Maybe this is just something that bothers me, but I think the defensive positioning in this game is pretty awful. First, for the vast majority of hitters, the game wants both teams to just play straight up (even for a lot of hitters with "extreme" tendencies). Which is not accurate for today's game. Images A and B are the average positioning in MLB this year for righties and lefties respectively. Notice how the infield is shaded quite a bit to the pull side. There are absolutely some players for whom teams play more straight up, like Bo Bichette, who has only pulled the ball 17.9% of the time this year. But the "standard" defense would now be shift left/right (with "Straight Up" and "Extreme Left/Right" being the adjustments based on tendencies).
Image C is a screenshot from Exhibition. Auto Shift is on, and the hitter is Jake Bauers, who has "Extreme Pull" as his tendency, with his percentages left to right being 21%/29%/50%. The game should be shifting on him hard, but it's playing straight up across the board. But there's another thing I wanted to point out, and that's Center Field. You'll notice that, even with it being "straight up", the CF is playing slightly to the pull side of 2B. But if you'll refer back to images A and B, you'll see that "straight up" should actually be shaded slightly to the opposite side of 2B.
Image D is what happens the CPU does finally decide to shift (which is pretty rare). You'll notice the Outfield shifted hard to the pull side too. The hitter is Eugenio Suarez, who is a pretty substantial pull hitter irl as well. Image E is how he's shifted irl. The OF there is actually positioned very close to SDS's "straight up.". Even the most pull heavy players in baseball don't get shifted anywhere near to the degree that the OF shifts in The Show employ. We're talking a few steps in a given direction, not 20 yards.
There's also the problem of the CPU never shifting with runners on base. Even in the case of someone like Eugenio Suarez, if there's a runner on, the game goes back to straight up. Image F is the league average positioning with a runner on base; teams still shift just as much.
So, that's the problem. The workaround. I discovered in the last few days that if you select a team using a second controller, you can adjust the defensive positioning for every player in the lineup, and it'll remain when you deselect the team. So now, the CPU will shift more appropriately. I shift the majority of hitters to shift left/right and then I go extreme for players that pull more and straight up for hitters with oppo tendencies. If the hitter is a bunt threat, 3B gets brought a little in as well. And then the OF is always straight up.
There are some downsides, though. One is that the CPU will no longer shift into double play depth (though they will still hold runners). That said, that's an acceptable compromise to me, as being shifted at normal depth still has players closer to where they should be starting than Double Play depth with no shift. I still haven't really had issues with the CPU turning a Double Play. Another downside is that they won't bring the IF in when they should. For that, I'll just switch over mid game and make that change myself. It's a situation that's rare enough that I'm okay doing that. If you have a 3B in to cover a bunt, they won't back off with 2 strikes either. It's unfortunate, but I'm also willing to live with that. And finally, because you're shifting left/right and not push/pull, this can really break down with switch hitters. I just wouldn't shift switch hitters, but you could always just change that manually too.
Hopefully SDS does a better job with defensive positioning in the future (though I'm not really holding my breath). But until then, this has made the game a little more enjoyable to me.
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Image C is a screenshot from Exhibition. Auto Shift is on, and the hitter is Jake Bauers, who has "Extreme Pull" as his tendency, with his percentages left to right being 21%/29%/50%. The game should be shifting on him hard, but it's playing straight up across the board. But there's another thing I wanted to point out, and that's Center Field. You'll notice that, even with it being "straight up", the CF is playing slightly to the pull side of 2B. But if you'll refer back to images A and B, you'll see that "straight up" should actually be shaded slightly to the opposite side of 2B.
Image D is what happens the CPU does finally decide to shift (which is pretty rare). You'll notice the Outfield shifted hard to the pull side too. The hitter is Eugenio Suarez, who is a pretty substantial pull hitter irl as well. Image E is how he's shifted irl. The OF there is actually positioned very close to SDS's "straight up.". Even the most pull heavy players in baseball don't get shifted anywhere near to the degree that the OF shifts in The Show employ. We're talking a few steps in a given direction, not 20 yards.
There's also the problem of the CPU never shifting with runners on base. Even in the case of someone like Eugenio Suarez, if there's a runner on, the game goes back to straight up. Image F is the league average positioning with a runner on base; teams still shift just as much.
So, that's the problem. The workaround. I discovered in the last few days that if you select a team using a second controller, you can adjust the defensive positioning for every player in the lineup, and it'll remain when you deselect the team. So now, the CPU will shift more appropriately. I shift the majority of hitters to shift left/right and then I go extreme for players that pull more and straight up for hitters with oppo tendencies. If the hitter is a bunt threat, 3B gets brought a little in as well. And then the OF is always straight up.
There are some downsides, though. One is that the CPU will no longer shift into double play depth (though they will still hold runners). That said, that's an acceptable compromise to me, as being shifted at normal depth still has players closer to where they should be starting than Double Play depth with no shift. I still haven't really had issues with the CPU turning a Double Play. Another downside is that they won't bring the IF in when they should. For that, I'll just switch over mid game and make that change myself. It's a situation that's rare enough that I'm okay doing that. If you have a 3B in to cover a bunt, they won't back off with 2 strikes either. It's unfortunate, but I'm also willing to live with that. And finally, because you're shifting left/right and not push/pull, this can really break down with switch hitters. I just wouldn't shift switch hitters, but you could always just change that manually too.
Hopefully SDS does a better job with defensive positioning in the future (though I'm not really holding my breath). But until then, this has made the game a little more enjoyable to me.
Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk