Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365

Not sure what is going on but I have specified defensive replacements and HAL is refusing to comply. I have 5 defensive replacements needed (and only 4 places to specify). As a result, I have selected one player to be replaced defensively but haven't specified who the replacement is. This shouldn't matter as there are only two possibilities for defensive replacement (either Bobby Clark or Terry Harper). I have specified that Bobby Clark should be my RF replacement and HAL puts him as a LF replacement (putting Harper in RF). I have specified that Harper should be my LF replacement and HAL puts him in RF (putting Clark in LF). Anyone else encounter this? Seems to be a real bug in the system.

Might be helpful if you listed all your defensive replacement assignments and individual player settings for the players involved. Hal is difficult to predict even with all information.

Are you using the "Rem 4 def sub" button on the hitter prefs page? I never use that button on that page, and only use the Team Strategy page for identifying late inning replacements.

dharmabums wrote:Are you using the "Rem 4 def sub" button on the hitter prefs page? I never use that button on that page, and only use the Team Strategy page for identifying late inning replacements.

Because HAL will remove them whether you have an adequate sub on your bench OR NOT

HAL does seem to have his own ideas about which outfielder plays where. On a current team, I have Parra listed as defensive RF and Barnes in LF. HAL puts Barnes in RF and Parra in LF. I'm ok with this since with Cain in CF the whole OF is 1's either way, but it is kind of quirky.

I do both - remove for sub on the hitter strategy page and specify on the team strategy page. Every other change I've requested is perfect. It's just this one seems to be unable to be accomplished.

jfreeman wrote:I do both - remove for sub on the hitter strategy page and specify on the team strategy page. Every other change I've requested is perfect. It's just this one seems to be unable to be accomplished.

Like I'm saying, if you mark Remove on the Hitter Pref Page, that is HAL's over-riding directive. He will remove that player whether there is an adequate defensive replacement or not.

Andy makes a good point. Another is that you can give Hal too much input so that your instructions conflict or are open to interpretation depending on which instruction Hal honors first. This isn't IBM's Big Blue the AI is running on.

Valen wrote:.... you can give Hal too much input so that your instructions conflict or are open to interpretation depending on which instruction Hal honors first. This isn't IBM's Big Blue the AI is running on.

Truer words were never spoken. My experience with HAL is that he generally does all right if one recognizes HAL's strengths and limitations and works within them. As Valen suggests, it's not necessarily a good idea to make things too complicated for HAL. If the Strategy Page gives you 4 defensive replacement options, SOM may be telling us that this is about as many defensive replacement options as HAL can safely handle.

Beyond the question of HAL's skills, you might want to assess the wisdom of using five defensive replacements in any given game.

ATG offenses are in general unusually potent— so if you have a one or two run lead, you're going to lose that lead a lot more often than teams do in real life, even if you have elite relief pitching.

If the opposing team ties the game or goes ahead after you've made your five defensive replacements, do you really want those 5 good hitters on the bench when you're trying to come back? The blown save rates in ATG are much higher than in real baseball--and most of those blown saves come from hits, walks and HR off the batters' cards, not on defensive miscues.

Based on my own experience of watching many a lead go up in smoke, I've become pretty sparing in the use of defensive replacements. I may need those good hitters again—to create a blown save for the other team!

And to piggyback on what Outta Leftfield said as deep as ATG is you still want to keep your money concentrated. So 9 starters assuming a DH league and 4 defensive replacements is 13 players. Now if I go with some pur hitter to back up my DH I have 14 hitters. I want my pitching staffs to be at least 10. Less than that for me invites bullpen issues from not giving Hal enough choices on that side of the ball. So attempts to finesse yourself in to a 5th defensive replacement is stretching things a little thin. And as deep as the player pool is you should be able on any team to find a player or pair of players to handle DH and then 4 well rounded guys who do not need defensive replacements. That would mean you only need 4 defensive replacements.

Consider the possibility that if you have 5 or more positions that need defensive replacements you may have a fatally flawed team to begin with that needs rethinking.