Ghost Pitchers in Minors Not Working?

silentrob · 07-22-2022, 05:04 AM

I just started a new league. Not all minor league levels have a full pitching staff right now. I assumed enabling ghost players would fix this, but it doesn't.

The AI managers pitch the same guys game after game no matter how tired/how many pitches they just threw.

I've set the "General AI Roster Settings" to 5-man rotations, strict rotation, no starters in relief, but that's not how the AI manages. When I check the individual teams, the game has "SP in Relief" set to "Only in Emergency" despite what I just wrote above about league settings. I change it manually - it changes back the next day.

I'm guessing this (SPs relieve in emergencies) is why the same guys pitch every day?

Am I doing something wrong? Or is this just broken?

Matt Arnold · 07-22-2022, 05:41 AM

Ghost players won't fill out teams if they are almost full. So it's possible that if your minors setups are already running 20+ players for example, they may not fill in ghost players. If you happen to have a big difference between available pitchers and batters, that might be an issue.

We'll look into ways to being a little smarter at filling out the low level teams to make sure they don't run out of pitchers as much.

brotherblues · 07-22-2022, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Arnold

Ghost players won't fill out teams if they are almost full. So it's possible that if your minors setups are already running 20+ players for example, they may not fill in ghost players. If you happen to have a big difference between available pitchers and batters, that might be an issue.

We'll look into ways to being a little smarter at filling out the low level teams to make sure they don't run out of pitchers as much.

Thanks. Can you clarify "almost full" please? What if a team has 30 players but 20 of them are batters, or vice versa?

Sweed · 07-22-2022, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Arnold

Ghost players won't fill out teams if they are almost full. So it's possible that if your minors setups are already running 20+ players for example, they may not fill in ghost players. If you happen to have a big difference between available pitchers and batters, that might be an issue.

We'll look into ways to being a little smarter at filling out the low level teams to make sure they don't run out of pitchers as much.

As a ghost player advocate this is news to me. I do run a 20 round draft and most teams are close to full most of the time with a good mix of P and B. So, maybe this is why I don't notice an issue often? Though now and then I will see an exhausted player and wondered what happened. Not enough to think it an issue worth reporting.

I guess from my point of view I don't know why ghosts wouldn't always fill out the roster. 30 player limit and 29 players should equal 1 ghost IMHO. Maybe that's not easy to do? I always assumed a ghost was created as needed, when one hit the sim button, and then deleted at games end? I would think if your league is setup to typically have 12 Ps and 14 Bs (or whatever your setting is) ghosts could come in based on wherever the team is short? Even if they're only short one player.

Not sure, with my last thought on being short a player or players, what happens with ghosts for an unlimited size roster? Yeah, there's always something, that gums up the easy answer, right?

edit: I guess the answer might be to not use the max roster size but just make sure a team fills the number of Ps and Bs you have in your settings. IE
a team must have 12 Ps and 14 Bs or, whatever your settings call for.

In any case yes, some type of "fix" for this would be something OOTP should be doing. Thanks Matt for chiming in.

BBGiovanni · 07-22-2022, 11:12 AM

This is good info, I think I gave up on using ghosts because I kept getting roster error messages anyway and that's probably why.

Sweed · 07-22-2022, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BBGiovanni

This is good info, I think I gave up on using ghosts because I kept getting roster error messages anyway and that's probably why.

I've almost always used ghosts except for a short try of full when they were first introduced. I've never had a roster error with ghosts. Not sure how that could happen? But certainly worth reporting when it does.

Brad K · 07-22-2022, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brotherblues

Thanks. Can you clarify "almost full" please? What if a team has 30 players but 20 of them are batters, or vice versa?

"Almost full" would seem to mean "enough... to play games". Except from reports of the users it isn't.

From the manual

If this box is checked, minor league teams who cannot field a full roster will have enough temporary "ghost players" generated to play games. If enabled, a second option will lbe activated that will determine if the AI attempts to move all the "real" minor leaguers to the highest level, or assigns them to a level appropriate to their skill.

Matt Arnold · 07-22-2022, 11:24 AM

The next patch as I said will fill out teams a little more. If we're too aggressive at creating ghosts, then the AI team ends up just using the ghosts rather than your players. But if we don't create enough, then guys get too tired. Tricky to get the right balance.

Sweed · 07-22-2022, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Arnold

The next patch as I said will fill out teams a little more. If we're too aggressive at creating ghosts, then the AI team ends up just using the ghosts rather than your players. But if we don't create enough, then guys get too tired. Tricky to get the right balance.

Thanks Matt for the explanation. Another non-coder being shown things they THINK should be easy, are not.

silentrob · 07-22-2022, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Arnold

Ghost players won't fill out teams if they are almost full. So it's possible that if your minors setups are already running 20+ players for example, they may not fill in ghost players. If you happen to have a big difference between available pitchers and batters, that might be an issue.

We'll look into ways to being a little smarter at filling out the low level teams to make sure they don't run out of pitchers as much.

Hi Matt, thanks for this answer.

The minor league teams have very few players. It's a historical league that I just started, so not many extra players for the minors. Essentially, the guys whose career was 0-4 are all in A, and a few guys are at other levels.

I made this post because I've been playing this game for years, since version 6, and I don't remember seeing this problem happen in the earlier versions I purchased.

brotherblues · 07-23-2022, 11:44 AM

My question is more along the lines of: If a team has 18 position players and 6 pitchers, does the game see that as an "almost full" roster and doesn't fill out the pitching staff with ghost players?

Because if that's the case, then one way to make it work (for someone like the OP) is to trim down your non-ptchers.

Brad K · 07-23-2022, 01:46 PM

Apparently so. However the statement in the manual is strange. (Bold added.)

minor league teams who cannot field a full roster

The word "field" indicates the staring nine while "roster" indicates everyone. So what is really happening here?

Seems to me with minor league promotions/demotions on AI control everything should be arranged by AI to work.

07-22-2022, 05:04 AM	#1
silentrob Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Kalispell, MT Posts: 232	Ghost Pitchers in Minors Not Working? I just started a new league. Not all minor league levels have a full pitching staff right now. I assumed enabling ghost players would fix this, but it doesn't. The AI managers pitch the same guys game after game no matter how tired/how many pitches they just threw. I've set the "General AI Roster Settings" to 5-man rotations, strict rotation, no starters in relief, but that's not how the AI manages. When I check the individual teams, the game has "SP in Relief" set to "Only in Emergency" despite what I just wrote above about league settings. I change it manually - it changes back the next day. I'm guessing this (SPs relieve in emergencies) is why the same guys pitch every day? Am I doing something wrong? Or is this just broken?

07-22-2022, 11:12 AM	#5
BBGiovanni All Star Starter Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Republic of California Posts: 1,910	This is good info, I think I gave up on using ghosts because I kept getting roster error messages anyway and that's probably why. __________________ Let's Go (San Jose) Giants, Let's Go Mets! Current Project: WBAT/AABBA: Organized Base Ball And the "New Normal" World Baseball Aid Tournament 2023 trophy round underway!

07-23-2022, 11:44 AM	#11
brotherblues All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2020 Posts: 658	My question is more along the lines of: If a team has 18 position players and 6 pitchers, does the game see that as an "almost full" roster and doesn't fill out the pitching staff with ghost players? Because if that's the case, then one way to make it work (for someone like the OP) is to trim down your non-ptchers. Last edited by brotherblues; 07-23-2022 at 11:49 AM.

07-22-2022, 05:41 AM	#2
Matt Arnold OOTP Developer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Here and there Posts: 15,958	Ghost players won't fill out teams if they are almost full. So it's possible that if your minors setups are already running 20+ players for example, they may not fill in ghost players. If you happen to have a big difference between available pitchers and batters, that might be an issue. We'll look into ways to being a little smarter at filling out the low level teams to make sure they don't run out of pitchers as much.

07-22-2022, 11:24 AM	#8
Matt Arnold OOTP Developer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Here and there Posts: 15,958	The next patch as I said will fill out teams a little more. If we're too aggressive at creating ghosts, then the AI team ends up just using the ghosts rather than your players. But if we don't create enough, then guys get too tired. Tricky to get the right balance.

07-23-2022, 01:46 PM	#12
Brad K Banned Join Date: May 2016 Location: St Petersburg Florida USA Posts: 6,693 Infractions: 0/2 (4)	Apparently so. However the statement in the manual is strange. (Bold added.) minor league teams who cannot field a full roster The word "field" indicates the staring nine while "roster" indicates everyone. So what is really happening here? Seems to me with minor league promotions/demotions on AI control everything should be arranged by AI to work.