Question about workload for young pitcher

rink23 · 05-01-2018, 06:12 AM

I am playing as the 2018 Cardinals, just approaching the All-Star break with a record of 54-38, 4.5 games behind the Cubs but a 1.5 games up in the wild card.
Issue I am looking at is Luke Weaver's workload. He's 9-2 with an 3.11 ERA and 121.2 innings pitched.
A year ago, he pitched a career high 138 innings -- so he's coming up on that fast.
Do innings pitched matter in OOTP?
Should I shut him down for a while and put a Flaherty or Reyes in the rotation.
And how do I shut him down?
From what I have heard, you cannot create phantom injuries and put him on the DL like real teams did last season with the 10-game DL.
Or should I not worry about it as the the game does not take massive jumps in workload into consideration.

Mets52 · 05-01-2018, 07:57 AM

Pitch counts and work loads matter, imo at least. You could "bench" him for a start or two. Beware of rust as well, as thats a real thing. Sit him for a while then start him cold, he might injure himself then as well.

Personally, if it's going to happen, it's going to happen. As long as you're not stretching him, maybe keep him on a pitch count, I say let him play.

Kalanth · 05-01-2018, 12:04 PM

I tend to be most active in the Pitching menu during a season. So what I do in this kind of situation is to make sure that I have a reliever or two that have a good to high stamina (55 - 70) who can act as a swing man. They may not be the best option to be a full time starter (too few pitches, or pitches overall are not that great), but they will serve you well in a pinch. When a work load issue like yours comes up I will plunk that reliever into the rotation in place of a different pitcher that the one I want to give time off. Change the pitcher that is starting the next game over to the reliever as well, and make sure that starters can't be used in the bullpen. Do that for a few starts in a row and give that young pitcher the rest that they need.

Also this could be a good time to bring up another young starting pitcher into a reliever role and do this trick with. You might have some rough patches in there, but if you have built a solid offense / defense behind the pitcher then the team should be able to carry the inexperienced player for a bit.

Doing these tricks managed to keep all my starters healthy for the majority of the season. Things did still fall apart on my in the end and cost me the playoffs, but only by one game in an extremely competitive division.

Timofmars · 05-01-2018, 10:15 PM

I think rust is only a factor following the offseason and also after injuries. I don't think rust accumulates from being benched.

bigd51 · 05-01-2018, 10:30 PM

Pitchers can always gain stamina, so I'd just roll w/ it so long as he's pitching well and doesn't have an extensive injury history. I've seen guys w/ 30-35 stamina pitch 110+ innings before, so it's possible.

You could manually go into player strategy and put a limit on his pitch count per game if you want, so long as your manager allows you to set player strategies. With the Cardinals, I highly doubt you can, though, w/ Matheny...

Orcin · 05-01-2018, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rink23

Do innings pitched matter in OOTP?

I have played many seasons in OOTP, and I have leaned on my best pitchers all year and through a lengthy postseason many times. I have never seen a circumstance (slump, injury) that I could attribute to a huge workload. That doesn't mean it isn't there and I just don't get it.

05-01-2018, 06:12 AM	#1
rink23 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 21,641	Question about workload for young pitcher I am playing as the 2018 Cardinals, just approaching the All-Star break with a record of 54-38, 4.5 games behind the Cubs but a 1.5 games up in the wild card. Issue I am looking at is Luke Weaver's workload. He's 9-2 with an 3.11 ERA and 121.2 innings pitched. A year ago, he pitched a career high 138 innings -- so he's coming up on that fast. Do innings pitched matter in OOTP? Should I shut him down for a while and put a Flaherty or Reyes in the rotation. And how do I shut him down? From what I have heard, you cannot create phantom injuries and put him on the DL like real teams did last season with the 10-game DL. Or should I not worry about it as the the game does not take massive jumps in workload into consideration.

05-01-2018, 10:30 PM	#5
bigd51 Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Nov 2017 Posts: 277	Pitchers can always gain stamina, so I'd just roll w/ it so long as he's pitching well and doesn't have an extensive injury history. I've seen guys w/ 30-35 stamina pitch 110+ innings before, so it's possible. You could manually go into player strategy and put a limit on his pitch count per game if you want, so long as your manager allows you to set player strategies. With the Cardinals, I highly doubt you can, though, w/ Matheny... Last edited by bigd51; 05-01-2018 at 10:38 PM.

05-01-2018, 07:57 AM	#2
Mets52 Minors (Double A) Join Date: May 2017 Posts: 124	Pitch counts and work loads matter, imo at least. You could "bench" him for a start or two. Beware of rust as well, as thats a real thing. Sit him for a while then start him cold, he might injure himself then as well. Personally, if it's going to happen, it's going to happen. As long as you're not stretching him, maybe keep him on a pitch count, I say let him play.

05-01-2018, 12:04 PM	#3
Kalanth Bat Boy Join Date: Apr 2018 Posts: 4	I tend to be most active in the Pitching menu during a season. So what I do in this kind of situation is to make sure that I have a reliever or two that have a good to high stamina (55 - 70) who can act as a swing man. They may not be the best option to be a full time starter (too few pitches, or pitches overall are not that great), but they will serve you well in a pinch. When a work load issue like yours comes up I will plunk that reliever into the rotation in place of a different pitcher that the one I want to give time off. Change the pitcher that is starting the next game over to the reliever as well, and make sure that starters can't be used in the bullpen. Do that for a few starts in a row and give that young pitcher the rest that they need. Also this could be a good time to bring up another young starting pitcher into a reliever role and do this trick with. You might have some rough patches in there, but if you have built a solid offense / defense behind the pitcher then the team should be able to carry the inexperienced player for a bit. Doing these tricks managed to keep all my starters healthy for the majority of the season. Things did still fall apart on my in the end and cost me the playoffs, but only by one game in an extremely competitive division.

05-01-2018, 10:15 PM	#4
Timofmars Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Feb 2018 Posts: 251	I think rust is only a factor following the offseason and also after injuries. I don't think rust accumulates from being benched.