FenwayMac Variety Hitting and Scoring Sliders

[FenwayMac]

Re: FenwayMac Variety Hitting and Scoring Sliders

I want to say a huge thank you for those that have chosen to try out the FenwayMac slider set. The sliders have been well-received in the vault, and makes me happy to know that many of you are enjoying the results and feel from the sliders. Thank you again.

I think they can still be better. The pitching is still a work in progress and I am hoping for some feedback from y'all on what you have seen so far. The first question is are you using the pitching sliders on HOF or All-Star? Second question is how are your pitching strikeouts and walks going?

I personally am using HOF. My experience has been pretty positive, sprinkled with some cheese occasionally., while I can muster up some K's per game, I would say I am a raging at least four less than on All-Star. My walks have increased due to the need to nibble or pay the price, so this is good.

Since turning down the timing to 3, I have found computer magical rallies have been reduced and BA is still fairly stable. My goal is to add K's without making the computer anemic at hitting. I am nearing the 10-game mark with timing at three and will report back soon.

By the way, in regards to those computer rallies where they seem to hit everything regardless of location, I do a couple of things that may work or may just be placibo effect.

Firstly, if the CPU is gaining momentum, I tend to go out to the mound. Goal being to break up whatever the CPU is cooking.

Secondly, and possible more controversial or just wrong, I NEVER follow catcher suggestions. I pitch my own game. My reasoning behind this is being unpredictable, and of the CPU is telling me to pitch to the CPU in a certain location, I am basically feeding it what it expects to see, and potentially serving up more damage on a platter. I really don't know if the quality of the catcher affects the called pitches and maybe I SHOULD follow the suggestions, but I do not. How about you guys?

[CoachModer]

Re: FenwayMac Variety Hitting and Scoring Sliders

Fenway here are some preliminary stats from my end of season findings that you wanted. My slider page is listed as True Game MLB Sliders


Wanted to report my end of regular season findings:

Finished 90-72 won the AL East by 2 games over Toronto. Had an end of season collapse going 1-9 over my last ten including losing 2 of 3 to Toronto. Thankfully they went on a losing streak as well. Now on to the ALDS vs Oakland.

Some interesting findings to say the least. I took some statistical data from 2000, 2008, and 2015. And the slider set appears to be in line with statistical data. Need to work on my batting though and a little extra run production for the sliders. Overall I am very satisfied applying the modifiers, because like I mentioned it adds some variety to the season and in the end things will balance out.

Numbers represent lowest in the league to highest in the league for that year.


My Oriole Team and individual stats are all within these numbers. Orioles finished second behind Toronto in total home runs with 222 with Chris Davis having 39 total Home Runs.
Orioles batting average and hits are on the lower end and I noticed that when I drew the Solid Hit (-1) card that was basically a death card, because on Solid Hits of (3) I only averaged 3-4 hits per game. I have made one end of season modification that I will put in to place and that is to remove that card from the modifier for both the CPU and Human sliders. SH of (4) is the lowest it will be, it will only receive at max a +1 Modifier for a slider mod of (5). May reduce the number of negative power cards as well just to add a little spark and balance out the Human Hitting Sliders. CPU hitting appears to be on point and realistic. Will look more in to this at the end of season and maybe look at some of the data in general to make sure this is right. But looking at my averages and statistical numbers I couldn't be more satisfied at this point.
More to follow and will give Playoff updates:


AL Wild Card Toronto 6 New York 5 in 14 Innings


ALDS Baltimore vs. Oakland
ALDS Cleveland vs. Toronto (Cleveland had 102 wins best in the Majors)


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[FenwayMac]

Re: FenwayMac Variety Hitting and Scoring Sliders

Fenway here are some preliminary stats from my end of season findings that you wanted. My slider page is listed as True Game MLB Sliders


Wanted to report my end of regular season findings:

Finished 90-72 won the AL East by 2 games over Toronto. Had an end of season collapse going 1-9 over my last ten including losing 2 of 3 to Toronto. Thankfully they went on a losing streak as well. Now on to the ALDS vs Oakland.

Some interesting findings to say the least. I took some statistical data from 2000, 2008, and 2015. And the slider set appears to be in line with statistical data. Need to work on my batting though and a little extra run production for the sliders. Overall I am very satisfied applying the modifiers, because like I mentioned it adds some variety to the season and in the end things will balance out.

Numbers represent lowest in the league to highest in the league for that year.


My Oriole Team and individual stats are all within these numbers. Orioles finished second behind Toronto in total home runs with 222 with Chris Davis having 39 total Home Runs.
Orioles batting average and hits are on the lower end and I noticed that when I drew the Solid Hit (-1) card that was basically a death card, because on Solid Hits of (3) I only averaged 3-4 hits per game. I have made one end of season modification that I will put in to place and that is to remove that card from the modifier for both the CPU and Human sliders. SH of (4) is the lowest it will be, it will only receive at max a +1 Modifier for a slider mod of (5). May reduce the number of negative power cards as well just to add a little spark and balance out the Human Hitting Sliders. CPU hitting appears to be on point and realistic. Will look more in to this at the end of season and maybe look at some of the data in general to make sure this is right. But looking at my averages and statistical numbers I couldn't be more satisfied at this point.
More to follow and will give Playoff updates:


AL Wild Card Toronto 6 New York 5 in 14 Innings


ALDS Baltimore vs. Oakland
ALDS Cleveland vs. Toronto (Cleveland had 102 wins best in the Majors)


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<fieldset class="fieldset"><legend>Attached Images</legend>
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Hey, thanks for the data on your slider sets! Those are very interesting sliders you certainly have a creative system to add enjoyment to your playing experience, which is the important part. I will do my best offer some feedback, but understand that my the idea behind my sliders are based on consistent settings and large sample sizes, so take my feedback with a grain of salt. Let's chat about this over PM or at your thread. I am moving my feedback there!

[CoachModer]

Re: FenwayMac Variety Hitting and Scoring Sliders

Fenway I see what you are on to with the percentages. Here are my numbers:

789 singles = 63% (your averages 61-65%)
223 doubles = 18% (your averages 18-24%)
26 triples = 2% (your averages 2-3%)
223 HR = 18% (yours 11-15%)

I also researched this from this years actual team I compared Bmore (who I am), Toronto (Power team), and Boston (hitting well).

B-more stats
644 S = 64%
196 2 = 19%
3 3 = >1%
170 HR = 17%

Toronto
591 S = 61%
198 2 = 20%
17 3 = 2%
HR 162 = 17%

Boston
703 S = 63%
252 2 = 23%
22 3 = 2%
139 HR = 12%

I imagine I am in the ball park based on your data and the actual comparison to current MLB data from these three teams which backs up your findings.

I believe I am taking out the minus modifier for Solid Hits which has been a killer and any thing less than 4 is terrible for hitting. I am my own worst enemy too. I play quick counts which could attribute to my low BA and I need to be more patient.

I like quick counts because it adds a little drama, when you come to the plate with a count in hand. My BB numbers were 524 allowed 17th in the league. The MLB average in 2015 was 469 with high being 579 and the low being 364. May work with the control here and to answer your question about what the CPU hit against me the first half of the season they hit .255 and the second half .277 for a season average of .264; the MLB average in 2015 was .254 so I am riding a little high averaging giving up 9.1 hits per game. The high in 2015 was .283 and the low was .233. You could say I am in there I guess.

I pitched 1183 K's (27 in my league) the MLB 2015 average was 1248, B-More had 1233. I would have ranked 20th last year. Now I do take in to consideration that I have B-More and they have no big K pitcher for the most part. Gausman had 214, followed by Tillman 167, and Jimenez 114 who was also sent to the bullpen.

I plan to bring up the Pitch Control and Consistency to (4) and run my modifiers from there to lower the walk ratio and hopefully work on better K numbers in addition to lowering the BA slightly to reduce the average number of hits the CPU was raking me for this season. I would think though that if I pitched straight up I would definitely correct those numbers. Preseason 2017 will be a good time to test that out, but I really enjoy quick counts. But it sucks when you are batting and have an 0-2 and are forced in to hitting right away. So it has it good and bad points but overall it works. Would you recommend ditching quick counts and pitching straight-up? What effect has that had on the pitch count and stamina? Do you still get your walks and K's? I will more than likely stick with quick counts, because that is what I am used to, but I am looking for a different opinion.

My team gave up 177 HR an average of 1.05 a game for 23rd in my league. The average in 2015 was 164 for the MLB the high team giving up 193 and the low of 110 I would have given up tied for 8 with the Reds. But I don't feel like the CPU scored a lot of runs off of HR. They only hit HR in 102 games going 60 games with a HR. The most they hit in one game was 5 once. In the games they did hit HR they average would be around 1.7.

For me I didn't hit a HR in 42 games so that would be 120 games with a HR for an average of 1.86 HR for the 120 I did hit. Both season averages for me and the CPU are with in the historical averages I checked between 2000-2015. Davis lead my team with 39 HR.

Thoughts?

[CoachModer]

Re: FenwayMac Variety Hitting and Scoring Sliders

Fenway I saw that you have hot and cold zones on. How big of a difference is that? Mine are currently off. What have you seen with that as far as hitting?

[FenwayMac]

Re: FenwayMac Variety Hitting and Scoring Sliders

Fenway I saw that you have hot and cold zones on. How big of a difference is that? Mine are currently off. What have you seen with that as far as hitting?

I use hot and cold zones for zone hitting in order to place my PCI where the batter has the best chance of making a high percentage hit. This also the same for pitching location. It only is on the screen for the first pitch so you have to quickly analyze the batters strengths and weaknesses.

Not sure how this would play a role in directional hitting.

[CanYouRead]

Re: FenwayMac Variety Hitting and Scoring Sliders

I pitch on HOF and I do tend to follow my catchers suggestions unless it is in a hitters count and he wants me to pitch to the batters strong point. Let's just say the batter is a pull hitter and the catcher suggests a 4SFB on the inside. That's not happening. Other than that I am struggling to get K's. Maybe it's because of the Marlins pitching staff. Only 2 games into the season.

[Fcshuckers73]

Re: FenwayMac Variety Hitting and Scoring Sliders

CanYouRead- I do not have Hot/Cold Zones on, so I don't know where the opposing batter's strengths are.....but, sometimes the catcher may call, for example, a fastball on the inside part of the plate (and this happens to be a hot zone for the batter).....well, depending on count, he may be wanting you to pitch inside off the plate......your catcher does not always want the ball you pitch to be a strike.....In this example, the hot zone is inside for the batter, the catcher calls inside fastball on the batter: You pitch inside off the plate for a ball, foul or a swing and miss. Heck, I may even double up by throwing inside again off the plate (depending on the result of the previous pitch)...that whole dance was to set up the knockout pitch (again, depending on count) to be a slider, change or curve on the outside part of the plate, or just off the plate. This sets up the batters and may lead to more walks, but it will limit the amount of hard contact from the batter and increase your strike out totals.... That is, if you hit your spots......that's the beauty of baseball......

[CanYouRead]

Re: FenwayMac Variety Hitting and Scoring Sliders

CanYouRead- I do not have Hot/Cold Zones on, so I don't know where the opposing batter's strengths are.....but, sometimes the catcher may call, for example, a fastball on the inside part of the plate (and this happens to be a hot zone for the batter).....well, depending on count, he may be wanting you to pitch inside off the plate......your catcher does not always want the ball you pitch to be a strike.....In this example, the hot zone is inside for the batter, the catcher calls inside fastball on the batter: You pitch inside off the plate for a ball, foul or a swing and miss. Heck, I may even double up by throwing inside again off the plate (depending on the result of the previous pitch)...that whole dance was to set up the knockout pitch (again, depending on count) to be a slider, change or curve on the outside part of the plate, or just off the plate. This sets up the batters and may lead to more walks, but it will limit the amount of hard contact from the batter and increase your strike out totals.... That is, if you hit your spots......that's the beauty of baseball......

I play with the hot and cold zones off. I tend to stay in the zone a lot because my pitchers aren't the best with their control. I am not trying to walk a lot of batters this season haha. But I understand what you mean. Thanks for your insight!

[FenwayMac]

Re: FenwayMac Variety Hitting and Scoring Sliders

I am curious of the value of a good catcher. I tend to pitch my own game so I don't really know if a higher rated catcher would offer up more sage advice than a lower-rated catcher. Anybody know if the level of your catcher truly makes a difference other than being better at keeping balls from getting to the backstop?

There have been many occasions where I pinch hit for the catcher and completely forget to sub at the end of the inning, and then have Jackie Bradley Jr playing catcher the rest of the game, LOL!

[FenwayMac]

Re: FenwayMac Variety Hitting and Scoring Sliders

Hey all, quick update on the CPU timing at 3 test. I have played 11 games at this point, and all the games have been highly enjoyable. The computer is batting right around .260 (this is a good thing). I am 3-8 in this stretch, but am also in an absolutely murderous stretch of 15-straight games, so the team is pretty taxed at this point.

CPU hitting percentages are around 67% singles, 18% doubles, 1.2% singles, and 13.8% home runs. I would still like to shave a bit off those singles, but would like to give 5-10 more games to see if these numbers round in to shape.

I can tell you that pitching on HOF is definitely a challenge, but it is also extremely fun as well. You can earn K's, but you really have to have a plan for the batter. It also feels really rewarding to work out of jams. Miss you mark and hang one, pay the price. Exciting, frustrating, all these things, but also makes for some great, great games.

[CanYouRead]

Re: FenwayMac Variety Hitting and Scoring Sliders

I am curious of the value of a good catcher. I tend to pitch my own game so I don't really know if a higher rated catcher would offer up more sage advice than a lower-rated catcher. Anybody know if the level of your catcher truly makes a difference other than being better at keeping balls from getting to the backstop?

There have been many occasions where I pinch hit for the catcher and completely forget to sub at the end of the inning, and then have Jackie Bradley Jr playing catcher the rest of the game, LOL!

I believe the rating of your catcher does play a role on how he calls a game. For example, I was playing against the Nationals in my Marlins franchise..currently sitting at 0-3 but Wilson Ramos was up to bat. My catcher is J.T. Realmuto, he's a solid catcher. I threw a slider to the outside of the plate. Ramos was extremely early on it so I decided I was going to throw it again, regardless if the catcher called it. To my surprise, he did call the pitch again, and it was in the same location. Threw it and he struck out. Was wonderful.

[FenwayMac]

Re: FenwayMac Variety Hitting and Scoring Sliders

NOTE: The following proposed changes are only if you are pitching on HOF level. If using All-Star Pitching and your experience is good, please disregard the following

For 15 games I was working with the following set on HOF:

CPU Contact - 6
CPU Power - 5
CPU Timing - 3
CPU FF - 5
CPU Solid Hits - 4

I really enjoy the extra tension and strategy involved in HOF, and I have been working to take a level that can include a lot of cheese (ridiculous amounts of strung together hits, way out of the zone good contact, and a high amount of home runs, especially on chased balls). my goals were to create a balanced experience, such as the HUM hitting sliders. I also am looking for some more K's from bad swings, looking strikes, and my personal favorite, the high fastball whiff.

After 15 games with the above settings it became clear that these are not working, as HR percentages continued to climb (16%), and extra base hits continued to drop (18% combined).

I spent a good portion of the day researching slider definitions and trying different combos in practice games. I initially lowered power. It made sense because of too many home runs allowed, BUT this had a significant impact on hits in general, especially extra base hits. The CPU bat just deadened.

I did a little research in to the contact slider. Do you ever feel like the CPU goes on a tear with strings of base hits, and seems to square up no matter where you pitch it. Guess what slider is causing that? Contact. I also learned for various posts on OS that the contact slider also has an affect on CPU discipline. A lower contact will make the CPU PCI smaller, but will also cause the CPU to swing at bad pitches, or to be frozen if you pitch a smart at bat. This gives you the chance to increase your strikeouts if you pay attention to the results of the previous pitches.

So I lowered contact one click to 5. I then noticed that although there were less flurries of hits and home runs, practically every hit was a single. Extra base hits were gone.

So how to add extra base hits? Have you ever noticed that the only slider that mentions affecting extra base hits is power? What if I actually INCREASE power to 6? Will every solid hit fly deeeeeeep? It turns out that the answer is no. There are two reasons I believe this to be. Firstly, contact is lower, so the computer is less...perfect. The second factor involved is...

...CPU timing. Lower it. If you are at 5 I highly recommend you drop it a tick or two (I am at 3). Again, this makes the computer more prone to imperfection because of swinging early or late or not squaring up the PCI (because you lowered contact). BUT, because of the extra boost to power, you should get more extra base hits again, and the occasional (but not chronic) amount of home runs.

Solid hits I have at 4 and FF I believe is just fine at 5.

I feel really confident about this change. It seems that a lot of complaints about the CPU on HOF is the ridiculous accurate clobbering of everything. Maybe not every inning, but it comes in bunches. I believe that lowering contact and timing, while increasing pop with a slight power boost, should help this issue.

More testing is required, and I will note the first post of the changes. If you want to try it out and see how it goes i would love to hear the results. I will do the same!

So for those willing to give it a go, here are the HOF pitching sliders

CPU Contact - 5
CPU Power - 6
CPU Timing - 3 (or two if you would like)
CPU FF - 5
CPU Solid Hits - 4

Good luck!

[CanYouRead]

Re: FenwayMac Variety Hitting and Scoring Sliders

NOTE: The following proposed changes are only if you are pitching on HOF level. If using All-Star Pitching and your experience is good, please disregard the following

For 15 games I was working with the following set on HOF:

CPU Contact - 6
CPU Power - 5
CPU Timing - 3
CPU FF - 5
CPU Solid Hits - 4

I really enjoy the extra tension and strategy involved in HOF, and I have been working to take a level that can include a lot of cheese (ridiculous amounts of strung together hits, way out of the zone good contact, and a high amount of home runs, especially on chased balls). my goals were to create a balanced experience, such as the HUM hitting sliders. I also am looking for some more K's from bad swings, looking strikes, and my personal favorite, the high fastball whiff.

After 15 games with the above settings it became clear that these are not working, as HR percentages continued to climb (16%), and extra base hits continued to drop (18% combined).

I spent a good portion of the day researching slider definitions and trying different combos in practice games. I initially lowered power. It made sense because of too many home runs allowed, BUT this had a significant impact on hits in general, especially extra base hits. The CPU bat just deadened.

I did a little research in to the contact slider. Do you ever feel like the CPU goes on a tear with strings of base hits, and seems to square up no matter where you pitch it. Guess what slider is causing that? Contact. I also learned for various posts on OS that the contact slider also has an affect on CPU discipline. A lower contact will make the CPU PCI smaller, but will also cause the CPU to swing at bad pitches, or to be frozen if you pitch a smart at bat. This gives you the chance to increase your strikeouts if you pay attention to the results of the previous pitches.

So I lowered contact one click to 5. I then noticed that although there were less flurries of hits and home runs, practically every hit was a single. Extra base hits were gone.

So how to add extra base hits? Have you ever noticed that the only slider that mentions affecting extra base hits is power? What if I actually INCREASE power to 6? Will every solid hit fly deeeeeeep? It turns out that the answer is no. There are two reasons I believe this to be. Firstly, contact is lower, so the computer is less...perfect. The second factor involved is...

...CPU timing. Lower it. If you are at 5 I highly recommend you drop it a tick or two (I am at 3). Again, this makes the computer more prone to imperfection because of swinging early or late or not squaring up the PCI (because you lowered contact). BUT, because of the extra boost to power, you should get more extra base hits again, and the occasional (but not chronic) amount of home runs.

Solid hits I have at 4 and FF I believe is just fine at 5.

I feel really confident about this change. It seems that a lot of complaints about the CPU on HOF is the ridiculous accurate clobbering of everything. Maybe not every inning, but it comes in bunches. I believe that lowering contact and timing, while increasing pop with a slight power boost, should help this issue.

More testing is required, and I will note the first post of the changes. If you want to try it out and see how it goes i would love to hear the results. I will do the same!

So for those willing to give it a go, here are the HOF pitching sliders

CPU Contact - 5
CPU Power - 6
CPU Timing - 3 (or two if you would like)
CPU FF - 5
CPU Solid Hits - 4

Good luck!

Going to try these out for the next 12 games in my Franchise with the Marlins. Going to finish out April with these. Crazy thing is we are currently sitting at 4-8 and my pitching staff has already given up 19 homeruns! We are the second team that has given up the most homeruns in our division.

[FenwayMac]

Re: FenwayMac Variety Hitting and Scoring Sliders

Going to try these out for the next 12 games in my Franchise with the Marlins. Going to finish out April with these. Crazy thing is we are currently sitting at 4-8 and my pitching staff has already given up 19 homeruns! We are the second team that has given up the most homeruns in our division.

Nice!good luck and let me know. Pitch wisely.