Managers Playing Favorites in the Bullpen

thomash35 · 04-05-2011, 03:29 PM

I realize this may be a moot point what with OOTP 12 releasing soon but this is really starting to grate on my nerves.

1) On back to back games, I have had a reliever come into the 8th inning, give up 3+ runs, blowing the save, and is inexplicably brought BACK into the 9th inning to pitch. This would NEVER happen in MLB. (and this has not happened just these two games. it happens quite frequently.)

My favorite example of this was a spring training game (when I have 12 pitchers in the bullpen) and my guy was left in with the following stat line:

0.0 IP 4H 7R 8ER 2BB 0K 1HR

This was in the BOTTOM OF THE 9TH and is totally unacceptable.

My manager, bench coach, and pitching coach have their "Pull Relief Pitcher" sliders set all of the way to the left to "Quick" but I don't think that controls anything.

2) Managers play favorites out of the bullpen. 30 games into my current season, I have 3 pitchers set to make 80+ appearances, throwing over 100+ innings and 3 pitchers set to make fewer than 20 appearances, throwing under 25 innings. This is true up and down my organization. It doesn't matter if the guy getting all of the playing time is 0-3 with an ERA over 7 while the guy not playing is 1-0 with an ERA under 1.25 with a boatload of K's.

How can I balance IP around evenly without having to assign pitch counts to every player? Can something be added that is an Inning Limit?

Thanks!

Chicagofan76 · 04-05-2011, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomash35

I realize this may be a moot point what with OOTP 12 releasing soon but this is really starting to grate on my nerves.

1) On back to back games, I have had a reliever come into the 8th inning, give up 3+ runs, blowing the save, and is inexplicably brought BACK into the 9th inning to pitch. This would NEVER happen in MLB. (and this has not happened just these two games. it happens quite frequently.)

My favorite example of this was a spring training game (when I have 12 pitchers in the bullpen) and my guy was left in with the following stat line:

0.0 IP 4H 7R 8ER 2BB 0K 1HR

This was in the BOTTOM OF THE 9TH and is totally unacceptable.

My manager, bench coach, and pitching coach have their "Pull Relief Pitcher" sliders set all of the way to the left to "Quick" but I don't think that controls anything.

2) Managers play favorites out of the bullpen. 30 games into my current season, I have 3 pitchers set to make 80+ appearances, throwing over 100+ innings and 3 pitchers set to make fewer than 20 appearances, throwing under 25 innings. This is true up and down my organization. It doesn't matter if the guy getting all of the playing time is 0-3 with an ERA over 7 while the guy not playing is 1-0 with an ERA under 1.25 with a boatload of K's.

How can I balance IP around evenly without having to assign pitch counts to every player? Can something be added that is an Inning Limit?

Thanks!

is the pitchers name: Will OH MAN!, Scott Linebrink or Bobby Jenks?

hefalumps · 04-05-2011, 05:05 PM

All joking aside, I have seen this as well. I play out my games so I make sure my ML team's bullpen is managed effectively, but a lot of my minor league MRs don't seem to get much work. The starters and closer are used reasonably, and two or three of the MRs will get used fairly regularly, but any other MRs will just sit most of the time or pitch an inning here or there. I usually end up demoting those guys to another level with less MRs in hopes they'll get more work there.

And I haven't really seen a pattern with the guys who are the "favorites". It's not like it's always the highest rated players get the most appearances.

I've seen other threads about this issue and hope it won't be an issue in OOTP 12.

04-05-2011, 03:29 PM	#1
thomash35 Bat Boy Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 11	Managers Playing Favorites in the Bullpen I realize this may be a moot point what with OOTP 12 releasing soon but this is really starting to grate on my nerves. 1) On back to back games, I have had a reliever come into the 8th inning, give up 3+ runs, blowing the save, and is inexplicably brought BACK into the 9th inning to pitch. This would NEVER happen in MLB. (and this has not happened just these two games. it happens quite frequently.) My favorite example of this was a spring training game (when I have 12 pitchers in the bullpen) and my guy was left in with the following stat line: 0.0 IP 4H 7R 8ER 2BB 0K 1HR This was in the BOTTOM OF THE 9TH and is totally unacceptable. My manager, bench coach, and pitching coach have their "Pull Relief Pitcher" sliders set all of the way to the left to "Quick" but I don't think that controls anything. 2) Managers play favorites out of the bullpen. 30 games into my current season, I have 3 pitchers set to make 80+ appearances, throwing over 100+ innings and 3 pitchers set to make fewer than 20 appearances, throwing under 25 innings. This is true up and down my organization. It doesn't matter if the guy getting all of the playing time is 0-3 with an ERA over 7 while the guy not playing is 1-0 with an ERA under 1.25 with a boatload of K's. How can I balance IP around evenly without having to assign pitch counts to every player? Can something be added that is an Inning Limit? Thanks!

04-05-2011, 05:05 PM	#3
hefalumps All Star Starter Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 1,392	All joking aside, I have seen this as well. I play out my games so I make sure my ML team's bullpen is managed effectively, but a lot of my minor league MRs don't seem to get much work. The starters and closer are used reasonably, and two or three of the MRs will get used fairly regularly, but any other MRs will just sit most of the time or pitch an inning here or there. I usually end up demoting those guys to another level with less MRs in hopes they'll get more work there. And I haven't really seen a pattern with the guys who are the "favorites". It's not like it's always the highest rated players get the most appearances. I've seen other threads about this issue and hope it won't be an issue in OOTP 12.