Extremely Low BABIP

[chuckm1961]

Re: Extremely Low BABIP

I didn't bash guess pitch. When I first started playing the MLB series I used guess pitch almost all the time. As I have gotten more experienced with the game, I don't really use it. I still use "guess pitch" when I am batting. Early in the count I am looking for hard stuff, when I fall behind 0-2, 1-2 I start to look for off-speed pitches low in the zone. In those counts when the CPU throws hard stuff I can react to it and at least foul it off sometime, but I go down swinging a lot, but when I am up in the count 2-0, 3-0, 3-1 and I can either sit on a pitch or a location or both, I feel like I can really square the ball up, and not using guess pitch in those situations means that even if I am fooled, I won't suffer huge penalties that would take an otherwise good swing and result in poor contact. If I am sitting on a fastball in a 3-1 count for example and I get an change up, I will probably be out in front of the ball, but I still have a chance to lace it down the line. If I am using guess pitch and I guess fastball and it is off-speed the penalty will further reduce my contact and that same ball could be rolled over to the 3rd baseman, of popped into foul territory. Which is why I said to try to ween your self off it. Use it first time through to try to pick up pitch pattern, then the second time through try not to use it.

If the developers wanted GP-ers to use it only sparingly, would not it have been nice/intelligent for them to state this somewhere?

I think the GP fans ASSUME that they can play with it on, and get good results. I think that is a reasonable assumption.

But I think guessing fastball on every pitch is not wise, and not what the developers intended. That seems reasonable.

If we are supposed to "wean ourselves off it," wouldn't you be essentially saying that it is a broken feature?

[N51_rob]

Re: Extremely Low BABIP

If the developers wanted GP-ers to use it only sparingly, would not it have been nice/intelligent for them to state this somewhere?

I think the GP fans ASSUME that they can play with it on, and get good results. I think that is a reasonable assumption.

But I think guessing fastball on every pitch is not wise, and not what the developers intended. That seems reasonable.

If we are supposed to "wean ourselves off it," wouldn't you be essentially saying that it is a broken feature?

You are reading way to much into what I am saying. I haven't said one negative thing about guess pitch. I have stated what I know about the feature. If you guess wrong you are penalized, if you guess right you get a bonus. The OP to which I was responding stated that he guesses fastball everytime, I simply stated my Opinion on how he could improve his BABIP. You have come in here and assumed that everyone who says not to use guess pitch is bad mouthing the feature. Now you are trying to put words in my mouth saying I am calling the feature broken?!?! I never said that or anything close to that.

I'm done, I have given my opinion on how the OP could improve his BABIP. I will leave it at that.

[timmuh1515]

Re: Extremely Low BABIP

I could be completely wrong...but guess pitch to me should only be used occasionally.

I'm not a great hitter by any means...but the only time i use guess pitch is when the count is 0-0 and i only plan on swinging at a fastball down the middle...

or when i'm ahead in the count 2-0 or 3-1...again looking for some extra advantage on a fastball.

It isn't a gimmick...but i do not think the intention was to use it on every pitch.

[chuckm1961]

Re: Extremely Low BABIP

You are reading way to much into what I am saying. I haven't said one negative thing about guess pitch. I have stated what I know about the feature. If you guess wrong you are penalized, if you guess right you get a bonus. The OP to which I was responding stated that he guesses fastball everytime, I simply stated my Opinion on how he could improve his BABIP. You have come in here and assumed that everyone who says not to use guess pitch is bad mouthing the feature. Now you are trying to put words in my mouth saying I am calling the feature broken?!?! I never said that or anything close to that.

I'm done, I have given my opinion on how the OP could improve his BABIP. I will leave it at that.

Hmm, mighty touchy. Sorry if I offended.

The common definition of "weaning" is to reduce usage, with the ultimate goal of stopping altogether. I was taking your own words to have their common meaning.

We agree that guessing fastball every time is not a good idea. I claim that Guess Pitch should be programmed so that a reasonable number of wrong guesses will still result in the same overall batting average as the person who does not use Guess Pitch.

If I am a bit touchy, it is because I have been talking Guess Pitch for five years on these forums, and inevitably someone (usually several someones) will enter the fray to announce that all who use GP are pathetic losers who need to stop immediately. See, for a milder example, DCE21B above, who advises the OP to stop using GP.

..... back to the original topic...... I still think the game does not properly balance Guess Pitch. Those of us who use GP with discretion all have the same story: no runs, all solid hits are right at someone, only runs come from homers. I have played 20 games, and I can remember about two singles that cleared the infield and landed in front of an outfielder. Almost every single is an IF grounder.

[mmorg]

Re: Extremely Low BABIP

The problem with using guess pitch is that when someone uses it like the OP does it is being used as a crutch. When you use it because you know that a guy is going to throw a Slider up in the zone on 2-2 it becomes a weapon. I prefer to use weapons in a fight instead of leaning on crutches, don't you?

[Perfect Zero]

Re: Extremely Low BABIP

I'm not a player that uses guess pitch, but I feel that my BABIP isn't doing too well either. Maybe it's the new physics, but it seems that a lot of my swings that used to produce hits are now being speared by the infielders or being tracked down way too fast. I turned down fielder reaction and speed, and increased hitter contact by one, but it's just not there yet.

[chuckm1961]

Re: Extremely Low BABIP

The problem with using guess pitch is that when someone uses it like the OP does it is being used as a crutch. When you use it because you know that a guy is going to throw a Slider up in the zone on 2-2 it becomes a weapon. I prefer to use weapons in a fight instead of leaning on crutches, don't you?

I agree that GP can become a crutch.

I agree that it is better to use GP as a weapon.

I wish I could agree with you that I "know that a guy is going to throw a slider up in the zone on 2-2." But I am not psychic! There are only tendencies.

Clarification .... I believe it is confirmed that our guesses affect what the pitcher does. Can anyone confirm or deny? IOW, if you guess fastball all day, the pitcher will start throwing something else more often.

[mmorg]

Re: Extremely Low BABIP

It is confirmed. The AI knows, just like you do, when you are successful and unsuccessful at guessing the pitch and it will adjust depending on how you are guessing.

[NateAndStuff]

Re: Extremely Low BABIP

I used to use GP every pitch. Then I'd get on the forums and see people talking about not using GP and having good results. I didn't believe them but thought I'd give it a try any way just to see what all of the fuss was about. It's been about a week now, and I have become a way better hitter. I don't use GP at all anymore and I can't see myself using it ever again.

[N51_rob]

Re: Extremely Low BABIP

I'm not a player that uses guess pitch, but I feel that my BABIP isn't doing too well either. Maybe it's the new physics, but it seems that a lot of my swings that used to produce hits are now being speared by the infielders or being tracked down way too fast. I turned down fielder reaction and speed, and increased hitter contact by one, but it's just not there yet.

I just figured out what my BABIP is for my Nats test franchise. My team BA is .219 through 29 games. Which is horrible, but that is due largely to the 348 strikeouts I have. I just figured out my BABIP, and it surprised me that it is actually .294, which is a realistic range. If I can figure out a way to cut down on all the Ks I might be able to get that team BA up to a reasonable place.

[Tdgsport27]

Re: Extremely Low BABIP

I only use guess pitch in a low ball situation. Double play situation down 0-2 things of that nature. So I'd have to completely agree with everyone who says beware of getting to comfortable with GP.
And it might just be me but in my Mets dynasty I'll have games when I have five team hits and some games when i have 16. I think it just varies on match ups. If you can work the count maybe you can get their pen active creating different match ups for your line up.

[zpq12]

I'm confused, I'm guessing fastball, getting fastball and hitting it well. The solution is stop guessing fastball? Makes no sense to me.

It does work as intended. If you guess wrong you should get penalized. He is getting penalized as such because the AI will adjust to the fact that he is only guessing Fastball and they will stop throwing the Fastball so every pitch from then on will receive the hitting penalty. The mechanic works great if you use it properly such as using it sparingly or if the pitcher is throwing the same pitch over and over again.

I think this post (not to single you out, I do appreciate the repies) is representative of the misconception about my initial post.

Let me be clear, I am not having trouble with guessing fastball and getting bunch of junk thrown to me. I am guessing fastball and hitting fastball, with solid contact - with no offensive success.

[pdawg17]

Re: Extremely Low BABIP

I'm confused, I'm guessing fastball, getting fastball and hitting it well. The solution is stop guessing fastball? Makes no sense to me.

What I do is turn off guess pitch...then guess fastball and hit the fastball...if it is not a fastball or not in the zone I am guessing (I use zone hitting) then I don't swing...if I have 2 strikes then I guess but react as needed...

[jimmyl008]

Re: Extremely Low BABIP

Let me be clear, I am not having trouble with guessing fastball and getting bunch of junk thrown to me. I am guessing fastball and hitting fastball, with solid contact - with no offensive success.

I've been having the same problem, incidentally. Even when guessing correctly on a fastball up in the zone, the best I can do is a weak grounder straight to an infielder. Like some others, I only guess the pitch on certain counts (0-0, x-2) yet it seems like everything I make contact with is a grounder or popup directly to a fielder. Very frustrating.

[Bobhead]

Re: Extremely Low BABIP

What hitting control thingy are you using? (Zone, Timing, etc...) If I had to guess, it sounds like you are using Timing or Pure Analog, but this is definitely important information for myself and others to be able to help you.

What difficulty are you playing on?