Weird April offensive underperformance

LuScorpio68 · 08-08-2023, 06:14 PM

Hey guys,

I'm new-ish to OOTP 24, bought it with the recent sale after playing OOTP 21 basically forever. I decided to challenge myself and do a save with the Detroit Tigers. Outside of my struggles, which result from many things I could discuss (trading being much harder, some prospects not really doing much, International signings flopping), I've noticed a weird trend and don't know if it's normal or not.
I'm currently in my 6th season, and although I've built at least an average offense in most years, I've noticed that my offense is almost always way worse in April than the other months, and that it had become a trend, despite relatively low roster turnover. For example, the team OPS in April 2027 was .630 when the lowest for any other month was .727.
The issue with this trend is that it often leads to terrible starts (that April ended at 7-19) which are difficult to recover from.
I wanted to know if anyone else encountered this, if it was normal or not (the need to build chemistry ? cold temperatures in a pitcher friendly park ?) and what I could possibly do to fix this.

Thank you very much for reading.

Pelican · 08-08-2023, 08:45 PM

Curious if you are playing with Spring Training. Those games could affect the performance of players early in the regular season. (Although it would affect all players, not just those on the Motor City Kitties.) ST is at least a chance to get starting pitchers stretched out and ready for the season. Not sure what else could be causing this.

LuScorpio68 · 08-09-2023, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pelican

Curious if you are playing with Spring Training. Those games could affect the performance of players early in the regular season. (Although it would affect all players, not just those on the Motor City Kitties.) ST is at least a chance to get starting pitchers stretched out and ready for the season. Not sure what else could be causing this.

Yes I play with Spring Training. Weirdly enough the pitchers aren't victims of the same underperformance, only the hitters pretty much.

md40022 · 08-09-2023, 11:20 AM

What does the rest of the league's OPS look like in April. Is it lower than usual across the board or is it specific to your team?

I know IRL offenses in general do tend to start slow at the start of the season, and it's even more noticeable in cold weather cities (Detroit) when it's still freezing in early April.

All that being said, I play with the Cubs, another cold weather city, and my offense has come out guns blazing to start the last few seasons so that kind of goes against my above point lol.

Pelican · 08-09-2023, 04:48 PM

How many AB are your hitters getting in ST? I ask because I've noticed the AI loves to play everybody in Spring games, even toward the end, with rosters cutting down to size. That meant that regulars might get less than fifty AB in five weeks = not enough. I tend to play my regulars every day for the last week or so of Spring, to get them up to speed, hit the ground running.

08-08-2023, 06:14 PM	#1
LuScorpio68 Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jan 2021 Posts: 20	Weird April offensive underperformance Hey guys, I'm new-ish to OOTP 24, bought it with the recent sale after playing OOTP 21 basically forever. I decided to challenge myself and do a save with the Detroit Tigers. Outside of my struggles, which result from many things I could discuss (trading being much harder, some prospects not really doing much, International signings flopping), I've noticed a weird trend and don't know if it's normal or not. I'm currently in my 6th season, and although I've built at least an average offense in most years, I've noticed that my offense is almost always way worse in April than the other months, and that it had become a trend, despite relatively low roster turnover. For example, the team OPS in April 2027 was .630 when the lowest for any other month was .727. The issue with this trend is that it often leads to terrible starts (that April ended at 7-19) which are difficult to recover from. I wanted to know if anyone else encountered this, if it was normal or not (the need to build chemistry ? cold temperatures in a pitcher friendly park ?) and what I could possibly do to fix this. Thank you very much for reading.

08-08-2023, 08:45 PM	#2
Pelican Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2021 Location: Wilmington, Delaware Posts: 2,885	Curious if you are playing with Spring Training. Those games could affect the performance of players early in the regular season. (Although it would affect all players, not just those on the Motor City Kitties.) ST is at least a chance to get starting pitchers stretched out and ready for the season. Not sure what else could be causing this. __________________ Pelican OOTP 2020-? ”Hard to believe, Harry.”

08-09-2023, 04:48 PM	#5
Pelican Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2021 Location: Wilmington, Delaware Posts: 2,885	How many AB are your hitters getting in ST? I ask because I've noticed the AI loves to play everybody in Spring games, even toward the end, with rosters cutting down to size. That meant that regulars might get less than fifty AB in five weeks = not enough. I tend to play my regulars every day for the last week or so of Spring, to get them up to speed, hit the ground running. __________________ Pelican OOTP 2020-? ”Hard to believe, Harry.”

08-09-2023, 11:20 AM	#4
md40022 All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 740 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	What does the rest of the league's OPS look like in April. Is it lower than usual across the board or is it specific to your team? I know IRL offenses in general do tend to start slow at the start of the season, and it's even more noticeable in cold weather cities (Detroit) when it's still freezing in early April. All that being said, I play with the Cubs, another cold weather city, and my offense has come out guns blazing to start the last few seasons so that kind of goes against my above point lol.