Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365

I've spent around 3 mil total on a 9L and a 9R to be used strictly as pinch hitters. Both are low avg with lots of power.

I figure they'll be used more with pitchers hitting. 3 of My starting pitchers do have an 8WR, 7WR and a 3WR though.

Is this worth it? Or shall I drop them and go after some more full time RH power. Home games at Wrigley 15.

This is my first non DH league so i'm open to all advice.

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/team/1426444

Thanks!!!

I would keep Raburn and Platoon him in right or left--I think Polanco is too weak--go for Peralta or similar if available--If a good RH vs RH is available that is an advantage HR wise, but a lefty in Wrigley gets more BP singles, and they add up.

I play a lot of no-DH--if you are PH-ing a lot you are behind all the time--Hal will stick with your starter longer with a lead.

In my opinion OB is more important than power in most PH situations, though a slugger is nice with bases loaded, That situation doesn't come up very often--especially at the 9th hole--though the AI tends to go for the sluggers as PH

I would drop both PH, go to 13 hitters and use the 4+ million to upgrade somewhere.

Platoons gets you an automatic PH vs the opposite side when a reliever comes in and a Guy like Jose Reyes for a PH either way, coupled with a Platoon, gets you adequate PH.

Edit---also if you are new to strat--The AI doesn't handle PH and double switches all that well, especially if you are leading the game late.-- (a lot of managers stick with DH for just that reason) If you have a lead, the AI tends not to PH, and infuriatingly, when you have a weak starter set for remove after 6 innings--if you have a lead in the bottom of the sixth and the Pitcher comes to bat--the AI almost never will PH, and he is removed as soon as the 7th starts---the AI does do a fairly good job of PH when you are behind though--just a heads up about a weak spot in the AI--(most people call the AI "HAL" after the creator of the game.)

First off, in my experience HAL doesn't care what your pitchers are rated at the plate, I wish he did. I'd drop down to 24 players and use the extra $$ to upgrade at a regular position and go with min's or just higher than mins for strictly PH...I might carry one PH that's worth more than the minimum if he does a combination of things well like speed or as a fill in that won't kill you when one of your regulars goes down. Another thing to consider is a PH with a high (or at least not negative) clutch...since hopefully that's when they'll be hitting. Lastly while I like power just as much as the next guy for me the higher Average with good clutch seem to perform the best as PH's, just keep that line moving as they say.

Good luck
R

I am a rookie for sure myself but even a platoon at only one position gets it half solved. I am sure better examples exist but I found Backman and Beckert at 2B to be a real good value IMO. Less then $2M for the pair and they get on base. One of them is always on the bench and available for one side PH. I don't chase HRs with PHs. It's too expensive and the purpose of a PH is to keep the batting order/inning moving along to reliable more expensive hitters. Another option is a backup outfielder. Lots of cheap OFs available that play decent defense and have a great OBP on one side of the plate or the other with an occasional HR in the mix.

Sorry to bring this back up, but 1) has this bug by HAL been fixed by now and
2) if you do a platoon, would it not be that the other side pinch hits for the horrible platoon if the pitcher changes sides and not the pitcher? Say you have a 9L starting and the relief pitcher is a righty- wouldent you want your 9R to pinch hit for the 9L instead of the pitcher.

The "bug" has been there for years and probably will be there for a long while---the AI is not designed to think-ahead, that is the nut-shell of most of it's issues--it looks at the current situation only when PH--or any other decision.

It seems with the Double switch problems--Hal seems to think people are already out of the game that are not really--say HAL PH for the pitcher in the bottom of the 6th, now it's the top of the 7th and HAL has to set the defense--for some reason HAL thinks that PH is not eligible to play--a big hole in the AI to me.

By the way, per my original post--here is a noDH team of mine that just finished--was trounced first round, but that happens.

I used Reyes as I mentioned in the original post, and with a couple of platoons my PH was effective--hit the MISC button and check Reyes stats out as a PH.

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/team/1425925