JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

[Jay Cee]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

Love the idea but wow am I struggling at 1-5 out of the gate, may start over on easier settings. AS hitting and AS+ for pitching. Pitching itself is pretty good though slightly easy, the only OP setting I don’t use is I keep the list of pitches up so I don’t have to remember what is what pitch.

Batting wise I’m striking out 9-12 times a game. Only 3 walks and 2 HRs through 6 games, haven’t scored more than 3 runs in any of them, getting between 5-8 hits per game. Any tips?


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[TopSide83]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

Love the idea but wow am I struggling at 1-5 out of the gate, may start over on easier settings. AS hitting and AS+ for pitching. Pitching itself is pretty good though slightly easy, the only OP setting I don’t use is I keep the list of pitches up so I don’t have to remember what is what pitch.

Batting wise I’m striking out 9-12 times a game. Only 3 walks and 2 HRs through 6 games, haven’t scored more than 3 runs in any of them, getting between 5-8 hits per game. Any tips?


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You need to get yourself in hitters counts and wait for your pitch to pounce. I’ve actually done much better since raising my pitch speeds because I react more than think.

[JoshC1977]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

Love the idea but wow am I struggling at 1-5 out of the gate, may start over on easier settings. AS hitting and AS+ for pitching. Pitching itself is pretty good though slightly easy, the only OP setting I don’t use is I keep the list of pitches up so I don’t have to remember what is what pitch.

Batting wise I’m striking out 9-12 times a game. Only 3 walks and 2 HRs through 6 games, haven’t scored more than 3 runs in any of them, getting between 5-8 hits per game. Any tips?

I'm going to say a couple of things here:

1. Based on my experience with 20, I do firmly feel that the game difficulty is more "in sync" when the batting/pitching difficulties are aligned. You may find that using AS hitting may make AS+ pitching easier. I'm not saying this as a "gospel truth" but more as a "keep an eye on things".

2. Tips. Go to batting practice and use the swing feedback to see if you're noting any patterns on if you're in front of or behind in your swing timing. Sorry, it sounds a bit "mean" to say "go practice"...but it really helped me a lot. I'm still struggling with hitting, but I'll take that as it is far better than MLBTS20: HR Derby

[GoBlue81188]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

I'm going to say a couple of things here:

1. Based on my experience with 20, I do firmly feel that the game difficulty is more "in sync" when the batting/pitching difficulties are aligned. You may find that using AS hitting may make AS+ pitching easier. I'm not saying this as a "gospel truth" but more as a "keep an eye on things".

2. Tips. Go to batting practice and use the swing feedback to see if you're noting any patterns on if you're in front of or behind in your swing timing. Sorry, it sounds a bit "mean" to say "go practice"...but it really helped me a lot. I'm still struggling with hitting, but I'll take that as it is far better than MLBTS20: HR Derby

Echoing #1 for sure, was exactly my experience in 20.

Hitting tips, check out WarmWinds directional hitting guide. Also, stay patient before rushing to change. Slumps happen, and you will improve just by playing more games.

[Friar Fanatic]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

Those of you having an easy time pitching; please note that it is expected that you follow all the settings on the OP.

That means you're using broadcast cam for pitching, that means ALL visual aids are turned off, and it means that controller vibration is turned off. The settings are, in a way, more important than the sliders as they represent the fundamental core of what we are doing here.

If you are not doing all of these things, I ask that you kindly do so prior to providing any further feedback on the slider values.

I am using all of the settings you posted. I would like to clarify though, I am not having an "easy" time pitching. I rank 13th in runs allowed and have a team ERA over 4. The only thing I am seeing is my SPs rack up Ks. My bullpen has a low K rate though.

My bullpen's ERA is around 6.40 with about a 7 K/9 or something.

Definitely not breezing through games though. My top 4 SPs are lights out but Musgrove and my bullpen get rocked lol.

[Jay Cee]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

I took yalls advice and messed around in exhibition with the visual aids turned back on. I think for me it might be as simple as keeping batting on AS+ but bringing the pitch speeds back to 6 for fastball and 5 for offspeed instead of 7/6 as prescribed. Is this a problem for the slider set or is speed more of a personal preference thing?


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[JoshC1977]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

I took yalls advice and messed around in exhibition with the visual aids turned back on. I think for me it might be as simple as keeping batting on AS+ but bringing the pitch speeds back to 6 for fastball and 5 for offspeed instead of 7/6 as prescribed. Is this a problem for the slider set or is speed more of a personal preference thing?


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Pitch speeds are fine to adjust; it doesn't have any impact on the AI.

[JoshC1977]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

I am using all of the settings you posted. I would like to clarify though, I am not having an "easy" time pitching. I rank 13th in runs allowed and have a team ERA over 4. The only thing I am seeing is my SPs rack up Ks. My bullpen has a low K rate though.

My bullpen's ERA is around 6.40 with about a 7 K/9 or something.

Definitely not breezing through games though. My top 4 SPs are lights out but Musgrove and my bullpen get rocked lol.

OK, that added detail helps a bit.

It's as though the relative K-rates are stretched a bit too wide (so top end strikeout pitchers are a hair too good and low strikeout pitchers are a hair too bad).

I'll have to mull it over a bit.

[TheWarmWind]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

OK, that added detail helps a bit.

It's as though the relative K-rates are stretched a bit too wide (so top end strikeout pitchers are a hair too good and low strikeout pitchers are a hair too bad).

I'll have to mull it over a bit.

Based on those symptoms, I'd bet raising both timing and pitch consistency would help solve the problem.

Raising timing would help hitters against top end strikeout pitchers, and raising pitcher consistency would make low k/9 pitcher's strikeout pitches a little tougher to hit.

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[Friar Fanatic]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

I dont know what it is with my bullpen lol. Just finished a 3 game series against LAD.

Darvish: 7 IP, 8 Ks, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 ER
Snell: 5.1 IP, 9 Ks, 5 hits, 2 BB, 2 ER
Clevinger 6.1 IP 10 Ks, 4 hits, 2 BB, 1 ER

Bullpen: 8.1 IP 4 Ks, 19 hits (7 HRs), 8 BBs, 26 ER

I dont know how to help my bullpen. They just get shelled lol. Anyone got any tips? Not like slider tips but general bullpen use tips?

[TopSide83]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

I dont know what it is with my bullpen lol. Just finished a 3 game series against LAD.

Darvish: 7 IP, 8 Ks, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 ER
Snell: 5.1 IP, 9 Ks, 5 hits, 2 BB, 2 ER
Clevinger 6.1 IP 10 Ks, 4 hits, 2 BB, 1 ER

Bullpen: 8.1 IP 4 Ks, 19 hits (7 HRs), 8 BBs, 26 ER

I dont know how to help my bullpen. They just get shelled lol. Anyone got any tips? Not like slider tips but general bullpen use tips?

You need to figure out every guy in your BPs release point. Usually holding the button you selected for the pitch a little longer is the solution. Most of my success with relievers comes from releasing the pitch button right when they start moving their leg towards home plate.

But just so you know, every pitcher has a different release point. Make sure you utilize the warm up pitches and throw all 8 pitches with trying out each pitch he has to figure out what works best for him

[JoshC1977]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

I dont know what it is with my bullpen lol. Just finished a 3 game series against LAD.

Darvish: 7 IP, 8 Ks, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 ER
Snell: 5.1 IP, 9 Ks, 5 hits, 2 BB, 2 ER
Clevinger 6.1 IP 10 Ks, 4 hits, 2 BB, 1 ER

Bullpen: 8.1 IP 4 Ks, 19 hits (7 HRs), 8 BBs, 26 ER

I dont know how to help my bullpen. They just get shelled lol. Anyone got any tips? Not like slider tips but general bullpen use tips?

Ah....I've seen this sort of thing in my past and it was always a symptom of my doing one thing; trying really hard to strike out every batter.

You can get away with it with outstanding pitchers (and you have 4 of them...feel blessed) because the ratings are good enough to induce swings or get those called strikes on the corner. But you try to do the same thing with weaker pitchers, you will QUICKLY build up their pitch counts, begin either walking them or getting that unlucky hung pitch.

My best advice is to across-the-board is to focus on throwing quality strikes in the zone that can induce that quick ground ball or flyball out. Sure, you may give up some hard contact from time to time; but efficiency is key to get your top starters deeper through games and reduce the burden on your weaker bullpen.

I'm not saying that there isn't a potential slider imbalance here (I'll know more as I begin my franchise this weekend) but I think you can mitigate all of these issues by examining your own patterns and making adjustments.

[GoBlue81188]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

Vault fix incoming, lets go!!!

Really excited to get myself a working roster and get into my franchise.

Only a few more strongholds left in my conquest America map, and its onto the real simulation fun

[Rmiok222]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

Vault fix incoming, lets go!!!



Really excited to get myself a working roster and get into my franchise.



Only a few more strongholds left in my conquest America map, and its onto the real simulation fun

Thank god.


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[JoshC1977]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

Vault fix incoming, lets go!!!

Really excited to get myself a working roster and get into my franchise.

Only a few more strongholds left in my conquest America map, and its onto the real simulation fun

There's also going to be an SDS roster update later today. I'm going to take a very hard look at that. If it's a solid step above their past rosters; I may dive-in and do some tweaks of my own and dive straight into that. If I don't think it's a significant improvement; I'll take a look at Funkycorm's roster and compare to one I have done edits for.

Regardless...I AM starting my franchise tonight (tomorrow AM worst-case) and will not be looking back.