Can we make our Hitting & Pitching Coaches...

[ALB123]

...do something we hear about? I really think ootp needs to add in something for the batting and pitching coaches to do. I know that they are already doing something based on their listed traits, but I'm thinking of something different.

We should be able to assign our batters to "work out with the hitting coach" and we should be able to assign our pitchers to "meet with the pitching coach today". You could assign a length of time and they're still eligible to play if that's what you want. Just don't make 'em doing this extra duty for more than X days because it may be helping his hitting or pitching, but they also expend energy so you could fatigue them. But you can't just assign one session with their coaches because they're not going to learn anything from one session. Or, maybe he will. That's the risk you take.. Also, maybe you assign a player to extra BP and the hitting coach says "He doesn't need it..His mechanics are good...let him work his way out of this slump."

I don't expect any hitter to walk away from extra batting instruction and hit like Barry Bonds, but maybe their Eye rating bumps up 5 points for a while, which might help them get out of that slump. Perhaps you can ask pitching coaches to work on a player's one pitch. So maybe his change-up goes from 30 to 35 for a certain length of time...or maybe it stays there 6 months.

You'd have to receive a report from your hitting/pitching coach when their time is finished, maybe a hitter spent 3 days putting in extra cage time and unfortunately, nothing improved. Maybe you get a report telling you your slumping clean-up hitter "seems to have his power back!" That would be were a 5 point bump, even for a week, might help these guys out.

[Fronzizzle]

Interesting concept.

In real MLB now, certain players attempt to undergo a swing change (JD Martinez, Max Muncy, etc.) to generate more loft, and teams are using spin rate and other camera-acquired data to maximize pitchers. It would be fun to try that in OOTP; maybe take a middling prospect with no power and assign him to work with a coach on a swing change. Maybe it works and all of a sudden, you have a potential starter, or it craps out and you completely ruin him (drops Contact, etc.).

[ALB123]

Thanks!

I really do think that something needs to be instituted so we can make better use of our Hitting and Pitching coaches. Heck, it would be nice if we at least heard from them throughout the season via the current Mail & News section. He answers our requests as expected, but we also hear from our Scouting Director before every series and receive other random messages without even requesting anything from him. Surely, our H&P Coaches should be sending us messages when our hitters and pitchers are struggling.

The most important thing, in my opinion, would be the effect that extra BP or Bullpen sessions have on a player. It would have to be subtle and even temporary, but it would add an entirely new dimension to the Manager's responsibilities. I would love to see more discussion on this topic. I'm positive most veteran ootp'ers would have better ideas than what I've laid out. But, the idea will still be the same. Getting our H&P Coaches more involved with the team and the manager.

This subject has probably been raised multiple times before and either the dev's or players have probably cited reasons something like this would be a bad idea.