what does it take to get HAL PH

I went a complete 2015 season with Raburn/Ethier platoon with one of my early teams this set. They never PH for each other--so it is not just a salary thing. The only way I could get a sub during a game was remove Raburn for defense so Ethier would be in late and have a little higher % of hitting a RH pitcher.

On another noDH team they would PH for the pitcher and maybe sub in (but frequently a botched double switch taking out JD Martinez instead of the Platoon mate.)

Also my PC4 100M was a poor draft and ended up with platoons--I missed 4 of 5 top picks and it's death in 2015, yet still was 10th in waivers.

The 2015 set looks like you went through an unlimited draft at 100M almost, only Goldschmidt and Donaldson as hitters were available (and they didn't last till 10), and no SP worth much.

I was forced to put together a platoon team and hope for a .500 team--I had 5 platoons and suspected that HAL wasn't up to the task--they lost 15 straight--HAL simply can't manage a team like that--I had to drop down to 3 platoons and go with lesser players (lower power and OB pct, but more balanced guys)--and still that is too many platoons in 20xx---they are winning more with less platoons so far--but the team has no hope to even play .500 and probably will destroy my chances of making the semis. It's completely frustrating when you know the team has potential that Hal can't find.

ATG may be different platoon wise with a bunch of 9 inning starters staying in the game a long time, but I play so little ATG I really have no idea about ATG playing differently.

the settings are geared towards the bench and not the starting lineup which doesn't make sense to me. Once you reach at minimum the 8th inning or perhaps the 7th the settings should be able to impact your platoon starters.

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/game/430722/180
9th inning 2 out man on 1st down 4-3, Schwarber due up, (settings avoid Leftys and ok to PH vs Lefty's) Pomeranz comes into pitch giving HAL a free shot with a Righty, say Chris Young,
Seriously I bet a box donuts nobody can anwser this.

The problem with Schwarber is that he has 5 BP HR vs lhp, so he has more power than Chris Young, and I think Hal LOVES power. As far as I can see, Schwarber has never been pinch hit so far for alk. Chris Young' 3 AB as a ph came for Groins or Dyson.

I have a platoon consisting of Freeman and Blanks at first base, and so far, it's working. Freeman is being pinch-hit, Kipnis as well, but the key is neither has power vs lhp.

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/game/430800/73

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/game/430722/180
9th inning 2 out man on 1st down 4-3, Schwarber due up, (settings avoid Leftys and ok to PH vs Lefty's) Pomeranz comes into pitch giving HAL a free shot with a Righty, say Chris Young,
Seriously I bet a box donuts nobody can anwser this.

The problem with Schwarber is that he has 5 BP HR vs lhp, so he has more power than Chris Young, and I think Hal LOVES power. As far as I can see, Schwarber has never been pinch hit so far for alk. Chris Young' 3 AB as a ph came for Groins or Dyson.

I have a platoon consisting of Freeman and Blanks at first base, and so far, it's working. Freeman is being pinch-hit, Kipnis as well, but the key is neither has power vs lhp.

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/game/430800/73

You're the man with the answers, Marc! Thanks!

I went a complete 2015 season with Raburn/Ethier platoon with one of my early teams this set. They never PH for each other--so it is not just a salary thing. The only way I could get a sub during a game was remove Raburn for defense so Ethier would be in late and have a little higher % of hitting a RH pitcher.

On another noDH team they would PH for the pitcher and maybe sub in (but frequently a botched double switch taking out JD Martinez instead of the Platoon mate.)

Also my PC4 100M was a poor draft and ended up with platoons--I missed 4 of 5 top picks and it's death in 2015, yet still was 10th in waivers.

The 2015 set looks like you went through an unlimited draft at 100M almost, only Goldschmidt and Donaldson as hitters were available (and they didn't last till 10), and no SP worth much.

I was forced to put together a platoon team and hope for a .500 team--I had 5 platoons and suspected that HAL wasn't up to the task--they lost 15 straight--HAL simply can't manage a team like that--I had to drop down to 3 platoons and go with lesser players (lower power and OB pct, but more balanced guys)--and still that is too many platoons in 20xx---they are winning more with less platoons so far--but the team has no hope to even play .500 and probably will destroy my chances of making the semis. It's completely frustrating when you know the team has potential that Hal can't find.

ATG may be different platoon wise with a bunch of 9 inning starters staying in the game a long time, but I play so little ATG I really have no idea about ATG playing differently.

I'm going to be testing this in a league that's about to start - Raburn, and Marc's comments about HAL not pinch-hitting for power hitters. My three platoon hitters (it's a $100 million cap league) are Ruf, Raburn, and Enrique Hernandez. The guys that would be pinch-hitting for them (the platoon guys, anyway) are Abreu, Den Dekker, and Schoop, respectively.

It's interesting, in light of Marc's comments, that none of these 6 players have much power on the non-platoon handed card (i.e. the left side for Abreu, Den Dekker and Schoop, or the right sided card for Ruf, Raburn and Hernandez.)
It will be really interesting to see how this plays out in my league, in light of the observations in this thread. I'll provide updates every 10 games or so.

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/game/430722/180
9th inning 2 out man on 1st down 4-3, Schwarber due up, (settings avoid Leftys and ok to PH vs Lefty's) Pomeranz comes into pitch giving HAL a free shot with a Righty, say Chris Young,
Seriously I bet a box donuts nobody can anwser this.

The problem with Schwarber is that he has 5 BP HR vs lhp, so he has more power than Chris Young, and I think Hal LOVES power. As far as I can see, Schwarber has never been pinch hit so far for alk. Chris Young' 3 AB as a ph came for Groins or Dyson.

I have a platoon consisting of Freeman and Blanks at first base, and so far, it's working. Freeman is being pinch-hit, Kipnis as well, but the key is neither has power vs lhp.

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/game/430800/73

Marc thank you so much for taking time and effort...Maybe its just too much logic for HAL in that situation. Also too be fair playing so much with computer.I am even more critical of ONLINE HAL. The computer HAL handles PH much better,
Gbrookes as always thank you, SOM guys rock!!

The problem with Schwarber is that he has 5 BP HR vs lhp

Such a problem to have..

http://365.strat-o-matic.com/team/misc/1435227

My team with the platoon trio (above) starts Monday. I'll post updates on how the pinch hitting is going .

Link is above.

Correction on my previous post:

It was a Raburn/Peralta platoon that I had trouble with the platoon PH on my 1st 2015 team, No way would Raburn ever PH for Peralta, and I can't say Peralta never PH for Raburn, but I remember several games when the AI should have PH Peralta for Raburn and didn't..

I did have a Raburn/Ethier platoon on a later team--and there was a few instances (maybe 5) of PH on that team-- Ethier for Raburn moslty , but not as many as I would have liked. It was a noDH team so frequently those guys PH for the pitcher and got double-switched into the game for the wrong guy. The AI is much worse with noDH teams.

My biggest gripe with the AI and PH is it just refuses to PH with a lead no matter how small or large. It is what I have sarcastically called the lose from ahead AI--when I have opportunities to score I want that PH in there unless I have a grand-slam prove lead, even then no lead is safe online--this is one big reason I think pitching teams usually have an advantage (though 2015 seems an exception to me)--a hitting team needs to get the runs at every opportunity and the current AI passes those opportunities up when it has the lead.

If you are trailing it does a better job.

One thing I generally always do when I have a platoon like Raburn/Ethier is check the remove for defense with the guy that hits lefties, and sub in the other half of the platoon. Late in a game, if you have the lead, you are more likely to be facing a RH than a LH, and The AI is usually not using specialists unless your opponent has the lead.