Kudos to Strat

And the subject title is not intended to be sarcastic.

I e-mailed SOM this morning regarding one of my team's games and a HAL move which I found perplexing.

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/game/playbyplay/436827/406

Although my pitcher, Craig Swan, still had an F9 endurance rating at the end of the 4th inning with my team in the lead 10-4, HAL chose to pinch hit for Swan in the top of the 5th.

Since Swan was not set as a quick hook, and my team had a six run lead, I wondered about the move.

Strat did respond to my e-mail promptly and indicated that because of Swan's poor performance up to that time (he had allowed 9 hits and 5 walks during that 4 innings) that he was very close to the fatigue point (which is understandable).

In a way, it's amazing that Swan allowed a total of 14 baserunners in 4 innings and yet only four runs were scored off him.

I would have been very disappointed if HAL's move backfired and caused me to lose the game. Fortunately, that was not the case.

You got lucky in a couple of ways.

1. Strat responding quickly.
2. I've never heard of an answer like the one they gave you. "He was close to his fatigue point"?

It's either black or white with HAL. (From my own experience with the game and with Strat).

It's either F9 or F8, F7...etc.

I've never heard "he was close" to being fatigued.

Maybe it's happened before to someone else, but I've never seen HAL pull a starter with a 6 run lead, and @ F9.

visick

This was their exact response: We have taken a look at this but this is not a bug. Swan was pitching very poorly, 14 baserunners and 98 pitches just to get through 4 innings in his worst start of the season for you. With the pitcher spot leading off, there was no reason to keep him in the game as he would have tired shortly after coming in to start the 5th inning.

I won two of the three games of the series; my Mop Up pitcher, Paul Erickson, got the win in this game, and he earned a save in the other win. Through 69 games, it was both the first win and first save for him.

This makes sense if pitch count is used in the online game. Is pitch count used? I remember long ago Bernie posted a wiki about what rules were on/off online. Does that still exist somewhere?

Yes, pitch count is used as the online game uses super advanced fatigue rules. So it is possible he could have been say 3 pitches from dropping from F9 to F8 and then only a matter of pitches before dropping much further.

Let him hit and he then fatigues and it gets sticky. In comes a reliever who only finishes inning and maybe one more before coming to bat and no doubt being pinch hit for. Now before you know it your bullpen gets layed waste to and you lose the game AND start next game with potentially multiple relievers on verge of being fatigued. Worse, because of the complications arising from that you end up losing. Then your email to Strato is why didn't you pinch hit for him go to the mopup reliever or long relief guy to burn some innings and save my pen from fatigue.

Pinch hitting there was the correct move in my opinion. Though I suppose it may depend some on makeup of your pen. So I am assuming your pen looks like most pens with only a couple to three who are worth anything.

Pinch hitting there was the correct move in my opinion. Though I suppose it may depend some on makeup of your pen. So I am assuming your pen looks like most pens with only a couple to three who are worth anything.

If it had been left to me, with a six run lead, I probably would have let Swan hit and then pitch the bottom of the fifth so he could be involved in the decision.

In addition, since it has been my experience that a six run lead in the middle of the game can evaporate quickly, I don't think I would have brought in my Mop Up pitcher as HAL did at that point in the game.

Just my opinion, but seems we've sunk pretty far down when it becomes notable that an email gets answered .

I actually had cause to email them about HAL's decision on relief usage in just the second game of a season. They did respond very quickly but I also did find the response a little "odd" .........

Hi Rich,

That specific situation was a 6-run lead in the 9th inning, and even though you had runners on base, it didn't yet fit any of the reliever roles as described below:

Closer: Inning: 9+; Leading by 1-3 runs
Setup: Inning: 7-8; Leading by 1-3 runs
LH Specialist: Inning: 7+; Leading or trailing by 1-3 runs or tied; LH batters
RH Specialist: Inning: 7+; Leading or trailing by 1-3 runs or tied; RH batters
Tied & 9th+: Inning: 9+; Tied
Tied & Late: Inning: 7-8; Tied
Behind & Late: Inning: 7+; Trailing by 1-4 runs
Middle Man: Inning: 1-6; Leading or trailing by 1-4 runs or tied
Mopup: Any inning; Leading or trailing by 7+ runs
Closer vs. L: Inning: 8+; Leading by 1-3 runs; LH batters
Closer vs. R: Inning: 8+; Leading by 1-3 runs; RH batters​

As such, the computer manager went with the most appropriate reliever while attempting to keep your other two pitchers available for when their role is needed.

Apparently we should all be aware that if you are up by 6 runs your are in relief settings "no man's land" and HAL will do whatever the hell he feels like!

In this particular case he brought in my worst reliever who gave up like 4 runs but we did end up winning the game. And for the record I don't buy the answer, I do believe it was a "glitch" of some sort.

I have seen HAL let the pitcher bat for himself and then pull him for a new pitcher in the next half inning. It makes you wonder that if they were going to pull him anyway why not PH for him.

I actually had cause to email them about HAL's decision on relief usage in just the second game of a season. They did respond very quickly but I also did find the response a little "odd" .........

Hi Rich,

That specific situation was a 6-run lead in the 9th inning, and even though you had runners on base, it didn't yet fit any of the reliever roles as described below:

Closer: Inning: 9+; Leading by 1-3 runs
Setup: Inning: 7-8; Leading by 1-3 runs
LH Specialist: Inning: 7+; Leading or trailing by 1-3 runs or tied; LH batters
RH Specialist: Inning: 7+; Leading or trailing by 1-3 runs or tied; RH batters
Tied & 9th+: Inning: 9+; Tied
Tied & Late: Inning: 7-8; Tied
Behind & Late: Inning: 7+; Trailing by 1-4 runs
Middle Man: Inning: 1-6; Leading or trailing by 1-4 runs or tied
Mopup: Any inning; Leading or trailing by 7+ runs
Closer vs. L: Inning: 8+; Leading by 1-3 runs; LH batters
Closer vs. R: Inning: 8+; Leading by 1-3 runs; RH batters​

As such, the computer manager went with the most appropriate reliever while attempting to keep your other two pitchers available for when their role is needed.

Apparently we should all be aware that if you are up by 6 runs your are in relief settings "no man's land" and HAL will do whatever the hell he feels like!

In this particular case he brought in my worst reliever who gave up like 4 runs but we did end up winning the game. And for the record I don't buy the answer, I do believe it was a "glitch" of some sort.

What did you expect should occur, the response seems perfectly appropriate and understandable. The odds of you winning were probably 95% do you expect a top reliever, if so why do you have a "bad" reliever