[Pelican]

Definitely have been there done that with the opponent late-game rallies. Of course, I am normally taking an underdog team (or even an expansion franchise) with less than stellar players against better teams. So to some extent, getting beat up is to be expected. I chalk that up to better talent; not better managing by the AI.

I do try to analyze or reverse-engineer what happened. Lately, for sudden opponent rallies, it has been my SP suddenly running out of gas. I'm playing the 2025 Season with the Marlins (talk about challenges). My SP can go 4 or 5 strong innings and then suddenly wilt. (I know this only when I go to the mound, and SP says he is done. There ought to be some kind of hint as to the sudden onset of fatigue.) That distinct lack of stamina seems to be directly related to the low Stamina ratings for many modern pitchers. They seem to last only 4 or 5 or 6 innings at the most, even with relatively low pitch counts. And even when pitching well.

The fatigue/stamina issue admittedly cannot account for opposition rallies where your RP comes in and walks the bases full. I don't get that. I use the warm-up rule and take care to have the RP ready to go. I just finished a three-game series, where I had leads in each game, and lost all three. My bullpen is not awful. Just, yeah, lots of clutch hitting on the other side.

Our problem in all this whining is the small sample size. We're convinced this ain't right; but it's hard to measure what is happening. Even with the aid of the stats based on game situations, that others have mentioned. My Dad always said that the breaks even out in the long run. I hope so. My guys are way overdue for some rallies.