To use the L stick or not.

[Jays4life]

Re: To use the L stick or not.

timing is something i lack of. any tips on timing?

What I try to do is just wait for a fastball right down the middle. Another thing you can do is learn each pitch the pitcher throws(for example learn the speeds of each pitch and the movement)

[chuckm1961]

What I try to do is just wait for a fastball right down the middle. Another thing you can do is learn each pitch the pitcher throws(for example learn the speeds of each pitch and the movement)

Except "waiting for a FB down the middle" is only going to work, generally, with crappy pitchers who can't spot pitches on corners.

[eyeamg0dly]

Re: To use the L stick or not.

Except "waiting for a FB down the middle" is only going to work, generally, with crappy pitchers who can't spot pitches on corners.

it has nothing to do if they are crappy or not. its all about their pitch confidence and the count. if you drive their 4sfb confidence down then work the count to 3 balls, then expect one right down the middle or completely off the plate.

[chuckm1961]

Re: To use the L stick or not.

Ah, I see. So whether a pitcher throws lots of four-seamers down the middle has "nothing" to do with their ability as a pitcher. It only depends on the count and their confidence rating.

Logic is lacking, sorry.

According to that argument, there would be no reason to have ratings in the game for the Accuracy or Break of every pitch. I guess in your world, there is only a Speed Rating for pitches, and the rest is determined by some random consideration of the pitch count and the pitcher confidence.

Each pitch of each pitcher is rated for Speed, Accuracy and Break. Are you saying those Accuracy and Break numbers play NO ROLE AT ALL in the result of a pitch? An odd argument.....

[withauthority22]

Re: To use the L stick or not.

if you can do it, it helps yeah

[eyeamg0dly]

Re: To use the L stick or not.

Ah, I see. So whether a pitcher throws lots of four-seamers down the middle has "nothing" to do with their ability as a pitcher. It only depends on the count and their confidence rating.

Logic is lacking, sorry.

According to that argument, there would be no reason to have ratings in the game for the Accuracy or Break of every pitch. I guess in your world, there is only a Speed Rating for pitches, and the rest is determined by some random consideration of the pitch count and the pitcher confidence.

Each pitch of each pitcher is rated for Speed, Accuracy and Break. Are you saying those Accuracy and Break numbers play NO ROLE AT ALL in the result of a pitch? An odd argument.....

if by accuracy you must mean control. when a pitcher has less confidence in his pitch, he will miss his spots and lose his control on that pitch. it makes it more difficult to hit where you are aiming. go ahead and try it, go into a game and throw every single fast ball out of the zone till your pitch confidence is low. then start trying to aim and see how accurate you are at hitting those spots. this does not mean you will miss every single time, but you will notice that your accuracy isnt going to be what it is normally when you have high or normal pitch confidence.

[chuckm1961]

Re: To use the L stick or not.

Goodness gracious, OF COURSE pitch confidence matters. Agreed. That is beyond obvious.

What I'm disputing is the fact that you argued with my point that a "crappy pitcher" is likely to throw more fastballs down the middle than a non-crappy pitcher. Which, again, I thought was obvious and beyond argument.

Whatever.

ANd getting back to the point of this thread, yes of course you can get hits without moving the left stick. It's just more likely you're going to make solid contact (without moving the left stick) when a fastball is in the middle of the plate (hence right in the middle of your PCI) than when a fastball is off the center of the plate. And thus, unless anyone can explain to me why this is not logical and part of the programming of the game, moving the left stick is going to result in better hitting overall if you can do it well. If you can't move the left stick well, I guess you're better off not using it.

[richinspirit]

Re: To use the L stick or not.

It has to be said, I can't use the left stick for love nor money! I started using it when I first played but found I couldn't hit pitches up in the zone, I would always flick down, I don't know why, I was always fine doing it on the last game I played! But I saw psycho saying he was a swing only guy in his slider topic, and have been swing only since! I agree, on HOF, there are an annoying amount of clutch DPs, but I put that down to pitchers allowing two 0-out singles and then painting low corners for the next three batters, even if I put the pci down there, and influence up I still ground out...so I'm sticking with my seing only approach...at least until next year! ;-)

[Jgainsey]

Re: To use the L stick or not.

ANd getting back to the point of this thread, yes of course you can get hits without moving the left stick. It's just more likely you're going to make solid contact (without moving the left stick) when a fastball is in the middle of the plate (hence right in the middle of your PCI) than when a fastball is off the center of the plate. And thus, unless anyone can explain to me why this is not logical and part of the programming of the game, moving the left stick is going to result in better hitting overall if you can do it well. If you can't move the left stick well, I guess you're better off not using it.

That would make sense to me.

I didn't give the left stick much of a chance last year, because even on HOF the hitting in 08 was just too easy. But this year I started practicing using the left stick when the demo came out, and after the first few weeks with the game I was pretty good at controlling the pci.

IMO, it's just more fun to hit with the left stick. At least it is if your half way decent with it. Using it adds much more interaction and challenge for the user. Also, when you get to the higher difficulty levels (HOF, Legend) I would think that more accurate pci location in conjuction with good timing would be the key to successful hitting.

I had a good time playing 08 with out the left stick, but now that I'm using it there is no way I could go back to a swing only game.

[DodgerFanatic2K3]

Re: To use the L stick or not.

I just wish I wasn't so jerky with the PCI

I have been trying to use it with pitch speed at zero to get the hang of it and I have become more patient but I still can't place the PCI on the ball to save my life... especially on pitches up in the zone

[richinspirit]

Re: To use the L stick or not.

I just wish I wasn't so jerky with the PCI

I have been trying to use it with pitch speed at zero to get the hang of it and I have become more patient but I still can't place the PCI on the ball to save my life... especially on pitches up in the zone

couldn't agree with you more! that was when i gave up on using L, cos they're the bona fide HR balls, and if you can't hit 'em, what are the chances!

[Fetrey]

Re: To use the L stick or not.

If you play on Legend like I do, you need to use the L stick. I set my PCI where I think the ball will go. If I'm wrong, I try not to swing. If I'm right, I swing. However, this notion that all that's required is timing and the X button is ridiculous. Maybe it works on Veteran with easy sliders. Try facing Josh Beckett or Roy Halladay on Legend and then we'll talk. Until then, I consider the idea of "no L stick" as a strategy of people who gave up trying to be good at the game. They tried the higher difficulties, freaked out, and now have to play on easy, watered down sliders that allow them to have success at being mediocre. Basically the equivalent of auto-hitting.

QUICK GAMER TIP: To the people who jerk the PCI towards the ball as it comes in, that's not how you're supposed to do it. You're supposed to pick a zone with the PCI and sit on anything in that zone. Unless you have 2 strikes on you, the goal isn't to simply make contact....it's to make the BEST POSSIBLE contact.

[chuckm1961]

Re: To use the L stick or not.

Huh, I have been "jerking the stick" for two years.

Maybe this is my problem.

Pick a zone, move the stick there and look for a pitch in that zone...... I shall have to try that!

[game dawg]

Re: To use the L stick or not.

I use the L-Stick and timing in tandem. What I mean is I always attempt to use the L-Stick, but timing will always take precedence regarding when I swing. It's kinda of a race between my left thumb and my right thumb, where my right thumb says to my left thumb "I hope you make it to ball before I swing, because I'm swinging whether you're there or not... dude!". So, if lefty does make it there in time -- great, I'll probably make at least good contact. If lefty is late -- no problem, my timing is still good and I'll probably make at least decent contact. Of course all of this depends heavily upon picking the right count and right pitch to swing at. I don't have any concrete stats to tell whether or not this method is productive, it's just a mental approach I like to use.

[chuckm1961]

Re: To use the L stick or not.

I noticed a problem after checking my PCI using L3 after the swing (I have PCI off during the swing).

I noticed that the PCI is sometimes/often NOT where I thought it was. Evidently, I move the left stick to the zone, but then I don't HOLD the stick there long enough.

Either that, or I'm not getting the stick INTO the zone fast enough.