Blazzen's MLB2K10 Slider Thread

[DaveDQ]

Re: Blazzen's MLB2K10 Slider Thread

Dave,

If you mean "Pitch Speed" it's a USER only slider that increases the velocity of pitches when you are hitting.

Right, that's what I'm referring to. So dropping it would decrease the velocity of pitches? I was thinking this would help with online games where it's tough to sometimes read the speed of a pitch and react in time.

[therizing02]

Re: Blazzen's MLB2K10 Slider Thread

Right, that's what I'm referring to. So dropping it would decrease the velocity of pitches? I was thinking this would help with online games where it's tough to sometimes read the speed of a pitch and react in time.

It would help but I don't know if you can change it for online games. I play offline only.

[Blazzen]

Re: Blazzen's MLB2K10 Slider Thread

Right, that's what I'm referring to. So dropping it would decrease the velocity of pitches? I was thinking this would help with online games where it's tough to sometimes read the speed of a pitch and react in time.

Yes, that would help online games.

And yes, this determines how fast a pitch comes to the plate. Not to confuse this with the in game velocity rating of a pitch. This will not change the velocity rating (for example Tim Hudson won't start throwing 100 MPH fastballs by changing this slider) however what it will change is the speed the pitch makes it to the plate, thus either raising or lowering the amount of reaction time you have when batting.

For offline play default 60 seems to be fine. I haven't played online yet but usually there's about 50-100MS of latency so I would start with pitch speed @ 50 for online play and go from there.

[Blazzen]

Re: Blazzen's MLB2K10 Slider Thread

Regarding pitcher fatigue and pitch counts -

The CPU is usually averaging 120-140 pitches per game. I'm a fairly patient hitter but I do swing at some junk here and there. Strike % is usually in the 60's for the CPU which is about right. This is with the strike zone tendency slider at 45.

For USER pitch count I average 110-120 pitches per game. This is a bit low. I think pitching to the catcher suggestions is a good idea and I do typically do this to a certain extent. Now you won't find me going with their suggestion when they want a letter high sinker, but for the most part I follow whether they want me to throw a pitch in the zone or out of the zone. As I get better with my gestures I believe this pitch count will improve as I'm leaving a lot of pitches I mean to have on the corners over the middle of the plate and then some pitches I mean to have off the corners are on the corners (or in the middle of the plate, heh) so I have to work on that a bit. Leave less balls over the middle of the plate and less of my pitches will end up in play!

It would make sense that if the user would follow the catcher suggestions then the user pitch count should come closer to mimicing the cpu pitch count.

[therizing02]

Re: Blazzen's MLB2K10 Slider Thread

Regarding pitcher fatigue and pitch counts -

The CPU is usually averaging 120-140 pitches per game. I'm a fairly patient hitter but I do swing at some junk here and there. Strike % is usually in the 60's for the CPU which is about right. This is with the strike zone tendency slider at 45.

For USER pitch count I average 110-120 pitches per game. This is a bit low. I think pitching to the catcher suggestions is a good idea and I do typically do this to a certain extent. Now you won't find me going with their suggestion when they want a letter high sinker, but for the most part I follow whether they want me to throw a pitch in the zone or out of the zone. As I get better with my gestures I believe this pitch count will improve as I'm leaving a lot of pitches I mean to have on the corners over the middle of the plate and then some pitches I mean to have off the corners are on the corners (or in the middle of the plate, heh) so I have to work on that a bit. Leave less balls over the middle of the plate and less of my pitches will end up in play!

It would make sense that if the user would follow the catcher suggestions then the user pitch count should come closer to mimicing the cpu pitch count.

Agreed Blazzen. Last year the CS were awful and I think that most of the logic of the CS last year were based on your best pitch and not so much on IE. Much different this year....and much better.

I don't have the time or desire to look over every hitters IE profile and if I pitched my own way I would eventually end up with the same pattern of pitching to everyone whether I realize or not. It's similar to calling plays in Madden or NCAA. Most probably call the same set of 10-15 plays on O and D all game but probably don't realize it. This is why I use Ask Corso and Madden most of the time. It eliminates the possibility of getting into those patterns which eventually make the boring.

[itbeme23]

Re: Blazzen's MLB2K10 Slider Thread

So....After my rants yesterday, I was actually pretty reluctant to start testing today. However, after following some advice from Blazzen and therizing02, I was actually pleasantly surprised with the game that I had this morning.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. ANAHEIM Angels (I refuse to call them the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim". To me, it's blasphemy...)

Final Box Score:

ANA: 3 12 0 - 10 Singles, 2 Doubles
LAD: 2 6 0 - 2 Singles, 3 Doubles, 1 HR

Win: E. Santana - 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 122 Pitches
Loss: C. Billingsley - 5 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 81 Pitches
Save: B. Fuentes

Game Notes:

It was a pretty even game. I actually had to pitch out of a jam in the first, as I gave up a leadoff single to Aybar to start the game, and I walked Abreu on a full count. Torii Hunter hits a sacrifice fly deep to left that puts Aybar on third with only one out. Billingsley is already rattled at this point, but I get Morales to ground into a inning-ending 1-4-3 double play. I haven't had to pitch out of a jam like that in quite a few games, so it was definitely a breath of fresh air.

The Angels hit pretty consistently throughout the game, and there was good hit variety. Juan Rivera had a double in the top of the fourth, and Matsui hit a pinch-hit double in the top of the 9th. Eric Aybar followed that up with a ground out that scored Brandon Wood from 3rd, and that was the ball game. In retrospect, I made a throwing error with Ronnie Belliard, because instead of throwing the man out at home, I chose to throw to first. Had I thrown the man out at home (which I had a very high chance of doing), the score would've been 2-1 instead of 3-1, and I could've set up a potential double play for the next batter. There were a little bit of dramatics in the bottom of the 9th, as I pulled a solo shot with Manny down the line and off the foul pole to pull within one! I follow that up with an opposite field double to the right corner with Matt Kemp, which puts him on 2nd with only one out. Unfortunately, I couldn't capitalize with Loney or Blake, as I flied out and grounded out with them, respectively.

Extra Notes:

I had 3 doubles in this game. Manny, Kemp, and Loney each had one. Manny hit an opposite field double on a 2-2 count (after starting off 0-2....gotta love that defensive swing) in the bottom of the 4th to score my first run. Loney pulled a double down into the right field corner to lead off the bottom of the 5th, but he got stranded at third. Matt Kemp doubled in the bottom of the 9th on a full count. I really like the hit variety.

I'm really enjoying my sliders as of right now. I can't foresee any immediate changes now that I've raised the user pitching sliders, and followed Blazzen's advice about throwing out of the zone. I'm going to keep these as-is for the next few games and see what types of results I get.

I think ths is exactly the type of game that I needed to put me back in a positive frame of mind about this game. After getting feedback about the user pitch count issue from several different people, I decided to mix up my pitching approach a bit. I have always followed the catcher suggestions as a guideline, but I always tried to keep the ball in the zone by painting the corners. So, I decided to take Blazzen's advice and throw the ball outside of the zone more often, especially when the catcher explicitly called for a ball. This drastically improved my pitch count, and I even ended up walking four batters in this game which never happens! This somewhat restores my faith/enjoyment in the game, but I still think that 2K could do more for the A.I. in terms of "Battle at the Plate", particularly having the A.I. foul off more balls.

Off to the next one.

Cheers.

[Blazzen]

Re: Blazzen's MLB2K10 Slider Thread

So....After my rants yesterday, I was actually pretty reluctant to start testing today. However, after following some advice from Blazzen and therizing02, I was actually pleasantly surprised with the game that I had this morning.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. ANAHEIM Angels (I refuse to call them the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim". To me, it's blasphemy...)

Final Box Score:

ANA: 3 12 0 - 10 Singles, 2 Doubles
LAD: 2 6 0 - 2 Singles, 3 Doubles, 1 HR

Win: E. Santana - 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 122 Pitches
Loss: C. Billingsley - 5 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 81 Pitches
Save: B. Fuentes

Game Notes:

It was a pretty even game. I actually had to pitch out of a jam in the first, as I gave up a leadoff single to Aybar to start the game, and I walked Abreu on a full count. Torii Hunter hits a sacrifice fly deep to left that puts Aybar on third with only one out. Billingsley is already rattled at this point, but I get Morales to ground into a inning-ending 1-4-3 double play. I haven't had to pitch out of a jam like that in quite a few games, so it was definitely a breath of fresh air.

The Angels hit pretty consistently throughout the game, and there was good hit variety. Juan Rivera had a double in the top of the fourth, and Matsui hit a pinch-hit double in the top of the 9th. Eric Aybar followed that up with a ground out that scored Brandon Wood from 3rd, and that was the ball game. In retrospect, I made a throwing error with Ronnie Belliard, because instead of throwing the man out at home, I chose to throw to first. Had I thrown the man out at home (which I had a very high chance of doing), the score would've been 2-1 instead of 3-1, and I could've set up a potential double play for the next batter. There were a little bit of dramatics in the bottom of the 9th, as I pulled a solo shot with Manny down the line and off the foul pole to pull within one! I follow that up with an opposite field double to the right corner with Matt Kemp, which puts him on 2nd with only one out. Unfortunately, I couldn't capitalize with Loney or Blake, as I flied out and grounded out with them, respectively.

Extra Notes:

I had 3 doubles in this game. Manny, Kemp, and Loney each had one. Manny hit an opposite field double on a 2-2 count (after starting off 0-2....gotta love that defensive swing) in the bottom of the 4th to score my first run. Loney pulled a double down into the right field corner to lead off the bottom of the 5th, but he got stranded at third. Matt Kemp doubled in the bottom of the 9th on a full count. I really like the hit variety.

I'm really enjoying my sliders as of right now. I can't foresee any immediate changes now that I've raised the user pitching sliders, and followed Blazzen's advice about throwing out of the zone. I'm going to keep these as-is for the next few games and see what types of results I get.

I think ths is exactly the type of game that I needed to put me back in a positive frame of mind about this game. After getting feedback about the user pitch count issue from several different people, I decided to mix up my pitching approach a bit. I have always followed the catcher suggestions as a guideline, but I always tried to keep the ball in the zone by painting the corners. So, I decided to take Blazzen's advice and throw the ball outside of the zone more often, especially when the catcher explicitly called for a ball. This drastically improved my pitch count, and I even ended up walking four batters in this game which never happens! This somewhat restores my faith/enjoyment in the game, but I still think that 2K could do more for the A.I. in terms of "Battle at the Plate", particularly having the A.I. foul off more balls.

Off to the next one.

Cheers.

What did you raise the user pitching sliders to?

[itbeme23]

Re: Blazzen's MLB2K10 Slider Thread

What did you raise the user pitching sliders to?

This is what I'm using right now.

PITCHING: (HUM)

Pitch Meter Speed: 75
Pitch Speed: 60
Pitch Break Influence: 100
Pitcher Composure Influence: 75

I raised the meter speed back up to 75 (from 70), and I set the Pitch Break Influence and Pitch Composure Influence sliders at the "Legend" default settings of 100 and 75, respectively.

[JayhawkerStL]

Re: Blazzen's MLB2K10 Slider Thread

Agreed Blazzen. Last year the CS were awful and I think that most of the logic of the CS last year were based on your best pitch and not so much on IE. Much different this year....and much better.

I threw almost exclusively to CS in 2K8, but I found this impossible to do in 2K9. I've found 2K10 to be a return to form. I am back to throwing to CS almost exclusively.

[Blazzen]

Re: Blazzen's MLB2K10 Slider Thread

Played another game.

Braves v. Rockies.

Jiminez vs. Jurrjens

Braves 1 9 2 - 6 singles, 2 doubles, 1 homerun, 4 walks, 8 ko
Rockies 4 5 0 - 1 single, 3 doubles, 1 homerun, 0 walks 6 ko

Had a no hitter with jurrjens through 5 and then gave up 3 in the 6th. I mustve hit into 4 double plays. I had runners, just couldnt get them in. Lone run was a solo shot by McClouth.

Two errors were from Jurrjens getting hit with a line drive and a missed tag on a squeeze play. I'm not 100% sure the squeeze play wasnt a bug, i couldn't get control of McCann until the runner crossed the plate and McCann feigned making a tag. Also, under game track after the game was over the line for this play was complete missing and there was a blank line in its place. Very odd, might need reporting.

Jiminez came up with runners on twice that he couldve bunted over with no outs and decided to hit. I think I'm going to change the sac bunt slider back to 75ish where I had it before.

I'm also considering lowering fielder speed to 25. Fielders still getting to balls hit down the line a bit quickly.

Updating first page sliders.

[itbeme23]

Re: Blazzen's MLB2K10 Slider Thread

I just got dominated by the Cardinals.

Final Box Score:

LAD: 0 2 0 - 2 Singles
STL: 2 7 0 - 6 Singles, 1 Double

Win: A. Wainwright - 7.2 IP, 2 Hits, 0 R, 0 ER, 12 K, 123 Pitches
Loss: C. Kershaw - 6.1 IP, 5 Hits, 2 Runs, 2 ER, 7 K, 96 Pitches
Save: R. Franklin

Not much to say about this one, because there really wasn't any offense to speak of. I gave up two runs on 4 hits in the first inning with Kershaw, and that was pretty much it. After that, they scattered a measly three hits over the course of seven innings. Like the box score suggests, Wainwright absolutely owned me. He was mixing in his curve and his slider with his fastball, and I couldn't time it at all. I actually threatened in the top of the sixth. Wainwright had three walks in the inning, and Manny came up with the bases loaded and 2 outs. I worked the count full, and hit a long fly ball to center....but it was caught. That was the only legitimate threat I had all day.

Not a bad game at all.

Cheers.

[Blazzen]

Re: Blazzen's MLB2K10 Slider Thread

Played a game against the phillies using the few slider changes I made earlier this evening.

Blanton vs. Lowe

Braves 8 12 0 - 8 Singles, 4 Doubles, 2 Walks, 6 ko, pitch count 118
Phillies 2 10 0 - 9 singles, 1 homerun, 2 walks, 5 ko, pitch count 122

Note: I created Jason Heyward for the hell of it. Think he ended up at 82 OVR. Figured that was fair since he's slated to start over both Matt Diaz and Melky Cabrerra and they're both rated at 80. Probably a bit wishful thinking on Heyward. I had him at 70ish contact and 75ish power. Think the 80 speed and his good baserunning (which he's shown in spring training so far) is what boosted his rating into the 80s.

I got 3 runs off Blanton early and he only made it through 4 innings. I got a couple runs off middle relivers. It was 5-2 going into the 8th and I got 3 more off Madson. Really didn't have a ton of hits for 8 runs but I was able to string them together this game without hitting into double plays. The phillies had opposite luck, spacing hits out and hitting into a few DPs. I pitched out of a few jams, especially one with runners on, 1 out and utley then howard coming up I put in my lefty specialist Oflarhety and got 'em both.

Sliders playing great. Going to roll with these for a while. Only change I could see in the future would be raising user pitching difficulty as I get better at spotting my pitches.

Basically just waiting on rosters to start my franchise!

[BA2929]

Re: Blazzen's MLB2K10 Slider Thread

If anyone is having a problem generating high pitch counts the problem will be solved if you pitch to the catcher suggestions.
....
The CS are based on Inside Edge and they work so much better this year because IMO Inside Edge is finally working as it was originally intended to.

I was a college baseball coach for awhile, so I really don't need CS to know what to throw to a hitter at what time, count, etc. But, I either waste pitches out of the zone that a hitter will rarely swing at just to get my pitch count up, or I just ignore it. So......I'll probably just ignore it. I had Greinke get up to 80 last night in about the 7th (Hooray for K's and a long battle with some hitter where he fouled off about 8 pitches) and with the Fatigue slider where I have it it was very difficult to make the pitches I wanted, so I had to pull him. Pitch count shouldn't really mean much to me personally, I suppose. I'm going to work my staff like I would in real life anyway, regardless of pitch count. I just don't like having to waste a 1st pitch strike attempt just to get realistic pitch counts. The problem could easily be solved if the CPU didn't swing at the first pitch strike 85% of the time. Sometimes they'll even swing at a first pitch ball, making my wasted pitch and attempt to raise my pitch count turn into an easy 1 pitch dribbler to short. Oh well, I'm going to keep tweaking the sliders for mostly everything except pitching from now on. Seems like I've got it about where I need it.

[itbeme23]

Re: Blazzen's MLB2K10 Slider Thread

Played a game against the phillies using the few slider changes I made earlier this evening.

Blanton vs. Lowe

Braves 8 12 0 - 8 Singles, 4 Doubles, 2 Walks, 6 ko, pitch count 118
Phillies 2 10 0 - 9 singles, 1 homerun, 2 walks, 5 ko, pitch count 122

Note: I created Jason Heyward for the hell of it. Think he ended up at 82 OVR. Figured that was fair since he's slated to start over both Matt Diaz and Melky Cabrerra and they're both rated at 80. Probably a bit wishful thinking on Heyward. I had him at 70ish contact and 75ish power. Think the 80 speed and his good baserunning (which he's shown in spring training so far) is what boosted his rating into the 80s.

I got 3 runs off Blanton early and he only made it through 4 innings. I got a couple runs off middle relivers. It was 5-2 going into the 8th and I got 3 more off Madson. Really didn't have a ton of hits for 8 runs but I was able to string them together this game without hitting into double plays. The phillies had opposite luck, spacing hits out and hitting into a few DPs. I pitched out of a few jams, especially one with runners on, 1 out and utley then howard coming up I put in my lefty specialist Oflarhety and got 'em both.

Sliders playing great. Going to roll with these for a while. Only change I could see in the future would be raising user pitching difficulty as I get better at spotting my pitches.

Basically just waiting on rosters to start my franchise!

Care to elaborate on the changes and reasons why?

[BA2929]

Re: Blazzen's MLB2K10 Slider Thread

I have a quick question: Does anybody know if the 'Catcher Throw-Out Success' slider is actually tied to the USER catcher and not the CPU catcher? I was just thinking that it's a little odd that a USER catcher slider would be in the Running area, and not the Fielding area.....