Do Pitcher F Ratings Make Any Difference?

I've yet to see how a pitcher's fatigue rating makes any difference in the outcome (I don't mean the regular POW fatigue setting that does clearly impact the game - I mean the specific F ratings). Even when a pitcher is at F0, it seems like hits are based on coming off the hitter's card or where appropriate, on the pitcher's card. I can't recall an instance where a potential out became a hit (or extra base hit) due to the fatigue rating. Has anybody else figured this out?

You will never actually see it in the box score.

When a pitcher is fatigued the computer behind the scenes determines his chances of giving up a hit are increased. Then alters the dice roll to reflect the outcome. Now the exact method is black box and proprietary and will never be revealed to people like us. But this could be accomplished in many ways.

For example Maddux is pitching against a LH hitter. Computer decides he is tired and needs to give up a single. The resulting dice roll will not be a 6-7. The computer will adjust the dice roll to say show 4-5 and hitter gets a single. Or if Hal decided the fatigue factor called for a double or HR it could just select an appropriate roll off the hitter card and designate that as the dice roll result. You would not see it as a single or whatever because he was tired. You will only see the dice roll resulting in a hit. Hooray hitter.

Another method of enforcing the escalating F? rating would be to alter the 50/50 split. So the splits may become something like....

F7 = 55%-45% in favor of the hitter.
F6 = 60-40
F5 = 65-35
F4 = 70-30
F3 = 75-25
F2 = 80-20
F1 = 85-15
F0 = 90-10

Now who knows what those percentages would actually be. Point being tilting the rolls toward the hitter card would increase odds of pitcher giving up a hit and the better the hitter the more the penalty to being tired.

Main point is the advanced fatigue is black box and the revealed dice roll only for our amusement.

I think it works by altering the odds of rolling on the pitcher's card, but this is ancient "street wisdom." In any case, guys pitching at F0 can be really gruesome. And they can go from F9 (fresh) to F0 (gassed) in two or three batters. I usually set them to be yanked at F6 or so in the computer game.

When does the F rating change?

Had the following result:
SUBSTITUTION at C: Jimmie Wilson
0 G.Kelly 5-5 Single (LF) b-1 F9
0 1 K.Griffey Sr. 2-10 Triple (CF) 1-H b-3 F8
This was the walk-off hit so no further batters to evaluate.

Kelly's hit came off Higuera's card (LHP). Griffey Sr's hit off batters card. I thought the change from F9 to F8 took place after Griffey's Triple since it shows after the play's result. But did it actually change after Kelly's hit which caused the triple to result from the batter's card as he had really become F8 after the Kelly hit?

If that is the scenario, )that change to F8 was after Kelly) and if I had Higuera set to be removed once he became F8, would an F9 reliever have come in, which in turn could have changed the result for Griffey Sr.?

dumb question about Valen's post - what the foof is the use of those (i suppose, now) bogus dice rolls then, if what is displayed is not really what got 'rolled'?

not questioning Valen's information,


questioning the game mechanics, presuming he is correct.


that for sure makes that display a considerably less useful tool...

Another method of enforcing the escalating F? rating would be to alter the 50/50 split. So the splits may become something like....

F7 = 55%-45% in favor of the hitter.
F6 = 60-40
F5 = 65-35
F4 = 70-30
F3 = 75-25
F2 = 80-20
F1 = 85-15
F0 = 90-10

In a $60 million dollar cap league, it may be better to use a fatigued pitcher since most hitters and pitchers stink.