Legend Pitching but low strikeout number

[MetsFan16]

Hey guys,

I haven't dove too deep into these threads but what I'm really asking for is help with my strikeout numbers.

I pitch offline on Legend pitching. I feel like I get a good amount of hits/runs allowed each game but my strikeout numbers are always way too low.

What sliders directly impact strikeouts while not affecting hits?

[JoshC1977]

Re: Legend Pitching but low strikeout number

Hey guys,

I haven't dove too deep into these threads but what I'm really asking for is help with my strikeout numbers.

I pitch offline on Legend pitching. I feel like I get a good amount of hits/runs allowed each game but my strikeout numbers are always way too low.

What sliders directly impact strikeouts while not affecting hits?

I'm going to offer you a non-slider approach first. Turn off the ball marker and controller vibration. (I also recommend the broadcast pitching camera if you're not already using it).

It's very easy to make the mistake of painting the black on every pitch (which the AI on higher difficulties is excellent at combatting); these game aids can push the user into throwing too many strikes and too close to the zone. Working by 'feel' may allow you to break the habit and throw more pitches truly outside the zone which is where your strikeout numbers need to come from (assuming you know how to set up hitters).

[MetsFan16]

Re: Legend Pitching but low strikeout number

I'm going to offer you a non-slider approach first. Turn off the ball marker and controller vibration. (I also recommend the broadcast pitching camera if you're not already using it).

It's very easy to make the mistake of painting the black on every pitch (which the AI on higher difficulties is excellent at combatting); these game aids can push the user into throwing too many strikes and too close to the zone. Working by 'feel' may allow you to break the habit and throw more pitches truly outside the zone which is where your strikeout numbers need to come from (assuming you know how to set up hitters).

wow, never considered that! I actually do have very low pitch count/walk rates so this could definitely help me with that. And then you're right, the strikeout numbers would increase because I'd be throwing balls out of the zone for swings and misses instead of foul balls/weak contact.
Great tip will try

[DonkeyJote]

Re: Legend Pitching but low strikeout number

If you don't want to go with no cursor at all, I think Classic Fade is a decent middle ground too.

I think an important thing to note that I don't think most people realize. In real life, pitchers only throw in the Strike Zone around 42% of the time. And hitters make contact on around 85% of the pitches they swing at in the zone. So in real life, pitchers are getting a lot of their swinging strikes outside of the zone.

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[MetsFan16]

Re: Legend Pitching but low strikeout number

That’s very true. I never thought of that and when I would pitch I locate 95% of my pitches right on the corners and with pinpoint I’d hit my spots consistently.

I’m going to take this advice and turn off all the visual aids and hopefully that helps.

I also do quick counts, do you think that plays a factor?


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[DarthRambo]

Re: Legend Pitching but low strikeout number

To answer your question, contact slider is the slider that will impact strikeouts. Contact slider from my testing is likelihood of making contact or not. Lowering this will create more swing and misses. You'll even see whiffs on pitches right down the middle. Personally found for legend pitching (quick counts myself too) that cpu contact at 3 was as a perfect balance I could get. Try lowering human pitcher control to 1 or 0 as well if using classic pitching interface. I enjoy it at zero cause I can still always aim for corners and miss a lot of times unless the pitcher confidence is at max for certain pitch and overall.

[DonkeyJote]

Re: Legend Pitching but low strikeout number

To answer your question, contact slider is the slider that will impact strikeouts. Contact slider from my testing is likelihood of making contact or not.

Timing makes a difference too. But I agree, on legend 3-4 is the sweet spot for the cpu. Any lower they chase too much, any higher they won't chase much at all


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[MetsFan16]

Re: Legend Pitching but low strikeout number

Great insight thanks. I tend to mess with sliders too much and forget which one actually impacts what

I use pinpoint because I’m the opposite and don’t want to rely on classic and miss often lol
But I will be turning off visuals so I am not always locating pitches right on the corners and hopefully that leads to both more pitches outside of the zone for swings and misses and more pitches in the zone to potentially be hit.


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[itsmb8]

Re: Legend Pitching but low strikeout number

Great insight thanks. I tend to mess with sliders too much and forget which one actually impacts what

I use pinpoint because I’m the opposite and don’t want to rely on classic and miss often lol
But I will be turning off visuals so I am not always locating pitches right on the corners and hopefully that leads to both more pitches outside of the zone for swings and misses and more pitches in the zone to potentially be hit.


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I'm the same way, can never get around to using classic because I feel the misses are too often and too all over the place (and if i basically have no control i might as well just play CPU vs CPU). On default sliders trying to find my ideal difficulty level (Legend pitching) Im getting way too many fouled off pitches. Im thinking turning off all aids might be the best way to go.

[DonkeyJote]

Re: Legend Pitching but low strikeout number

I don't like Classic because it's just too hands off. I want ratings to have an impact, but I want to have some agency in what happens. Classic ends up just making pitching too boring for me.

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[Detroit Tigers]

Re: Legend Pitching but low strikeout number

Not at all do I mean to be condescending, but if you do remember for a minute this is a video game—making strikeouts extremely difficult is exactly the kind of tweak a higher difficulty should be making. I don’t see the point in playing on a higher difficulty only to turn right around and try to make it easier.

Sliders have ruined sports gamers’ ability to diagnose what’s actually happening during games. I can’t tell you how to play and wouldn’t care to anyway, but this game is best played on default. It is not imbalanced. Your ability to play it such that the numbers come out how you want probably is though.

[DonkeyJote]

Re: Legend Pitching but low strikeout number

Not at all do I mean to be condescending, but if you do remember for a minute this is a video game—making strikeouts extremely difficult is exactly the kind of tweak a higher difficulty should be making. I don’t see the point in playing on a higher difficulty only to turn right around and try to make it easier.

Sliders have ruined sports gamers’ ability to diagnose what’s actually happening during games. I can’t tell you how to play and wouldn’t care to anyway, but this game is best played on default. It is not imbalanced. Your ability to play it such that the numbers come out how you want probably is though.

There are certain things that are objectively unbalanced. Such as the contact penalties for pitches outside of the zone. Or player run speeds. On default, I timed Xander Bogaerts getting from HP to 1B in under 4 seconds. That's objectively too fast. Irl, that would put him among the fastest players in baseball (which with 63 speed, he isn't). He should be around 4.3. Even at 0 baserunning speed, runners are still generally faster than irl, but it's a lot closer. Fielders in the OF also cover too much ground on default (though this seems a little better this season). And I know if I use pinpoint on default legend, it's still entirely too easy; so I have to drop command and control (and even then I still don't get quite as many walks as I should).

If you're trying to make the game more realistic, which is what most slider sets are going for, default is objectively NOT the best way to go. I raise the difficulty and then adjust sliders to achieve the most realistic baseline I can (within reason) because I want my game to be a more sim experience than it is out of the box. And that's what most of the slider sets across various games in this forum are striving for.

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[DarthRambo]

Re: Legend Pitching but low strikeout number

Wanted to restate about getting more strikeouts. Last year reducing contact on legend gave us the Ks we needed. This year contact lowered nerfed the cpu offense too much. Granted this is HOF pitching now this year. What we found to work THIS year is lowering cpu timing. We have it at 0 and it works wonders.

And I agree with Donkey. Default sliders is never and has never been the best setup for a sim experience in any sports game.

[kdutch98]

Re: Legend Pitching but low strikeout number

I play on Legend difficulty, and I get a pretty realistic amount of strikeouts per game.

Maybe the single biggest thing is, learn how to set up a hitter, but not fall into a pattern.

What I mean, is don't throw an 0-2 breaking ball low and away every time you get an 0-2 count. The CPU will start to realize it, and not swing. Keep the hitter off balance. Maybe throw a fastball just off the plate. Or throw a 2 seamer and try to get it to tail back over the outside corner.

Don't STRESS about getting strikeouts. Worry about getting OUTS. The strikeouts will come, if you keep the hitter off balance, and guessing.

I've occasionally even thrown an 0-2 fastball right down the middle and had it taken for strike 3......because the hitter was expecting something off speed.