"start highest rested" question

[thehef]

So if the Rotation Settings are as follows...

Rotation Size = 5-man
Rotation Mode = Always start highest rested

And the #1 starter is fully rested (100%), why does the game look to start the #5 starter? The #5 guy is shown as "Next Starter" and, if I go to play out the game, sure enough he's selected as the starter.

Am I missing something?

[Bluenoser]

Highest rested in your rotation is what I believe it means and that's how it seems to work too.

If it's #5's turn to start and he's 100%, it's not going to skip him just because #1 is also 100%.

[Reed]

It is pretty dependent on your schedule. If you have a game schedule every day for 5 days then it will use all 5 starters. If you have a game scheduled every day for 4 days and then a day off, it should skip your #5 starter and go back to your #1 starter after the day off. At least that is my experience. I modified my schedule so that at the end of the season the #5 starter has about half as many starts as the # 1,2,3 starters and the # 4 starter has 4 or 5 fewer starts than the other 3.

[thehef]

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

Highest rested in your rotation is what I believe it means and that's how it seems to work too.

If it's #5's turn to start and he's 100%, it's not going to skip him just because #1 is also 100%.

So if true, then what "Always start highest rested" actually means is "Strict Order, if scheduled starter is rested." Right?

[Bluenoser]

Originally Posted by thehef

So if true, then what "Always start highest rested" actually means is "Strict Order, if scheduled starter is rested." Right?

I can't speak on that. The option says "Always start highest rested". It doesn't say "Always start #1 if he's 100% rested"

Makes sense to me that the AI will follow your rotation until it finds a 100% rested starter.

So if it's #3's turn to start, but he's only 85%, it will look at #4. If he's not 100%, it will look at #5, and so on.

Again, I'm guessing here, but that makes sense to me.

Maybe Matt can chime in here later today for clarification.

[thehef]

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

I can't speak on that. The option says "Always start highest rested". It doesn't say "Always start #1 if he's 100% rested"

Makes sense to me that the AI will follow your rotation until it finds a 100% rested starter.

So if it's #3's turn to start, but he's only 85%, it will look at #4. If he's not 100%, it will look at #5, and so on.

Again, I'm guessing here, but that makes sense to me.

Maybe Matt can chime in here later today for clarification.

Your explanation sounds correct as to what the game is doing. Using your example of #3 being 85% so it looks to the #4 starter - however, is not where AI is looking for "highest rested" but where it's looking to "next rested." I'm thinking that "Always start highest rested" should mean to, literally, always start the highest rested starter. In my example, the only way to interpret that is that the #1 guy, since he's rested, is the very definition of highest rested.

I think my interpretation - always start your best guys if they are rested - is the way it was typically done up until - depending upon the team - somewhere in the late 70's.

[joefromchicago]

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

I can't speak on that. The option says "Always start highest rested". It doesn't say "Always start #1 if he's 100% rested"

Makes sense to me that the AI will follow your rotation until it finds a 100% rested starter.

So if it's #3's turn to start, but he's only 85%, it will look at #4. If he's not 100%, it will look at #5, and so on.

Again, I'm guessing here, but that makes sense to me.

Maybe Matt can chime in here later today for clarification.

No, that's incorrect. I'd elaborate but I'm at the dentist right now. I'll try to post more later today.

[joefromchicago]

Originally Posted by thehef

So if the Rotation Settings are as follows...

Rotation Size = 5-man
Rotation Mode = Always start highest rested

And the #1 starter is fully rested (100%), why does the game look to start the #5 starter? The #5 guy is shown as "Next Starter" and, if I go to play out the game, sure enough he's selected as the starter.

Am I missing something?

What are your other settings? E.g. league stamina?

[Bluenoser]

As I said - I'm guessing, hopefully Matt will see this and offer an explanation.

[Matt Arnold]

Sometimes this depends on when it runs the "next starter" check. If you go to play out the game manually, I believe it will simply always use whoever is listed as the next starter. But if you asked the AI to set up pitching or I think simmed the game, then it re-evaluates at that point and would likely switch to the #1 in that case.

[thehef]

Originally Posted by Matt Arnold

Sometimes this depends on when it runs the "next starter" check. If you go to play out the game manually, I believe it will simply always use whoever is listed as the next starter. But if you asked the AI to set up pitching or I think simmed the game, then it re-evaluates at that point and would likely switch to the #1 in that case.

In my example, I wondered if it was only displaying the #5 starter on the team pitching page, but would instead use the highest rested for the game. So I started to play out the game, and saw that the #5 starter was still the choice (at that point I cancelled the game and manually adjusted the rotation). So it appears that what you wrote above is correct. What I don't yet know is what would've happened if I had done nothing and let the games sim... I'll have to check on that.

[Syd Thrift]

I play out all my league's games and do see teams skipping starters when a higher priority one is rested. That said, it will pretty much only do that when that starter is at 100%. Even if they're at like 97%, the game will give that pitcher an extra day off if someone else in the rotation is at 100%. In situations where nobody is at 100% - most commonly IME in the 2nd half of a double-header - the game will try to start the highest rested guy, and in this case will not automatically go to your spot starter, which I think might be what Matt Arnold is alluding to. I know I always have to put the spot starter in the rotation temporarily and then take him out afterwards. If you then sim out that game instead of clicking through to play it, it may well bring in the spot starter though.

[thehef]

Originally Posted by thehef

What I don't yet know is what would've happened if I had done nothing and let the games sim... I'll have to check on that.

It just so happened that I on my next sim day, there were a bunch of doubleheaders scheduled; thus plenty of opportunity to see how AI handles "start highest rested" if I don't attempt to play out games or otherwise interfere. See the image below...

AI is clearly not selecting highest rested, but the overall pattern is not a consistent one. In all five instances, AI started the starter whose turn it was in the rotation, despite the fact that in all five instances, the #1 starter was 100% rested. For the second game, however:
a) in three instances AI simply stuck with the rotation order and started the next 100% rested starter in the rotation
b) in two instances AI bypassed the rotation order and actually started the highest rested starter (in both cases, the #1 starter).

joefromchicago asked about league settings. All are defaults:

Typical Starting Rotation Size = 5 man
Starting Rotation Mode = Default
Default Starters in Relief = No
Pitchers Stamina = High

[joefromchicago]

Originally Posted by thehef

So if the Rotation Settings are as follows...

Rotation Size = 5-man
Rotation Mode = Always start highest rested

And the #1 starter is fully rested (100%), why does the game look to start the #5 starter? The #5 guy is shown as "Next Starter" and, if I go to play out the game, sure enough he's selected as the starter.

Am I missing something?

Start highest rested (SHR) is supposed to work the way you think it's supposed to work - the starter with the highest spot in the rotation is supposed to start if he is 100% rested. But that's modified by the league's starting-rotation setting, while your starters' ability to start will be affected by their stamina ratings.

In your league, the starting rotation size is set at 5. In my experience, the AI will start a higher-rated starter if he's fully rested and if he hasn't pitched in four days. But it may not start him if he has only three days of rest - even if he is at 100% rested. I know for a fact that, if you set your rotation size to 6, the AI won't start a pitcher if he has only three days of rest, even if he will be fully rested on the fourth day.

What you might want to do is check how tired your starters are on the day before a game. Again, in my pre-reliever play-throughs, a starter wouldn't get a start if he was less than 100% on the day before a game. So the number-one pitcher could be at 95% on Tuesday but he still wouldn't get the starting assignment on Wednesday, even though he would be at 100% on that day.

[NoOne]

pitcher stamina is not high by default for a 5-man rotation. i bet that is root of the problem. you want low or very low. probably some fail-safe so that the league at least tries to honor the 5-man rotation setting. otherwise, you'd have 3 sp wil vast majority of starts and a couple with a handful..under any pitching staff setting.

low will allow the higher stamina SP to pitch on 3-days rest as long as they don't over-throw in previous start by too much. other lower stmina sp will always need 4 days off to get to roughly 100%. The AI may not pitch them at <=95%? or whatever threshold, but they are capable of it.

very low -- everyone needs 4 dayas off to get to t least near 100%.

i think pitcher ability comes into play a bit too. if less difference between the two, they'll pitch the normal one more often or maybe it impacts whether a <100% and higher-in-rotation SP is used? I've tried to manipulate GS by changing this and the elite guys seem to still 'steal' starts from below if i recall? could be a hazy memory too.

Originally Posted by thehef

It just so happened that I on my next sim day, there were a bunch of doubleheaders scheduled; thus plenty of opportunity to see how AI handles "start highest rested" if I don't attempt to play out games or otherwise interfere. See the image below...

AI is clearly not selecting highest rested, but the overall pattern is not a consistent one. In all five instances, AI started the starter whose turn it was in the rotation, despite the fact that in all five instances, the #1 starter was 100% rested. For the second game, however:
a) in three instances AI simply stuck with the rotation order and started the next 100% rested starter in the rotation
b) in two instances AI bypassed the rotation order and actually started the highest rested starter (in both cases, the #1 starter).

joefromchicago asked about league settings. All are defaults:

Typical Starting Rotation Size = 5 man
Starting Rotation Mode = Default
Default Starters in Relief = No
Pitchers Stamina = High

[David Watts]

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Mean mean stride
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