Different ways to play through a season

[TGov]

I was thinking about different ways of playing through a season.
I used to play every game and as the years went on I've tried to find other ways to play to cut down game time. Now, having even less time (being a husband, father and business owner)
I'm curious to know what different ways you guys/gals play or could play in the future.
Other than playing every game, I've also played the "every 5 days" schedule and I'm not a fan of simming games.
One way I've thought of is playing every game BUT only pitch with my starter every 5 days otherwise I'll pitch with my relievers and hit with every batter.
I like pitching but it can get to be a bit much over the course of a season and like I said I have limited time to play nowadays.

Do you know of any other ways to play through a season?

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[tribefanisu2003]

Re: Different ways to play through a season

I went through this very same process just a few weeks ago. I’ve always been the type that wanted to play every pitch of every game in my season (just MLB games, not the minors.) I was intrigued by quick counts when they were introduced, but I also wanted as many of the trophies as possible that year and for some reason they made it to where the majority of them could not be earned if QC was on. I also don’t like simming games… I like feeling like the stats I’m seeing are the stats I’ve earned.

Anyway, same as you, life changes and I now don’t have the time to play every pitch of every game. Actually with year to year saves I could probably play year round and get a season and a half or so in each year. But, I want to see some of my drafted prospects progress and see some of their careers. I went through many different iterations in my head of how to make this happen.

• Play the first 41 games, sim the next 80, play the last 41? (Establish the team’s start, see what happens in the middle, then impact any division or WC races I might be involved in the last quarter of the season
• Play the first month, sim the next, then play / sim every other month
• Play a week, sim a week, then every other week the rest of the season

So, here’s what I settled on. I feel like this allows me to have the most actual user impact on the games as I can, while actually only playing around 82 games, and simming the rest:

• Quick counts on
• First series of the year: play the first and third game, quick manage the middle game
• Second series of the year: quick manage the first and third game, play the middle game
• Keep alternating like that all season
• In the case of a four game series, play the first and last, quick manage the middle two
• In the case of a two game series, play one, quick manage the other
• Then of course play every playoff game should you make the postseason

What I like about this is, using quick manage allows me to still have an impact on that day’s lineup, bullpen usage, etc (simming can do some odd things with lineups and bullpen usage, I have found). It also allows me to have a good amount of user impact on a daily basis, as opposed to simming a large chunk of the season. It’s not perfect and I did / do have to make myself let go of some control, and be ok with some of the stats being simmed stats. But at least with those, I did choose if I wanted them to swing away, bunt, sac fly, etc. I’ve really enjoyed this method so far and I look forward to progressing through seasons more frequently than I did before, and get further along with actually building a team than I used to.

Hope this helps, or maybe at least sparks some ideas for you.

[jake44np]

Re: Different ways to play through a season

I have played every pitch of the season and finished a whole season with the Reds every year since 1997.
I then start a new season with a random AL team every year using QC and usually get through the whole season of that too.

[Caulfield]

Re: Different ways to play through a season

Heres 1 way I did a while back:
Sunday games - play the complete game
Monday games - bat only, sim pitch
Tuesday games- pitch only, sim bat
Wednesday games- QC on
Thurday games - sim first 3 innings, play the rest
Friday games - sim middle 3 innings, play the rest
Saturday games- sim last 3 innings, play the rest, including extra innings

[TGov]

Re: Different ways to play through a season

I went through this very same process just a few weeks ago. I’ve always been the type that wanted to play every pitch of every game in my season (just MLB games, not the minors.) I was intrigued by quick counts when they were introduced, but I also wanted as many of the trophies as possible that year and for some reason they made it to where the majority of them could not be earned if QC was on. I also don’t like simming games… I like feeling like the stats I’m seeing are the stats I’ve earned.

Anyway, same as you, life changes and I now don’t have the time to play every pitch of every game. Actually with year to year saves I could probably play year round and get a season and a half or so in each year. But, I want to see some of my drafted prospects progress and see some of their careers. I went through many different iterations in my head of how to make this happen.

• Play the first 41 games, sim the next 80, play the last 41? (Establish the team’s start, see what happens in the middle, then impact any division or WC races I might be involved in the last quarter of the season
• Play the first month, sim the next, then play / sim every other month
• Play a week, sim a week, then every other week the rest of the season

So, here’s what I settled on. I feel like this allows me to have the most actual user impact on the games as I can, while actually only playing around 82 games, and simming the rest:

• Quick counts on
• First series of the year: play the first and third game, quick manage the middle game
• Second series of the year: quick manage the first and third game, play the middle game
• Keep alternating like that all season
• In the case of a four game series, play the first and last, quick manage the middle two
• In the case of a two game series, play one, quick manage the other
• Then of course play every playoff game should you make the postseason

What I like about this is, using quick manage allows me to still have an impact on that day’s lineup, bullpen usage, etc (simming can do some odd things with lineups and bullpen usage, I have found). It also allows me to have a good amount of user impact on a daily basis, as opposed to simming a large chunk of the season. It’s not perfect and I did / do have to make myself let go of some control, and be ok with some of the stats being simmed stats. But at least with those, I did choose if I wanted them to swing away, bunt, sac fly, etc. I’ve really enjoyed this method so far and I look forward to progressing through seasons more frequently than I did before, and get further along with actually building a team than I used to.

Hope this helps, or maybe at least sparks some ideas for you.

I actually really like your idea, I'm going to try it this upcoming season, or a variation of it. The biggest thing I dislike about simming is not having any impact on the outcome. I forgot about Quick Manage (haven't played in months) but it's a great idea that will let me have some control.

I'd also really like to get into year-to-year saves. I've tried it once, one of the first years they added it but some of the graphics we're weird when switching to the new version and I'm a sucker for the updated rosters. I can't stand restarting a franchise because of new roster additions, I (just like many others) am hoping for the ability to add players to existing franchise, it'll then I can still manual create them. I gotta withhold my instinct to have each and every active player in my franchise, especially when many never make it to the majors or are leapfrogged by CAPs in the draft.

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[tribefanisu2003]

Re: Different ways to play through a season

I actually really like your idea, I'm going to try it this upcoming season, or a variation of it. The biggest thing I dislike about simming is not having any impact on the outcome. I forgot about Quick Manage (haven't played in months) but it's a great idea that will let me have some control.

I'd also really like to get into year-to-year saves. I've tried it once, one of the first years they added it but some of the graphics we're weird when switching to the new version and I'm a sucker for the updated rosters. I can't stand restarting a franchise because of new roster additions, I (just like many others) am hoping for the ability to add players to existing franchise, it'll then I can still manual create them. I gotta withhold my instinct to have each and every active player in my franchise, especially when many never make it to the majors or are leapfrogged by CAPs in the draft.

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As far as roster accuracy, I was the same way, and came up with a way around that as well. Again, you have to work hard to ignore deep seeded preferences [emoji1], but I do like it.

So, what I do is get the latest OSFM rosters. Then I pick my team and start it with fantasy draft on. I allow myself to pick my first player (so my “cornerstone” player, if you will, and then sim the rest of the draft. This way, I’m starting off with a completely random / new roster, with its own issues to work through, and a completely random farm system as well. I may get a good MLB lineup but have a barren farm system. I may have the opposite or somewhere in between. Either way... when I carry over my save into the next version of The Show, I don’t care about roster accuracy compared to real life, because I have my own little baseball world going on. Plus, it’s kind of fun getting to know your division rivals and other league rivals as you play, as opposed to know what you have going in.



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[Jeffrey Smith]

Re: Different ways to play through a season

As far as roster accuracy, I was the same way, and came up with a way around that as well. Again, you have to work hard to ignore deep seeded preferences [emoji1], but I do like it.

So, what I do is get the latest OSFM rosters. Then I pick my team and start it with fantasy draft on. I allow myself to pick my first player (so my “cornerstone” player, if you will, and then sim the rest of the draft. This way, I’m starting off with a completely random / new roster, with its own issues to work through, and a completely random farm system as well. I may get a good MLB lineup but have a barren farm system. I may have the opposite or somewhere in between. Either way... when I carry over my save into the next version of The Show, I don’t care about roster accuracy compared to real life, because I have my own little baseball world going on. Plus, it’s kind of fun getting to know your division rivals and other league rivals as you play, as opposed to know what you have going in.



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GULP....I could never do this. At the very least I must have my opening day rosters accurate. After that whatever happens, happens.


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[tribefanisu2003]

Re: Different ways to play through a season

GULP....I could never do this. At the very least I must have my opening day rosters accurate. After that whatever happens, happens.


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[emoji1] I know I’m in the minority on this. I do like having real minor leaguers from OSFM, but this was the only way I could get myself to be ok with the roster inaccuracies the next season.


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[ECUoak]

Re: Different ways to play through a season

I went through this very same process just a few weeks ago. I’ve always been the type that wanted to play every pitch of every game in my season (just MLB games, not the minors.) I was intrigued by quick counts when they were introduced, but I also wanted as many of the trophies as possible that year and for some reason they made it to where the majority of them could not be earned if QC was on. I also don’t like simming games… I like feeling like the stats I’m seeing are the stats I’ve earned.



Anyway, same as you, life changes and I now don’t have the time to play every pitch of every game. Actually with year to year saves I could probably play year round and get a season and a half or so in each year. But, I want to see some of my drafted prospects progress and see some of their careers. I went through many different iterations in my head of how to make this happen.

• Play the first 41 games, sim the next 80, play the last 41? (Establish the team’s start, see what happens in the middle, then impact any division or WC races I might be involved in the last quarter of the season
  
• Play the first month, sim the next, then play / sim every other month
  
• Play a week, sim a week, then every other week the rest of the season
  

So, here’s what I settled on. I feel like this allows me to have the most actual user impact on the games as I can, while actually only playing around 82 games, and simming the rest:

• Quick counts on
  
• First series of the year: play the first and third game, quick manage the middle game
  
• Second series of the year: quick manage the first and third game, play the middle game
  
• Keep alternating like that all season
  
• In the case of a four game series, play the first and last, quick manage the middle two
  
• In the case of a two game series, play one, quick manage the other
  
• Then of course play every playoff game should you make the postseason
  

What I like about this is, using quick manage allows me to still have an impact on that day’s lineup, bullpen usage, etc (simming can do some odd things with lineups and bullpen usage, I have found). It also allows me to have a good amount of user impact on a daily basis, as opposed to simming a large chunk of the season. It’s not perfect and I did / do have to make myself let go of some control, and be ok with some of the stats being simmed stats. But at least with those, I did choose if I wanted them to swing away, bunt, sac fly, etc. I’ve really enjoyed this method so far and I look forward to progressing through seasons more frequently than I did before, and get further along with actually building a team than I used to.



Hope this helps, or maybe at least sparks some ideas for you.

I love this idea. I normally play every game with QC but this could help me get mire seasons in and watch some of my players grow.


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[soamazen23]

Re: Different ways to play through a season

I created 2 players. One a pitcher the other one a 2B. I cloned my rtts attributes for both. So I have a 91 ovr 2b and a 96 ovr RP. Put them both on the yankees. Set my second baseman as my leadoff hitter and my pitcher as my closer. I use quick manage every single game. When my hitter is up, i jump in the game. If theres a save situation I pitch with my closer. I get 600 plus ABs and pitch more than 100 innings ( Ive played with my pitcher as a starter for a full season. That season I pitched 204 innings). You can really have an impact on a pennant race this way. Last season my WAR for both players combined was 11.4. We won the division by 2 games. All while setting the lineup and making every GM move/ in game manager move i need to make. With my work/family/life schedule it takes me about two months to get through a season. I usually play one full pitching rotation per sitting. It takes me anywhere from 20-30 mins to play 5 games.

[Ace2734]

Re: Different ways to play through a season

I usually like to play a game per series, sometimes more if it’s an important series, a rare interleague opponent, or a road team with a beautiful park.


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[bryanm1982]

Re: Different ways to play through a season

So, what I do is get the latest OSFM rosters. Then I pick my team and start it with fantasy draft on. I allow myself to pick my first player (so my “cornerstone” player, if you will, and then sim the rest of the draft. This way, I’m starting off with a completely random / new roster, with its own issues to work through, and a completely random farm system as well. I may get a good MLB lineup but have a barren farm system. I may have the opposite or somewhere in between. Either way... when I carry over my save into the next version of The Show, I don’t care about roster accuracy compared to real life, because I have my own little baseball world going on. Plus, it’s kind of fun getting to know your division rivals and other league rivals as you play, as opposed to know what you have going in.


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I tried that and every time I ended up with 15 pitchers and 10 offensive players leaving 2 players on the bench. Which is okay cause I can make moves but every team is that way. How do you handle that?

[tribefanisu2003]

Re: Different ways to play through a season

I tried that and every time I ended up with 15 pitchers and 10 offensive players leaving 2 players on the bench. Which is okay cause I can make moves but every team is that way. How do you handle that?

Yeah, that part is a pain. I usually send a couple pitchers down to AAA, then call a couple position players up from AAA, then backfill those spots at AAA and the other minor league levels by looking at the free agent list and trying to find some decent young players to develop (as a matter of fact, on my current season, I signed a rookie free agent that could play all outfield positions, had good speed and contact, and he just won rookie of the month for June). Alternatively you could also just send a couple pitchers down to AAA and sign a couple vet free agents for you bench position players.

It does pose a bit of a challenge but that is part of what I like about it. I know it’s not for everyone, but the problem I was having was that I was playing basically one season with every iteration of the show, even with carry over saves, because the next year would start and I’d want that year’s Indians roster. So with this, it just helps me avoid that itch each year.


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[bryanm1982]

Re: Different ways to play through a season

Yeah, that part is a pain. I usually send a couple pitchers down to AAA, then call a couple position players up from AAA, then backfill those spots at AAA and the other minor league levels by looking at the free agent list and trying to find some decent young players to develop (as a matter of fact, on my current season, I signed a rookie free agent that could play all outfield positions, had good speed and contact, and he just won rookie of the month for June). Alternatively you could also just send a couple pitchers down to AAA and sign a couple vet free agents for you bench position players.

It does pose a bit of a challenge but that is part of what I like about it. I know it’s not for everyone, but the problem I was having was that I was playing basically one season with every iteration of the show, even with carry over saves, because the next year would start and I’d want that year’s Indians roster. So with this, it just helps me avoid that itch each year.


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Thanks for the input. What do you do with the other teams? Do they eventually even out themselves?

[tribefanisu2003]

Re: Different ways to play through a season

Thanks for the input. What do you do with the other teams? Do they eventually even out themselves?

That’s a good question. Honestly I’m only in my second season, so I haven’t taken a real deep look yet as to what the cpu benches / rotations look like. But now I’m curious. So I think I’m going to test a couple of things:

1 - start a new test franchise with the sim fantasy draft method, and see how the cpu teams picked to see if they did the same overload of pitchers vs bench players

2 - get into the regular season and see how the cpu resolves those same roster issues / see if they add more bench depth


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