How Do I Get my Players to Steal More?

[Skevich]

I play in an online Sim league, I have four guys who have 70 for steal , including one at 80, but I only have five stolen bases in 10 games. Meanwhile another team in my league has over at 12 in the same amount of games. I have tried to set these high steal rating players strategies several clicks to the right to steal more several Sims ago. That didn’t work. I tried setting my team strategy to steal more. That hasn’t worked. What am I doing wrong? I want them to try to steal bases every time they reach a base. I want my version of Vince Coleman's, or Ricky Henderson‘s on my team.

[MathBandit]

What is their 'Speed' rating?

[Skevich]

60’s and above (out of 80)

[LansdowneSt]

Are you using managers? If so, maybe check their play style WRT stealing. also check the color icon next to stealing and the legend at the bottom and see if they are running that part of the game in alignment with the strategies set or on their own. I usually don't have staff so others can speak to how to override conflicting philosophies - but it's an area to look at.

[PSUColonel]

I’d say it also depends what era you are in…modern day simulations don’t have a lot of stealing to start with…but in order to get more steals from your players…you should probably adjust their strategy settings.

[Curve Ball Dave]

Set the individual players' game strategies to be more aggressive with stealing.

[Bobfather]

% in 10 games is 80 for the season. Also, 10 games is a very small sample. Also, pitcher/catcher holds and base runners in front of them need to be considered.

[cohimbra]

Originally Posted by Curve Ball Dave

Set the individual players' game strategies to be more aggressive with stealing.

Try this. And 'override team strategy'.

[Pelican]

Another borderline hack is to use "run and hit" with the guy you want to steal on base. As opposed to "hit and run", this frequently results in a swing and miss and SBA. Ideally I would limit it to a good contact hitter, and of course a good base-stealer and not a Pudge Rodriguez at catcher. Of course, this only applies if you are playing games out (although you can increase hit and run in the team strategy and player strategy settings).

[PSUColonel]

Originally Posted by Pelican

Another borderline hack is to use "run and hit" with the guy you want to steal on base. As opposed to "hit and run", this frequently results in a swing and miss and SBA. Ideally I would limit it to a good contact hitter, and of course a good base-stealer and not a Pudge Rodriguez at catcher. Of course, this only applies if you are playing games out (although you can increase hit and run in the team strategy and player strategy settings).

Just curious, why is hit & run vs run & hit a (borderline) hack?

[MathBandit]

I think what they might mean is that it's a 'hack' in that a team with max "Steal Attempt" and max "Run & Hit" will have more SB attempts than a team with max "Steal Attempt" and default "Run & Hit".

[Pelican]

Originally Posted by PSUColonel

Just curious, why is hit & run vs run & hit a (borderline) hack?

Fair question. I felt I was seeing too many SB using the “run and hit” approach. It just seems to work too well. Admittedly, my experience amounts to a small sample size. But my “house rule” is to not abuse it. Of course, with “run and hit” and “hit and run”, there is the ever-present risk of a line drive DP or the strike-him-out and throw-him-out DP, so perhaps that threat becomes self-limiting. Not sure about the programming, but I don’t recall a runner being thrown out on an attempted steal through “run and hit”.