5 runs = starter's gone

[nyy26wc]

It seems like every single time, the AI will automatically pull the starter the moment he passes 5 runs allowed in the game.

The 5 run hook shouldn't be so automatic.

[SteveP]

Originally Posted by nyy26wc

It seems like every single time, the AI will automatically pull the starter the moment he passes 5 runs allowed in the game.

The 5 run hook shouldn't be so automatic.

The "Hook Starter" slider in the Team Strategy Page is what determines when the AI will replace a starter. As a general rule, if the slider is set to the middle, the AI will do this when the other team scores 5 runs. However, that general rule may or may not be automatic. In a DH league, on a team with rested relievers it will probably be as automatic as you say. In a non-DH league, or one where the bullpen is blown, it may be less automatic. It may also vary somewhat depending on whether the other team is threatening to score more runs.

That's the long answer. The short answer: the AI is doing what the Hook Starter slider is telling it to do. If you want the AI to leave the starters in longer, change that slider (and make sure the change applies to all game times and situations).

[nyy26wc]

The problem with changing the slider is the law of intended consequences. If I change all of the sliders, then I'm not really addressing this situation, I am simply universally extending how long starting pitchers pitch.

I think I might just have to make a rule of the rule that a pitcher must be removed from the game at the moment he allows his 5th run.

I've just checked all of the games in my league in the past week and 100% of the time that a starting pitcher gave up his 5th run, he was out after the batter that did it. So, it seems unfair for my team to not drain my bullpen by not being forced to go to earlier when everybody else is.

I've also checked some of the teams that had their pitchers removed as a result of the law that says they must be removed at that moment and they don't all have their sliders right there in the middle for the situation in question. So, this makes me believe that messing with the sliders isn't the solution.

The other day, I was losing, 6-2 in the 3rd with a couple of runners on base and, in my mind, the other team had full action in the bullpen since I knew that, if either Alex Rodriguez or the ondeck hitter, Ryan Howard, hit one out, the pitcher is out of the game by the time he reaches home.

[SteveP]

Originally Posted by nyy26wc

The problem with changing the slider is the law of intended consequences. If I change all of the sliders, then I'm not really addressing this situation, I am simply universally extending how long starting pitchers pitch.

I think I might just have to make a rule of the rule that a pitcher must be removed from the game at the moment he allows his 5th run.

I've just checked all of the games in my league in the past week and 100% of the time that a starting pitcher gave up his 5th run, he was out after the batter that did it. So, it seems unfair for my team to not drain my bullpen by not being forced to go to earlier when everybody else is.

I've also checked some of the teams that had their pitchers removed as a result of the law that says they must be removed at that moment and they don't all have their sliders right there in the middle for the situation in question. So, this makes me believe that messing with the sliders isn't the solution.

The other day, I was losing, 6-2 in the 3rd with a couple of runners on base and, in my mind, the other team had full action in the bullpen since I knew that, if either Alex Rodriguez or the ondeck hitter, Ryan Howard, hit one out, the pitcher is out of the game by the time he reaches home.

Not quite sure what you would like the game to do differently. Giving up runs is one of the reasons a pitcher gets hooked, along with getting tired and getting taken out for a PH. The 5-run metric that I described gives you an idea of what would happen if you adjust the slider for your team, or for all of the teams (as commissioner). Under certain circumstances it can be pretty automatic, and under other circumstances it is less automatic. It's better than completely random, and trying to program an AI that could mimic a human's ability to evaluate all the factors in a given situation is unrealistic. The alternative is to make the substitution decisions yourself while the game is going on.

[nyy26wc]

In OOTP 9, 5 runs wasn't an immediate you're out of there situation. So, that would indicate that the programmers can simulate human decision making without that "rule."

[SteveP]

Originally Posted by nyy26wc

In OOTP 9, 5 runs wasn't an immediate you're out of there situation. So, that would indicate that the programmers can simulate human decision making without that "rule."

On the contrary, that is when I first noticed this behavior, and figured out how it worked. Nothing about this is different in OOTP10.