I just can't judge balls/strikes in this game :(

[Blzer]

Re: I just can't judge balls/strikes in this game

Try sticking with the Offset camera. I know you said you "tried" them all, but you probably haven't tried them all. You probably gave it an inning or two and gave up. Stick with it for a bit and see if you get used to it.

Also make sure to lower pitch speed. The pitch speed set to 5 is even faster than real life pitching.

[gman2774]

Re: I just can't judge balls/strikes in this game

I'm shocked at how many lower pitch speeds. I've raised them by 3 notches and having a blast with the game.

Unlike last year, the ball actually feels like it's traveling to the plate, so you can judge it coming in. Biggest improvement in the game.

Take a lot of BP. You'll feel the benefits in this game.

Totally agree. I've bumped pitch speed up because I was out in front of everything. I think I'm used to last years pitch speed/timing. By bumping up pitch speed I have less time to think if the pitch is a strike which has allowed me to simply react. For some reason it's easier for me to determine ball/strike at a higher pitch speed. I simply react instead of think. I know...doesn't make much sense but it works for me. Anytime you think in baseball while trying to make a play you're toast. Baseball is all about instinct and reaction.

[BuccaneerFan]

Re: I just can't judge balls/strikes in this game

Hmmm, I thought I'd give the wide cam a try just for the heck of it and I'm just pounding Halladay on HOF level right now. I think I can see the ball better on this cam. Give it a shot!

[The Sim God]

Re: I just can't judge balls/strikes in this game

well after a week and a 1/2 of struggling its finally starting to 'click'
im at about 30 games played so far, ALL ONLINE, and im starting to get it.

heres what im noticing...........

i cant go to the plate and just react for any pitch. if i dont know what to expect by the count im all screwed up.

if i sit curve/offspeed and a fastball comes ill most likely foul it off AT BEST.

what i do now is wait for pitches in my zone/speed.
i position my INVISIBLE plate coverage indicator (all star online) and hold my stick there during the windup and never let it go)
i dont react with my left stick while the pitch is coming at me, as i said. i sit in a 'zone' every pitch.
eventualy i will be able to move the stick freely but that will come with another 50 games under my belt


i wait for a LOT of fastballs and try to notice tendencies in pitchers so i can move my left stick accordingly pre pitch.

a LOT of players like to pitch low pitches so i push the left stick about half way down and wait for the fastball. (try not to push the stick to the extreme up or all the way down. halfway between starting position & all the way down/up = perfect)
make sure to watch the release point.
as of yesterday i can just tell if its too low or a strike. it just clicks after seeing yourself get rung up with a strikeout 12xs a game....lol

i dont really have any 'tips' for seeing balls faster than others.
just imagine yourself as the pitcher and think what they would throw.

what i do for EVERY pitcher is push select and see th pitch speeds.
that lets me know how early to swing. a pitcher with an 87mph fastball = i can actually react at the plate if its something im not expecting.
someone with a 96mph fastball = i gotta sit on a pitch for that batter and wait for the pitch & zone im looking for.

PATIENCE!!!!
start taking strikes if the pitch not in your zone or not the pitch youre looking for.
for example.....if youre looking for a fastball mid thigh outside and the pitch comes on around the belly button inside......LET IT GO.
sure itll be a strike but its not 'your pitch'.
theres nothing wrong with 'taking' a strike and waiting for the next pitch.
after each pitch you need to adjust what youre looking for based on situations & tendencies.
the very next pitch id probaly look for something off-speed and low possibly low & away.

hope this helps for someone. youre not going to smash 18 hits a game now and get 10 runs per game
what will happen is you will be able to play 'small ball' and not rely on the HR to produce runs.

[davewins]

Re: I just can't judge balls/strikes in this game

It's all about patience. If you sit on a pitch/type and/or location and don't get that pitch but see that it's probably going to be a strike the average person is going to swing and make weak contact resulting in an out and at the very least one less pitch used by the pitcher would only helps him out.

You have to realize you are only helping him out by swinging at HIS pitch. You want to swing at YOUR pitch. Even if you have 1 strike if you take strike 2 it doesn't matter. I have walked after going down 0-2 plenty of times on legend difficulty. Just fouling off borderline pitches and being picky will help.

[The Sim God]

Re: I just can't judge balls/strikes in this game

It's all about patience. If you sit on a pitch/type and/or location and don't get that pitch but see that it's probably going to be a strike the average person is going to swing and make weak contact resulting in an out and at the very least one less pitch used by the pitcher would only helps him out.

You have to realize you are only helping him out by swinging at HIS pitch. You want to swing at YOUR pitch. Even if you have 1 strike if you take strike 2 it doesn't matter. I have walked after going down 0-2 plenty of times on legend difficulty. Just fouling off borderline pitches and being picky will help.

at 1st i was swinging at anything that LOOKED like a strike.
in the 9th inning the opposing pitcher would have 40 pitches & 37 of them strikes.

now i wait for my pitch and i usually get the pitcher to about 50-60 pitches by the 5th or 6th inning.

a tired pitcher = hanging off speed pitches.

just be patient and look for a pitch that you are expecting. reacting is good on 2 strike counts but an7ything before that be selective and wait for the pitch you want in the zone your looking for.

[Mbalmer]

Re: I just can't judge balls/strikes in this game

I am having a hard time with hitting too. I started to use the offset camera last night and I think I can judge the low ball better. I have a problem hitting with star players for some reason. (like Hamilton, A-Roid, Albert etc.) I have played with about every team and I always struggle with the stars. Anyone else have this problem?

[Blzer]

Re: I just can't judge balls/strikes in this game

I am having a hard time with hitting too. I started to use the offset camera last night and I think I can judge the low ball better. I have a problem hitting with star players for some reason. (like Hamilton, A-Roid, Albert etc.) I have played with about every team and I always struggle with the stars. Anyone else have this problem?

I normally suck with leadoff hitters. In three Exhibition games with Ichiro I'm hitless (which I think is 0 for 13).

[dmbfan1970]

Re: I just can't judge balls/strikes in this game

I used to have problems with this but I'm all cured in '09. I mostly play online. I use all default settings on HOF. I play legend too if the other person desire's it. After 10 games online I was batting like .187. Since then my average has risen to over .250 and I don't play just anyone or people with bad records. I only play people from OS or people in my leagues.

I've said in another thread before its all about the release point as mentioned by others here. Release point CHANGES from pitcher to pitcher and whether from Windup or Stretch. Once you put your entire focus on the release point and look for the ball and read pitch type you will really learn how to follow the ball all the way thru the strike zone.

Using the L-Stick believe it or not will help you with patience & timing. I actually move the L-stick a fraciton BEFORE hitting 'X' to hit (Many times I will move L-stick to the position and see its going to be a ball therefore I don't hit X button and lay off pitch! This really works for me). I watch release point, recognize pitch type thenanticipate the ball's direction, move the L-stick where I believe it ends up then hit 'X' to swing. This helps me wait on change-ups and curveballs and can still turn on inside fastball. This will take a TON of practice. But rest assured its well worth it. I struggled all last year and 30 plus games this year and now I'm so relaxed at the plate working the count and zoning in on a pitch. Absolutely love the hitting in this game!

If you can't do this then pre-load the L-stick in a zone you think it will end up in and wait for your pitch.

[baseball66]

Re: I just can't judge balls/strikes in this game

It's all about patience. If you sit on a pitch/type and/or location and don't get that pitch but see that it's probably going to be a strike the average person is going to swing and make weak contact resulting in an out and at the very least one less pitch used by the pitcher would only helps him out.

You have to realize you are only helping him out by swinging at HIS pitch. You want to swing at YOUR pitch. Even if you have 1 strike if you take strike 2 it doesn't matter. I have walked after going down 0-2 plenty of times on legend difficulty. Just fouling off borderline pitches and being picky will help.

Dave, which cam do you use for batting?

[davewins]

Re: I just can't judge balls/strikes in this game

Dave, which cam do you use for batting?

catcher cam.

one thing that also helps is watching his arm. It's very hard to explain but last night i hadn't played in a while and I almost forgot my approach at finding the release point.

Then it clicked and I remember to not gaze at any area because then your eyes get fixated and you get the fastball blown by you. you have to watch his delivery and watch him throw the ball. It sounds simple but it's very hard to explain what I mean.

I think next year they should make a couple more hitting cams that are zoomed in even closer showing more detail for the release point. I have no problem not seeing my batter at the plate if it means I can see the ball better out of the pitcher's hand and judge high/low a little better.

[BlyGilmore]

Re: I just can't judge balls/strikes in this game

Its not a problem. It's how pitchers actually pitch in baseball. The average pitcher throws his fastball 59% of the time. Power hitters tend to see less fastballs than the other guys.

Here is a chart showing how often a fastball is thrown based on count as well:

Cnt | FB% | SL% | CB% | CU% |
+------+------+------+------+------+
| 3-0 | 0.84 | 0.05 | 0.03 | 0.08 |
| 3-1 | 0.80 | 0.10 | 0.03 | 0.07 |
| 2-0 | 0.75 | 0.11 | 0.04 | 0.10 |
| 3-2 | 0.66 | 0.17 | 0.08 | 0.09 |
| 1-0 | 0.63 | 0.15 | 0.08 | 0.13 |
| 2-1 | 0.64 | 0.16 | 0.08 | 0.13 |
| 0-0 | 0.63 | 0.15 | 0.12 | 0.09 |
| 1-1 | 0.53 | 0.19 | 0.13 | 0.14 |
| 0-1 | 0.52 | 0.20 | 0.15 | 0.12 |
| 2-2 | 0.51 | 0.21 | 0.16 | 0.12 |
| 1-2 | 0.48 | 0.22 | 0.19 | 0.11 |
| 0-2 | 0.51 | 0.21 | 0.18 | 0.09 |

Other interesting stuff in the article linked below:
What have we learned?

I don't know about you, but I've learned a lot researching this article. I didn't realize the averge fastball was thrown comfortably above 90 mph. I can remember, not all that long ago, when 90 mph was considered throwing hard; now it's below average.

The change-up, despite was you sometimes read, is not the slowest pitch thrown (the curveball is). I read recently a claim that somebody's change-up was 20 mph slower than his fastball—no way! The average difference between fastball and change-up is 9 mph. I haven't checked, but I'm confident that nobody has a 20 mph difference between the two pitches.
Pitchers throw the change-up three times more often when facing an opposite-hand batter, but throw the fastball equally as often, regardless of the handedness of the batter. This is not a good stategy, as you will see when you read my article on platoon splits for different pitch types in the Hardball Times Basebll Annual 2008 (plug!).

Fastballs appear to have the worst BABIP and sliders the best, although a rigorous link between BABIP and pitch type needs more study. A quick look at batted-ball types, though, reveals that a larger proportion of line drives come off rising fastballs.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/ar...l-an-analysis/

The changeup thing is a common misconception - even among guys who make video games. How many baseball video haves have you played where the changeup is almost like a flutter ball?

And the guys changeup might very well be 20 mph slower than his fastball - but that means he's throwing it wrong (basically slowing down his arm speed and not letting the grip of the ball do all the work).

Most changeups are really nothing more than an illusion. For 3/4th of the way to the plate they look like a fastball - if you do it right its the same delivery, same arm motion, same release point, etc. That last 1/4th is when hitters might realize the ball isn't moving as fast and try to do something about it.

[~Guru~]

Re: I just can't judge balls/strikes in this game

I agree with the few that can't believe people lower pitch speed to 0. To me default is just perfect balance. I am starting to rake on legen with pitch speed at default. Last year I had it maxed out. I like to react instead of think. I might raise it to 7. Anything lower then default seems like underhand throws to me atleast. I think most have issues with horrible plate discipline instead of speed pitch. Try and use batting cage to read the pitches

[rudyjuly2]

Re: I just can't judge balls/strikes in this game

I agree with the few that can't believe people lower pitch speed to 0. To me default is just perfect balance. I am starting to rake on legen with pitch speed at default. Last year I had it maxed out. I like to react instead of think. I might raise it to 7. Anything lower then default seems like underhand throws to me atleast. I think most have issues with horrible plate discipline instead of speed pitch. Try and use batting cage to read the pitches

To each his own. I keep pitch speed as low as I could and if they hadn't made it a bit easier this year I wouldn't have bought the game. I got overly frustrated by not being able to judge pitches quickly enough in '08 and I don't like swinging blindly. I simply don't have enough time to judge balls or strikes at the faster speeds and its an issue for many people.

If you like the pitch speed faster, fine. Just like some guys can play on higher difficulty levels while others play on the lower levels. Its all about user preference, not a pissing contest. No need to call out those of us that aren't as good. We all have different skill levels.

[cable guy]

Re: I just can't judge balls/strikes in this game

I simply can not tell balls from strikes this year.

Lowering the CPU pitch control and consistency have worked wonders for me.

I play with guess pitch on so i wait for the right guess or wait till I am up in the count and swing. I get alot more hitters counts now.