Improve Hal decision making re remove for defense

In my 60 ‘s league, I have Johnny Blanchard being removed for defense on hitter pref page. I have a good defensive catcher to back him up. Works great except.....one day Hal uses backup as a pinch hitter and he leaves the game. Hal removes Blanchard anyway and puts an outfielder in his spot. Crazy.

Put your defensive catcher as a defensive replacement in the Team Strategy page instead. That way, if your defensive catcher isn't available, Blanchard stays in the game. That Remove for Defensive Replacement on the Hitter Prefs page removes the player whether there is an adequate defensive replacement available or not. I NEVER use that.

Put your defensive catcher as a defensive replacement in the Team Strategy page instead.

_he was in that position. He was used in a different role_

That way, if your defensive catcher isn't available, Blanchard stays in the game. That Remove for Defensive Replacement on the Hitter Prefs page removes the player whether there is an adequate defensive replacement available or not. I NEVER use that.

_thats crazy. That setting should be “remove if a better defensive player is available”. They should fix that. I’ll try it and see how it goes. Thanks_

Strat's explanation on each setting. I personally never use the one on Hitter's Page, but I don't guess it's horrible to have a couple of options.

Remove 4 def. sub on the Hitter Prefs Page:
This setting will always remove the player from the game at the start of an inning if 1) it is the 8th inning or later, 2) his team is winning, and 3) he is due to play the field in the inning. He will be replaced with a suitable player from the bench with defense in mind, shuffling fielders around the diamond as necessary to find an optimal alignment

Defensive Subs on Team Strategy Page:
When you set players to be your defensive replacements, the computer manager will consider using them from the 7th inning on if you have the lead. The probability of them being used is based on how close the game is.

This part appears to be false :"th a suitable player from the bench with defense in mind".

My guy was replaced by an outfielder with no catcher rating.

Again, I never use that. The only time I think i'd use it is if I had a simply awful defensive player.

The setting on Team Strategy Page will do what you want much better.

I agree with Andy that you should use the Team Strategy page in your case (or anytime you want to make a defensive substitution at catcher, assuming you only have two catchers).

However, I like removing a bad fielder from the hitters preferences page in many cases when my catcher isn't involved. HAL makes the substitution much more reliably, and he will move players around. For example, when Dick Allen (1B-4) is removed from first base, Lee May (LF-4, 1B-3) will be moved from left field to first base, and Jay Alou (LF-2) will move into left field.

Be ready to turn off this feature if injuries temporarily deplete you of good substitute fielders. And there are times I will use the Team Strategy page for non-catchers. It just depends on the situation. I like that you have both options.