Quote:
Originally Posted by ALB123
The bigger reason why I was using Strict Order was that in my MLB world I have been using OOTP Default settings for Stamina, as I've already mentioned...and with a 5-man strict rotation, let's say after the first 5 games, Pitcher 1 is next to start and then P2, P3, etc... Pitcher 1 will be at 100% rested just in time to take the mound. P2 will always be somewhere between 75-80% rested. P3 will be lower, etc... So, in my mind the "Highest Rested" will always be the pitcher due to pitch because my 5-man rotation will always have 5 pitchers listed.
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That's a fair point, but it's not the way most managers actually used their pitching staffs. Apart from the cascading fatigue that I mentioned earlier, the other reason managers didn't follow strict rotations is because they'd use off days to skip their worst pitchers in order to give their best pitchers extra starts.
Again, I'll use the 1995 Braves as an example. Bobby Cox was absolutely committed to a strict five-man rotation that year. Here's a rundown of the Braves' starts from opening day through the end of May:
1-Maddux
2-Glavine
3-Avery
4-Mercker
5-Smoltz
0-off day
1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 0 3
A couple of interesting points about this: at least at the beginning of the season, there was no opportunity to move Greg Maddux up. The first two off days occurred on days when Maddux would have pitched. But when the Braves had an off day on May 30, which would have been Scott Avery's day to pitch, Cox stayed with the rotation and didn't skip Avery. And later in the season, when Cox could have skipped Mercker or Smoltz, he didn't do it.
That's dedication! Contrast that with the Astros. They also had a fairly stable rotation that year, but manager Terry Collins clearly had a different philosophy when it came to taking advantage of off days to move his top-end starters up in the order. Here's what Houston's starting assignments looked like at the beginning of 1995:
1-Drabeck
2-Reynolds
3-Kile
4-Hampton
5-Swindell
0-off day
1 2 3 4 5 0 1 3 2 4 5 1 3 2 0 5 1 3 4 0 2 5 1 3 2 5 1 3 2 0 5 1 3 2 0 5
Collins had a five-man rotation, just like Cox, but unlike Cox, Collins didn't adhere to the 1-2-3-4-5 strict rotation after the first week of the season. Shane Reynolds, it seems, was quickly demoted to the third spot after being shelled in his first start, and then Collins skipped Mike Hampton's spot when there was an off day on May 10. That meant that Doug Drabeck kept his regular spot when it came up on May 12 instead of being pushed back a day. And that would hold true for the rest of the season: Collins had Drabeck start on four days of rest (and occasionally on three days of rest) regardless of where he was in the rotation. The rest of the starting staff was then re-jiggered to accommodate Drabeck.
I think that, through history, there have been a lot more Terry Collinses than Bobby Coxes. Cox had the luxury of a strong pitching staff (when John Smoltz is your number-five starter, you're in pretty good shape), so he didn't need to skip anyone's turn. But that was really unusual, at least until around 2002. Much more common was the situation that Collins found himself in, with a couple of solid pitchers at the top of the rotation and some questionable ones at the bottom. When you're in that kind of situation, it makes sense to ditch the strict rotation in order to give as many starts as possible to your best guys.
In OOTP terms, then, Cox followed a "strict rotation," while Collins was more of a "strict rotation, occasionally highest rested" kind of manager, although I'd be more inclined to characterize him as following a "start highest rested" approach. So this might be the sort of thing that is best handled with manager strategies rather than a league-wide setting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ALB123
Speaking of...I might just have terrible Google Fu, but at some point in every ootp season I say to myself, "Hmmm...I'd like to see what the Yankees opening day 25-man roster was this season..." and I can almost never find that information. 40-man roster? Yes...All MLB Yankees that year? Yup. But the basic 25-man I can't usually find it.
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I don't know if this information is collected anywhere.
The Sporting News would always publish the MLB opening-day rosters, but back issues are behind a pay wall and those only go to 2003.