PITCHING STAFF & BULLPEN USAGE

I know a lot of people hate the way bullpens are working these days. As for me, I won't say I've figured it all out, but I have come up with a system that generally "works" for me.

Starters:
I typically prefer * starters S8 or better on DH teams, S7 or better on Non-DH teams. Set team for conservative relief and don't relieve before depends on the starter's quality. Good starters I usually set for F3 or F4, lesser starters could go as high as F8 or none at all. Set them for quick hook so they get pulled as soon as they hit that number.

As for relievers:
DH teams = 4 relievers
Non-DH teams = 5 relievers

One Hard Righty - prefer cheap Tekulve
One Hard Lefty - prefer mid priced Sambito

Then two (DH) or three (non DH) value relievers in the $1.5 - $2.5 million range.

Set Tekulve to quick hook avoid lefties, vice versa for Sambito. NO CHECK MARKS ON ANYONE ELSE.

Generally speaking HAL gets it right more often than not.


The alternative bullpen is (6) relievers 3 hard righties and 3 hard lefties which generally does work. But sooner or later you run out of guys, especially in extra inning games and Sambito ends up facing 5 righty batters in a row.


Love to hear your thoughts???

Rich, I agree with pretty much what you suggest, except I'm still trying to find a solution for 60m DH teams. Even in a park like Forbes '65 I find myself spending too much on pitching if I use better than average starters so I can get length. So I end up using guys in the 2-4 million range and either checking quick hook and normal relief or no hook checked and aggressive relief.. Then trying to manage 4 relievers who are ok against both sides... and HAL will overuse them (if no roles are checked) or not use them effectively (when roles are assigned).

Yup on the settings. I am seldom unhappy with HAL's decisions on straight bullpen use. Only other thing I mess with sometimes is do not use before, and maybe a mopup designation, as described below. Otherwise it is only avoids and hook speed.

Minor habits I have settled into really depends on who is available, the cap, the home and away parks, and DH or not and is about the same as you described. But it all depends. In general though, I spend less on bullpen than I used to.

I have gone with what I consider thin even at 100M+, with a cheap hard righty, cheap hard lefty, and then a solid balanced R1/R2 tandem (like a randy myers/Dan wheeler combo) in a pitcher park.

Non dh I like to have extra guys to reduce the risk of being wrong-sided.
If I use non* starters, I try to carry a 6th spot-start S/R who is either one sided to fill a hard lefty/righty role, or who is kind of neutral and suited as a mop-up guy.

If I use * starters, I don't like throwing away .50 on starter 5. I will typically make it a S/R either for mopup or a one sided guy. I spend the extra.25 to avoid wasting the .50 in my opinion. Bothers me to have a roster slot that is pointless. I engage in some OCD that way.

Tekulve is so underpriced. Geez. It is not crazy to have a top of draft card look like Duncan/SCollins/Mercer/Blowers/Tekulve or something at low-mid caps.

With regards to settings, I concur that "less is more"--lest we forget that the reason why HAL killed the crew in 2001 was because he was given irreconcilable orders--the same seems to go for HAL's bullpen logic--the more one tries to micromanage Hal, the more likely your ERA ends up lost in space.

I almost always go 5 starter--which seems to make me the odd man out a lot, but makes it easier to get the pitchers I want since typically most teams are fighting over the premium 3 day rest guys. That really is more of draft strategy thing than pitching strategy thing. I probably spend a little more on bullpen than most, given what I have seen, but I spend less than I have in previous versions--that's really a pricing issue with ATG 9. My theory being is I don't want guys on my roster unless I plan on using them, if I feel like I am "hiding a guy" in my bullpen, maybe I should spend a little more and actually get a guy I want. I don't check too many boxes if any (beyond the obligatory "avoid" in the case of specialist), but I typically have 2-3 specialists, a middle man, set-up and closer with some guys occasionally getting more than one designation.

Given the proliferation of platoons, I try to have the settings devised to toggle between lefties and righties and I like to have guys with reverse ratings to force HAL to make substitutions for the other manager, generate mismatches, etc. I will tweak these based on who I am facing and who I have starting. I have no statistical proof that this works, but I can say most of the time my bullpen has a collective winning record.

With regards to settings, I concur that "less is more"--lest we forget that the reason why HAL killed the crew in 2001 was because he was given irreconcilable orders--the same seems to go for HAL's bullpen logic--the more one tries to micromanage Hal, the more likely your ERA ends up lost in space.

Love the analogy! Funny but it is precisely why I manage by managing less these days.

I hate bullpens!!! I was a SP when I played ball so I hated coming out of the game. That's why 90% of the time, you''ll see as many stud SP as I can afford on my teams and I'll let them pitch till their arms fall off. I always use F1 or F0 when I have studs...DH or not.

Rarely will I ever spend over 3-4M on a BP. Has to be a high cap league where I just have money to burn and nowhere else that I feel I could spend it to help my team. I would rather spend my cash on hitting, guys who will play 150+ games than a guy who will play 30-50 innings. As my record shows, it burns me from time to time, but I'll live with it.

A few great values in my opinion, Fred Scherman, Burns, cheap Mantei, Schulz.

Tim