Zero reason to use high overall pitchers

[jyoung]

Fastballs tend to get blasted online, regardless of how fast you're throwing them. Even if you only throw one fastball per at bat, people will just wait for that pitch and crush it once it arrives.

I prefer pitchers who have a good arsenal of breaking balls plus high H/9 and K/9 ratings. Most people have a hard time hitting sliders, curves, and changeups. If you have a pitcher who can throw those three pitches well, you won't have to throw more than 5 or 10 fastballs per game.

The only problems I have pitching like that are wild pitches that end up going past the catcher and changeups that don't break properly and end up floating higher in the zone than I anticipated.

[yankeesgiants]

Quote: Originally Posted by jyoung

Fastballs tend to get blasted online, regardless of how fast you're throwing them. Even if you only throw one fastball per at bat, people will just wait for that pitch and crush it once it arrives. I prefer pitchers who have a good arsenal of breaking balls plus high H/9 and K/9 ratings. Most people have a hard time hitting sliders, curves, and changeups. If you have a pitcher who can throw those three pitches well, you won't have to throw more than 5 or 10 fastballs per game. The only problems I have pitching like that are wild pitches that end up going past the catcher and changeups that don't break properly and end up floating higher in the zone than I anticipated.

Agreed. That is how I built my bullpen. Combo fireballer/99 break guys with high control numbers:


7th- Nate Jones
8th-Zach Britton or Jeurys Familia depending on matchups
9th- Andrew Miller

[Foldzy]

Quote: Originally Posted by jyoung

Fastballs tend to get blasted online, regardless of how fast you're throwing them. Even if you only throw one fastball per at bat, people will just wait for that pitch and crush it once it arrives. I prefer pitchers who have a good arsenal of breaking balls plus high H/9 and K/9 ratings. Most people have a hard time hitting sliders, curves, and changeups. If you have a pitcher who can throw those three pitches well, you won't have to throw more than 5 or 10 fastballs per game. The only problems I have pitching like that are wild pitches that end up going past the catcher and changeups that don't break properly and end up floating higher in the zone than I anticipated.

the thing is a great fastball makes those breaking pitches much more effective, I'll agree with you that fastballs do get crushed more often, but if you don't put the thought in their head of the fastball then they will just sit on your breaking balls all day and mash those instead

[jyoung]

Quote: Originally Posted by Foldzy

if you don't put the thought in their head of the fastball then they will just sit on your breaking balls all day and mash those instead

Sliders, changeups, and curveballs all have different appearances and break patterns. As long as you vary your selection between those three pitch types and keep the ball low, you'll dominate most people online.

A 99 rated power hitter isn't going to be able to hit a low changeup or low curveball very far. At best, it will probably be a hard grounder or liner. But you can hit a fastball over the fence from any location, even on a fastball thrown out of the strike zone. I routinely hit high and low fastballs for home runs.

But the only time that a breaking ball will get crushed in The Show is when it's left in the middle or upper portion of the plate.

[icey9494]

I have been hovering around 1800 rating thus far, and I can tell you from my experience so far (~20 games at that level), all I come up against is Diamond pitchers. Using non-high rated pitchers like silvers and golds can only get you so far. At 1800+higher, every advantage you have matters. Silver/Golds don't have as high of a H/9, which is a stat that decreases the opponent's PCI.

At that stage, you need players with High K/9, HR/9, H/9. Sorry OP but it seems as though you haven't really gotten to the skill level where you face opponents that will take advantage of even the smallest mistakes.

A player like Kershaw is invaluable at that stage. You wouldn't know unless you played with him, but his ability to paint the corners is like no other. His 12-6 curve is the best pitch in the game. Arrieta's 89mph slider is unlike any I used in this game.

Bottom line is, yes, it does matter. Just get higher up and you will know what I mean.

[jyoung]

HR/9 only matters in simulated results and has zero effect during live gameplay.

There are plenty of silver pitchers with base H/9 and K/9 ratings in the 90s.

And there are even more of them if you factor in inside edge boosts.

[brifoxdawg]

Quote: Originally Posted by SmallPurse

With these guys out there... Carlos Martinez Yordano VenturA Garret Richards If you can hit the pitch meter, these guys are just nasty

I have Richards as well as Wacha who was mentioned below in this post. I rarely give up over 2 runs if any at all with these guys on the mound. They have a great mix of stuff and I routinely get that fat yellow line in the pitch meter.

[ZoltanZ]

Most people sit on the fastball. If you bust them up with a bunch of off-speed stuff and they are way out in front, I will just keep throwing them. Once they start to time up the breaking stuff, then you can bust them with the fastball.

If you try to sneak a high fastball by even a decent player, it will get smoked. A good slider is devastating in online play.