Specialists

[usa_hank]

I don't think the"specialist" usage option for pitchers is properly used by the AI. I use 8 bullpen slots, and I have only one "specialist" in use set to "vs Left-Handed." Yet, here are his splits:

vs L: 20.1 IP
vs R: 24 IP

I get that good lineups usually have a mix of lefty and righty batters, but you'd think your lefty-specialist would have far more vs-L BF than vs-R BF.

For context, my global strategy also has a very high (one or two ticks from full) preference set for L/R pitching matchups.

[cwhitman]

three batter limit makes it tough

[Dr.Drill]

Originally Posted by cwhitman

three batter limit makes it tough

Just created a Q Silver team in which every V.5 relief pitcher is a Specialist.

Just to see how OOTP 27 handles it ....

[Dr.Drill]

Cause Why Not?

[Dr.Drill]

How I spent my Sunday.

[usa_hank]

Originally Posted by cwhitman

three batter limit makes it tough

I would argue that you should never bring in a specialist at the start of a half inning unless 2 of the next 3 batters are lefties, nor should you keep the lefty-specialist in past the 3 batter minimum. However, I don't think the AI is keeping my pitcher in beyond 3 batters very often judging from the usage stats.

The other thing I want to look at is whether he's just giving up too many hits. However, my specialist has only given up 2BB and 12 HA vs-L with 20.1 IP for a 0.69 WHIP. He should not have 24IP vs R and 20IP vs L with these numbers if it were a problem with him giving up hits vs L.

A specialist should be just that - a specialist. If I were to make an educated guess, I'd guess the AI is bringing in the lefty specialist by only looking at the first batter to see if he's a lefty.

[usa_hank]

Originally Posted by Dr.Drill

Cause Why Not?

I did this with my PT half of last season because my [great-on-paper] bullpen staff was something like 30th in the league through the first half. It didn't improve me much, maybe 2-3 slots by the end of the season.

[Dr.Drill]

Jennifer Melfi disagrees.

[Dr.Drill]

Can't make this **** up.

[Dr.Drill]

do it

[usa_hank]

I'm very convinced there's something wrong with how the AI treats specialists. I know I'm going to get the "small sample size" reply here, but please check your own specialists.

Why in the world would the AI let my lefty specialist pitch to 3x as many righties as lefties?

[usa_hank]

It's concerning because you should be able to trust that the AI should use your specialist correctly. I shouldn't be afraid to put Max Lanier in as a lefty specialist, and I certainly don't want him pitching against righties:

[usa_hank]

Okay even more convinced after one more game. The AI literally brought him in in the 7th, he faced 2 RHBs. What?! My bullpen isn't that worn out either:

[usa_hank]

Hmmmmm, I just changed his "position" to "RP". I noticed in my screencap above that I had his position" set to "SP" (despite the fact he's in my Bullpen and set to Specialist). I know that affects the display of "fatigue" but I never figured it affected anything else. But now I wonder if that was (wrongly) affecting the way the AI had been using him. If that's the case, you guys need to patch this. I don't look at "position" with pitchers, I look at "Primary Role" and "Secondary Role." And I can't imagine I'm alone in that. Frankly, position shouldn't matter at all in pitching staff.