Anyone else taking a LOT more walks vs the CPU?

[Unlucky 13]

Re: Anyone else taking a LOT more walks vs the CPU?

Yes, the CPU pitches a lot smarter and will try to fool a human with a ball out of the zone when they get behind more often this year.

However a big part of the reason why you never got walked in previous iterations is that veteran+ setting. I'm not sure if it's still true, but in years past the difficulty setting would change the CPU strike frequency. To be clear, this effects strategy, not results. It was way too high at lower levels.

I have a theory that the only difference between skill levels this year are the pitch speeds and the contact sliders. So far my testing of this theory had been well within the margin for error.

This would explain why you're seeing more walks at your chosen skill level.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Operation Sports mobile app

I'm not sure that I really understand what you mean.

But I would say that in previous versions of the game, when I got the CPU to a 3 ball count, then about 80% of the time I would get a pitch on the corners that was nearly impossible to do anything with. Most of the time I would then foul it off or strike out. 10% of the time, they would throw a clear ball and I'd take a walk. And then 10% of the time they would throw a meatball that I could try and do damage with.

This year, it seems like the percentage of pitches that are clear balls are much higher. And then also, the percentage of pitches on the corners that are called balls are also much higher.

If a human player wasn't patient, and/or wasn't dedicated to forcing the CPU to throw as many pitches as possible, they may not notice a difference. But for someone like me, its been a huge change.

[Unlucky 13]

Re: Anyone else taking a LOT more walks vs the CPU?

I wanted to update this to say that I'm nearing mid season in my franchise, playing every pitch of every game, and I actually have a guy (Kris Bryant) leading the league in walks! I also have two others in the top 20. This is the biggest change possible from previous editions of The Show, when my team leaders might have a few dozen walks at the end of the year. With some players, I'm tripling that right now. Bryant has a walk rate at about 16%.

[dickey1331]

Re: Anyone else taking a LOT more walks vs the CPU?

Im in June in my franchise and I have yet to get a walk except when I get hit by the pitch or an intentional walk lol.

[Unlucky 13]

Re: Anyone else taking a LOT more walks vs the CPU?

Im in June in my franchise and I have yet to get a walk except when I get hit by the pitch or an intentional walk lol.

Are you playing on a really high difficulty setting? I'm on Veteran+. Some CPU pitcher sliders down one notch.

[dickey1331]

Re: Anyone else taking a LOT more walks vs the CPU?

No I play on veteran with a few sliders adjusted to make hitting harder for me. I just suck at not swinging. My Rangers are like 45-17 so it hasn't hurt lol.

[jcar0725]

Re: Anyone else taking a LOT more walks vs the CPU?

I'm on HOF hitting and pitching and I walk way more than the CPU. But it probably explains why the cpu destroys my pitching.

Sent from my thoughts

[ktd1976]

Re: Anyone else taking a LOT more walks vs the CPU?

I'm on HOF hitting and pitching and I walk way more than the CPU. But it probably explains why the cpu destroys my pitching.

Sent from my thoughts

I play on Legend Hitting and Legend Pitching.

I am top 3 in the league at drawing walks.

[bellz666]

Re: Anyone else taking a LOT more walks vs the CPU?

I've been playing The Show since 2010, and have logged who knows how many thousands of games played. I focus strongly on working the count and driving up the pitch count of the CPU pitchers. However, before this year, I rarely was ever to take many walks. If I got two a game, that was a big win. Sometimes, I'd go a week without taking one, because once the CPU pitchers got to three balls, then everything else was in the strike zone.

That has changed in a MAJOR way this year for me. With about 40 games played, I'm averaging four to five walks per game, and just had one where I took TEN (while only getting five hits). The biggest change is that the CPU pitchers will now seemingly throw balls outside the strike zone at about the same frequency regardless of the count.

Is anyone else noticing this? I play at Veteran Plus difficulty, with sliders set slightly in my favor, as I have for years.

This has been HUGE for me this season. I go back to the NES Baseball days of trying to earn walks, every season my goal is to average 2 walks per game and I'd rarely get there. This season (with an All-Star+ slider set that I've been working on for years) I'm averaging just about 3 per game and rank 15th in MLB so I'm right in the middle of the pack (I'm normally dead last). It's really helped keep me engaged as I move through the season.

[reyes the roof]

Re: Anyone else taking a LOT more walks vs the CPU?

In the past I didn’t start drawing walks until the dynamic difficulty level hit all star, this year they’ve pitched out of the zone on veteran a lot more

[ahr19]

Re: Anyone else taking a LOT more walks vs the CPU?

Would anyone know what I am on All-Star (hitting/pitching) and the CPU only pitches strikes? I have been trying to figure this out for days!

[EnglishBaseball]

Re: Anyone else taking a LOT more walks vs the CPU?

Playing as the Mariners one month in and I lead the league in BB. Normally well down the bottom of the league on past installments. The Average is way down but have a few players with their OBP well over 100 points more north than their avg.

The weirdness continues.

Last in HR (11) second bottom is on (25)
Lead the league in Strike outs
Lead the league in GIDP

So I pretty much Walk, Strike out, GIDP and repeat.

On pitching,

Lead the league in allowing BB's by a good (50)
Have more assists than 2nd place by like 350 (insane)
like 28th in SO.

So I pretty much give up a hit and get a Double play and repeat

This team jumps from one end of the spectrum to the other and its kinda fun, 12&21 so still in the rebuild.

Playing on Legend on both sides with pitcher control well down for me, while batter sliders around 60.

[Unlucky 13]

Re: Anyone else taking a LOT more walks vs the CPU?

I have a lot of batters who's OBP is about 100 points higher than their batting average too. Its so awesome. For a while, I had one guy who was hitting in the 240s but had an OBP over 400.

[Therebelyell626]

Re: Anyone else taking a LOT more walks vs the CPU?

What I am noticing post 1.10 patch. I am getting more walks this year, before and after 1.10. However, before 1.10 the CPU was mixing it up a bit more on first pitches. What I am noticing now is that 7/10 the first pitch is always a meatball now from the CPU (all-star plus dynamic). The main problem is the game penalizes you for swinging on first pitch for some odd reason. Regardless it it’s a meatball, and regardless if my hitter has first pitch quirk, 70% of the time those meatballs are weak hits. If I don’t get a hit on that first pitch, I know I am pretty much getting walked at this point.

I have tried to do sliders on default, as well as toying with them a bit and the CPU is just way to willing to issue a walk. I have had the CPU walk me with bases loaded to score a run way more times this year then ever before. I had a game a week ago where I walked 8 times against miles mikolas who is a pitcher with good control. Years past I was lucky to get 3-4 walks in a game. The CPU just seems way to reluctant to challenge hitters and I have no idea why

[Unlucky 13]

Re: Anyone else taking a LOT more walks vs the CPU?

What I am noticing post 1.10 patch. I am getting more walks this year, before and after 1.10. However, before 1.10 the CPU was mixing it up a bit more on first pitches. What I am noticing now is that 7/10 the first pitch is always a meatball now from the CPU (all-star plus dynamic). The main problem is the game penalizes you for swinging on first pitch for some odd reason. Regardless it it’s a meatball, and regardless if my hitter has first pitch quirk, 70% of the time those meatballs are weak hits. If I don’t get a hit on that first pitch, I know I am pretty much getting walked at this point.

I have tried to do sliders on default, as well as toying with them a bit and the CPU is just way to willing to issue a walk. I have had the CPU walk me with bases loaded to score a run way more times this year then ever before. I had a game a week ago where I walked 8 times against miles mikolas who is a pitcher with good control. Years past I was lucky to get 3-4 walks in a game. The CPU just seems way to reluctant to challenge hitters and I have no idea why

For me, the funny thing is that a couple of my players get meatballs on the first pitch pretty frequently, but the rest almost never do. In my Cubs 2021 franchise, I signed Mookie Betts as a free agent and bat him leadoff, and he leads the league in HRs in early June. Many of them have come on first pitch fastballs.

But then most of the other guys in my lineup get pitches way outside and low to start the at bat a whole lot of the time. It serves to really drive up the opposing starter's pitch count, and put them into favorable counts, and in the end, has lead to a ton of walks. But really, I see fewer meatballs this year than I was used to in previous versions. Maybe 50-75% as many.

[BoNity]

Re: Anyone else taking a LOT more walks vs the CPU?

My walk went from a traditional virtual zero to a respectable number now. Very realistic for me but I'm sure guys with better eyes are walking a ton