Pitcher Confidence in relation to Pitching around Players

[Fcshuckers73]

I have walked a batter many times by nibbling when first base is open and a more favorable matchup in the on deck circle. But, each time I do, my pitcher confidence takes a hit. It might not be a large hit, but if you pitch around 2-3 batters a game, then the hit to your confidence can become an issue. Would it be possible to program an option to 'Pitch around' or 'Attack' when the situation arises? i.e. Right handed pitcher, runner on second and Harper batting. You choose to pitch around instead of attack hitter when given the option. You nibble and end up walking Harper (with no negative impact to your confidence because you actually did what you planned on doing). Now, lets say you get out of the inning by getting the next batter....That would result in an obvious gain in confidence.....Now lets say your plan fails and the opponent ends up scoring....This would result in a big hit to confidence because your plan failed. I like to play realistic and I think this would add to the decision making in the game. I pitch around guys and definitely don't like getting a negative h it to confidence when it was planned. Does anyone else think this is doable or would it be a good thing to have in the game? I hope I explained clearly and we can get some dialogue on the viability of something like this.

[SoxFan01605]

Re: Pitcher Confidence in relation to Pitching around Players

I don't know how feasible it is (programming wise) to have specific confidence gains/losses tied to multiple combinations of ABs and outcomes, but I do agree (and have argued in the past) that the way confidence works should be reevaluated. It's much better than in years past (several years ago, there would be these big swings based on only a couple of pitches), but intention still isn't quite properly represented. It's probably tough to accurately program all the possibilities of something not specifically measurable though. At the very least, maybe they could make certain situations and pitch selections have a net zero change to confidence.

I'd also like to see it somewhat tied to ratings or status somehow. Generally speaking, a veteran ace is not going to lose confidence as fast as a rookie spot starter. Admittedly, I don't know the feasibility of that either...lol...but since we're spitballing...

[spencerk10]

Re: Pitcher Confidence in relation to Pitching around Players

On a somewhat related note, I've noticed while playing games against the CPU that their pitchers' pitch counts are unrealistic. I mean, It can be the 7th inning and their pitch count will still be in the 50's, and I'm not a player that goes up there and swings at everything. Only reasoning I can come up with is there aren't enough foul balls hit. seems like 85% of the time I make contact, I'm putting the ball in play. which is not the case in a real game.

[Fcshuckers73]

Re: Pitcher Confidence in relation to Pitching around Players

On a somewhat related note, I've noticed while playing games against the CPU that their pitchers' pitch counts are unrealistic. I mean, It can be the 7th inning and their pitch count will still be in the 50's, and I'm not a player that goes up there and swings at everything. Only reasoning I can come up with is there aren't enough foul balls hit. seems like 85% of the time I make contact, I'm putting the ball in play. which is not the case in a real game.

This has not been my experience. I am getting realistic pitch counts in my games. There are times my pitcher, or the CPU pitcher, is pitching 80-90 pitches in the 5th inning. Now, I do think the CPU Pitch confidence plays a huge role on HOF difficulty. In fact, the CPU pitcher ability to warp into a beast during the game on HOF is one of the reasons HOF Hitting has been so difficult for me.

[bcruise]

Re: Pitcher Confidence in relation to Pitching around Players

On a somewhat related note, I've noticed while playing games against the CPU that their pitchers' pitch counts are unrealistic. I mean, It can be the 7th inning and their pitch count will still be in the 50's, and I'm not a player that goes up there and swings at everything. Only reasoning I can come up with is there aren't enough foul balls hit. seems like 85% of the time I make contact, I'm putting the ball in play. which is not the case in a real game.

That's not at all how it is for me - I regularly put the CPU into the 80-90 pitch mark by the 6th-7th inning. Part of that is the team I play with (Cubs) and their ability to work counts and get on base. But it's also because of my hitting approach. I swing at strikes and don't chase much. And my foul % is typically around 20% for a whole game, with pitches taken around 45-55% (I check these along with some other things after after every single game I play in the batter analysis). I can do this on either Default All-Star or HOF. The CPU throws plenty of balls and if I take them, I earn walks and run the pitch count up.

I have to ask since you said you don't swing at everything - do you always take the first pitch, and is that pitch almost always a strike? It might seem counterproductive to swing at it even when it's a strike when you're trying to drive the count up, but what it does is cause the CPU to try to make you chase outside the zone more. If you show that you can lay off, then the real game begins and you'll get a good mix of balls and strikes.

Check your percentages after each game in the batter analysis and see if they're around these:



There's such a thing as being "too patient" in this game, and that passive approach can cause the CPU to pound the zone since it knows you won't swing.

The other thing I can suggest is to not just swing for contact on early counts - you're trying to do damage here, not just put the ball in play. Try to swing a bit earlier than normal when you see a pitch you think you like. If you hit it, you'll probably pull and get more power behind it. You'll swing and miss more too, but it's okay if that's strike 1 or 2. You just don't want to be putting the ball in play weakly unless it's strike 2.

On the original OP's topic - I don't really mind the way it is because confidence isn't some huge effect on performance - just a small one. As the same guide I posted above shows, It's more of an indicator of a pitcher's overall performance on any given day. When it gets really high (accuracy mark is made bigger) or really low (accuracy mark disappears) are really the only times I feel like it strongly influences gameplay.

[KBLover]

Re: Pitcher Confidence in relation to Pitching around Players

On the original OP's topic - I don't really mind the way it is because confidence isn't some huge effect on performance - just a small one. As the same guide I posted above shows, It's more of an indicator of a pitcher's overall performance on any given day. When it gets really high (accuracy mark is made bigger) or really low (accuracy mark disappears) are really the only times I feel like it strongly influences gameplay.

Hmm...maybe it's because I'm on Directional, so more "RNG" processes at work, but "high" confidence has an impact, especially individual pitches.

I don't know how "high" is high, but it doesn't need to be filled up before I'm feeling it and changing approach at the plate to try to chip away at the pitcher.

Same for when my confidence gets high (as a Classic pitcher). I can definitely feel it before the circle gets full.

And pitch-arounds should not weaken confidence. What pitcher will get rattled because they threw 3 in the dirt, the obligatory 3-0 strike, and then another in the dirt to Trout or something with a base open?

What they could do is consider aim point/projected end point on pitches with no swing. If you aimed so that ball is in the dirt and it ended up low out of the zone and the hitter didn't chase - no change. You did what you wanted but didn't get the result...even-up. Both of you did right (batter didn't chase, you didn't miss). Same if you miss pretty badly (say more than one square's distance in height and width), but you got a good result anyway...even-up. You failed but the hitter helped you out.

If you missed and got hit - advantage hitter, you lose some confidence. If you did your job, but the batter did too, some advantage hitter since ultimately you gave up a good result, so confidence down LESS than the previous scenario.

I also think with the batted-ball velocities in the game, you could base it on that, too. A good pitch with a 50 MPH hit that somehow became a hit would do less damage to your confidence then a 115 MPH shot that nearly killed your 3B (if it's an out, you don't gain much/any confidence, and if it's a hit, you lose more than you would have otherwise).

[Fcshuckers73]

Re: Pitcher Confidence in relation to Pitching around Players

I also use Classic, KB. I agree on your assessments completely. I just don't know if the velocities could be incorporated or not. I think hit velocities are a little off in the game anyway....i.e. You have to ensure contact and solid hits are high enough to make the CPU a threat at the plate (which also puts into play the thought to pitch around certain players).....But, when you raise the solid hits high enough to be a threat, then the hits off the bat are increased dramatically. There are many speeds off the bat in the 90s, in fact that is almost normal. But, in reality, there aren't that many hits off the bat in the 90s IRL. In fact, the hardest hit homerun was by Cespedes this weekend at about 116 mph off the bat (if my memory is correct)

[KBLover]

Re: Pitcher Confidence in relation to Pitching around Players

I also use Classic, KB. I agree on your assessments completely. I just don't know if the velocities could be incorporated or not. I think hit velocities are a little off in the game anyway....i.e. You have to ensure contact and solid hits are high enough to make the CPU a threat at the plate (which also puts into play the thought to pitch around certain players).....But, when you raise the solid hits high enough to be a threat, then the hits off the bat are increased dramatically. There are many speeds off the bat in the 90s, in fact that is almost normal. But, in reality, there aren't that many hits off the bat in the 90s IRL. In fact, the hardest hit homerun was by Cespedes this weekend at about 116 mph off the bat (if my memory is correct)

I believe the power slider is supposed to have an impact on the batted ball velocity?

Perhaps higher solid hits and lower power would take care of that.

Not many players average 90+ MPH on batted balls - mostly the top power threats. I've never tried to track the velocities to see if, on average, how much difference there is. Maybe that's something I could try doing for a couple players - pick a high power and a low power guy and see what I get.

[bcruise]

Re: Pitcher Confidence in relation to Pitching around Players

I believe the power slider is supposed to have an impact on the batted ball velocity?

Perhaps higher solid hits and lower power would take care of that.

Not many players average 90+ MPH on batted balls - mostly the top power threats. I've never tried to track the velocities to see if, on average, how much difference there is. Maybe that's something I could try doing for a couple players - pick a high power and a low power guy and see what I get.

I don't pay close enough attention to look at averages, just top speeds, really. And I do agree that the power slider is the one that can increase/decrease top hit speeds - it's a good indicator that the slider is working, actually.

Solid Hits can certainly affect the frequency of high hit speed blasts and therefore averages, but power (both the rating and slider) determines the top-end. And from what I've seen leaving the power slider on default is a pretty good representation of real life.

Here's the list of highest exit velos from last year (which is really what you have to go by since the ratings are based on past year's performances):

http://m.mlb.com/statcast/leaderboard#exit-velo,r,2015

For me, 120 on default sliders/SCEA rosters is possible with Stanton if I power swing, or a normal if I really square it up and get lucky. I doubt many others can.

[KBLover]

Re: Pitcher Confidence in relation to Pitching around Players

I don't pay close enough attention to look at averages, just top speeds, really. And I do agree that the power slider is the one that can increase/decrease top hit speeds - it's a good indicator that the slider is working, actually.

Solid Hits can certainly affect the frequency of high hit speed blasts and therefore averages, but power (both the rating and slider) determines the top-end. And from what I've seen leaving the power slider on default is a pretty good representation of real life.

Here's the list of highest exit velos from last year (which is really what you have to go by since the ratings are based on past year's performances):

http://m.mlb.com/statcast/leaderboard#exit-velo,r,2015

For me, 120 on default sliders/SCEA rosters is possible with Stanton if I power swing, or a normal if I really square it up and get lucky. I doubt many others can.

Yep, that's one I was look at - just for the average tab.

I haven't hit 120 - I did get some 115's with Chris Carter and probably 110's with Chris Davis.

A 120 MPH single? Did it leave a mark on the infield? Go through someone's glove? Was it a liner that left a vapor trail? Wow.

[Smallville102001]

Re: Pitcher Confidence in relation to Pitching around Players

I don think that pitcher confidence could be better but it is way better than it was like 4 years or so ago. I remember back then confidence would go up way to fast and once it would go up they would throw strikes like 90% of the time and even when there confidence was high you could get a great pitch to hit time it perfectly and have your PCI placed well and it would still most likely be a out. Now those things don't happened.