GM & platooning players

[PSUColonel]

I want my manager to have control over the lineups and depth charts, but I just want to tell him to platoon one player against left handed pitchers...Is there any way to do this easily, as force start will start a player in all scenarios.

[grmagne]

I second this request for a new feature. Adding a checkbox in the strategy section to indicate that a player should be platooned would be great.

Another issue I have with platoons: I find that a typical OOTP major league has only 18-23% left-handed pitchers versus about 29-30% in MLB. I wouldn’t care so much, except my right-handed platoon hitters don’t get to play as much as they should.

Out of curiosity, is anyone else noticing this issue after you advance through 1 or 2 decades in the game? I’ve had OOTP seasons where my right-handed hitter in a platoon only plays about once a week because my team is facing less than 20% lefties. And it’s not just a one-time observation. I started tracking my minor league teams and most face 18-23% lefties, which is quite low. This has happened repeatedly over multiple simulations so there’ssomething going on. From what I’ve observed the number of left-handed pitchers drops as you go higher and higher through the minor leagues. That would indicate that lefties have a higher attrition rate, for some unknown reason. I wonder if facing right-heavy hitting lineups in Rookie ball causes left-handed pitchers to have worse statistics and lower morale? They just aren’t making it to the majors as often.

Here are real-life MLB statistics on number of starts by left-handed pitchers, from the Lahman database:

2015: 27% (1333 out of 4858)
2010: 30% (1470 out of 4860)
2005: 29% (1397 out of 4862)
2000: 24% (1181 out of 4858)
1995: 29% (1167 out of 4034)
1990: 34% (1444 out of 4210)
1985: 32% (1363 out of 4206)
1980: 31% (1302 out of 4210)

[ThePretender]

Yeah this would be a great feature to be added.

[NoOne]

you won't see the volatility if you compare overall average to team's experience that year - in regard to facing lefties. that's comparing apples to oranges... you can't compare a league average to a team average in this particular case.

look at individual teams in game and out... or compare overall % in and out. but, don't mix and match... the league average may by 29% in a given year, but teams will range from 15-35 -- totally made up #'s to show a concept. so, 15% may not be unusual for 1 particular team in 1 particular year.

the schedule, especially an unbalanced one, will have a significant impact on how many lefties you see. inuries, luck and other factors also contribute to the variance between teams.

i'd also look into proportion of LH relievers and SP... if it's similar, you're probably just seeing odd stuff due to a small sample.

[PSUColonel]

huh, I am just talking about having an influence as the GM in what goes on. Nothing more.