Slider Suggestion

[BKL]

I have a good roster and 100 rated players for the most part. On a pure roster comparison, my team is probably one of the top-8 in the league, but I am mid-level. I do adjust sliders, strategy, player strategy, etc. Are there slider options that generally work well that I could be missing or are generally accepted?

[LeeD]

You'll get crickets on this, as most players consider it their secret sauce. I'll go so far as to suggest lots of defensive shifts. Gives your players an extra step on those tough-to-handle plays, and you should notice an improvement in Zone Ratings and Defensive Efficiency if you've been playing them neutral.

[cwhitman]

Originally Posted by LeeD

You'll get crickets on this, as most players consider it their secret sauce. I'll go so far as to suggest lots of defensive shifts. Gives your players an extra step on those tough-to-handle plays, and you should notice an improvement in Zone Ratings and Defensive Efficiency if you've been playing them neutral.

most sliders will not make a noticeable difference at all.

the biggest ways to get a step ahead are making sure you have a well built team in terms of handedness matchups and stamina.

[greg_oz]

I'm wondering the same thing about sliders... but cWhit, you make a good point about being sure the build is solid for platoons and backups to be sure tired players are not getting played whenever possible. Thanks for that tip.

[LeeD]

Yes, having the better roster is easily the most important element. However, that doesn't mean that sliders are useless. They're worth a few wins over the course of a season if set to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses.

Two examples. Base running swings ten to twenty runs between best and worst. That's an extra win or two. Defense is similar. Yes, card ratings are part of that, but so are sliders. Set stealing, base running, and hit and run to max and see how many times you run yourself out of innings. Set them opposite and your runners fail to take an extra base when it's available, which costs you runs.

Everything matters to some extent. Cwhit is right in that the best-constructed roster is most important, but there are other factors. Don't obsess over things like slider settings, but don't ignore them either. In a tight race with similar teams, they can make a difference.

[cwhitman]

The baserunning/stamina stuff are the exceptions I believe: those are things you can see the large scale changes and it makes a difference. Things like shifts and pitch around, i don't believe will make or break a team at all

[LeeD]

Agree that pitch around doesn't have much effect overall. It can lower the HRR slightly at the cost of extra walks; but the pitchers who need this setting bumped are usually overmatched at current level and will still get beat up one way or another.

[atomzero]

It should also be said that not everyone is keeping secrets. I have watched CWhit, Max, AngeredUnicorn and more all set up their strategies on stream, and I've never seen them be tight lipped when asked for advice. You can often sit there and watch them build their rosters and get their thoughts.

[textilemonster]

Someone did experiment with having extremely quick hooking of starter/relief pitching and they said it produced slight but noticeable improvements.

[LeeD]

I'd be extremely worried about quick-quick hooks because of the effects on pitcher fatigue. Unless you're willing to swap out bullpen arms on a twice-daily basis, you'll need at least one more pitcher in the pen. That means reducing your bench to four or even three, which could domino into hitter fatigue and leaves you without much depth on the depth charts.

[cwhitman]

Originally Posted by textilemonster

Someone did experiment with having extremely quick hooking of starter/relief pitching and they said it produced slight but noticeable improvements.

There is a third time through the order penalty: so that would make your pitchers better. but as said, you take the risk of burning through your pen too quickly. But there is a strategy that exists, especially in older eras, in doing 18 BF.


The way I play the game is by wanting my SPs to go as long as possible, so that I keep my bullpen from snowballing stamina out of control. It's worked very well for me.