PH for position players/Default team strategies

[markprior22]

Started a new fictional league with 1.02 wip using the 2006v3.1 quick start. I changed the pinch hit for position players for the league to "very rarely". Just played out probably my fifth game with this league and encountered this situation.

My team leads 3-2 in the 9th inning. AI pinch hits for my 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th (pitcher) hitters. I go on to win the game but this is way too much. I'm in early May and didn't even look at the ratings/stats of the guys originally in those positions because I don't think it matters. You can't pinch hit for all those guys in that situation. If the game goes extra innings, your team is toast.

I've also noticed that the default team strategy is terrible. For example, it says in innings 1-3 with a 4 run lead, you should pinch run fairly often. It is pretty much in the middle as far as pulling a starter in that situation. These examples (and many others) are crazy. I know the user can edit this but the default should be much more realistic. I went into commish mode and checked some AI teams and they all seem to have this same default setup. This may be the reason so many strange in game moves are being made.

[pstrickert]

Originally Posted by markprior22

These examples (and many others) are crazy. I know the user can edit this but the default should be much more realistic. I went into commish mode and checked some AI teams and they all seem to have this same default setup. This may be the reason so many strange in game moves are being made.

Good post, mp22. I said this before and I'll say it again: I think this part of the game has not (yet) received due attention. Is this part of the game open to utility development? Do (real life) manager stats exist to help us determine how to modify these various settings?

[markprior22]

Originally Posted by pstrickert

Good post, mp22. I said this before and I'll say it again: I think this part of the game has not (yet) received due attention. Is this part of the game open to utility development? Do (real life) manager stats exist to help us determine how to modify these various settings?

I'm not sure if there are stats to look at but common sense should alleviate most of this. Should there be a high chance of me using a pinch runner in innings 1-3 when I'm up by 4+ runs? Uh, no. Should I pinch hit for the pitcher in the 9th inning when trailing by 3 runs...Of course. As it is now, many of these settings "out of the box" are way off base. Now, I don't know if the AI teams that appear to have these crazy strategy setups actually use them (don't know why they wouldn't) but a more reasonable strategy setup should be default when starting a new game.

[battists]

Hi guys. I logged the pinch hitting issue as TT #2173.

Regarding the default strategies, you're right, I think we should take a look at it. However, I'm not sure what impact that could have on the overall behavior of the game. Hopefully, changing that won't radically change the way the game behaves.

I'm not going to log that as a bug, per se, but I will bring it up with the developers for some discussion.

Thanks very much, great post!

Steve

[battists]

Mark,

Markus has tweaked the AI regarding pinch hitting here. It should be reflected in the next patch.

Thanks!

Steve

[Zeyes]

Originally Posted by markprior22

I'm not sure if there are stats to look at but common sense should alleviate most of this. Should there be a high chance of me using a pinch runner in innings 1-3 when I'm up by 4+ runs? Uh, no. Should I pinch hit for the pitcher in the 9th inning when trailing by 3 runs...Of course. As it is now, many of these settings "out of the box" are way off base. Now, I don't know if the AI teams that appear to have these crazy strategy setups actually use them (don't know why they wouldn't) but a more reasonable strategy setup should be default when starting a new game.

Honestly, I think some options simply shouldn't be available in particular situations to begin with (mostly to cut down the number of potential decisions to a more manageable level), but I suspect there's at least one guy in the world who does want to adjust pinch-running frequency in the first three innings...

[battists]

This issue has been claimed fixed in the next patch, and I am seeing pinch hitters cropping up on a regular basis, but the lion's share of them are for pitchers. Certainly no two, three, or four guys in a row like the original poster mentioned...

Thanks!

Steve