An issue with fictional splits

Murcer · 06-14-2025, 10:44 PM

I recently bought OOTP26 and have been running fictional test leagues to see if the split issue I wrote about in OOTP25 was corrected. I believe there is still an issue as it appears the adjustment to splits was too dramatic.

I ran hundreds of test seasons (over 30 million PAs) using neutral park factors and found extreme splits for both left and right handed hitters. That is, both fared far worse against same hand pitchers than they did against opposite hand pitchers, much worse than in real life.

My leagues approximate baseball in the mid 1980s so I looked at the real life splits from that decade:
R hitter vs R pitcher: OPS = .684
R hitter vs L pitcher: OPS = .729
Difference = 45.6 points

L hitter vs R pitcher: OPS = .735
L hitter vs L pitcher: OPS = .663
Difference = 71.6 points

However, here is what I found for my fictional OOTP26 test leagues:
R hitter vs R pitcher: OPS = .695
R hitter vs L pitcher: OPS = .808
Difference = 112.5 points

L hitter vs R pitcher: OPS = .771
L hitter vs L pitcher: OPS = .626
Difference = 144.8 points

The OOTP splits are more than double what occurred in real life throughout the 80's.

One big tip-off is the fact that the top pitchers in my fictional leagues are almost all right handed. Looking at the career leaders in pitching WAR in my most recent test, the first left hander on the list is at #28 - the top 27 are all righties.

I've seen some posts about this but nothing that generated much discussion. I don't believe my league setup is janky enough to have caused this but I'd be interested to hear what others are finding.

Thanks.

venflaalachi · 06-15-2025, 05:18 PM

I am finding the same. The splits for righty batters against lefty pitchers means that no lefty pitcher can really end up elite, they just get hammered.

Matt Arnold · 06-16-2025, 08:22 AM

Yes, splits might be a little more aggressive than desired. We can certainly investigate and probably can tone them down a little.

Murcer · 06-16-2025, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Arnold

Yes, splits might be a little more aggressive than desired. We can certainly investigate and probably can tone them down a little.

Thank you for your attention to this. I normalized my league OPS to the real life figures from the 1980s (should have done this in my first post) and got the numbers shown in the attached screenshot. To summarize based on my results:
* Right handed hitters are far too good against left handed pitchers in OOTP
* Left handed pitchers are far too good against left handed hitters in OOTP
* the other two splits are close but might need a small tweak

Please let me know if I can help in any way and/or if you need any additional details.

06-14-2025, 10:44 PM	#1
Murcer Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 257	An issue with fictional splits I recently bought OOTP26 and have been running fictional test leagues to see if the split issue I wrote about in OOTP25 was corrected. I believe there is still an issue as it appears the adjustment to splits was too dramatic. I ran hundreds of test seasons (over 30 million PAs) using neutral park factors and found extreme splits for both left and right handed hitters. That is, both fared far worse against same hand pitchers than they did against opposite hand pitchers, much worse than in real life. My leagues approximate baseball in the mid 1980s so I looked at the real life splits from that decade: R hitter vs R pitcher: OPS = .684 R hitter vs L pitcher: OPS = .729 Difference = 45.6 points L hitter vs R pitcher: OPS = .735 L hitter vs L pitcher: OPS = .663 Difference = 71.6 points However, here is what I found for my fictional OOTP26 test leagues: R hitter vs R pitcher: OPS = .695 R hitter vs L pitcher: OPS = .808 Difference = 112.5 points L hitter vs R pitcher: OPS = .771 L hitter vs L pitcher: OPS = .626 Difference = 144.8 points The OOTP splits are more than double what occurred in real life throughout the 80's. One big tip-off is the fact that the top pitchers in my fictional leagues are almost all right handed. Looking at the career leaders in pitching WAR in my most recent test, the first left hander on the list is at #28 - the top 27 are all righties. I've seen some posts about this but nothing that generated much discussion. I don't believe my league setup is janky enough to have caused this but I'd be interested to hear what others are finding. Thanks. Last edited by Murcer; 06-14-2025 at 10:46 PM.

06-15-2025, 05:18 PM	#2
venflaalachi Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Mar 2017 Posts: 280	I am finding the same. The splits for righty batters against lefty pitchers means that no lefty pitcher can really end up elite, they just get hammered.

06-16-2025, 08:22 AM	#3
Matt Arnold OOTP Developer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Here and there Posts: 15,689	Yes, splits might be a little more aggressive than desired. We can certainly investigate and probably can tone them down a little.