Strategy Help

[mantis1]

Hello,

I posted a thread in the General Discussions board and did not receive any replies; I am assuming I posted in the wrong place.

I was wondering if anyone could share their successful strategies for this game - especially strategies for small market teams. I am just looking to share information with people on different strategies.

Thanks.

[SteveP]

I think the reason you did not receive any replies before, and may not get much here either, is that you are asking too broad a question. OOTP is very complex, as it has gotten better at modeling the real world of baseball and baseball management. So there are just so many facets to managing a team in OOTP, each of which calls for judgments about good strategies.

You might try breaking the question into smaller parts, and asking more specific questions related to specific strategy decisions you are trying to make.

[mantis1]

I understand. Let me be more specific. And thanks for the reply.
1. What is the general feeling around here on catcher arm and catcher ability, with relation to offensive abilities? What I mean is, if my catcher is 55 in both of these - and he is experienced behind the plate - are these values too low, even though he brings modest offensive value (and switch hits)?
2. And rightfield: what is the minimum arm strength that a right fielder should possess? If he is very strong offensively, can I get by with his 60 arm and 45 range?
3. I have read here more than once that a SP should have at least three pitches. However, my ace has two excellent pitches and is doing very well. Then, what should I assume, in general, and should I evaluate players on a case by case basis?
4. Finally, I really wanted to hear about how others construct their teams - around speed or power, etc. - and what kind of strategies (like sacrifice bunting) work well for them. I know this is very general, so if no one can answer this, I understand.
Hope to hear from some of you guys. This game is unbelievable.

[SteveP]

Originally Posted by mantis1

I understand. Let me be more specific. And thanks for the reply.
1. What is the general feeling around here on catcher arm and catcher ability, with relation to offensive abilities? What I mean is, if my catcher is 55 in both of these - and he is experienced behind the plate - are these values too low, even though he brings modest offensive value (and switch hits)?
2. And rightfield: what is the minimum arm strength that a right fielder should possess? If he is very strong offensively, can I get by with his 60 arm and 45 range?
3. I have read here more than once that a SP should have at least three pitches. However, my ace has two excellent pitches and is doing very well. Then, what should I assume, in general, and should I evaluate players on a case by case basis?
4. Finally, I really wanted to hear about how others construct their teams - around speed or power, etc. - and what kind of strategies (like sacrifice bunting) work well for them. I know this is very general, so if no one can answer this, I understand.
Hope to hear from some of you guys. This game is unbelievable.

Some pretty good questions, actually. Conventionally, the catcher is considered to be a defensive position, so normally you'd want to give some weight to that, but there is good reason to believe that, in OOTP, catchers with relatively low ratings do quite well defensively (as a somewhat questionable game design decision). There are a variety of ways to look at stats from your team and from other teams, to compare catcher fielding performance, so you can check some of that out for yourself.

Generally speaking, you want the guy with the best arm in RF, but I don't know that anyone could say what a minimum requirement is. In this version of OOTP, OFs have a lot more potential to throw out runners, so if you lose quality in RF (and CF, to some extent), you do lose some ability to take advantage of that. OTOH, if the guy is a great hitter and you have no other options, then you may take your chances. It's a tradeoff situation.

Under the new pitching model, I have yet to see a pitcher with only two pitches who has a "suggested role" of SP. I'm not sure if that's possible. It may be that you are using someone in that role who isn't an ideal candidate for it, at least not yet. Still, it may be working for reasons that might amount to luck. It's also possible that you are growing that pitcher into being a true SP. Don't know, but I'd be cautious.

I won't try to deal with #4 -- it's still pretty broad, but you may get some responses.

[mantis1]

Thanks for the insight.
My ace is starting to decline, and the other two-pitch starter is not doing well; they are not suited to starting, and I need to change my draft strategy.
One thing I love about this game is that you have to pay very close attention to every element. I just picked up a catcher off the waiver wire who has a contact rating of 37, but power/eye ratings of 75/65, and he does not strike out often. Already, I'm being rewarded for another team's neglect.
Anyway, best wishes, and happy gaming.

[Carlton_Willey]

Strategies in baseball go through popularity phases: there's no right or wrong way.

"Small ball" strategies are bunting, stealing and hit and run: speed based strategies. These help teams without power to score. Also, solid pitching and defense are needed because you won't score as much.

"Three-run homer" managers such as Earl Weaver don't ever bunt, rarely steal and go for run and hit if anything. Read the OOTP manual for the difference between hit and run and 'run and hit'. It is somewhat subtle, but important.

Defensive strategies are rarely discussed on this forum, but can be done with with a good bit of custom strategy settings. I favor a 'Casey Stengel' approach which maximizes the chances of a double play by rarely ever playing the infield in with a force play in effect. I try for players with very high 'Turn Double Play' ratings in the infield (SS and 2B, especially, but 3B and 1B, too if possible) because of this.

[mantis1]

Thanks for the tips. Do any of you believe in aggressive baserunning for teams with little speed (I have little power or speed in my lineup)? I would tend to think this strategy might be counterproductive and would kill rallies.

On a side note, I love what the Seattle Mariners did this year, acquiring Endy Chavez and Franklin Gutierrez to boost their OF defense. Bedard and Hernandez are really benefitting. I'm sure applying these defensive methods works in OOTP X, as well.

[Carlton_Willey]

Aggressive base running without speed is gonna kill rallies. Sometimes I forget to change team strategies after losing my speed merchants to FA or trades, and the lead foots get caught stealing a lot. That's why I do stealing via player instructions rather than team.

The run and hit 'should' work with slow guys to avoid DPs, but I've not noticed a significant difference and don't feel like testing.

[mantis1]

Sorry to respond so late. My internet has been down.
The run and hit probably requires high-contact hitters, so I hope that you are stacking your lineup with these type of players if you wish to employ this strategy.
This game has an interesting dynamic, in that the team markets reflect reality. I am the Pirates, and I can tell you that it is difficult to afford high quality pitchers AND big power bats in free agency.
OTOH, I am enjoying my first winning season - in year four - with about half the roster made up of guys I drafted. It's very rewarding to find a 16th round 2B who hits in the two-hole at a .290 clip.
In short, I love this game.

[Matt Arnold]

Yeah, as a small market, look for guys who are rookies/1st year players to trade for.

I took an expansion team, and the first 3-4 years, sucked. But my players developed, and got a couple good players. Then as they started getting arbitration money that I couldn't afford, I kept trading them away for more young cheap prospects. Throw on one or 2 expensive guys, and my team this year was about 15 games ahead of the 2nd place team, all on a relatively small team. 2 guys making 7-8M in the lineup, and my next most expensive player cost me about 2M. Unfortunately, my good players will all be arbitration eligible, so I expect my payroll to jump by like 20M, which will take some careful budget balancing in the off-season.

Strategies? Base it around the players. If you have very few power hitters, then play more small ball (bunt, steal, etc...). Have very little OBP in your lineup, but lots of power? Just keep swinging for the fences with them.

And when building a team, get complimentary guys. So if you're lacking power hitters, it might be worth it to try to get one. Have a good meat of the lineup, but don't have any leadoff hitter? Ignore power in Free Agents, and just find the best contact/eye/speed guy you can.

[damientheomen3]

on my 1 team that I'm managing every game for, my team is built for power, but injuries have forced me to do otherwise. My first round pick is a 9 in contact (i use 1-10 ratings) and a 6 in power, and is an 8 in speed, and a 10 in baserunning ability and instincts, plus draws many walks, so if he gets on base, unless it's a big situation, I let him run, and I like the results so far (8 for 11 in SB). My leadoff guy stole 5 bases or so in the first 10 games before going down with an injury though.

I gotta say though, this is the first time I went through actually managing every game. In one of my other universes I went through by entering each game and constantly clicking 'sim half inning', but this is the first time I'm actually managing, and it's really changed by view of play. I've gone from liking a power team to playing smallball (even though my team still has a lot of homers because of our ballpark). I like using sacrifice bunts, especially since my 3-4-5 guys do a good job of getting on, and if 1 or 2 are on and theres no outs, I'll use my #6 hitter, my shortstop (only batting .188) to sacrifice them into better position. All in all, I find myself starting to prefer a speedy team whereas I used to prefer a power team.

[ssstump]

I enjoy the small ball strategy. When I manage a game, it gives me a lot more involvement and choices to think about rather than just endlessly clicking 'swing away'.

[Questdog]

Originally Posted by ssstump

I enjoy the small ball strategy. When I manage a game, it gives me a lot more involvement and choices to think about rather than just endlessly clicking 'swing away'.

Same problem real managers have: feeling like THEY have to win the game and not let their players play. It's called over-managing.....

[mantis1]

Yeah, I've found the best strategy for me, so far, has been to find an appropriate balance of every different attribute. Based on what was said, I tend to believe that UWHabs has the philosophy I currently adhere to: flexibility.

I think if you try to stick to a set philosophy around each draft/ acquirement of players, you're going to be disappointed, because good players come in all forms and, there are actually fewer good players available than what you may initially believe playing this game.

Do you guys all manage each game? I guess I anticipate the draft and the reward of player development so much that I can't wait to find out who makes it and who doesn't. So, I don't want to micromanage every element of the game. But, to each his own.

[ssstump]

Yes - I manage each game.

I'm too 'protective' of my team to let the AI handle it.

And that's why I enjoy being more involved with the play by play strategy. If I just sit there clicking 'swing away' forever, that's boring.

And good point about good players coming in all flavors. I don't overlook the big hitters in favor of contact/eye/speed. Just cant pay big hitter salraries, so I might not snag em.

[mantis1]

Yeah, I see your point. I'm hoping that the best way to attain power is through the draft. They're too expensive in FA. They're probably not worth the high cost in the long run, anyway, when you have a better replacement ready.