All the different defensive positions for the infield

[clamel]

Guess I'm not playing enough or not at least in pitch-to-pitch mode, BUT
the last versions has seen a great increase in options for the defense.

All kinds of shifts and such, BUT how often do the AI use all that stuff.
What I can see often enough is only getting "normal" on the infield and outfield selections prior to "continue". Watching the little fellows on the pitch doesn't reveal that they are moving all that much either.

Taking care of some defense oneself and one can easily see the very cool positioning of those little players, so visually it's shown.

Perhaps it do happen but as I mentioned I might lack enough game-time.
Basically it's so deep tactical that it might not play out at all if games are played out without simulating them on the field.

Would like to know from guys with a lot more experience about this, and how much difference it really makes in this game.
Like the thought on the extreme pullhitter trying to put down a ball on the vacated area thanks to an infield playing him to pull.

[Déjà Bru]

I am quite convinced that the in-game defensive strategies do make a difference, else they would not be a part of OOTPB. It would not be like this developer to put something like that in there as window dressing only.

That said, I am quite content to allow the AI to manage it for me. Could I do it myself? Sure, but I tend to quickly play out my games and I don't want to spend that much time micro-managing all of those options.

[absurddoctor]

Anecdotally it appears to make a difference to me, though I've never tested it.

There is a nifty option now where you can have the AI set the defensive position initially but still have the option to change it yourself. Playing with this I saw a peculiar result. With a hitter listed as 'normal', the AI really wanted to put on an infield 'weak right shift'. I thought maybe they knew something I didn't, so let it go. The hitter sent one down the third base line for a double that probably would have been an out without the shift. The next time that batter came up the AI still wanted to shift but I said no (he hit a home run that appeared to just stay inside the right field foul pole).

Anyway, that feature is nice, because you can get the benefits (if any) of defensive positioning without the tedium of changing so frequently yourself.

[NoOne]

the frequency at which choices are made defintieyl depends on the coach's strategy sliders as well as any relevant league settings (assume mostly the stats and ai page).

it definitely can be a good/bad thing... very simply... relative to your league, if the mathematical break-even point for stealing is ~68% and you slider is too aggressive that you never reach that %, it's a net negative choice for your team.

that's not the best example, but sorta explains it. stealing is complicated, but you can still break it down in this manner.

not stealing enough can hurt your team too (=lost/unfulfilled opportunities)... whats the best setting? different for each team and each year(competition changes).

i use rough guesstimates based on experience (players ability translates to a ballpark idea), then i use results to determine my next choice for that stealing slider... sticking with stealing bases. once i find the happy zone i keep it there until i see their ability drop/raise. sometiems the league can get better/worse too -- that may require an adjustment too.

i have it 1/2 scale stealing aggressiveness on my coach, give or take 1tick depending on a whim.

i then tailor each player's strat sliders for stealing based on speed/stealing ability. i allow results to tell me to tick up or down after that.

this takes a bit of experience of knowing what speed/stealing ability translates to in your league, but with enough trial and error it's easy enough to learn from scratch too. i know roughly how high of a % to expect, and i tick up down until i lose that minimum %success goal for that specific base stealer.

not saying this is best: i find a max # of steals while maintaining a high %. maybe you want to go a different route and focus on highest %... matter of preference, but one is mathematically better than the other, even if we are not sure.

ltm/LTs will be hugely important to this decision, therefore drastically different for most of us to compare 1:1.

I do some things with religious zealotry:
-i reduce bad bunters to Zero.
-if they can't maintain greater than X% stealing at any aggressiveness, it gets zeroed out.
-at best i'll use 1 tick for an excellent "bunt for a hit" but 99.9% it's zeroed out.

*** also remember that any player startegy slider is RELATIVE to the coaches strategy slider. ie the same "stealling" setting for 2 different players under 2 coaches with different stealing strategy settings will not have the same results.