Big Papi David Ortiz throws a one hit gem!

[swaldo]

Re: Big Papi David Ortiz throws a one hit gem!

Ok I tried this on HOF level - default sliders, rosters etc and I got better results.

Game 1: Red Sox (me) at Pirates (CPU) and I wanted to put my pitcher in while winning to see if the CPU will come back. I fast forwarded until the Sox had a 7-2 lead and put 3B Lowell in to pitch in the bottom of the 5th. Things started out just as before as he had no problem in a shutout inning. Then in the 6th I just couldn't nail my release and he lost his confidence and gave up 3 runs. He then pitched 3 shutout innings but they weren't easy as I was really battling and getting out of jams. According to the pitch analysis I only threw 51% strikes. I was struggling all game with control and always behind on the hitters but Lowell ended getting the win. This was a better result than veteran but I am still concerned.

One thing I note is that on veteran with Papi I had much better control. I was able to hit the corners with ease and his confidence stayed high the whole game. With Lowell his ENG, STA and CFD were all zero much of the game.

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On to game 2: NYY (CPU) at Pirates (me). This time I wanted to be losing in the game to see if the CPU will play nice and let me pitch well. It's the top of the 4th inning and the Pirates are down 3-0. I put in catcher Doumit to pitch and again he starts out well and pitches a shutout inning - not good. However, the rest of the game is exactly what I have been hoping to see. It was an absolute nightmare and it all started with A-Rod and Tex crushing me and from there it was downhill.

My outfielders were busy all day running around the field - mostly backward and I even feared Sabathia at the plate who hit a single and 2 doubles (one high up the wall just short of a HR.) In this game I felt I had better control and threw 72% strikes but as you can see from the pitch analysis most of those strikes ended up right down the middle. Note: while I was at bat, I just bunted with each player so I could get to the next inning.

The end result of the Yankees batting:

46 AB
15 Runs
22 Hits
15 RBI
4 BB
3 Strike outs

In conclusion I think in veteran mode you can control your confidence better, your pitches end up where you want them - and no matter who is pitching if you hit the corners and use the cold zones it doesn't matter who is on the mound they aren't going to get hit. And the comeback AI may or may not be in veteran who knows?

In HOF the control is tougher and the pitch location is not guaranteed even if you nail the meter perfectly. I was actually trying to throw balls when up 0-2 but some still went in the zone and got crushed.

This is all good news and I'm making the switch to HOF level. Now feel free to say "I told you so."

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[hukasmokincaterpillar]

Re: Big Papi David Ortiz throws a one hit gem!

This is all good news and I'm making the switch to HOF level. Now feel free to say "I told you so."

Thanks again for taking the time and doing the research. I just want to make clear I thought your concerns were perfectly legit. The only thing I caution against with stuff like this is declarative statements about bugs/AI etc from a relatively small sample size. You dug a little deeper, so thats all good.

[Senor_Herbatron]

Re: Big Papi David Ortiz throws a one hit gem!

The entire concept is dumb IMO.

Throw Ichiro in at pitcher. I saw a video where he actually pitched over in Japan. He should be a stud

[swaldo]

Re: Big Papi David Ortiz throws a one hit gem!

I had to try this on All Star (I'm OCD and can't help myself.) This time I wanted my opponent to be around the league average in batting. I chose Arizona since the game states they are ranked #15 in batting.

Red Sox (me) at Arizona (CPU) All Star level, delfault rosters, sliders etc.

I put David Ortiz on the mound in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Overall I had good command the whole game throwing 61% for strikes. I struggled in a couple innings but was hitting my spots pretty well. Not as good as veteran but I didn't feel like I was playing a position player on the mound. Instead, I felt like an average pitcher who occasionally had to work himself out of trouble. Papi ended up allowing a couple runs in the last 2 innings and the Red Sox lost the game 2-1. He allowed no walks and had no strike outs. A 3.00 ERA - not bad and I expected a better challenge on All Star.

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One thing I noticed in all of this is the hit distribution. It seems the CPU only hits balls near the middle of the plate. Ok, this is realistic because major league hitters do the same but I want to see more hits on the corners. Perhaps this is why on veteran & All Star you can use a position player to pitch - because you have enough control to hit the corners....

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As you can see most pitches on the corners are taken, fouled or outs....

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[swaldo]

Re: Big Papi David Ortiz throws a one hit gem!

I moved back to Hall of Fame with the exact same match-up. Also note I select the umpire to call perfect strikes & balls.

This time it's a different story. Once again I felt like a position player dumped in the game and got embarrassed. In 6 innings I ended up throwing a total of 105 pitches and 59% for strikes. I did not have good control and had to stuggle to keep my confidence up. Balls were going all over the place, sometimes even when I nailed the release perfectly. I remember a changeup I aimed low & inside almost sailed over the catcher high & outside.

In the 3rd inning I gave up a home run then had to work out of a jam. Then in the 5th inning I loaded the bases with nobody out but I was fortunate to get a double play and ended up allowing 1 run. The 7th inning was a disaster - giving up back to back 400 foot home runs and a couple batters later another knock. The highlight of the game was that I got a strike out.

This confirms to me that this is the right level to play - at least from a pitching perspective.

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Again hit distribution tends to hover around the center of the plate - not too many hits on the corners. The problem is that I was not able to hit the corners in this game, so I cannot say for sure if the CPU doesn't hit corners well on this level. I will be looking at this more in the future.

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[JoeCoolMan24]

Re: Big Papi David Ortiz throws a one hit gem!

I moved back to Hall of Fame with the exact same match-up. Also note I select the umpire to call perfect strikes & balls.

This time it's a different story. Once again I felt like a position player dumped in the game and got embarrassed. In 6 innings I ended up throwing a total of 105 pitches and 59% for strikes. I did not have good control and had to stuggle to keep my confidence up. Balls were going all over the place, sometimes even when I nailed the release perfectly. I remember a changeup I aimed low & inside almost sailed over the catcher high & outside.

In the 3rd inning I gave up a home run then had to work out of a jam. Then in the 5th inning I loaded the bases with nobody out but I was fortunate to get a double play and ended up allowing 1 run. The 7th inning was a disaster - giving up back to back 400 foot home runs and a couple batters later another knock. The highlight of the game was that I got a strike out.

This confirms to me that this is the right level to play - at least from a pitching perspective.

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Again hit distribution tends to hover around the center of the plate - not too many hits on the corners. The problem is that I was not able to hit the corners in this game, so I cannot say for sure if the CPU doesn't hit corners well on this level. I will be looking at this more in the future.

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You should try and pitch with a Majorleague pitcher, using only fastball and changeup against the Dbacks, with the Red Sox. See how much it changes.

I will pitch with Quentin again, but on Allstar.

[JoeCoolMan24]

Re: Big Papi David Ortiz throws a one hit gem!

My All-star results did not go as well as on Veteran.

Quentin went 8 IP, 7 ER, 12 H, 1 BB, 1 K

I went through the first 6 IP with 3 H and 1 ER. Then in the 7th the Cubs strung together a LOT of singles and I misplayed a big out in CF where I dove early on accident instead of just catching it. Realistically I probably could have gone with only giving up 3 ER that inning, but a Soriano 3-Run HR the next batter screwed me over.

In doing this experiment, I think I may have found a bigger, more realistic fault in the game. Bunt singles.

I have 10 bunt singles this game, and scored 3 runs off them. Quentin had 1, Alexei had 1, Wise had 2, AJ had 1, Fields had 1, Getz had 1, Owens had 2, and Thome had 1. In my first game I think I had 7 bunt singles, but I don't remember. It is in my other post.

[JT30]

Re: Big Papi David Ortiz throws a one hit gem!

Its way too easy to bunt and the only way to counter it is to have the CPU field better.. so jack the fielder reaction slider to the max otherwise you can bunt all day. I've done something similar in that I was able to string together 4 bunt singles in a row

[swaldo]

Re: Big Papi David Ortiz throws a one hit gem!

How are you bunting, drag or sac? I'm not seeing the same results. Most get fouled off or get the out. I've had some base hits on bunts but I wouldn't consider it a bread & butter play in a tight situation. Although I am not patient enough to wait for good fastball counts - I just put the bat out there every pitch so I can put Papi back on the mound.