What should I do when one of my players goes into a slump?

[njmcfreak]

Should I send him to the minors, just sit him a few games? Usually they are batting .300 and in the prime of his career. Now he's hovering around .220 and the season is almost over. I just never want to see that again.

[NoOne]

if he's your best option, you leave him alone. don't play him tired, etc... have a real reason to take him out of the lineup.

if he's not so amazing and someone is nearly as good? musical chairs doesn't change probability, but if it makes you feel better, go ahead.

[JaBurns]

My method is to freak out while yelling profanities at my computer.

[rudel.dietrich]

It's a $40 super in depth dice rolling simulator.
If the ratings are still there then he will bounce back. The season was a series of 'bad' dice rolls where he did not get hits.
And BA is not everything, did he still hit for power and get on base?

If the ratings look to be in decline it may be time to start shopping him around while he still has some value.

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

It's a $40 super in depth dice rolling simulator.
If the ratings are still there then he will bounce back. The season was a series of 'bad' dice rolls where he did not get hits.
And BA is not everything, did he still hit for power and get on base?

If the ratings look to be in decline it may be time to start shopping him around while he still has some value.

Players *do* slump and get into hot streaks in the game much more than die rolls would allow (although still not as much IIRC as real life). The study below is mathy but basically it looked at the 2005 season and found that there were roughly twice as many players who got into prolonged streaks and slumps as the math would suggest:

https://www.stat.berkeley.edu/users/...rt_streaky.pdf

That being said, one of the chief reasons I prefer playing stats-only is that I *like* not knowing if a hitting streak is a sign that the player is actually better and worth starting full-time or if a guy going through a slump is actually a sign that he's done. To that end, I also generally set my leagues up so that aging is set to 0.9 (mainly due to a study I read about NFL quarterbacks that demonstrated that roughly half of the "aging" you see out of them occurs in their final season as a starter - one way of interpreting that is that when an older player has an off season, they get replaced rather than seeing if they can bounce back) and development to 1.1 (to keep my leagues from being inhabited solely by older players), and then talent change randomness to 120.

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by JaBurns

My method is to freak out while yelling profanities at my computer.

Yup, been there, done that.
On a nearly daily basis.

[scott1964]

Originally Posted by BirdWatcher

Yup, been there, done that.
On a nearly daily basis.

[slugga27]

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

Players *do* slump and get into hot streaks in the game much more than die rolls would allow (although still not as much IIRC as real life). The study below is mathy but basically it looked at the 2005 season and found that there were roughly twice as many players who got into prolonged streaks and slumps as the math would suggest:



https://www.stat.berkeley.edu/users/...rt_streaky.pdf



That being said, one of the chief reasons I prefer playing stats-only is that I *like* not knowing if a hitting streak is a sign that the player is actually better and worth starting full-time or if a guy going through a slump is actually a sign that he's done. To that end, I also generally set my leagues up so that aging is set to 0.9 (mainly due to a study I read about NFL quarterbacks that demonstrated that roughly half of the "aging" you see out of them occurs in their final season as a starter - one way of interpreting that is that when an older player has an off season, they get replaced rather than seeing if they can bounce back) and development to 1.1 (to keep my leagues from being inhabited solely by older players), and then talent change randomness to 120.

This. Stats-only is the way to go. Personally, I’d give him a day off, tired or not, and see if he can bounce back.


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[MrBojangles]

Release them. (Just kidding. Real answer is the scream profanities solution)

[Gruber_Tagged_Him]

Originally Posted by JaBurns

My method is to freak out while yelling profanities at my computer.

Just use that correct-tape stuff (or liquid paper, white-out, whatever the kids are calling it these days...) and cover the snowflake on your monitor. Problem solved! (Don't scroll...)

[jimmysthebestcop]

Originally Posted by JaBurns

My method is to freak out while yelling profanities at my computer.

This by far works best for me.

But if its like a long slump and I get someone who is as good back in a trade I've done it before. Depends if you think its a real slump or the start of a decline.

[lencombs]

Is the player unhappy, if so why and how is his relationship with your bench coach?

[NoOne]

Originally Posted by Gruber_Tagged_Him

Just use that correct-tape stuff (or liquid paper, white-out, whatever the kids are calling it these days...) and cover the snowflake on your monitor. Problem solved! (Don't scroll...)

you can scroll, you just have to add more liquid paper.

--- anecdotal:

with hof players, i think i've seen 2 have an end-to-end bad season. i even made a post about one last release. lesser talented players likely have more of those types of seasons, but it isn't due to 'streakiness effect' syd mentions as much as normal volatility (based on large sample experience with elite players, which eliminates the deep valleys normal players experience to some extent at a far more frequent rate). i've seen plenty of great players have a bad half-season, but the great ones rarely are horrible the whole season.

[Cactusguy21]

One thing to remember is that ratings are often slow to catch up to talent change randomness, so it's possible he actually just got worse and you will see his ratings drop soon.

[Dyzalot]

Originally Posted by Cactusguy21

One thing to remember is that ratings are often slow to catch up to talent change randomness, so it's possible he actually just got worse and you will see his ratings drop soon.

This is a possibility and the older he is the more likely his slump is at least partly due to a decline that hasn't shown up in the ratings yet as opposed to pure "bad dice rolls". Easily could be a small ratings drop making a bad run of dice rolls look worse than it would have earlier in his career. The bigger a sample size you have to judge from, the better you can feel that it is expressing his actual talent.

Just because I like to "rp" in the game, I will give guys who are struggling more rest, maybe changing a sub from "every ten days" to "every four days" or something like that, especially if I have a guy on the bench who I'd like to get more playing time. I doubt it makes any kind of real affect but like others have stated above, it makes me feel better.

[Reed]

Just restart the season and see how he does.

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by Dyzalot

This is a possibility and the older he is the more likely his slump is at least partly due to a decline that hasn't shown up in the ratings yet as opposed to pure "bad dice rolls". Easily could be a small ratings drop making a bad run of dice rolls look worse than it would have earlier in his career. The bigger a sample size you have to judge from, the better you can feel that it is expressing his actual talent.

Just because I like to "rp" in the game, I will give guys who are struggling more rest, maybe changing a sub from "every ten days" to "every four days" or something like that, especially if I have a guy on the bench who I'd like to get more playing time. I doubt it makes any kind of real affect but like others have stated above, it makes me feel better.

With stats only I do this as well but with a mind to seeing how the backup is performing too. If the starter continues to struggle but the backup rips off 20 hits in 40 at-bats then, well, maybe it's time to go in a new direction.