Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365

When Hal pinch hits for a position player do you take that into account when trying to figure out what card someone is using?

That leads to the next question of does Hal pinch hit late in the game cause the batter in the line up has a bad card and he will pinch hit for him with anyone, even someone with a worse card? I ask this cause twice early in the year Rafael Belliard has been used to hit for someone in the 70s game.

Or does Hal use a player off the bench late in the game because he has a better card than the current batter in the lineup?

You will get different opinions on this as nobody knows exactly what HAL thinks, but I am a strong proponent that HAL knows what he is doing.
If you are constantly noticing a certain player getting pinch hit for and/or a certain playing doing a lot of pinch hitting, definitely look into it. It's a strong indicator IMO of player season.
It also pays to look into the situation in which he is pinch hitting. If you regularly notice pinch hitting situations late in the game in clutch situations, you can assume he's replacing a low clutch hitter for someone who's good in the clutch.

I agree with voovits. If a player is constantly getting removed vs lefties for a pinch hitter, it's a sure thing he can't hit lefties (for example). I've never noticed the clutch hitting thing. I'll need to keep an eye on that. One thing about HAL is that he loves the homerun. So, he'll sometimes pull a better OBP hitter for a slugger - usually resulting in a out, but sometimes getting you that game-winning HR.