MLB 2K13: The Franchise Mode Thread

[steelereign]

Still smoking opponent batters with pitch control at 5. Going to bump up AI contact a bit more. Still having great games with realistic stat lines, except for the strike out totals.

Just beat the Padres 6-3 in 10 innings. Was up 3-0 after a gem of a start by Miguel Gonzalez. But gave up the tying 3-run shot to Carlos Quentin in the top of the 8th.

Chris Davis came through AGAIN with a 3-run walk-off.

I was seriously sweating. Love this game!

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[pistolpete]

Quote: Originally Posted by steelereign

Still smoking opponent batters with pitch control at 5. Going to bump up AI contact a bit more.

I didn't get into 2k13 that much, but when I had pitch control at 30 on 2k12 I walked EVERYONE!!

[steelereign]

Quote: Originally Posted by pistolpete

I didn't get into 2k13 that much, but when I had pitch control at 30 on 2k12 I walked EVERYONE!!

Clearly a difference in the slider affect this year. I've got the Pitcher control at 5 and am still striking out 12 or more per game, while only walking 1 or 2.

Then again, maybe the Orioles staff is just that good! Probably not.

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[WaitTilNextYear]

Quote: Originally Posted by steelereign

Clearly a difference in the slider affect this year. I've got the Pitcher control at 5 and am still striking out 12 or more per game, while only walking 1 or 2.

Yeah, I am definitely not seeing the same slider effects that you are. I have the pitcher control at 30 and rarely hit my spots, and this is even with a "max pitch." Though I am ok with it because it's more realistic to not always have pinpoint command. I do agree with you however that the pitcher control slider is touchy. At 35, I can hit my spots maybe 75% of the time. At pitcher control = 30, it's probably ~25% of the time that I hit my spots. I am still striking out 7-9 per game, which is realistic. I have had a couple of 10+ K games, but not that high on average.

Something that might make a difference to you; you could try upping the CPU contact slider if your pitcher's BAA is really low (< .230). If not that, you could try to make your pitch meter speed faster or drop pitcher control to zero. It could also be due to the quality of your staff. The O's pitching isn't great, but it's pretty ok. Far better than the staff in my Astros 'chise. If it really irritates you, you could have a fire sale and trade all you pitching away for scrub pitchers .

[WaitTilNextYear]

OK, finally got to the end of Spring Training with my Astros 'chise (went 10-20 during ST mostly testing out sliders and young players) and can now report on my 25-man roster and lineups etc..All of the line-up spots were pretty much pre-determined by my roster (except my 4th and 6th place hitters swapped during ST based on performance), but I had a surprising development in that my 5th starter came out of nowhere to unseat the pitcher I thought would get it.

Lineup v/RHP and LHP w/DH (* = lefty, ** = switch):

1 - CF - Gerardo Parra*
2 - 2B - Jose Altuve
3 - DH - Brett Wallace*
4 - 3B - Mike Olt (rookie)
5 - 1B - Carlos Pena*
6 - LF - Chris Carter
7 - C - Jason Castro*
8 - RF - Thomas Neal (rookie)
9 - SS - Brendan Ryan

Bench:

Tyler Greene (SS)
Ryan Wheeler* (3B, rookie)
Carlos Corporan** (C)
Brandon Barnes (CF, rookie)

Rotation:

1 - Lucas Harrell
2 - Patrick Corbin*
3 - Phillip Humber
4 - Erik Bedard*
5 - Adam Wilk* (rookie)

Pen:

Jose Valdez (rookie)
Sergio Escalona* (rookie)
Sam Demel
Xavier Cedeno*
D.J. Mitchell (rookie)
Rhiner Cruz (set up)
Kyle McClellan (closer)

Notes:

-I brought in Casey Crosby in a trade to compete for a rotation spot with prospects Jordan Lyles and Alex White, who were already on Houston. However, after about 3 Spring Training starts a piece, it was obvious that none of them really wanted the spot (ok, so I was controlling them, blame me...). So, I actually had to turn to a guy I thought would be long relief in AAA for the 5th spot in Adam Wilk. For whatever reason (I think his command is better) he's been quite successful for me in 2-3 starts. In fact, with the starting spot still open in the last ST game, he pitched 5.1 IP of a shutout of the Braves. That pretty much solidified it. I've never had a rotation with 3 lefties in it before, so this should be interesting. Bedard and Humber will not be Astros past the trade deadline I am predicting. Same goes for Carlos Pena and possibly Brendan Ryan also...

-Kyle McClellan and Rhiner Cruz will be duking it out for closer all season. McClellan was 4 for 6 in SV opps in the spring, and Cruz has a nice mid-high 90s FB that I like from my closer. McClellan may also be trade bait if he does well. I am giving the nod to McClellan based on experience for now.

-Gerardo Parra and Patrick Corbin were acquired from the D'Backs in exchange for prospects J.D. Martinez (RF), Matt Dominguez (3B), and reliever Wesley Wright. I felt I needed a solid defensive CFer as well as more rotation depth, hence this deal.

-Mike Olt and Kyle McClellan were acquired from Texas for Bud Norris (SP), Justin Maxwell (CF), and Fernando Martinez (RF). This trade was about getting some experience for the pen along with a middle-of-the-order bat.

-Brendan Ryan and D.J. Mitchell were acquired from Seattle for Jimmy Paredes (OF) and Dallas Keuchel (SP). Wanted a GG-caliber SS for defense.

-Casey Crosby and Adam Wilk were acquired for Jose Veras (closer) and Marwin Gonzalez (SS/2B). Wanted to dump pricey closer Veras to needy team for some young starting pitching.

-Ryan Wheeler was acquired from Colorado for Che-Hsuan Lin (OF) and Thomas Neal (Yankees) was acquired for Brennan Boesch (OF, signed as FA). Needed to get a starting RFer and a versatile bench bat.

As you can see, it's still basically the Astros but with a bit of a cosmetic face lift to make them more playable. Out of the opening day 25-man roster, 9 players are new to Houston. The team is still rated badly (70 pitching, 61 batting, 71 OVR) so it'll be a challenge. In fact, anything close to .500 will be a major accomplishment, and that's the goal. It's a young team (8 rookies) with a few breakout candidates (Wallace, Olt, Parra, Harrell, Cruz).

I am also excited about my young, talented AAA rotation with:

1 - Jarred Cosart (not in game, had to create him)
2 - Jordan Lyles
3 - Casey Crosby
4 - Alex White
5 - John Ely

If these guys can perform, it will make it easier to deal vets later on.

I also created 4 of the other top Astros prospects (doing the whole minors would be overkill imo). Jonathan Singleton (1B, AAA), George Springer (CF, AAA), Lance McCullers (RP, AA), and Carlos Correa (SS, A) are all waiting in the wings for the day Houston can be a contender again.

More to come later...

[steelereign]

Quote: Originally Posted by WaitTilNextYear

Yeah, I am definitely not seeing the same slider effects that you are. I have the pitcher control at 30 and rarely hit my spots, and this is even with a "max pitch." Though I am ok with it because it's more realistic to not always have pinpoint command. I do agree with you however that the pitcher control slider is touchy. At 35, I can hit my spots maybe 75% of the time. At pitcher control = 30, it's probably ~25% of the time that I hit my spots. I am still striking out 7-9 per game, which is realistic. I have had a couple of 10+ K games, but not that high on average. Something that might make a difference to you; you could try upping the CPU contact slider if your pitcher's BAA is really low (< .230). If not that, you could try to make your pitch meter speed faster or drop pitcher control to zero. It could also be due to the quality of your staff. The O's pitching isn't great, but it's pretty ok. Far better than the staff in my Astros 'chise. If it really irritates you, you could have a fire sale and trade all you pitching away for scrub pitchers .

Well, my pitch meter speed is at 100 already. I may up the AI contact, but the opponent seems to have realistic hit numbers already. I'd really like to see more walks, but I guess by raising the contact slider I will be forced to nibble more corners. That should drive walks up and strike outs down.

Update on my pitching sliders. Kept control at 5, but moved AI contact to 60. Lost 9-5 to the Nats and had 12 strikeouts with 5 walks. Much more accurate. Had to nibble the corners much more and missed my spots a few too many times.

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[RoyalBoyle78]

Still enjoying the game, I'm going to wait for 2k,s opening day rosters and then work on a set myself, just getting contracts right, from that point who ever wants to help add minors and equipment updates let me know

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[RedsCountry]

Quote: Originally Posted by steelereign

@RedsCountry - as an O's fan I'm curious what Baltimore got in return for Bundy. Was it a position player? If so, which position? Also, what level of the minors was he in? Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk 2

sorry it took me so long to get back on! but it was a shortstop in triple a, five star potential