The new pitching is actually pretty awesome.

[BadKermit]

Re: The new pitching is actually pretty awesome.

No I don't see the strike zone.
I'll see what it does with the strike zone ON (maybe I'm not aiming at the corners as much as I think).

I actually meant that I throw more balls when it's NOT on.

[bullpen]

Re: The new pitching is actually pretty awesome.

I actually meant that I throw more balls when it's NOT on.

I don't know, like I said, maybe wihtout seeing the strike zone, I'm not aiming at the corners as much as I think I am.

I'll give it a try , and change the "picth meter" slider to 75.

[stealyerface]

Re: The new pitching is actually pretty awesome.

I actually agree with bullpen about meatballs.....just because a pitcher misses doesn't mean they automatically throw it over the middle of the plate (although that's sometimes the case) Generally, they end up with a pitch outside and behind in the count.

This was the same issue I had with zone pitching last year. It sucks when you barely miss and your outside pitch suddenly heads straight for the center of the plate.

Once you get the hang of it the meatballs will be a thing of the past. You do not "barely miss" and get punished with a meatball. You "totally miss" or try to throw a pitch your pitcher does not have in his arsenal, or you just totally F the release up, or you started the pitch correctly, but failed to execute the gesture properly. I throw maybe 3 meatballs a game, and it is because I messed them up. Default difficulty on All-Star setting. Get better at the system, and you will not worry about meatballs. What is awesome about getting better at the pitching is that when you do throw that infrequent Meat pitch, you hold your breath as the ball heads towards the plate and you wait to see if it gets crushed, or you get away with one. For me, that split second of horror is a great part of the game.

SYF

[Sportsforever]

Re: The new pitching is actually pretty awesome.

Once you get the hang of it the meatballs will be a thing of the past. You do not "barely miss" and get punished with a meatball. You "totally miss" or try to throw a pitch your pitcher does not have in his arsenal, or you just totally F the release up, or you started the pitch correctly, but failed to execute the gesture properly. I throw maybe 3 meatballs a game, and it is because I messed them up. Default difficulty on All-Star setting. Get better at the system, and you will not worry about meatballs. What is awesome about getting better at the pitching is that when you do throw that infrequent Meat pitch, you hold your breath as the ball heads towards the plate and you wait to see if it gets crushed, or you get away with one. For me, that split second of horror is a great part of the game.

SYF

I agree with you there...last night Braves @ Dodgers I jacked up high fastballs to Jeff Kent on back to back plate appearances and completely held my breath thinking he was going to crush them. Luckily he fouled both of them straight back...

[Village Idiot]

Re: The new pitching is actually pretty awesome.

Well what I did last year, and it seems that I have to do it again this year, is sort of house rule, and that is: I always try to be as perfect as possible with every pitch. That means, I'm always trying to have it so the ball paints the zone; I never want the ball more than 3/4 of the way in the zone (unless I'm pitching to contact on purpose, or trying to blow someone away with heat). The result is, when you miss, chances are you're going to miss the zone altogether.

Think of throwing a backdoor slider, for example: if you try to clip the outside corner with that pitch and miss, what happens is that the pitch is way outside, because it doesn't break enough to catch the zone. Low changeups are another example: I'm only putting the cursor barely in the zone, and, like mentioned above, sometimes I'm not even sure if it's in the zone. If I miss, it's going to be low.

In fact, that's another way to describe it: pitch so that if you miss, you miss outside the zone.

Doing this is the only way I can both walk guys and have it so I'm not getting clubbed all over the field. It's not entirely realistic, but it keeps the games fun, challenging and interesting.

[sportsdude]

Re: The new pitching is actually pretty awesome.

I understand what you're saying.
But that's exacly what I was saying, I won't walk anyone unless I do it on purpose (intentionnal walk or pitch around the hitter), and that shouldn't be.

one other thing that hasn't been suggested yet is that maybe you're just pounding the strike zone too much. If you throw a strike every time, of course the CPU will swing, no matter what the take pitch slider is at. I myself have fallen victim to this in past video games, just pounding the strike zone so I can be done with fielding and move on the batting. In reality, most pitchers will throw outside the strike zone either to get the hitter to chase or set up their next pitch so if you're constantly throwing strikes, then that could be a big problem why you're not getting the results you'd like as far as CPU walks.

[Scottdau]

Re: The new pitching is actually pretty awesome.

Well what I did last year, and it seems that I have to do it again this year, is sort of house rule, and that is: I always try to be as perfect as possible with every pitch. That means, I'm always trying to have it so the ball paints the zone; I never want the ball more than 3/4 of the way in the zone (unless I'm pitching to contact on purpose, or trying to blow someone away with heat). The result is, when you miss, chances are you're going to miss the zone altogether.

Think of throwing a backdoor slider, for example: if you try to clip the outside corner with that pitch and miss, what happens is that the pitch is way outside, because it doesn't break enough to catch the zone. Low changeups are another example: I'm only putting the cursor barely in the zone, and, like mentioned above, sometimes I'm not even sure if it's in the zone. If I miss, it's going to be low.

In fact, that's another way to describe it: pitch so that if you miss, you miss outside the zone.


Doing this is the only way I can both walk guys and have it so I'm not getting clubbed all over the field. It's not entirely realistic, but it keeps the games fun, challenging and interesting.

Man, you are king of house rules! You should put that on your tombstone! Any ways I try this game, and I do not like the pitching at all. I do suck at, but to me it is too much. I will give it some more tries.

[TwinsTerritory]

Re: The new pitching is actually pretty awesome.

I'm getting better with each game. I'm pretty spot on with the fastball and changeup, I really need work on the slider...

[tgalv]

Re: The new pitching is actually pretty awesome.

the pitching is pretty fun but i wish they would make it mimic reality a little more closely. does varitek really want me to throw a slider down the middle? doesn't he think a corner would be better?

ever pitched with wakefield? he throws the fastball about 77, which i have to give credit, is very realistic. the knuckle and curve are obviously a little slower. .....but F up with the stick and he "meatballs" it 88mph. seriously WTF. i'm sure that would be some fun 2 player action when you're used to 60-80 mph pitches, then whenever you opponent throws a bad pitch, it blows past you like sid finch is on the hill.

[whosgotcha]

Re: The new pitching is actually pretty awesome.

I'm very disapointed with the new pitching system.

To me, when the timing is off it should be a ball ... not a meatpitch.

Just another game where it is impossible to walk anybody (unless you do it on purpose).

People seems to be more concerned about framerate and graphics then the gameplay...again

Help me out then. I walked for batters my last game and it sure was'nt on purpose. Now if the CPU pitcher would just throw some balls.