by Mean Dean » Thu Oct 22, 2009 1:29 pm
[quote:b127fb4652="tcochran"]What determines if the runner is held on base?[/quote:b127fb4652]The smartass answer would either be "whether it makes sense to hold him on", or simply "the computer manager." As you can imagine, there is a defensive penalty for holding the runner on. (Specifically, the range of the fielders responsible for holding is worsened by 1 rating, and if their fielding ability is tested by an "X-roll", there is 20% more chance of a hit.) So, the defensive manager is balancing that cost vs. the higher chance of allowing the SB if he doesn't hold.
To make a long story short, in my experience with the computer game, the computer is quite liberal about holding runners on. It will not only hold on anyone with a *, but it will also hold anyone who would have a high success chance given the lead... even if they don't have a * and their chance of actually getting the lead is quite small, for example, 2/- (20-6).
"Steal more" vs. "don't steal": My decisions on this hinge on the runner's lead chance, automatic CS chance, and second steal number. I just mentioned a hypothetical runner who is 2/- (20-6). This runner has a 3% chance (see dice probability page above) to get the lead... but a 3.5% chance (5% chance of the possible pickoff, times 70% chance that it happens) to be picked off. So, he's more likely to get picked off than he is to get a lead... not a good gamble. Therefore, you set such a player to "don't steal." Similarly, if the player does have automatic CS chances, that can make it a bad idea to steal in a big hurry.
Reyes, on the other hand, is certainly a guy you want to set to steal more. You have nothing to lose by doing so, since he gets the lead often, has zero chance of an automatic CS, and will rarely be picked off because his second steal number is so good.
Basestealing tendencies: I don't think there is necessarily any logic to saying "I have a slow team, I'll be conservative" or "I have a fast team, I'll be aggressive." Regardless of the overall speed of your team, you still want people to steal at a certain percentage, and not steal below that. I generally set it aggressive (if I had a team that grounded into few DP, I might set it normal), and let the individual player settings do most of the work. You could set it at normal or conservative if you like; that will give you fewer attempts, at a higher success rate (and probably more GIDP -- that's the part I don't like.) I would not go to either extreme, very aggressive or very conservative.
Last edited by
Mean Dean on Thu Oct 22, 2009 6:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.