Not Supposed to Guess Every Pitch?

[ZachS]

I tend to guess the pitch almost every time, and I'm reading threads saying people should lay off of doing that... How come?

Is there a drawback to guessing a pitching and not getting it right? Obviously, in real life there is, but if I guess and know thats not the pitching coming, I feel like I'm still in good shape most of the time.

Just kind of confused why people say you shouldn't GP very often. I'm addicted to it and am doing just fine in my RTTS and franchise.

Thanks!

[mu382]

Re: Not Supposed to Guess Every Pitch?

I tend to guess the pitch almost every time, and I'm reading threads saying people should lay off of doing that... How come?

Is there a drawback to guessing a pitching and not getting it right? Obviously, in real life there is, but if I guess and know thats not the pitching coming, I feel like I'm still in good shape most of the time.

Just kind of confused why people say you shouldn't GP very often. I'm addicted to it and am doing just fine in my RTTS and franchise.

Thanks!

I think I heard if you guess it wrong your contact rating goes down but im not 100% sure on that. I do know if you guess wrong your PCI will shrink.

[Mitchrapp]

Re: Not Supposed to Guess Every Pitch?

It says there's suppose to be some kind of bonus with no feedback but it doesn't say you'll have a negative if using classic..which I do and I'm doing fine..RTTS. so I'll continue to use it if there's no negative and it helps me from swinging at crap.

[kehlis]

Re: Not Supposed to Guess Every Pitch?

There's no real right or wrong but as mentioned above you take a hit if you guess wrong so even though you may have an idea of the pitch that is coming you are still at a slight disadvantage.


It's my opinion that you should only guess pitch if you are prepared to take it if you guess wrong leaving out the option to guess with two strikes.

[rjackson]

Re: Not Supposed to Guess Every Pitch?

Your best success as a hitter will come by thinking like a hitter and not like it is a video game. That is the gist of the advice you are seeing. It plays more like a sim so I see the point they are making. Guessing itself is not wrong, you'll just have better long term results by finding the right times to guess and not taking the penalties when you are wrong.

[dalger21]

Re: Not Supposed to Guess Every Pitch?

I used to be a heavy Guess Pitch user in '08 and '09 versions. I slowly weened myself off of it because it really made the game too easy. Now, I only use guess pitch on 3-0 counts. Also, over the past few iterations of "The Show", they've made it more of a penalty if you don't guess the right pitch and/or location. Something severe that makes it not even worthwhile to use it.

[THE POLISH HAMMER]

Re: Not Supposed to Guess Every Pitch?

I guess if you like it, there's nothing wrong with it, but you're not going to become a better player by using it. It's helpful as a beginner, but once you get a good grasp on hitting, there's no need for it. I'd recommend slowly phasing it out as you improve w/ zone hitting/analog/whatever method you use.

[BaylorBearBryant]

Re: Not Supposed to Guess Every Pitch?

I turn off guess pitch altogether. It's too much of an arcade gimmick for me. If you're guessing fastball, just look for a fastball. It's remarkable how much my hitting improved when I turned it off.

[NYJin2011tm]

Re: Not Supposed to Guess Every Pitch?

I only use it ahead in the count...2-1 or 3-1(I use quick counts), feels like too much a penalty if guessed wrong to me.

[dvazquez190]

Re: Not Supposed to Guess Every Pitch?

Guess pitch is a crutch. Especially the classic guess pitch. I stopped using guess pitch in 2011 I believe so I don't know how far it's come. I found I became a better pure hitter when I started playing on HOF with no guess pitch. Reaction time became much better.

[Madden's Jowels]

Re: Not Supposed to Guess Every Pitch?

1. There is a penalty when you guess wrong, your plate coverage gets smaller and your contact rating takes a hit I believe. If you have PCI turned off, try turning it on and then using guess pitch and see how much smaller your PCI gets.

2. Furthermore, this is the big one for me... using guess pitch, you will never get better at seeing pitches. The computer does most of the work for you. Without guess pitch you are forced to improve your plate vision. Not the in-game 'Plate Vision' rating, but YOUR plate vision.


I haven't used Guess Pitch at all this year, but last year I would use it occasionally. It was sort of a crutch for me against lefties. My RTTS guy is always a lefty because I'm lefthanded in real life. So when I face lefties, I always would struggle with them throwing me sliders outside. I would start to guess outside when there was 2 strikes so I would know to lay off. For a little while I also did this with guessing low on 2 strikes because I would always have a hell of a time recognizing low pitches. Eventually I weened myself off it though, and I became a better hitter.

So far this year, I think I have retained at least some of the progress I made last year in those areas, so I'm not using it. If I need to strike out a few dozen times on bad pitches out of the zone, so be it.

[drsonoma]

Re: Not Supposed to Guess Every Pitch?

1. There is a penalty when you guess wrong, your plate coverage gets smaller and your contact rating takes a hit I believe. If you have PCI turned off, try turning it on and then using guess pitch and see how much smaller your PCI gets.

2. Furthermore, this is the big one for me... using guess pitch, you will never get better at seeing pitches. The computer does most of the work for you. Without guess pitch you are forced to improve your plate vision. Not the in-game 'Plate Vision' rating, but YOUR plate vision.


I haven't used Guess Pitch at all this year, but last year I would use it occasionally. It was sort of a crutch for me against lefties. My RTTS guy is always a lefty because I'm lefthanded in real life. So when I face lefties, I always would struggle with them throwing me sliders outside. I would start to guess outside when there was 2 strikes so I would know to lay off. For a little while I also did this with guessing low on 2 strikes because I would always have a hell of a time recognizing low pitches. Eventually I weened myself off it though, and I became a better hitter.

So far this year, I think I have retained at least some of the progress I made last year in those areas, so I'm not using it. If I need to strike out a few dozen times on bad pitches out of the zone, so be it.

I stopped using guess pitch years ago. I still struggle, however, to find my "plate vision." I know what I am supposed to do...be patient, work the count, get ahead, etc. The struggle is that I tend to swing at CRAP and layoff meatballs down the middle. My brain knows what it should do but my hands don't always obey.

So frustrating

[FoBs2007]

Re: Not Supposed to Guess Every Pitch?

For those who don't use GP, what is your batting configuration?

I use zone+timing, with the PCI indicator. How do you move the PCI around in the zone so well? It seems like if I see a pitch low in the dirt, I move the stick down, but the PCI will then go all the way to the bottom of the zone, even out of the zone.

It seems impossible to me that someone could only minutely move the stick fractions and not push the stick all the way down.

[NYJin2011tm]

Re: Not Supposed to Guess Every Pitch?

I also only use the no feedback guess pitch so that the game doesn't really help me see the pitch, I have to recognize the pitch myself.

[Nando12]

Re: Not Supposed to Guess Every Pitch?

I disagree with those saying that GP is a crutch. I use it the way hitters do in real life. If I worked the count in my favor why would I not sit on a certain pitch in a certain location? If it's not there, then take it. If it is, swing for the fences. Also, if a pitcher is pounding a certain part of the strike zone repeatedly, lock in on that spot like a hitter would. You could always turn off visual cues but GP is definitely not a crutch if used right. If used incorrectly, it's more debilitating than anything.