LOOGYS

Yes, set to avoid RH, quick hook and 1-2 innings max.

You also need to set your team strategy to aggressive bullpen.

If set on normal or conservative bullpen, you basically tell Hal to follow your instructions only from times to times. Aggressive bullpen means: the instructions are orders.

And you gotta make sure your other relievers are available. I noticed that Hal (sometimes, not always) begins to ignore my instructions when there is only one reliever left available in the bullpen. By available, I don't simply mean "not-fatigued", I mean who can come to pitch based on your instructions.

Yup, have them set to aggressive as well.

I'm intrigued by the ideas tersignf is trying. I might give that a go in an upcoming league and see what happens.

Really appreciate all the input. Good stuff!

In fact here at 80M is the latest experiment, this reliever corp's only setting: Ben Wade as mopup.
https://365.strat-o-matic.com/team/1534061

And here at 140M, only setting is Billy Wagner as slow hook:
https://365.strat-o-matic.com/team/1534069

No settings here:
https://365.strat-o-matic.com/team/1536438

In other cases I have had a lot of settings, not so good results so far.

This is one case that is not going that well in the bullpen using this method...but I'm luckily overcoming it for now...
https://365.strat-o-matic.com/team/1538349

Why Gantner? Lazzerri can only be injured for 3 max

Why Gantner? Lazzerri can only be injured for 3 max

Yeah a weird choice right, esp with Lazzeri's slant. But many hard righties and righty parks, a few Hilltops even, and so he was an experiment in trying to use the new lineup feature...had the extra few hundred K, so for heavy hard righties in a park that gives LH singles better than half or a pitcher park, I use Gantner.

At any rate, as for the bullpen--this is my one exception so far that hasn't worked well out of about 15 teams so far.
And really it is just the results, which may not be isolated to the strategy. Meaning, the splits are actually very favorable, so maybe the results would have been no different anyway even if I managed those matchups. Or maybe worse.

Is there a similar working theory on batter preferences and strategy settings?

I'm never happy with hit and run performances of my teams, and tend to shut that down with the settings. In non-DH leagues, I can't seem to get my pitchers to bunt enough and other than the strategy setting can't think of a way to ask HAL to tell those bozos to bunt more. When I'm not usually wanting the entire lineup to bunt more...

Nope my opinion is I don't see it as the same. And yeah I hear you--the settings for controlling that stuff are pretty coarse. Not very helpful. For HnR, I usually ensure almost all the batters are selected as Do Not, and team strategy at the most conservative.
The bullpen algorithm has a much higher potential for chaotic results, because of the blackbox nature of POW progression in the online game and the number of embedded decisions which have downstream effects.

For hit and run for instance, it is pretty straightforward. The hit and run card results are rarely better than the results of a normal card, unless a poor hitter. I forgot the calc but can always look up the card--my rule of thumb is not to use it generally. And if I do, it is very limited to poor hitters who have B HnR rating, which is the highest in the online game.
You can look empirically at the results of HnR in various leagues. Look at the stats--they are fairly abyssmal. If you look at it as one more type of sacrifice hit against a strong strikeout pitcher, then maybe it floats your boat.

I see smallball teams with hitters that have 30 hits/45 OB chances per side who have the guy HnRing. That's ludicrous. HnR in SOM online is not the same as HnR in real baseball. It is not an aggressive move. Most of the time, it's a bad one. But at best, it is either a sacrifice or a slightly better chance for a productive at bat by a poor hitter against a good pitcher.