Archive of SportingNews.com's old SOM Baseball forum

How do i set these and what do they mean?

I think we are in real need of a "new Pitching Setting for Dummies" guide. (note, that is mot an insult, just an acknowledgement this needs to be made simple)

Who wants to write it? I don't think I am enough of an expert.

What do pitcher fatigue settings mean? F0-F8 ?

Start here...

http://somonline.bluwiki.com/go/Bullpen_v2

What I think would be most useful for an explanation of pitcher preferences is not a separate description of how the new pitcher prefs work, but an explanation of how to use all the pitcher preferences together, old and new, My philosophy for instructions is to always write them as simply as possible, with the fist time manager in mind, because if a message communicates to a first-times, then the vets should understand easily. Switching back and forth between several guides might be confusing for some new players
I have not studied the notes on the new pitcher preferences fully, but this is the type of description I think would meet the needs of Strat players. I will trust the other folks on the board will correct any factual errors.

MANAGING YOUR PITCHING STAFF

The purpose of this guide is to show you how to use the settings available for your pitchers so that Hal, the computer that runs the TSN Stratomatic games, will make as close as possible to the same choices you would make in managing your bullpen and changing pitchers. Hal's decisions will never mirror your wishes perfectly, there are simply too many different situations that arise to give specific instructions for all of them. But with a good use of the pitcher settings, Hal will do what you would have done a high percentage of the time,

There are pitcher settings in 3 locations, on the Strategy page, on the bottom of the cards of your individual pitchers, and on the pitcher preference screen. The pitcher preference screen duplicates the settings on the individual pitcher cards, so you no longer need to use the individual cards, but you may if you prefer.

As you consider how you would like Hal to use your relief pitchers, you will want to consider their cards, and also their stamina. Hal keeps track of how "tired" each pitcher becomes, based on how long and often he has pitched in the current games and other recent games, Hal rated each pitcher as F9 to F0, F9 being fully rested, and F0 being completely exhausted. With each level of fatigue below F9, your pitcher becomes more likely to give up hits and walks. In some situations a well rested pitcher with an inferior card is likely to outpitch a superior pitcher who is "tired". You can see pitcher's fatigue rating after each play on the Play-by-play of each of your games.

SETTINGS

There are two settings on the Strategy screen. One setting is Relief Usage, this is an overall instruction as to how quickly you would like Hal to replace both starting and relief pitchers. Aggressive Relief Usage means replacing starters and relievers more quickly. Almost all modern teams use their bullpens aggressively. Hal gives players from earlier eras more stamina. . If you play with modern teams and use a setting other than aggressive, your pitchers will frequently be pitching with moderate or high fatigue. (We'll talk about the other setting on the Strategy screen, Closer Usage, later.)

DON'T RELIEVE B4

For both starter and relievers, this setting, found on the Pitcher Preference screen, takes presidence over other setting most of the time. It is an instruction to Hal to almost never remoce a pticher until a certain level of fatigue has been reached.
[b:080db61d0b]This setting works to keep pitvhers in the game, NOT to take them out[/b:080db61d0b]
You do not have to give pitchers a Don't Relieve before rating, and if you want a pitcher pulled quickly, for instance if you wanted yout pitcher to be used like a LOOGY (One or two batter Lefty Specialist) is used in MLB, then you should leve this setting blank. The best way to get a pitcher out quickly is not to rate them F8, but not give them a setting in Don't Relieve Before at all.

HOOKS

Hal will pull a pitcher when certain conditions are met (number of hits and walks given up, innings pitched etc.) A slow hook means that Hal use more lenient standards deciding whether to pull your pitcher, a Quick Hook, means that the standards are tighter, and your pitcher will be pulled more quickly (If you have a pitcher on Slow Hook, you may NOT want to use Don;t Relieve B4)

MAXIMUM INNINGS PITCHED

This instructs Hal to take a pitcher out after a certain number of innings, even if they are pitching well. (Again, this setting can be overridden by Don't Relieve B4)

ROLES

There a number of roles you can assign your pitcher that will instruct Hal to use them in certain situations, unless they are very fatigued. You can set up back ups for each role. Backups might be especially important if you have one reliever who has a number of roles.

CLOSER

There is a Closer Usage setting on the Strategy page, maximize means Hal will almost always use this pitvher for closer opportunuties. Normal means Hall will occasionally leave in another pitcher to complete a Save. Closers set on maiximize tend to pich less innings overall than those whp are Maximxed, because Hal wants to save them for Save opportunities/

MAXIMUM INNINGS PITCHED
This instructs Hal to take a pitcher out after a certain number of innings, even if they are pitching well. (Again, this setting can be overridden by Don't Relieve B4)

DON'T USE BEFORE AND BLOWOUT

Don't Use Before does exactly what it says. it can be used to save your best relievers for the late innings. In the same way, since relievers get "tired" if they pitch too many games in a row, Don't Use During Blowout can keep your best relievers fresh for close games.


ROLES

There a number of roles you can assign your pitcher that will instruct Hal to use them in certain situations, unless they are very fatigued. You can set up back ups for each role. Backups might be especially important if you have one reliever who has a number of roles.

CLOSER

There is a Closer Usage setting on the Strategy page, maximize means Hal will almost always use this pitcher for closer opportunities. Normal means Hal will occasionally leave in another pitcher to complete a Save. Closers set on maximize tend to pitch less innings overall than those who are set on Normal, because Hal wants to save them for Save opportunities exclusively.

AVOID

These are suggestions that Hal avoid using these pitchers against either LH or RH batters. By themselves these settings will not guarantee that Hal will never use a pitcher against the type pf batter you set him to avoid, it is just one factor in Hal's decisions. If you want a pitcher to face only batters who hit one way, then as well as setting Avoid, choose the pitcher as a LH Specialist or RH Specialist for their only role, set them on Quick Hook, don't use Don't Relieve B4. You can also add a maximum innings pitched, and if you don't want them used against batters who hit the opposite way even during blowouts, you can set Don't Use before at 6th or 7th inning.

Note that in a game where most of your relievers have been used or are very tired, Hal will break the rules to make sure you have a pitcher left to pitch. This will often happen in extra inning games.