The Difference Between Wins & Losses (Tips)

[C_Bailey24]

Re: The Difference Between Wins & Losses (Tips)

I use Pulse Pitching, so I like to work on the breaking balls and get a feel for their movement. Also kind of depends in a ground ball double play situation then yes work the breaking balls or slider to induce that needed ground ball

I use classic pitching and a lot of times its a chore to keep the breaking/offspeed pitches out of the middle of the plate. I always work those but sometimes guys are all over the place even warmups.

[Heroesandvillains]

Re: The Difference Between Wins & Losses (Tips)

I use classic pitching and a lot of times its a chore to keep the breaking/offspeed pitches out of the middle of the plate. I always work those but sometimes guys are all over the place even warmups.

I find warmups to be a very good indication of what he will bring early on. Though, a BAD warmup isn't always reflective of his stuff that day. Though, more often than not...

As far as breaking pitches go, lately I've been mowing hitters down with curves and sliders. Righty to righty, I love painting with the up and away ones for strike three's. And I almost always use a LIGHT tap when trying it.

Otherwise, I generally keep them away or down. I set hitters up with them too like I'm about to play a game of dominos. Change up, followed up by a 12-6. Or cutter, 2-seam, BANG!!! Slider!!!

And every now and again, a front door (inside) offspeed pitch can really tie up a guy.

Light effort mostly, with a hard one very now and again to mess up the hitter's timing.

[BatsareBugs]

Re: The Difference Between Wins & Losses (Tips)

Turn on the warm-up pitchers feature and get that one pitch confidence up by throwing strikes in those 8 warm-up pitches

I always do that.

So, do you guys intentionally hang sliders/curveballs and throw meatballs down the middle? I feel like it's easy to get into a trap and try to focus on the corner/border of the strike zone. I've done well with guys like Joe Wieland and Casey Kelly, both of whom have curveballs but again are around C+/B- overall (basically 5th starters right now) and I get a couple of pop ups. I tend to run into trouble if I always keep my curveball down.

[Heroesandvillains]

Re: The Difference Between Wins & Losses (Tips)

I always do that.

So, do you guys intentionally hang sliders/curveballs and throw meatballs down the middle? I feel like it's easy to get into a trap and try to focus on the corner/border of the strike zone. I've done well with guys like Joe Wieland and Casey Kelly, both of whom have curveballs but again are around C+/B- overall (basically 5th starters right now) and I get a couple of pop ups. I tend to run into trouble if I always keep my curveball down.

I totally agree. Thanks to Iliveforthis, I've learned that only throwing offspeed pitches down is a recipe for disaster.

Regarding meatball pitches, I use Classic and will throw cookies on 3-0 or when a walk is absolutely not an option.

[C_Bailey24]

Re: The Difference Between Wins & Losses (Tips)

I find warmups to be a very good indication of what he will bring early on. Though, a BAD warmup isn't always reflective of his stuff that day. Though, more often than not...

As far as breaking pitches go, lately I've been mowing hitters down with curves and sliders. Righty to righty, I love painting with the up and away ones for strike three's. And I almost always use a LIGHT tap when trying it.

Otherwise, I generally keep them away or down. I set hitters up with them too like I'm about to play a game of dominos. Change up, followed up by a 12-6. Or cutter, 2-seam, BANG!!! Slider!!!

And every now and again, a front door (inside) offspeed pitch can really tie up a guy.

Light effort mostly, with a hard one very now and again to mess up the hitter's timing.

Curves and sliders are my nemesis. I'll aim away or low but as soon as the pitcher lets the ball go i get that "oh no" feeling because its cruising right down the wheelhouse to get hammered. So with breaking/offspeed pitches a LIGHT tap gives better control and a harder one gives more break/movement and less control?

[Heroesandvillains]

Re: The Difference Between Wins & Losses (Tips)

Curves and sliders are my nemesis. I'll aim away or low but as soon as the pitcher lets the ball go i get that "oh no" feeling because its cruising right down the wheelhouse to get hammered. So with breaking/offspeed pitches a LIGHT tap gives better control and a harder one gives more break/movement and less control?

Exactly.

Also, if you only ever throw them down, you may as well forget using them. They are SO INCREDIBLY ineffective if you only throw them low.

Think about how the CPU pitches you. Last night, it was crazy! Dude kept throwing me inside curves (righty pitcher, lefty hitter). Then all of a sudden, high and tight slider! Got me EVERY TIME!!!

Notice how many hangers they throw you. And where they throw their sliders and curves to you. Why do they do this??? Because it works!!! Do the same thing to them. Why??? Because it works!!! LOL!

[pokerplaya]

Re: The Difference Between Wins & Losses (Tips)

Exactly.

Also, if you only ever throw them down, you may as well forget using them. They are SO INCREDIBLY ineffective if you only throw them low.

Think about how the CPU pitches you. Last night, it was crazy! Dude kept throwing me inside curves (righty pitcher, lefty hitter). Then all of a sudden, high and tight slider! Got me EVERY TIME!!!

Notice how many hangers they throw you. And where they throw their sliders and curves to you. Why do they do this??? Because it works!!! Do the same thing to them. Why??? Because it works!!! LOL!

I agree fully. The best way to get blasted is to never vary it up. Also, you'll get less strikeouts because the CPU will easily pick up on your patterns and never swing at your junk...

[C_Bailey24]

Re: The Difference Between Wins & Losses (Tips)

Exactly.

Also, if you only ever throw them down, you may as well forget using them. They are SO INCREDIBLY ineffective if you only throw them low.

Think about how the CPU pitches you. Last night, it was crazy! Dude kept throwing me inside curves (righty pitcher, lefty hitter). Then all of a sudden, high and tight slider! Got me EVERY TIME!!!

Notice how many hangers they throw you. And where they throw their sliders and curves to you. Why do they do this??? Because it works!!! Do the same thing to them. Why??? Because it works!!! LOL!

I used to throw them low all the time until i figured out exactly what you're saying as far as the cpu picking up on it. I usually throw away with curves and sliders. When i try to lock them up inside is when i get the hangers and meatballs but i also wasn't light tapping. I usually hold a little longer on the breaking stuff. I'll try tapping.

[Chairman7w]

Re: The Difference Between Wins & Losses (Tips)

These are great (esp. number 6) - excellent post.

As MLB The Show players, we all go through our hot and cold steaks. This year, however, SCEA has brought the competitiveness to a new plane. Simply put; this game is hard.

First, I'd like to make some points about how I play. I have NOT 'slidered' this game to death. I'm virtually playing on Default HOF (Timing Only/Meter) with CPU consistency and strike frequency dropped one click. Minus the errors sliders and stolen base sliders (pitch speed and injuries as well), I play with the rest 5.

Currently, I'm franchising with SF. Previously, the NYY. Apart from my recent skidding (bringing my Giants team ERA to 4.50), my stats over the course of 11' have been scary realistic. As a whole (probably 100+ games), my team batting average is around .260, my ERA is around 4.00 (LOWER than my average runs per game! LOL), my extra base hits, walks, walks allowed, HR's allowed...etc, etc...are all acceptable.

I'm just the king of losing.

With all this said, I'm hoping to compile a list of tips to help with users that actually want to make the playoffs. Here are some things I've learned over the years:

1. Warm up multiple relievers at the same time from the 6th inning forward. Things can unravel in a hurry...even when your starter is rolling.

2. Know when to call it a day for your starting pitcher. If he's at 105 pitches...even if he's cruising...padding stats is not always the best alternative if you have a reliable relief pitcher ready and loose. Granted, this is a hard tip for me to follow...not taking out my starter has cost me SEVERAL victories.

3. Don't forget about small ball, even in the AL. Relying on the big inning can be devastating. Stolen bases, sacrafice bunts, and hit and runs WILL lead to runs. Sometimes, you need to play your chips conservatively...one or two runs in an innings definitely isn't as sexy as putting up a big seven-spot, but if you want to win, you need to know when capitalize on chances to push ANY runs across the plate.

4. Pinch runners and defensive substitutions. Pat Burrell's LF glove and slow as molasses *** has cost me more game than I care to admit. His OBP is through the roof for me...so I HATE taking him out of games...but do what needs to be done. The CPU is deadly from the 7th inning on. Don't forget to narrow down your squad in the innings that matter. Trade the bat for defense and speed. Remember Dave Robert's steal?

5. If you need a win, remember your closer. Time and time again I've lost games in the 9th with a 4+ run lead...only to blow it and not have enough time or mound visits to get my stud up and loose.

6. If you're in a bind on the mound, don't even think about trying to trick the CPU with an ineffective, low-confidence, pitch. With this, don't get beat on your 4 and 5 pitches. If the CPU's going to win, at least know that they man-handled your bread and butter. Nothing's worse than asking yourself, "Why the heck did I throw that?!?!??" Keep your 1-3 pitch's confidence up.

7. Carry a long reliever on your 25 man. Sometimes, you're just gonna lose. Make sure you don't ware out your entire bullpen in the process. You still want to win tomorrow.

Does anyone have any more to add? What do you do when your chips are down?

[BatsareBugs]

Re: The Difference Between Wins & Losses (Tips)

Casey Kelly for my team already has three complete game shutouts and has been on a hot streak. For a C overall pitcher he's certainly done well, but his last outing (against the Oakland A's) reminded me that he's a C overall pitcher.

In the first inning Kelly ended up giving up four runs, including a three-run home run to former Padre Nick Hundley of all people. The A's were just hitting rockets all over the place and fortunately I got the last two outs on strikeouts. I was able to get Kelly to settle until the fifth where he gave up a 430 foot bomb to Yoenis Cespedes. He ended up only going five innings, allowing 8 hits, walking 3, and striking out 7.

My ballclub managed to tie the game in the seventh and it was tied until the bottom of the ninth, when Ernesto Frieri (in his second inning of work, mind you, take note of that) gave up a walk-off two-run home run to... Nick Hundley.

I wasn't bummed by the outcome and I actually liked that a former Padre decided to "stick-it-to-me" for trading him during the offseason, but while I wanted to try to preserve part of my pen since Kelly only went five innings and I had already used Boxberger and Fuentes (had Javier Lopez, Koji Uehara (Closer), and Grant Balfour (average so far, former closer), I wanted to see if my second best reliever, Frieri, would have been able to pull through for me. That's a gamble I took that didn't pay off this game.

[derelictojama]

Re: The Difference Between Wins & Losses (Tips)

Had a game recently that easily could have sent me off on a 'game cheats' rant if I went that way, but it turned into a situation relevant to this thread: so something crazy, wacky, weird, inexplicable just happened, how do you handle it?

In my case (I'll be specific where I can, general where I forget details), leading 5-1 in the bottom of the 5th inning, starter doing well, but gives up a couple of hits, runners on 1st and 3rd, 1 out, batter pops the ball up--one of those weird, half swing pop ups that are wonky anyway--and the third baseman-David Wright- starts to move into position to catch it... and then just stops, watches it bounce in front of him, bounce OVER HIS HEAD, as Castro madly races directly behind Wright to field the ball and throw to 2nd, too late, run scores, everybody safe. I screamed a few things, looked at the replay several times, made an xmb movie of it, fully planning on posting it in the bugs thread... and then I realized, I'm still up 5-2, no big deal, assume Wright "lost it in the lights," whatever, move on.

So, runners 1st and 2nd, 1 out, next guy makes an out (popup?), and I'm feeling good. But then my starter can't find the strike zone, and I mean, can't find it by inches--really meaning, out of nowhere the umpire starts squeezing me unmercifully. 2 pitches, fully in the strike zone on the charts and the replays, are called balls. Again, I watch replays, yell at the ump, get all frustrated, go 3-2 on the batter... and get a hard ground ball, right to David Wright! Yay, I'm out of it... except Wright (that is, I--I use auto field but I make the throws) throws to second for the force, which would be the right play, EXCEPT IT WAS 3-2, 2 OUTS AND THE RUNNERS WERE GOING. So Wright's perfect peg to 2nd gets there with the runner casually standing on 2nd, and before I can even think of throwing to 1st, it's over, bases loaded, not out of the inning, and I am steaming, because now I just frakked up, let the crap get to me, and made a simple mental error, extending the inning.

No prob. Still 5-2, one more out and I'm good. I get someone up in the pen just in case, but I really think I'm good, just one more out. But the ump ain't done squeezing, and I go 3-2 again, and just have to throw a strike--bases loaded, 2 outs--and it's gone. Long gone. Not even a bad pitch, low 2 seam fastball to one of the corners (forget which), but in the strike zone, so legitimately hittable. I am now down 6-5 and about to rage quit, and go outside and break some stuff. But I am an adult, and a baseball vet, and I know that as bad as one inning can be, once it's over, anything can happen in the next inning. I get the final out.

My starter's done, I go to the pen, they hold up, but I can't hit--and let me tell you, CPU pitchers are NOT getting squeezed. Finally get to the 8th, and I do my Cubs-need-a-run desperation move: pitcher leading off, I pinch hit Campana (against a lefty), bunt with him, get him on first, sac him to 2nd with Castro. Brett Jackson, hitting 2nd, gets down 0-2, I foul off a couple... then single up the middle. Game tied, runner on 1st, 1 out. Next batter (Sizemore?), work a walk. David Wright comes up. I haven't had much luck hitting with Wright; a few hits here and there, one double, but in about 20 abs with him, no hrs so far. So I figure, normal swing, let's stay out of the dp and at least try to get a single. Work the count, get it to 2-0 or 3-1 (patience, derelict), and get a hanger of some sort--change I think--and it is long, long, long gone, 440 some feet, with a normal swing. Waveland ave or whatever. Bring in the closer, win 9-6.

The difference between winning and losing, in this case, was not giving in to the temptation to get mad at the video game, but treating it like a real-life situation: some weird stuff happened, causing some fluke events; I got flustered, and made a couple of mistakes; as I got flustered, the ump's strike zone tightened up on me, making me even more flustered; I gave up a grand slam, the one thing that will make me rage quit, but I resisted; and I held my crap together and talked, thought, strategized, and worked around it. If I had lost the game, I would probably have been really, really pissed; but since I won, I take it as proof that even if the game were to "cheat"--which I don't think it does, weird stuff just happens, some legit glitches/bugs, some just random stuff--you'd still be faced with the question, great, so now what? Quit the game entirely, I suppose would be a possibility, but I love this game. So I just view that glitch/bug, whatever, and that sequence of events, as just another set of challenges that make up the difference between winning and losing. In this case, I kept my cool, applied my knowledge and played the game the right way, and I won despite some crazy stuff. (Whole game was crazy by the way, multiple errors and wild pitches and such; makes me think, as someone said somewhere, some games seem like there's a dice roll behind them that determines this will be THE game where all kinds of weird stuff happens, but that's leaning back toward conspiracy theories, so I'll leave it at that).

[Heroesandvillains]

Re: The Difference Between Wins & Losses (Tips)

I think I'm gonna have to read through this thread again.

Argh!!!!!

Every game over the last few weeks I seem to have an inning where I get absolutely...

Lit. Up.

[PsychoBulk]

Re: The Difference Between Wins & Losses (Tips)

Always worth revisiting the many great tips in this thread.

[davis420]

Re: The Difference Between Wins & Losses (Tips)

This thread could be 10 years old and all this information is still useful today!

[fatheifer]

Re: The Difference Between Wins & Losses (Tips)

After reading the highlighted part about execution it also reminded me to say this, when you are in tight spots SLOW DOWN! Don't keep hitting the X too move through the scenes and get in the box/on the mound right away, all it does is make your patience go out the window. Let the game move at a slower pace and I bet you'll find yourself much more patient in those high stress situations.

This is absolutely true, and an excellent point. If you find yourself chasing pitches out of the zone, or not focusing well on hitting or pitching, just watch some cutscenes. Literally take a breather, and focus on what you want to do.