Clay - Please, Please fix Pitching Rotation!

[Schaefling]

I just got through losing in the playoffs in Fastsim 31. I was Colorado at 118-44 against Atlanta 88-74 a team owned by an inactive human player whose team managed a much better job with its pitchers than mine did!

My number two pitcher started game one and lasted justed six innings before starting again in game four on three days rest and getting totally bombed! Now I understood that the number one starter would get priority from the computer especially in the playoffs but it was never my understanding that the number two starter would be treated this way.

Clay, please adress this problem before BBMO goes active. If this is a glitch fix it. If this is a design flaw please fix it. It would also be nice if at the same time you would give players more control over their starters as you indicated you intended to do.

Considering that a manager's point scores are primarily determined by how well his team performs in the playoffs I just don't think this sort of thing can be allowed to go uncorrected.

As I dedicated fan of BBMO who has nothig but the highest respect for everyone at Sports Mogul, Inc, I respectfully state now that I disagree strongly with the current way starting rotations are handled in this game.

[Schaefling]

I just looked at the calendar again and my playoff loss as Colorado to Atlanta is worse than I thought. I did not have a five man rotation nor even a four man rotation. I had a three man rotation!

My computer started pitcher number 2 and then number 3 before going to number 1. It then went back to pitchers number 2 and 3 never using my very well rested pitchers number 4 and 5.
This is totally bogus and really must be remedied.

The only way to prevent this is to micro-manage your team and to be frank I don't always have time to do this as is undoubtedly true for many other BBMO players. Besides it would not be necessary if we as managers could force the computer to use our starting rotations the way we want.

[Godard]

Micromanaging is completely impossible in the five-at-a-time fast sims.

There must be a bug in there, since it's supposed to pitch the highest-numbered starting pitcher that's rested, and it certainly fails to do that a lot of the time.

[Schaefling]

I came up with a partial solution to the computer use of starting pitchers in the playoffs. Make sure you reset your starting rotation to the number one pitcher at the start of any round of the playoffs. I believe this should prevent the problem of using only three pitchers in a playoff round. In order to use all five pitchers, however, you will have to reset each and every hour during the playoffs in fastsim which I know is not possible for many players.

I would still like more control over my rotation, however, and still hope Clay will listen to my plea for help!

[exep]

It is fairly well known that once put in the game in a save situation, the closer will stay until the game ends. In playoffs, the team reverts to a 3 man rotation. Both these factors hurt teams with depth.
That is all I have to say, even if it was possibly wrong.
ExEP

[Clay Dreslough]

I added more control over the pitching rotation, in an unofficial CD-ROM patch.

http://forum.sportsmogul.com/showthread.php3?s=&threadid=3269

If you have Baseball Mogul 2002, please check it out and give me your feedback. If this survives your testing, I will be putting this code in the online game shortly.

Clay

[BBM]

I though the real playoff had a 3 man rotation, that's not bad, u always have your top 3 guys playing, if you playing the 7th game of the World Series, I bet you don't want your fourth or fifth guy pitching.

[Clay Dreslough]

Most ML teams use a 5-man rotation during the regular season, but skipping the 5th man on occasion if the top 4 are well rested. But this varies, and that's what we reflect in the CD-ROM Strategies.

Boston, for example, rarely skips the 5th starter because they don't want to overuse Pedro.

In the playoffs, teams use either a 3-man or 4-man rotation, depending largely on the quality difference between their #1 and #4 starter (and on the playoff schedule).

This code, as I expect to implement it in Baseball Mogul Online, is now described at http://www-1.sportsmogul.com/bb/Help/Pitching.htm.

Clay

[John]

Is there such thing as "overusing" a pitcher in BBMO? Just a higher risk of injury right? (More games, more chances for injury)

And what's with registering? Are you setting a new start date?

[Clay Dreslough]

Originally posted by John
And what's with registering? Are you setting a new start date?

We're trying to get it set up tonight.

Clay

[Clay Dreslough]

Originally posted by John
Is there such thing as "overusing" a pitcher in BBMO? Just a higher risk of injury right? (More games, more chances for injury)


A pitcher with 36 starts in Mogul will actually have more than a 20% higher chance of getting injured than a pitcher with 30 starts. We do keep track of over-use and it increases injury chance PER START.

Also, a pitcher that isn't fully rested will perform below his peak level, and will require a bit more rest for his next start.

Clay

[exep]

I would like to see my manager handle the rotation, depending on his characteristics (which would depend on how much I paid for him). Or, a strategy screen would allow me to say how important rest was for my starting staff.
ExEP

[John]

Clay I have another question. How much does short rest affect the pitcher? If I had a pitcher with a 2 ERA and needed say 3 days of rest and a pitcher with a 4 ERA fully rested who would have the better chance of pitching better?

Thanks for answering my previous questions! And please don't feel hard-pressed to answer this one.:)