Relief Pitchers in PT

[dogbertt]

Hey everyone i just came here because after playing PT for the first time ever starting about 2 months ago and I have noticed that in my trip to Bronze level at the moment when i look at other teams and in their bullpen that just about everyone who plays is just stacking all Starting Pitchers possible in their pen, at most they will have 1 legit closer/reliever in there.

Is this the meta? do you want as much stamina as possible in this game mode? Are starters just cheaper to find diamond level players to get cheaper and thats why they are there?

Im really just curios as to why it seems like im the only person who actually making a bullpen of relievers, this is who i currently have and am willing to listen to suggestions and learn some more about how PT really works but do keep in mind that i will most likely stack closers once given the PP or money to do so


CL Byung-Hyun Kim (100)
SU Trevor Hoffman (94)
SU B.J. Ryan (97)
MR Keith Foulke (96)
MR L Taylor Rogers (85)
MR Ryan Pressley (90)
MR Ken Giles (94)
LR Tyler Glasnow (91)

[Hertston]

Originally Posted by dogbertt

Is this the meta? do you want as much stamina as possible in this game mode? Are starters just cheaper to find diamond level players to get cheaper and thats why they are there?

It's rather simpler than any of that.... starters tend have just as good, if not better, stats AND more stamina. The standard form is along the lines of a starter being replaced by a better card, only to be bumped down to the pen with a reliever in turn being bumped out. The further up the ladders you go the worse it gets and in diamond only a couple of relievers really remain playable at all.

The game is caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Either it buffs relievers so they have better stats than starters, which in the case of guys like Koufax and Maddux is nonsensical, to encourage their use - or they just don't get used. I personally preferred previous years' approaches where, when nominated as relievers, starters got a boost in stuff in exchange for a major loss of stamina. No idea why they abandoned that, TBH.

[dishnet34]

Hertston is correct - starters have much better stats than pure relievers, and it's not even close. On pure relievers (save for Rivera and Gagne, you're seeing movement and control in the 80s and 70s on the majority of them, which while fine in lower levels and maybe a small fraction of diamond leagues, is not exactly enough for elite diamond/perfect level play, where anything over 90 is the standard for both of those important stats.

However, there is still that tradeoff to having starters in the 'pen - they do get tired quicker than relievers do - something that has not been abandoned like Hertston said. For instance, Ed Walsh, who is a starter in relief in my 'pen, just went 30 pitches in 1.1 innings in my last game and is at 43% - he ain't playing the next game. Conversely, Eric Gagne, a pure reliever as my closer, had 28 pitches in two innings four days ago and 23 in another two innings two days ago and is at 33%. So Gagne could definitely pitch a lot more times. That was something introduced in PT21, which I'm glad to have in this version.

Would it be better to have pure relievers that are just as good as starting pitchers? Absolutely. However, IMO, historically IRL there have been tons more of elite starting pitchers than elite relievers, so it makes sense there are a lot more elite starters than relievers in this game, so that's when you have starters in the 'pen, because they're just that good.

[Hertston]

Originally Posted by dishnet34

However, there is still that tradeoff to having starters in the 'pen - they do get tired quicker than relievers do - something that has not been abandoned like Hertston said.

I stand corrected, at least in terms of stamina. You are right; TBH I hadn't noticed. The logic escapes me, though. If a revised stamina stat is being used, then why not adjust the on-screen value accordingly? Why on earth would starters become more tired than relievers when pitching from the pen? It makes no sense. The reason I liked the previous system is because it did, kind of, with starters exerting more effort over a short period (represented by a stuff bonus), but consequently tiring as quickly as relievers. The men themselves aren't that different physically, but what they train to do is.

[dogbertt]

Thank you for all the advice it seems to make sense to me and i will start to looking at if I need to make some changes here to actually keep moving up in the leagues.

Also this might be a bit of a newer and dumb way to look at how to build a bullpen but to me and my guys in there the control and movement is nowhere near as important to me. All i want is stuff which is noticble when my lowest stuff rating on the team is 99.

Thanks for the info mates (:

[ubernoob]

Relievers are just failed starters anyways. The designation really doesn't matter.