After many years questions

Tootski · 06-25-2018, 03:51 PM

Hi, I have been playing this game for many years. I have fun with it but never have a feeling that I make the difference.

So here are my questions:

1. 9 out of 10 times my pitching sucks. Many pithcers have high WHIP numbers and I can't get it down. New coaches nothing seems to help.

2. I have good contact hitters but still my batting average is quit low. Hoe can I increase these numbers?

3. My talents don't develop right. My so called top pitching prospects have extremely high ERA numbers.

I really could use some help since I want the feeling that my role as GM and Manager makes the difference.

r0nster · 06-25-2018, 11:30 PM

it depends on your pitching as to what kind you have. then defense needs to be decent and hitting to be the way you desire. I hire the best coaches for 5 years every time. I have been playing this game since 2001 and have developed my own method in this game of rebuilding every 5 years. Meaning I am willing to sacrifice my minors for good players in trades and draft picks and will only trade to the other league so I don't have to play against them. then at same time I rebuild my minors and by 5 years later I can do it all over again to keep winning. You just got to find what works for you.

Germaniac · 06-26-2018, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tootski

1. 9 out of 10 times my pitching sucks. Many pithcers have high WHIP numbers and I can't get it down. New coaches nothing seems to help

The best advice here is to load up your defense. No pitcher will strike out everybody, so a good defense will do wonders, especially up the middle

jimmysthebestcop · 06-26-2018, 02:32 AM

SS, Catcher, CF, 2B are really important in defense. That will generally make the biggest impact on your defensive standards. The 4 corners you sometimes have to give up some defense for offense. But I am generally not willing to sacrifice that much. On 20-80 I still want my corners around 60. I will make an exception for 1B if I have too.

For pitchers I focus on FIP- and use Hr/9, BB9/ K/9 to judge mechanics. I really wish there were more stat categories for pitchers.

I really want ERA- / FIP- / xFIP- and SIERA for pitchers. Not sure why OOTP doesn't have them. I might need to start a campaign.

Also the most overlooked item is team chemistry. Don't forget to check it out. And getting team captains. Even if they are useless bench players. You need them if you are struggling or have some kind of outspoken personality types on the teams.
If players are angry or you are losing and team chemistry is bad they will perform worst.

And sometimes it takes that rookie a season or 2 before they really take off. Scouting reports aren't everything. Might have to send that rookies back to AAA for 3 years who knows each player and each situation is unique.

#1 thing for pitchers is they need 3 or 4 pitches. And they need to be good. If you see a high prospect 5 stars etc with only 3 pitches and 2 are rated potential 80 and that 3rd pitch is a "change up" with high potential but current rating is like a 30, he may never ever develop. Older he is the harder it will be for him. Just like real life the change up is the hardest pitch to learn well.

If the pitchers don't have that 3rd pitch as average they will struggles through the 2 or 3 go around of the lineup and get rocked. It might not happen in the minors at all and it might not be every game in MLB but it will happen long run.

I almost never see the 3rd pitch change up develop in a prospect when the current is under 40 (out of 20-80 scale). If its a different pitch it has better odds. And if they have 4 or 5 pitches then usually 3 can develop nicely.

They could have 70 stuff, control, and movement but if they don't have those 3 pitches they will never develop right. Sometimes I take shots with 16-18 year olds cause the change up ratings can randomly pop sometimes before they are 25. But if your drafting a 23 year old college player with current 30 for changeup I would skip him or trade him the following year cause he has no shot as a starter.

Only thing to do with those guys is make a high end reliever out of them if they have the stuff and velocity.

Timofmars · 06-26-2018, 05:54 AM

I use pitch counts on my starting pitchers. This can have several benefits:

1. SPs will perform worse when seeing a batter for the 3rd time or more in a game (3rd time through the lineup) so limiting the number of batters seen will help a pitcher's numbers.

2. Pitchers that start to get tired will perform worse as well. Pulling them early helps here too. They would be at their worst pitching 3 times through lineup while tired!

3. There is some kind of pitcher abuse point system in the game, though I don't know how it works exactly. But giving a pitcher high pitch counts makes them more likely to become injured over time. I don't know if it's based entirely on number of pitcher past some point, or if it's pitches thrown while tired, etc.

For my strategy settings, I also have it set to pull relief pitchers as quickly as possible. The idea here is that I don't want anyone pitching tired, which reduces their performance, so I'd rather have many more pitchers take a turn in a game to share the workload. I don't have my SPs set to be pulled early, since I already have a pitch count set. And I also really don't want them pulled early for giving up a lot of runs due to bad luck when I know their performance should still be unhindered by fatigue or batters faced. Having them pulled early also puts my bullpen under stress when I depend on my bullpen pitching a lot each game due to my pitch count limits on the starting pitchers. However, I often will set starting pitchers to be pulled early after the roster expansion and during playoffs.

For batting, I don't think there is much you can do since contact ratings should directly translate to batting average. Maybe you are in a ballpark that has a lower batting average modifier?

You can try see if you can platoon players as much as possible so they will avoid batting against the pitchers they are weaker against.

You can also try to keep players happy. If they aren't happy about their role, and it is affecting their overall happiness, you can give them some short stints playing in their preferred role or better on the lineup screens, as that can quite rapidly restore their happiness. Platooning players can help them become happier with their personal performance, since they should tend to perform better, but will bat less. You could even have a player start on the bench against good pitchers and only play against weak pitchers if his performance morale is keeping his overall morale down.

For your pitching prospects, I wouldn't worry much about their ERA in the minors. They just need to be developing their ratings. You can help them develop and perform better if you have them work under a coach that matches their pitching type, if they fall into one of the categories. Thats GB coach for GB or extreme GB pitchers, Power pitching coaches for 95-97+ MPH pitchers, and Finesse coach for 91-93 MPH or slower pitchers. Alternatively you can also put the player under a coach that is good at training the skill they need the most development in. This is power pitching coach for stuff/pitches, GB coach for movement, and finesse coach for control.

Give prospects as many innings as possible to help development.

Keeping prospect's morale up can help too. To help their performance morale, you could look at their pitches to determine if they'll do better as an RP. The more pitches they have and the more balanced they are, the better they will be as SP. But the better their top 2 pitches are compared to others, the better they will be as RP. But if they are used an RP and you control your minors, try to give them a role that will see lots of use whenever they are rested enough to pitch. This would usually be long relief and middle relief (with the "use more often" setting).

Also, put as much into the player development budget as you can.

gentlemanofleisure · 06-26-2018, 09:27 AM

I play in a fictional league with real players - had the 1st or 2nd pick in the draft 3 straight years. Drafted Eddie Mathews one year and played him in AA for half a year and he dominated, and next season he began with the big club. He turned out to be the star he was supposed to be. Drafted Eddie Plank the next year, never played him in the minors and he was awesome for his first 5 starts then tailed off. I never sent him to the minors. Let him work on things at the big league level (since I sucked anyway). Now he's my ace. Drafted Ty Cobb the next year, started him at A ball, he struggled, dropped him down to Rookie ball and he did decently but now he's looking to be a bust or at the very best he may be a 4th outfielder. Point is, confidence is a huge factor.

Tootski · 06-26-2018, 02:04 PM

Thanks guys for your replies! Really appreciate it.

And sorry for the bad English, it was not my best day.

06-25-2018, 03:51 PM	#1
Tootski Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jun 2018 Posts: 21	After many years questions Hi, I have been playing this game for many years. I have fun with it but never have a feeling that I make the difference. So here are my questions: 1. 9 out of 10 times my pitching sucks. Many pithcers have high WHIP numbers and I can't get it down. New coaches nothing seems to help. 2. I have good contact hitters but still my batting average is quit low. Hoe can I increase these numbers? 3. My talents don't develop right. My so called top pitching prospects have extremely high ERA numbers. I really could use some help since I want the feeling that my role as GM and Manager makes the difference.

06-25-2018, 11:30 PM	#2
r0nster Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2006 Location: Michigan Posts: 3,082	it depends on your pitching as to what kind you have. then defense needs to be decent and hitting to be the way you desire. I hire the best coaches for 5 years every time. I have been playing this game since 2001 and have developed my own method in this game of rebuilding every 5 years. Meaning I am willing to sacrifice my minors for good players in trades and draft picks and will only trade to the other league so I don't have to play against them. then at same time I rebuild my minors and by 5 years later I can do it all over again to keep winning. You just got to find what works for you.

06-26-2018, 02:32 AM	#4
jimmysthebestcop Banned Join Date: Jun 2018 Posts: 1,727 Infractions: 0/2 (5)	SS, Catcher, CF, 2B are really important in defense. That will generally make the biggest impact on your defensive standards. The 4 corners you sometimes have to give up some defense for offense. But I am generally not willing to sacrifice that much. On 20-80 I still want my corners around 60. I will make an exception for 1B if I have too. For pitchers I focus on FIP- and use Hr/9, BB9/ K/9 to judge mechanics. I really wish there were more stat categories for pitchers. I really want ERA- / FIP- / xFIP- and SIERA for pitchers. Not sure why OOTP doesn't have them. I might need to start a campaign. Also the most overlooked item is team chemistry. Don't forget to check it out. And getting team captains. Even if they are useless bench players. You need them if you are struggling or have some kind of outspoken personality types on the teams. If players are angry or you are losing and team chemistry is bad they will perform worst. And sometimes it takes that rookie a season or 2 before they really take off. Scouting reports aren't everything. Might have to send that rookies back to AAA for 3 years who knows each player and each situation is unique. #1 thing for pitchers is they need 3 or 4 pitches. And they need to be good. If you see a high prospect 5 stars etc with only 3 pitches and 2 are rated potential 80 and that 3rd pitch is a "change up" with high potential but current rating is like a 30, he may never ever develop. Older he is the harder it will be for him. Just like real life the change up is the hardest pitch to learn well. If the pitchers don't have that 3rd pitch as average they will struggles through the 2 or 3 go around of the lineup and get rocked. It might not happen in the minors at all and it might not be every game in MLB but it will happen long run. I almost never see the 3rd pitch change up develop in a prospect when the current is under 40 (out of 20-80 scale). If its a different pitch it has better odds. And if they have 4 or 5 pitches then usually 3 can develop nicely. They could have 70 stuff, control, and movement but if they don't have those 3 pitches they will never develop right. Sometimes I take shots with 16-18 year olds cause the change up ratings can randomly pop sometimes before they are 25. But if your drafting a 23 year old college player with current 30 for changeup I would skip him or trade him the following year cause he has no shot as a starter. Only thing to do with those guys is make a high end reliever out of them if they have the stuff and velocity.

06-26-2018, 05:54 AM	#5
Timofmars Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2018 Posts: 251	I use pitch counts on my starting pitchers. This can have several benefits: 1. SPs will perform worse when seeing a batter for the 3rd time or more in a game (3rd time through the lineup) so limiting the number of batters seen will help a pitcher's numbers. 2. Pitchers that start to get tired will perform worse as well. Pulling them early helps here too. They would be at their worst pitching 3 times through lineup while tired! 3. There is some kind of pitcher abuse point system in the game, though I don't know how it works exactly. But giving a pitcher high pitch counts makes them more likely to become injured over time. I don't know if it's based entirely on number of pitcher past some point, or if it's pitches thrown while tired, etc. For my strategy settings, I also have it set to pull relief pitchers as quickly as possible. The idea here is that I don't want anyone pitching tired, which reduces their performance, so I'd rather have many more pitchers take a turn in a game to share the workload. I don't have my SPs set to be pulled early, since I already have a pitch count set. And I also really don't want them pulled early for giving up a lot of runs due to bad luck when I know their performance should still be unhindered by fatigue or batters faced. Having them pulled early also puts my bullpen under stress when I depend on my bullpen pitching a lot each game due to my pitch count limits on the starting pitchers. However, I often will set starting pitchers to be pulled early after the roster expansion and during playoffs. For batting, I don't think there is much you can do since contact ratings should directly translate to batting average. Maybe you are in a ballpark that has a lower batting average modifier? You can try see if you can platoon players as much as possible so they will avoid batting against the pitchers they are weaker against. You can also try to keep players happy. If they aren't happy about their role, and it is affecting their overall happiness, you can give them some short stints playing in their preferred role or better on the lineup screens, as that can quite rapidly restore their happiness. Platooning players can help them become happier with their personal performance, since they should tend to perform better, but will bat less. You could even have a player start on the bench against good pitchers and only play against weak pitchers if his performance morale is keeping his overall morale down. For your pitching prospects, I wouldn't worry much about their ERA in the minors. They just need to be developing their ratings. You can help them develop and perform better if you have them work under a coach that matches their pitching type, if they fall into one of the categories. Thats GB coach for GB or extreme GB pitchers, Power pitching coaches for 95-97+ MPH pitchers, and Finesse coach for 91-93 MPH or slower pitchers. Alternatively you can also put the player under a coach that is good at training the skill they need the most development in. This is power pitching coach for stuff/pitches, GB coach for movement, and finesse coach for control. Give prospects as many innings as possible to help development. Keeping prospect's morale up can help too. To help their performance morale, you could look at their pitches to determine if they'll do better as an RP. The more pitches they have and the more balanced they are, the better they will be as SP. But the better their top 2 pitches are compared to others, the better they will be as RP. But if they are used an RP and you control your minors, try to give them a role that will see lots of use whenever they are rested enough to pitch. This would usually be long relief and middle relief (with the "use more often" setting). Also, put as much into the player development budget as you can.

06-26-2018, 09:27 AM	#6
gentlemanofleisure Minors (Double A) Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 198	I play in a fictional league with real players - had the 1st or 2nd pick in the draft 3 straight years. Drafted Eddie Mathews one year and played him in AA for half a year and he dominated, and next season he began with the big club. He turned out to be the star he was supposed to be. Drafted Eddie Plank the next year, never played him in the minors and he was awesome for his first 5 starts then tailed off. I never sent him to the minors. Let him work on things at the big league level (since I sucked anyway). Now he's my ace. Drafted Ty Cobb the next year, started him at A ball, he struggled, dropped him down to Rookie ball and he did decently but now he's looking to be a bust or at the very best he may be a 4th outfielder. Point is, confidence is a huge factor.

06-26-2018, 02:04 PM	#7
Tootski Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jun 2018 Posts: 21	Thanks guys for your replies! Really appreciate it. And sorry for the bad English, it was not my best day.