Possible Glitch in Pitching Rotation

[Schaefling]

I love the new pitching rotation options but think I may have found a glitch.

I always use the strict five man rotation. At the end of the season it seems like the same guys are starting way too often.

In Fast Sim League 31 I am Colorado. My number four and five pitchers who at the time were Camilla Fishman and Rene Lower appear to have each started twice in the last four games of the season.

The computer then lists Fishman to start in the playoffs who has just pitched on September 29th!

My number one, two and three starters have not pitched for several days.

I have seen this in some of my other leagues too. Is this normal? Or is it a glitch you can correct?

I have re-arranged my pitching rotation for the playoffs but if you don't catch it this weird use of starting pitching at the end of the season could ruin a team's chance in the playoffs.

I have Windows 98 and use Internet Explorer.

:)

[takaplan]

Schaefling,
This is not a bug...in fact it is designed to do this. If you have clinched a playoff spot, your top 3 starting pitchers will not pitch in the last week of the season. This is designed so they are well rested for the playoffs.

Of course, if you are still in the pennant race and have not clinched, your rotation will pitch like normal.

Quoted From BBM Help Files:
"During the last week of the season, the computer will automatically avoid using a team's top 3 starters if that team has already clinched a playoff spot. This feature makes sure they are as well-rested as possible for the post-season."

Tom Kaplan

[Schaefling]

I like the idea of resting the top three but then when the playoffs begin the computer A.I. always defaults to the number four starter to begin the playoffs. It does not default back to the number one starter. Now isn't this a glitch?

It seems like the number three and four starters would be too tired from starting so much at the end of the season. Is this true or does the computer automatically adjust them back to fully rested in spite of how much they are used during the last week?
This is a crucial factor I would like to know about.

Perhaps you could modify this system so the spot starter and the long reliever pitched as well. This would really help as I like to go with five starters in the playoffs whenever possible. It's also
much more realistic than having two starters pitch three times each in the last week of the season!

Also shouldn't human players have the option to pitch their best starters anyway? What if you want a pitcher to get that 20th win or that 300th strikeout? In some custom leagues managers vote for the various awards and a last start could make the difference in winning or losing the Cy Young award.

You see I find in Baseball Mogul Online there is a strong tendency for a pitcher who has a good outing in the playoffs and throws over 100 pitches in a game to need more rest than normal or otherwise he pitches very poorly the next time out.

I have actually had my best success going with six and seven starters in the playoffs because starters tire too easily in the playoffs. You can't do this though in leagues with thirty human managers as starting pitchers are at a premium.

So please have Clay look at this some more. Believe me I really think this has to be looked at more closely. And I think a few last tweaks to the pitching rotation would just make the game all that much better for everyone.

I make these suggestion only to try and make a great game just a little better.

Thanks for the info, Tom! I appreciate it.:)

[Schaefling]

I just got beat in the first round of the playoffs in the MAL Custom league with my New York Yankees. My well rested starters pitched okay although not as long as I liked. Is there such a thing as being too well rested?

More importantly my relief staff got absolutely bombed! With my number four and five starters pitching so often the last week and usually only going three or four innings max my relievers were clearly exhausted going into the playoffs. Just look at the box scores if you don't believe me.

Once again I really think you need to adjust pitching rotations for teams that have already clinched a week before the playoffs begin. Give more control back to the managers and/or make sure more than two pitchers start during the last week.

I believe the motivation here was to rest starting pitching so players did not have to micromanage so much during the playoffs.
Only now we are going to have to micromange before the playoffs to make sure our relief staff is not totally exhausted before the playoffs begin.

[Slugger222]

The AI does not do a good job of selecting the "Spot" starter to pitch. Especially in that situation.

If the team has clinched, the rotation should change to starters 3, 4, 5, spot and LT relief to start the last 5 games of the season. Then, default to starter #1 for the first game of the playoffs. It does not seem to be doing this. Repeatedly starting the 4 and 5 starter on 2, or even 1 days rest is bogus. But I bet it is on purpose....

They probably did this because the AI only uses the 11 pitchers which are "Up". They figured that the #4 & 5 pitchers will be largely ignored in the playoffs, so they do not need to be rested.

This does create a problem, though, since the team is going with only 9 pitchers for the final 5 games of the season, and the likelyhood of the pen getting tired before the playoffs is good.

The only real solution I can see to this kills two birds with one stone, but is complicated:

Create a Disabled List system.

Anyone injured for more than 14 days would go on the DL. The DL system would scan the AAA for a player that plays the injured players postion, and swap the two players for the duration of the injury. When the injured player is healed, he would swap back with his replacement.

At the end of the season, if the team has clinched, the #1 and #2 starters would be designated as "Injured" and replaced until the playoffs started.

For a little more player control, instead of scanning for a suitable replacement, the PPL could order his AAA system, putting the first person to call up at the top. Then the top, uninjured player in AAA would be called up.

This would take a bit of work, but should not be too difficult to code, since it is similar to the one day replacement code.

This would solve a number of problems/complaints:
1. The PPL would not feel like he has to constantly watch his club to deal with injuries.
2. It would realistically solve the end of season pitching problem.
3. It would realistically simulate what happens in real ball when someone goes down for an extended period of time.

Just a thought....