Relief appearances and games started

Situational_Lefty · 07-16-2017, 12:31 AM

I just purchased OOTP18 and I very excited to be starting a new league. I have been playing the same league across a few different versions since 2011, and I am looking forward to trying out challenge mode.

Before I begin my "official" league, I decided to run several test seasons to see how the new version played. One thing that is standing out is I am getting some pretty high number of relief appearances and games started in the leagues I am simming.

For example I am getting several relievers (over 20 per season) with appearances in the mid-80s. I have several in the 90s as well. The games started are generally high as well. I have a number of starters going 37,38, or 39 starts a season.

These are all being done as a modern MLB league with the defaults. I was wondering if these totals have been common for others when running an MLB modern league. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Danius · 07-21-2017, 12:25 PM

The AI defaults for pitching include "Low" stamina, and the rotation is set up to sometimes use the most rested starter, instead of a more strict order like real MLB (not accounting for injuries). If you have teams with a couple starters with low stamina, they may be skipped often in the rotation for one with higher stamina, as he is fully rested, and they probably got stretched out too much in their last start and have not full recovered. I ran a test on the "Low" stamina, and starters with 50 stamina almost never made it through 6 innings, and quite often didn't make it out of the fifth, and they would be hooked when exhausted (50s seem to get tired around the 65-pitch mark), compared to say a 70, who would be hooked being only slightly tired. The pitchers seem to throw more pitches in this version compared to others, and my test averaged out at a little over 22 pitches per inning, compared to the 2016 MLB average of 16.53.
I would think that moving the "Low" default stamina up a tick would have a normalizing effect on both of these issues, but then your bullpens might be used very infrequently when you have a rotation with lots of stamina (unless they stink). Maybe dropping "Hook Starter" down a tick would solve that, but that can only be done in the coaching menu, on a team by team basis. Default settings already have the use of relievers at "Extreme" (as high as it can go), so I don't know how you could make sure relievers are getting plenty of opportunities across the league if you raise the stamina. It wouldn't hurt to test it.

Danius · 07-21-2017, 12:31 PM

The AI defaults for pitching include "Low" stamina, and the rotation is set up to sometimes use the most rested starter, instead of a more strict order like real MLB (not accounting for injuries). If you have teams with a couple starters with low stamina, they may be skipped often in the rotation for one with higher stamina, as he is fully rested, and they probably got stretched out too much in their last start and have not full recovered. I ran a test on the "Low" stamina, and starters with 50 stamina almost never made it through 6 innings, and quite often didn't make it out of the fifth, and they would be hooked when exhausted (50s seem to get tired around the 65-pitch mark), compared to say a 70, who would be hooked being only slightly tired. The pitchers seem to throw more pitches in this version compared to others, and my test averaged out at a little over 22 pitches per inning, compared to the 2016 MLB average of 16.53.
I would think that moving the "Low" default stamina up a tick would have a normalizing effect on both of these issues, but then your bullpens might be used very infrequently when you have a rotation with lots of stamina (unless they stink). Maybe dropping "Hook Starter" down a tick would solve that, but that can only be done in the coaching menu, on a team by team basis. Default settings already have the use of relievers at "Extreme" (as high as it can go), so I don't know how you could make sure relievers are getting plenty of opportunities across the league if you raise the stamina. It wouldn't hurt to test it.

07-16-2017, 12:31 AM	#1
Situational_Lefty Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 265	Relief appearances and games started I just purchased OOTP18 and I very excited to be starting a new league. I have been playing the same league across a few different versions since 2011, and I am looking forward to trying out challenge mode. Before I begin my "official" league, I decided to run several test seasons to see how the new version played. One thing that is standing out is I am getting some pretty high number of relief appearances and games started in the leagues I am simming. For example I am getting several relievers (over 20 per season) with appearances in the mid-80s. I have several in the 90s as well. The games started are generally high as well. I have a number of starters going 37,38, or 39 starts a season. These are all being done as a modern MLB league with the defaults. I was wondering if these totals have been common for others when running an MLB modern league. Any feedback would be appreciated.

07-21-2017, 12:25 PM	#2
Danius Minors (Double A) Join Date: Sep 2016 Location: Northern Indiana, USA Posts: 121	The AI defaults for pitching include "Low" stamina, and the rotation is set up to sometimes use the most rested starter, instead of a more strict order like real MLB (not accounting for injuries). If you have teams with a couple starters with low stamina, they may be skipped often in the rotation for one with higher stamina, as he is fully rested, and they probably got stretched out too much in their last start and have not full recovered. I ran a test on the "Low" stamina, and starters with 50 stamina almost never made it through 6 innings, and quite often didn't make it out of the fifth, and they would be hooked when exhausted (50s seem to get tired around the 65-pitch mark), compared to say a 70, who would be hooked being only slightly tired. The pitchers seem to throw more pitches in this version compared to others, and my test averaged out at a little over 22 pitches per inning, compared to the 2016 MLB average of 16.53. I would think that moving the "Low" default stamina up a tick would have a normalizing effect on both of these issues, but then your bullpens might be used very infrequently when you have a rotation with lots of stamina (unless they stink). Maybe dropping "Hook Starter" down a tick would solve that, but that can only be done in the coaching menu, on a team by team basis. Default settings already have the use of relievers at "Extreme" (as high as it can go), so I don't know how you could make sure relievers are getting plenty of opportunities across the league if you raise the stamina. It wouldn't hurt to test it.

07-21-2017, 12:31 PM	#3
Danius Minors (Double A) Join Date: Sep 2016 Location: Northern Indiana, USA Posts: 121	The AI defaults for pitching include "Low" stamina, and the rotation is set up to sometimes use the most rested starter, instead of a more strict order like real MLB (not accounting for injuries). If you have teams with a couple starters with low stamina, they may be skipped often in the rotation for one with higher stamina, as he is fully rested, and they probably got stretched out too much in their last start and have not full recovered. I ran a test on the "Low" stamina, and starters with 50 stamina almost never made it through 6 innings, and quite often didn't make it out of the fifth, and they would be hooked when exhausted (50s seem to get tired around the 65-pitch mark), compared to say a 70, who would be hooked being only slightly tired. The pitchers seem to throw more pitches in this version compared to others, and my test averaged out at a little over 22 pitches per inning, compared to the 2016 MLB average of 16.53. I would think that moving the "Low" default stamina up a tick would have a normalizing effect on both of these issues, but then your bullpens might be used very infrequently when you have a rotation with lots of stamina (unless they stink). Maybe dropping "Hook Starter" down a tick would solve that, but that can only be done in the coaching menu, on a team by team basis. Default settings already have the use of relievers at "Extreme" (as high as it can go), so I don't know how you could make sure relievers are getting plenty of opportunities across the league if you raise the stamina. It wouldn't hurt to test it.