Directional Hitting Guide

[TripleCrown]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

Yeah, I should probably say at some point that I don't use guess pitch.

Man it's awesome the number of options available to the player. No wonder we need the forums to suss it all out.

Edit: By the way if someone wants to do a write-up on guess pitch and how to integrate in with the Directional hitting strategy and post it in this thread that would be great. I don't personally use guess pitch because I find it usually just ends up messing my timing up since I'm jumping all over my pitch when I get it as opposed to waiting and watching.

First thanks for you Directional Guide, I'm a big fan of it now I understand it better.

I made up a reference card for myself, can you confirm my understanding is right ? Specially on corners stacking of attributes !!??

Thx

[TheWarmWind]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

How to Hold the Controller, and some Other, Wilder Tips and Theories

The Controller

Before I start I should mention that I use buttons to swing. I would love it if someone posted some tips for analog (I've tried it with middling success) as well/

The first and most important thing to know is you need to be holding the stick in your chosen direction all the way through your swing. This isn't a select and forget process, the benefits of directional only apply when are holding the stick. I know I mentioned this in the OP but it's worth re-iterating.

Second, don't hold your thumb directly over the x button (or o or square, whatever swing type you choose). Instead hold your thumb a good 3 cm above the button (I think that's around an inch, sorry, Canadian here). Make sure to keep it relaxed, you don't want to be tense when the pitch comes in, otherwise you'll still slam down on that button involuntarily.

This gives you some leeway to pull back your body when your brain is screaming no. It still happens, I still sometimes take involuntary hacks at pitches I know are bad because my body just reacts, but using this technique has reduced my accidental swings significantly.

Wild Tips and Theories

I'm going to rate these theories from 0 to 10, where 10 is something that could/would have been posted earlier and 0 is something that's entirely superstition and in my head.

7 - I think the down or drive influence actually opens up the timing window in both directions. Moving to a hybrid down/pull or push just seems to shift the timing window earlier or later, but perhaps this stacks as well.

9 - A straight up influence is the worst choice, and should be avoided almost as much as the power swing (pressing square).

10 - Edwin Encarnarcion should be pulling in every count except 0-2 and 1-2. This is true of all extreme pull hitters, and even some normal pull hitters. He should push in those 0-2 and 1-2 counts with the express purpose of fouling off.

1 - Doing a practice swing before the pitcher sets gives the batter a boost of vision.

3 - Asking for time (pressing down of the d pad) at a crucial time can give your batter a buff and the pitcher a debuff.

6 - when in doubt, favour pull. It's always done right by me.

9 - no matter your sliders, settings, or swing selection there are times where your batter is determined to follow through on a swing, even if the pressure on the button was metaphorically equal to butterfly wings.

0 - This game hates me.

0 - This game loves me.

That's it! I'm done for now. I'll post more wild theories when they come to mind. Otherwise, feel free to continue asking questions, questioning results, or post photos of players you want scouted like I did. Remember the more specific information you can provide the better advice I can give.

Whew can't believe I'm done. I'm done right?

Spoiler

...probably not.

[TheWarmWind]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

I made up a reference card for myself, can you confirm my understanding is right ? Specially on corners stacking of attributes !!??

Holy cow man this is fantastic!

You forgot the -contact on pull swings.

Also I'm unsure how the power buff from a scoop and the power minus of a push interact. I actually think it changes from batter to batter since different influences have differing amounts of change depending on the batter, so a ~power might be in order there.

Also also you rightist! (says a right handed guy)

Edit: TripleCrown you might also want to add +popflys to all up influences and -popflys to all down influences.

Edit 2: Also push and pull swings expand the timing window slightly. So not only will a pull swing open up earlier, but it will stay just as late as a no influence swing. Just hoping I didn't cause confusion there because your chart only refers to the timing window being earlier or later, not expanded.

[Caulfield]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

Wild Tips and Theories

I'm going to rate these theories from 0 to 10, where 10 is something that could/would have been posted earlier and 0 is something that's entirely superstition and in my head.


1 - Doing a practice swing before the pitcher sets gives the batter a boost of vision.

3 - Asking for time (pressing down of the d pad) at a crucial time can give your batter a buff and the pitcher a debuff

oh man, if these arent incorporated into the game, they should be.

[KTBFFH]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

Wow, thread of the year so far. Thank you enormously for these posts!

[rjackson]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

oh man, if these arent incorporated into the game, they should be.

You'd be shocked then at what they did put in the game. Like having Villar on 1st and throwing over to check the runner really does make a worse jump but also worse control for the pitcher etc.

[TheWarmWind]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

Few more things I thought of:

10 - the more your batters see of a pitcher, the better vision they have. This is in part true because as a pitcher tires their K/9 (the stat that battles vision) gets debuffed. It's also true within the context of a single at bat though. So the more pitches you take the better your batter, the more you improve your chances of solid contact. A small but important buff.

8 - Meanwhile swings that you mistime or just plain swing and miss early in the count will add a vision debuff.

4 - Influencing effects bunting as well (NL batters pls confirm).

[engrishbwudd]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

Few more things I thought of:

10 - the more your batters see of a pitcher, the better vision they have. This is in part true because as a pitcher tires their K/9 (the stat that battles vision) gets debuffed. It's also true within the context of a single at bat though. So the more pitches you take the better your batter, the more you improve your chances of solid contact. A small but important buff.

8 - Meanwhile swings that you mistime or just plain swing and miss early in the count will add a vision debuff.

4 - Influencing effects bunting as well (NL batters pls confirm).

I love that working the count increases your chances, but certain players have a first pitch hitting quirk that gives them a boost as well. Forces the player to familiarise themselves with their lineup to perform better. The Show is just about the only sports game on the market where player ratings have such an impact.

[TripleCrown]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

Here's 2 cue cards for those like me with a Goldfish memory :-)

[TrybeTyme]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

So have to hold the direction towards right field as the pitcher is pitching to me and hold it all the way through contact?


Does that mean I have choose which way I want to "aim" before the pitchers windup? What if he puitches inside and I am aiming right.... You cant choose which way yo to aim as the pitch is coming in? That would make 100000000X more sense since that's ACTUAL BASEBALL

With all the new players in the Show this year and all the questions that have come along with them, I thought it’d be prudent to compile all of my info on directional hitting in one referable spot.

Disclaimer: All of this info has been learned just by playing the game and recognizing patterns. It is in no way official and I welcome any criticism or corrections from the OS community.

The Basics

Contact, Normal and Power Swing: You can do a contact swing by pressing circle to swing, a normal with x, and a power swing with square.

Contact swings give a large boost to contact and vision no matter the swing influence, but come with a massive power penalty. They should be used on two strike counts when you want to work your way back, or by really bad hitters (ie your pitcher).

Normal swings are your players natural swing. Use this swing most of the time.

Power swings add a little power, but at a massive cost to contact and vision. Don’t use power swing unless you are truly desperate. We’re talking 9th inning 2 out nothing to lose situations. Most of the time using a power swing is equivalent to throwing your at bat away.

Contact vs Vision: There is a lot of confusion about these two stats, especially when it comes to directional. Contact effects how large of a “sweet spot” a player has, while vision effects how well they move that sweet spot to adjust to pitches. This is all invisible to the player. In the simplest terms, it is easier for high contact players to get solid contact while it is easier for high vision players to find contact at all (this is a GROSS oversimplification and kind of the opposite of what actually happens, but I hope it helps, I’d need diagrams and visual aids to describe this properly). No player is perfect though, so even a 99 contact 99 vision player will make weak contact on a perfectly timed pitch right in their happy zone. Ratings only effect tendencies, they are not absolutes.

Use sliders: Don’t take it as a knock against the devs (or you), but the use of sliders will solve a lot of the frustrations you may have with the interface. I use sliders, and will post them on request (though I still consider them a WIP), but I highly recommend making your own slider set. A good way to do this is to go into batting practice and pick both a batter and a pitcher you are familiar with. Make sure the pitcher isn’t MVP quality. Keep jumping in and out of batting practice using those some two players and adjusting sliders until your results meet your expectations. There are a lot of slider options, but Human Solid Hits is likely the one you want to focus on.

Always pick an influence: That’s right, every single pitch you should have an influence picked. There are benefits and costs to every influence, but the benefits almost always outweigh the costs. See details below. You must hold the stick all the way through your swing, though there is a “point of no return” as the ball comes in.

Learn your batters: Certain batters will get more of a benefit from certain swing influences than others. For example, pull hitters will get more of a benefit and less of the cost from picking a pull swing. A player’s hitting tendency can be found on their player card, but this info can sometimes be misleading, especially with switch hitters. Often, you’ll have to try different swing types for batters until you find what works best, and sometimes the situation or pitcher can change your approach (e.g. when using Buster Posey, I take a conservative balanced approach when facing righties, but an aggressive pull approach when facing lefties).
If a batter is slumping, it may be a good time to change your approach at the plate and see what it takes to bring him success.

Swing Influence

Pull Swing: This is achieved by moving the arrow inside, or towards your batter. So for a right handed batter, that would be towards left field. With a pull swing, your batter is trying to get slightly ahead of the pitch and generate power out of their core.

Pull swings will open your timing window slightly earlier. They increase power at the cost of contact, and they pull your ideal pitch location slightly to the inside. They are also slightly harder to check swing on.

Pull swings are your power hitter’s bread and butter, and should be used by them often, especially when ahead in the count.

Push Swing: This is achieved by moving the arrow outside, or away from your batter. So for a right handed batter that would be towards right field. With a push swing your batter is trying to get slightly behind the pitch to generate better contact.

Push swings will open your timing window slightly later. They increase contact at the cost of power, though they can still generate power, especially against hard throwing pitchers. They also push your ideal pitch location slightly outside, and can cause more bloops and odd fouls on pitches inside, especially when those pitches are belt level or above. They are also slightly easier to check swing on.

Push swings have a lot of uses, and can have different uses for different players. Balanced hitters can use them whenever behind, or when facing a fireballer. Push hitters want to use a push swing when ahead. Power hitters want to use a push swing when behind to work the count, gaining the benefit of that wider timing window to foul of pitches on the corners.

Up or “Scoop” swing: This is achieved by moving the arrow up. With a scoop swing, your player is trying to get under the ball to hit it up into the air, generating power out of their back, shoulders and arms.

Scoop swings add power at the cost of vision, and are good for situational hitting when trying to stay out of the double play or for adjusting to a pitcher who has a killer sinking pitch. They move your ideal pitch location slightly down (since you are trying to get under the ball) but will cause more popups and flyouts, especially on pitches high in the zone. They are also slightly harder to check swing on.

I usually avoid the scoop swing as I don’t like the loss of vision, and generally only use them for situational hitting, against good sinking pitches, or when I KNOW a pitch is going to be low. They are best used by power hitters. Leadoff or speed based batters should avoid them like the plague, though it’s still a better option than a power swing if you absolutely need a little more pop in your bat.

Down, “Attack”, or “Drive” swing: This is achieved by moving the arrow down. With a downward influence, your batter is ignoring power and “attacking” or “driving at” the ball. Bat on ball is the only goal here folks, and you’re basically foregoing all other concerns when you choose this influence.

Downward influence swings add vision at the cost of power. They are good for situational hitting, leadoff hitting, and speedy batters. They widen your ideal pitch location in all directions, but the cost to power is great. I have NEVER hit a homerun with this swing, even with guys who have got power. You’ll also get more grounders, but they are more likely to be solid grounders thanks to the increased vision. You are also less likely to hit popouts. It is also slightly easier to check swing.

This swing is ideal for speedy batters, especially when behind in the count. It’s also fantastic for situational hitting. You’ll want to avoid this swing with your power hitters, especially if they are slow, as the increased vision will produce more solid contact, and therefore more potential easy outs.

Angled or Combo swing: This is when you point the arrow at one of the corners. When you do this, you are effectively choosing both types of swings at the same time, gaining the benefits and costs of both. Effects do stack, though there does seem to be one exception. Choosing both push and down influence does not seem to stack the check swing buff, keeping it the same as if you had just one selected. However, choosing pull and up DOES seem to stack the check swing debuff.


That’s all for now. I’ll write more in this thread later about working the count, slider settings, and more advanced tips and tricks, but I think this is enough of a wall of text for the first post.

Edit: For those that are interested in learning more, there are more guides and advanced tips and tricks further into the thread as promised now.

[TheWarmWind]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

So have to hold the direction towards right field as the pitcher is pitching to me and hold it all the way through contact?


Does that mean I have choose which way I want to "aim" before the pitchers windup? What if he puitches inside and I am aiming right.... You cant choose which way yo to aim as the pitch is coming in? That would make 100000000X more sense since that's ACTUAL BASEBALL

You don't have to, I'm just imparting the strategy that has brought me the most success. You can set a direction as the pitch approaches, but there is a point when it is to late to adjust your swing type. I've also noticed significantly worse results when I've done this.

I think you're in a more of zone hitting mentality, where you are attempting to follow the ball. In directional, your choosing the type of swing you are going to take, it's up to the CPU batter to follow the ball. I just talk about pitch location in terms of what is ideal for the swing type. You can still get a solid pull hit on a pitch inside even if you are push swinging. Heck I've hit homeruns like this. It's just less likely to happen because your player was dropping his shoulders a bit and concentrating more on contact.

So yeah I definitely recommend choosing the swing type based on the situation, not the pitch coming in.

[cloakingturtle]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

Thank you so much you have saved this game for me! It is so much more fun now. I'm getting a great Variety of hits now, doubles, triples, singles up the middle etc etc. Scoring in so many ways.. not just the Homeruns. It doesn't feel hopeless with 2 outs and your 8th/9th batter up anymore. Everybody needs to see this thread!

Thank you again!

[TheWarmWind]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

Thank you so much you have saved this game for me! It is so much more fun now. I'm getting a great Variety of hits now, doubles, triples, singles up the middle etc etc. Scoring in so many ways.. not just the Homeruns. It doesn't feel hopeless with 2 outs and your 8th/9th batter up anymore. Everybody needs to see this thread!

Thank you again!

I got to admit, I'm not going to tire of hearing these success stories. Glad I could help!

[COMMISSIONERHBK9]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

Here's 2 cue cards for those like me with a Goldfish memory :-)

is it safe to say its best to do aim up right then?

[TheWarmWind]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

is it safe to say its best to do aim up right then?

No. These cards are a great basic visual guideline but the mode is far more nuanced. Different players will have more benefits or costs with certain swing types, and you need to scout your players and figure out what works best for them.

On top of that, the hybrid push/up swing will reduce your vision, which is the most important attribute when it comes to directional. I should do an expanded write-up on Contact vs Vision to try and accurately describe them and how they impact Directional.

I'd avoid the push/up hybrid unless the specific situation at the plate calls for it. Most of the time you're far better off with a standard push swing.