Anyone else struggling playing Texas?

[BigWilly]

I finished my season with the Blue Jays, hitting .289 and averaging almost 5 runs a game.

Playing with the Texas Rangers, so far I'm 3-7, averaging 2.5 runs per game and hitting .217 as a team. Pierzynski is hitting .207, Cruz .206, Gentry .207, Murphy .161, Andrus .152.

I've made no trades to the Rangers, likewise with the Jays. And the only slider change I've made while playing with Texas is I've slowed the outfielder speed, which if anything should result in more offensive.

My perception is that I'm still swinging with good timing, but not making the same contact. Of course, I can't prove that, it's just a feeling.

Anyone else struggling offensively with the Rangers?

[HouseKeepinItReal]

Re: Anyone else struggling playing Texas?

152 games to go...

[BigWilly]

Re: Anyone else struggling playing Texas?

Yeah, might be a long season if the offense doesn't sort itself out.

And I didn't mention my challenges with Derek Holland. 3 absolutely brutal starts. He doesn't have a fastball. The sinker I can't throw for a strike unless I throw it down the middle. I can't throw his curve, leaving an unreliable slider. I have to resort to the change up far too often just to throw a strike, and none of my pitches fare well up high, which means I'm way too predictable having to throw low all the time.

Here's Holland's stat line through 3 starts:

0-3<O</O
11.12 ERA<O</O
11.1 IP<O</O
25 hits<O</O
16 runs<O</O
7 HR<O</O
3 BB<O</O
2.47 WHIP<O</O
5 k<O</O

The only silver lining so far through 13 games is Ogando, 3-0 with an ERA of 0.00 in 20 IP and a WHIP of 1.00. Best 3 starts consecutively by a single starter I think I've ever had in The Show.

[G3no_11]

Re: Anyone else struggling playing Texas?

My perception is that I'm still swinging with good timing, but not making the same contact. Of course, I can't prove that, it's just a feeling.

Can't you prove that with the swing feedback after a pitch?

I'm pretty sure HouseKeepinItReal said "152 games to go..." because that is a very small sample size. I would give it some time and get used to hitting and pitching with new players.

[BigWilly]

Re: Anyone else struggling playing Texas?

Can't you prove that with the swing feedback after a pitch?

I'm pretty sure HouseKeepinItReal said "152 games to go..." because that is a very small sample size. I would give it some time and get used to hitting and pitching with new players.

Yeah, but I can only see the swing feedback now...it isn't as though I can compare it to my swings from my previous season. I'm not packing it in with the Rangers, as worst case I'll adjust the sliders if I can't settle into some reasonable offensive numbers. I was just hoping not to.

[DieHardTheHunter]

Re: Anyone else struggling playing Texas?

You must be using the post ped Cruz

[DamnYanks2]

Re: Anyone else struggling playing Texas?

How's Beltre's hitting line?

[BigWilly]

Re: Anyone else struggling playing Texas?

Beltre is hitting .292 I think (from memory), or within a few points of that. After 10 games, I boosted some of my hitting sliders to increase the offense. I've since backed off on the sliders some - still trying to find the sweet spot. I am finding the Rangers harder to hit with as a team than the Jays at the same difficulty/sliders.

Anyway, Beltre is .292 with 10 HR, 12 Doubles and 27 RBI through 33 games. He was leading the HR race, but hasn't hit one in about 5-6 games and is now one behind Cabrera. He's a bit cold now, but overall has been one of my best hitters. Cruz, on the other hand, hitting .230'ish has been a major disappointment...and if not for 6 HR, I'd bench him.

[BigWilly]

Re: Anyone else struggling playing Texas?

For me, Darvish started off rocky through 2 starts, but has been great since with a 6-2 record.

Ogando has been awesome. 7-1, with a 1.36 ERA (and if you can believe it, if not for giving up 6 runs in 3 IP in his loss, his ERA would be microscopic).

I still can't throw a sinker strike with Holland. It's his primary pitch, and I only throw it when there's no risk. After his first 4 starts, and a ERA of 12, I had to choose to trade him or edit him. So I edited him by adding an average fastball so I had a pitch I could throw for a strike. It's the only edit I made, and since, he's been pretty good. His ERA is now down in the 6 range. I still don't like to use him, but at least he's competitive now.

This is the first time in all my years playing the Show that I've had a really wide spread in ERAs on my starting staff (1.36 up to 6+)

[thesnowman8]

Re: Anyone else struggling playing Texas?

The marlins kill me. I play as the bravos, and dear lord....I have the worst time. I probably lose two out of every three I play against them. And the ones I do win, it's a squeaker.

[BigWilly]

Re: Anyone else struggling playing Texas?

I'm getting frustrated playing as the Rangers. I'm 33-23, so the record is good. But my offense isn't. I'm playing on All Star, and my sliders are now near maxed out on the player batting sliders. I've moved them up and down, but I'm trying to get more offense so they've been inching back up to max and I'm still not seeing offensive improvement.

I'm hitting about .250 over the past month, and averaging 3.5 runs per game over my last 20 games. In those 20 games, I was held to 3 runs or less 12 times. So I'm getting little variety in box scores.

I'm also getting frustrated with pitching, but not for the reason you'd expect. In the last 30 games, I've moved from All Star to HoF to Legend pitching to try and give the CPU more runs against me. Pitching All Star, I gave up 2.9 runs/game through 18 games. Pitching HoF, I gave up 3.2 runs/game over 30 games. And now on Legend, I'm giving up only 2.5 runs through 10 games.

I still have a little way I can go with pitching sliders, as they're about the mid point on Legend for the CPU batting sliders, but the jump from All Star through Legend hasn't been that noticeable, and I'm actually giving up less runs on Legend. I even threw a 1 hitter in my 2nd Legend pitching start.

So, in summary, I have a good record, but my I'm not scoring enough and not giving up enough runs. I want more box score variety, and average runs/game in the 4-5 range not 2.5-3.5, for both me and the CPU.

Anyone have any suggestions, or experiencing something similar?