Starters and closers as relievers
 

Is there any particular downside to using pitchers that are designated as starter or closers as RP.


I find that there tends to be a scarcity of players designated as Relievers, especially for my F2P non-Live team.


In the end, does the designation matter, or does it come down to the pitching abilities and the stamina and the role you choose for them, since in PT we don't have to worry about a starters preference for a 45 minute game preparation or a closers whining about being used in a less prestigious middle relief situation.

It doesn't matter, i fact because of the higher control SP have, most people in higher leagues are using them as relievers... you'll quickly find that Movement > Control > Stuff when facing top lineups.

SP will also typically get a little boost in their Stuff ratings when you switch them to RP, so a little added bonus

When looking for SP to use as relievers, try to use ones that have 2-3 highly rated pitches. These will gain the most significant boost in Stuff when moved to the bullpen.

What is considered highly rated?

80+

This pitcher gets a 10-point boost, which is among the best that I have seen. I think the key might be a really good (90+) "out" pitch.

Attachment 625719

gotta love those 10+ jumps, especially when they already have solid stuff...

best I've personally had so far on my team is Paul Dean... his movement is atrocious (26), but he gets a 15 point bump in stuff going to the bullpen (101 as starter; 116 as reliever)... he's been pretty successful as a RP in my small sample size so far (2+ seasons in Silver league)

What do his pitches look like as a starter?

here's his card... individual pitch ratings remain the same regardless of SP or RP... just the stuff gets a boost going to the pen....

Generally you want to see at least one pitch rated 80+ and at least one other pitch 70+. A third pitch with good ratings will also help a lot.

You can use the "Set Position" function to see what the stat boost is if the pitcher is used as RP. My best SP, Stan Coveleski, would get a staggering 15 Stuff boost in the bullpen but I obviously need him in the rotation more.

Thank you. I just tried that with Santana, and his stuff went up by 14 points.

Anecdotally, I've seen that low movement is by the most notable commonality of pitchers who give up the most HRs - more so than flyball or extreme flyball status. Anyone know better?

Bingo, SpacePope, pitcher movement is contrasted with hitter power (and ballpark effects) when determining when home runs are hit. Movement is almost solely about power, although it does affect BABIP slightly too.

Thanks for confirming.

My team isn't good enough to be picky, but I've been favoring ground ball pitchers with control to try to compliment an elite defensive IF and good defensive OF. Maybe it's better to favor movement over both.

I've really enjoyed using a "starter" as my closer on one of my teams, I think the extra stamina really helps him when the AI thinks about leaving him in for a second inning or pitching him 2+ days in a row. I've used Dylan Cease as a RP, but since promoting him to closer halfway through 2023, he's been lights out. I've never seen a relief pitcher rack up 3.5 WAR in a season, even though the competition wasn't anything special in gold that year. He got off to a brutal start this season and is still rocking a .420 BABIP, so he should settle back down from where he is. If you're looking for a fairly cheap closer to rack up saves, WAR, and be in contention for reliever of the year, converting Cease really worked well for me. He's usually up for 6500ish PP, not too bad for a closer to compete in high levels.

Hey, y'all... old thread, but I was exploring this tonight, and I am not seeing any differences when I migrate an SP with high pitch ratings from SP to RP... do you think this mechanic still exists in OOTP PT 22?