you can do, however, if you give them regular playing time, and defensively they are at positions that they can play, the numbers should take care of themselves over time. There is some degree of randomness in play (just like real life).
  

Anything else you think a Newbie like myself would find extremely useful would be appreciated too.

Pay attention to your minor league system, unless you don't care about that part of your team. Give your assistant GM some tasks he can focus on for you, so you can concentrate on the areas of running a team you personally care about more. Let your manager and/or bench coach set the lineup, rotation, and bullpen. Let your minor league staff set their lineups, rotations, and bullpens.

If you have independent leagues enabled, don't forget to keep an eye on those players. Rarely will you find a player that will interest you, but it can happen.

Early in the season, have your trade settings at the lowest frequencies, and adjust upwards as you move towards the deadline.

When you do the draft, unless you see a player on the board you just have to have, follow your scouting director's suggestions.

If you're looking to make trades, I like the shop a player feature. You're going to be offered players as a one-for-one deal, but if you think the player you are offering helps a team, and you think that team has someone you are interested in, discuss a trade anyways, even if you don't like the initial offer. Same for if you get emailed a trade proposal. I discuss every offer I'm emailed, even if the offer is crap, because I may find some other deal with that team.

With trades, no matter how tempting it is to try to "win" a trade, try to keep them as "fair" as possible. No, the other 29 teams won't remember if you screw them over, but if you load up your team at the expense of a rival by screwing them over, it can make the game become boring. Good rule of thumb, just like real life, is "would I make this trade if I was the other team?" Your answer to that question should guide you well when you make an offer.


Sorry for the rather long post, if you guys could help with even one of the questions asked, I'd be very grateful.



Regards,
Nick.

Also, there is a forum here for newbies to ask questions as well. Feel free to look around that forum as well, because you may also find other questions others have had, and they may be similar to or exactly the same questions you have/had.

Long story short. There really isn't a "wrong" way to play this game. You can do pretty much whatever you want. No, not everything will necessarily turn out the way you hoped and planned each season, because baseball, but there's just so many different ways to play, you should find a way you enjoy no problem.