CPU MANAGER AI -How do you rate it in MLB 17?

[RicoLaguna]

The reason I ask about the manager AI is because I had a very suspect situation that I just dont think would happen in real life...but I would like your thoughts

Braves (CPU) @ Mets (Me)
3rd game of the season on April 5th

Bartolo Colon is pitching for the Braves (CPU)
DeGrom for Mets (Me)
Top of 7th inning 0-0 score
2 out, but a Braves hitter swats a double
Next batter is......(here is the problem on multiple levels in my opinion)
The Braves let Bartolo bat!...no pinch hitter
And to boot, he comes in to pitch the bottom of the 7th as well.
Let me remind everyone, this is his first start of the season! And it is only the 3rd game of the official season!

My sliders were all at default Experienced levels. I just dont believe this unfolded like this on my 3rd game playing in MLB 17. What have you guys experienced in regards to the CPU AI?

[nomo17k]

Re: CPU MANAGER AI -How do you rate it in MLB 17?

I think I see that CPU manager AI got some tweaks here and there, but I don't think it has gotten enough love it deserves, and I now consider it a weaker, if not the weakest (now that online has become very playable) part of The Show.

However, the specific example given in the OP... discussing something like that would always be controversial. The old-school side of me thinks if Big Sexy were the staff ace (he is not but who knows how he's rated and how the game AI thinks of him), squeezing an extra out of hims would be some display of confidence for him from the manager. And I actually want to see some human element like that in AI.

But in general though, I think CPU manager AI still has a lot to be desired.

[bcruise]

Re: CPU MANAGER AI -How do you rate it in MLB 17?

I can think of a few people in another thread that would love to see an AI decision like this...

Letting him stay in to pitch was an obvious decision once they left him in to hit. The hitting decision is what's relevant here.

I dunno....scoreless game. He's pitching well so it seems like a difficult decision that would come down to his remaining energy level. With a hit you score a run, but you've taken a pitcher out that was rolling. It's a tough call IMO.

Always interesting to see what the AI decides in situations like this.

[RicoLaguna]

Re: CPU MANAGER AI -How do you rate it in MLB 17?

I might disagree a bit here and say....there are certain no brainer decisions that arent even up for debate. One such being, if a runner is in scoring position, that can be the go ahead run late in the game, you would NEVER let the pitcher bat....unless he is pitchin a no no

otherwise, this could get managers fired in real life!

[nomo17k]

Re: CPU MANAGER AI -How do you rate it in MLB 17?

I might disagree a bit here and say....there are certain no brainer decisions that arent even up for debate. One such being, if a runner is in scoring position, that can be the go ahead run late in the game, you would NEVER let the pitcher bat....unless he is pitchin a no no

otherwise, this could get managers fired in real life!

Maybe I'm just getting really old but back in the days before the (somewhat arbitrary) 100-pitch count limit become the norm, good starters often pitched deeper into the late innings even when a situation like this arose.

For an ace, being taken out in a situation like that kind meant a show of no confidence from the manager. CGs were medals of honor, not a reflection of abuse.

Of course I am not saying that reflects the current MLB thinking, but there were days people played the game like that, and there is a certain way of thinking (logical or not) behind it.

I think I want to see a variety like that in CPU manager. Right now, it's mostly just one AI with a single brain managing all CPU games.

[BigOscar]

Re: CPU MANAGER AI -How do you rate it in MLB 17?

I've seen the CPU manager do a lot of far stranger things than that this year. Realistically the manager probably would pinch hit for Bart, but it's not inconceivable that they'd let him hit and the whole "first game of the season" logic is asking a bit much of the AI to really take that into account (players don't work their way into full fitness on the Show anyway, so it's not a real issue)

[Caulfield]

Re: CPU MANAGER AI -How do you rate it in MLB 17?

IRL I could see a manager go either way as for lifting Colon or not.
Hindsight is 20/20 and only after the game will you know if the manager made the right call.
What was the end result of this particular game?
And FWIW I think the biggest flaw would have been if th CPU let him bat but then pulled him in the bottom of the inning.
So as for the CPU manager AI, if it makes mistakes, then that would make it closer to human.
And as for mistakes I mean leaving Bartolo in to pitch, only to then to falter in the bottom of the inning and lose the game. I dont want a perfect AI making the same call every time, I want variety. I want the CPU to go with its 'gut' sometimes instead of its brain.

[wizfan2]

Re: CPU MANAGER AI -How do you rate it in MLB 17?

Wish they had the team specific manager sliders for each team like in the High Heat Series, would come in handy if you wanted to change managers you could make them more suited to the kind of manager you want.

[FluffyTonka]

Re: CPU MANAGER AI -How do you rate it in MLB 17?

Colon pitching the 7th in a scoreless game, is no big deal. the guy isn't a velocity pitcher, he's not on an innings limit.

no need for the manager to manage his innings whether it's the 3rd game or the 133rd game of the year.


remember Maddux, Randy, Pedro, Clemens, Glavine. these guys were regularly pitching 200-250 innings a season.

colon might not be at their production, but he could be at their work rate imo.

[EWRMETS]

Re: CPU MANAGER AI -How do you rate it in MLB 17?

Overall I think AI is pretty good but there are certainly weird decisions. I had a game where the CPU suicide squeezed multiple times in the same inning. That should never happen. Also some of the lineup logic seems off. Andrelton Simmons should never be playing second base.

[squashbuggie]

Re: CPU MANAGER AI -How do you rate it in MLB 17?

The reason I ask about the manager AI is because I had a very suspect situation that I just dont think would happen in real life...but I would like your thoughts

Braves (CPU) @ Mets (Me)
3rd game of the season on April 5th

Bartolo Colon is pitching for the Braves (CPU)
DeGrom for Mets (Me)
Top of 7th inning 0-0 score
2 out, but a Braves hitter swats a double
Next batter is......(here is the problem on multiple levels in my opinion)
The Braves let Bartolo bat!...no pinch hitter
And to boot, he comes in to pitch the bottom of the 7th as well.
Let me remind everyone, this is his first start of the season! And it is only the 3rd game of the official season!

My sliders were all at default Experienced levels. I just dont believe this unfolded like this on my 3rd game playing in MLB 17. What have you guys experienced in regards to the CPU AI?

for a guy like me that never hits and just pitches .... along with quick manage and a few edit tweaks to SP/RP, the game is perfect. sim stats are exact and all is well for me.

[RicoLaguna]

Re: CPU MANAGER AI -How do you rate it in MLB 17?

i guess i didnt make my point clear enough for some as to why I was really worried about the CPU AI.

It wasnt so much that the CPU AI left Barolo in the game to the 7th inning of a scoreless game on his first outing....Im totally fine with that and I wasnt really expecting the games AI to be programmed smart enough be able to use selective AI decision making calls based on point in time during the season (Altho, at this point...it really should)

I was much more worried about the CPU AI leaving Bartolo (the pitcher) to bat with a runner in scoring position. Managers just dont do this in a close game that is in the 7th. Unless of course he is pitching a no hitter/perfect game. They would simply pinch hit for the pitcher late in the game in this type of situation

I am just curious if anyone else has seen something like this...Im hoping it was a real fluke. Because, imo, this is poor AI coaching/managing logic that is coded.

I guess thats all Im getting at here

[Blzer]

Re: CPU MANAGER AI -How do you rate it in MLB 17?

Bartolo Colon is pitching for the Braves (CPU)
DeGrom for Mets (Me)
Top of 7th inning 0-0 score
2 out, but a Braves hitter swats a double
Next batter is......(here is the problem on multiple levels in my opinion)
The Braves let Bartolo bat!...no pinch hitter
And to boot, he comes in to pitch the bottom of the 7th as well.

1) Colon pitching after hitting would only make sense. Otherwise he wouldn't have hit for himself to begin with/

2) Would you rest your fate on the Barves' bullpen???

[bcruise]

Re: CPU MANAGER AI -How do you rate it in MLB 17?

1) Colon pitching after hitting would only make sense. Otherwise he wouldn't have hit for himself to begin with/

2) Would you rest your fate on the Barves' bullpen???

Good timing. They just lost to a 2 run walkoff while they were leading 5-4.

[BigOscar]

Re: CPU MANAGER AI -How do you rate it in MLB 17?

In general, the CPU manager AI isn't great, but can be fixed with a bit of slider work. If you play the full game yourself they make a few very odd decisions every now and then, but generally most are justifiable, like the one you mentioned. Same goes for simmed games, they aren't right on default, but are close enough that they can just about be fixed with sliders.

Quick Count CPU manager AI is just broken though. "Broken" is a word that is massively overused on here for anything that is less than perfect, but in this case it is the right word, it just doesn't work right at all. Hopefully it's patched soon, at least to a standard where sliders can make it work properly. Heard some pretty similar things about Quick Manage as well, but I haven't touched that so I don't really know.