By the numbers: A comparison

[brewdog]

Looking at the 2008 NL Season versus OOTP Pinch hitting numbers


2008 NL 3755 ABs
2009 OOTP NL 3978 ABs Comparable PH use

Batting Average
2008 MLB NL .229 861 Hits in 3755 At Bats
2009 OOTP NL .140 556 Hits in 3978 At Bats

Per AB averages
2008 NL 83 Homers were hit for an average of 1 HR per 45.2 AB
2009 OOTP 15 HRs average of 265.2 ABs per HR

Walks
2008 NL 8.97 PA per BB
2009 OOTP 19.42 PA per BB

Strikeouts
2008 NL (998 SO) 3.76 AB per SO
2009 OOTP (2040 SO) 1.95 AB per SO
Such a big difference here. Players simply aren't putting the ball in play in a comparative environment leading to the much lower hit totals and batting averages in general. The American League was not counted due to the Designated Hitter experiment. The overall number left me feeling a little disheartened. I understand some will see this as a complaint but it was just a curiousity study I wanted to share with the class.

Any thoughts on these numbers?

[Questdog]

Originally Posted by brewdog

Any thoughts on these numbers?

Looks like someone went a little overboard in making pinch hitting stats lower than league averages.....

[Raffke]

This just proves what has been increasingly obvious through gameplay - send a pinch hitter up only if you want a strike out. How can it be fixed? That's the important question.

[brewdog]

Originally Posted by Questdog

Looks like someone went a little overboard in making pinch hitting stats lower than league averages.....

Thats what I was thinking... Obviously coming into a game cold, unless the batter is a special case, his performance will suffer. But how much of a hit should he take? 50% or more or less than that?

[PhillieFever]

Originally Posted by brewdog

Looking at the 2008 NL Season versus OOTP Pinch hitting numbers


2008 NL 3755 ABs
2009 OOTP NL 3978 ABs Comparable PH use

Batting Average
2008 MLB NL .229 861 Hits in 3755 At Bats
2009 OOTP NL .140 556 Hits in 3978 At Bats

Per AB averages
2008 NL 83 Homers were hit for an average of 1 HR per 45.2 AB
2009 OOTP 15 HRs average of 265.2 ABs per HR

Walks
2008 NL 8.97 PA per BB
2009 OOTP 19.42 PA per BB

Strikeouts
2008 NL (998 SO) 3.76 AB per SO
2009 OOTP (2040 SO) 1.95 AB per SO
Such a big difference here. Players simply aren't putting the ball in play in a comparative environment leading to the much lower hit totals and batting averages in general. The American League was not counted due to the Designated Hitter experiment. The overall number left me feeling a little disheartened. I understand some will see this as a complaint but it was just a curiousity study I wanted to share with the class.

Any thoughts on these numbers?

I expected it was this bad.I logged this twice as a bug and both times was told there wasn't any problems,and they're aren't if you play any other way except with the MLB roster set.Personally I think the problem stems from an imbalance between pitcher's ratings and bench type players in the set.Pitchers are rated too highly on average while bench players too low.This is what's causing the problem.I say this because if you sim 10 years into the future,when most of the players are fictional,the problem goes away.

[toxicavenger74]

So, I have noticed through observation that when I set the position of the PH he tends to have more success than when I leave him as a pinch hitter. So, for example when I PH I give the PH a position like he is going to play the field. This will cause one of my other hitters to not have a position. Then after the inning is up I'll go in and sub in my pitcher for the PH unless I am double switching.

[brewdog]

Originally Posted by PhillieFever

I expected it was this bad.I logged this twice as a bug and both times was told there wasn't any problems,and they're aren't if you play any other way except with the MLB roster set.Personally I think the problem stems from an imbalance between pitcher's ratings and bench type players in the set.Pitchers are rated too highly on average while bench players too low.This is what's causing the problem.I say this because if you sim 10 years into the future,when most of the players are fictional,the problem goes away.

Thanks for pointing that out to me as that was a facet I hadn't considered and after running a fictional test quick season I see the numbers are more in line with MLB numbers I posted although the HR and BB still seems to be a little off, however, I can live with that.

[Pirate Fan]

Originally Posted by PhillieFever

I expected it was this bad.I logged this twice as a bug and both times was told there wasn't any problems,and they're aren't if you play any other way except with the MLB roster set.Personally I think the problem stems from an imbalance between pitcher's ratings and bench type players in the set.Pitchers are rated too highly on average while bench players too low.This is what's causing the problem.I say this because if you sim 10 years into the future,when most of the players are fictional,the problem goes away.

Do you mean that it is only a problem with the 2009 MLB roster set or is this a problem with all historical roster sets? I was thinking of fooling around with some historical stuff, but I think I will pass if pinch hitting is pointless.

[Spritze]

Only the 2009 Roster set is messed up.

[Oriole66]

Just anectdotal evidence here regarding an historical league I play using 1969: Time after time the Play-by-play mentions that the batter coming up is hitting .117 as a pinch-hitter... .066 as a pinch-hitter, etc. Often with 70 or 100 ph at-bats.

[brewdog]

Just thought I'd add something here cause this interests me I started a 1977 replay and the year is now 1978 looking at splits (my favorite part of the game; I'm a numbers fanatic) I found this guy Charlie Spikes, during the 1978 season he batted .229 (175 total at bats) however this guy seems to be a clutch player if there is such a thing in OOTP as a pinch hitter Spikes was 28 for 94 (.304), innings 7-9 he was a .264 hitter, he batted .327 with 2 outs and was 3 for 5 with the bases loaded. Sounds like a guy I'd like coming off my bench. So I'm curious is there a clutch rating somewhere or was this just a strange occurrence?

[Pirate Fan]

Originally Posted by brewdog

Just thought I'd add something here cause this interests me I started a 1977 replay and the year is now 1978 looking at splits (my favorite part of the game; I'm a numbers fanatic) I found this guy Charlie Spikes, during the 1978 season he batted .229 (175 total at bats) however this guy seems to be a clutch player if there is such a thing in OOTP as a pinch hitter Spikes was 28 for 94 (.304), innings 7-9 he was a .264 hitter, he batted .327 with 2 outs and was 3 for 5 with the bases loaded. Sounds like a guy I'd like coming off my bench. So I'm curious is there a clutch rating somewhere or was this just a strange occurrence?

It is my understanding that the game designers have been mum on this topic leaving it to us to figure that out for ourselves and opinions differ amoung experienced players.