TNK MLB 22 Sliders

[TNKNGM]

TNK - Exhibition Game
Slider Testing - Game #4

Boston Red Sox @ Toronto Blue Jays
Pitching Matchup - Nathan Eovaldi vs Kevin Gausman

The Red Sox and Blue Jays were scoreless through 4 innings as Kevin Gausman and Nathan Eovladi were both pitching well early as Gausman had 7 Ks through 4 innings while Eovaldi had recorded 5 Ks as well. Gausman struck out the side in the top of the 5th and now had 10 Ks in the ball game while Eovaldi retired the side in order in the bottom of the 5th recording his 6th K and the game was scoreless through 5 innings. Gausman retired Devers and Bogaerts to begin the top of the 6th and had two strikes on JD Martinez when he hung a slider that stayed up and over the plate and Martinez hit a rocket to CF that sent Springer racing back to the warning track where he would leap at the wall but could not make the catch as Martinez hits a solo HR that traveled 412 feet with an exit velocity of 112mph giving Boston a 1-0 lead. Danny Jansen led off the bottom of the 6th with a liner in the gap to right-center for a double and the Blue Jays had the tying run in scoring position with nobody out. Eovaldi came back with a big K of Springer for the 1st out but left a splitter over the plate and Vlad Guerrero crushed a 2-run HR to LF putting Toronto on top 2-1. Gausman was at 86 pitches as he returned to the mound for the top of the 7th with activity in the bullpen and Bobby Dalbec would jump on a slider that stayed up and launched a 440 foot bomb to LF tying the game at 2-2 and ending the night for Gausman as Trevor Richards came in to take over on the mound. Richards would get through the inning getting Devers to fly out to CF stranding Hernandez on base and we would go to the bottom of the 7th tied 2-2. Lourdes Gurriel led off the bottom of the 7th with a single and Garrett Whitlock would come on to replace Eovaldi on the mound for Boston. Whitlock retired Chapman on a pop up for the 1st out before Biggio smoked a ball back to Whitlock but the ball was hit hard and caromed off of Whitlock as he couldn't quite get the glove on it and Biggio would reach setting up runners on 1st & 2nd with 1 out. Danny Jansen was up next and hit a high chopper to Devers at 3rd base who would get the force out at second base and Story had no shot at turning the double play as the Blue Jays now had runners on the corners with 2 outs and George Springer coming to the plate for a huge at bat. Whitlock would get a head in the count and make a good pitch as he placed a sinker low and away forcing Springer to hit a routine ground ball to Dalbec at first base for the 3rd out to end the 7th inning and send the game to the 8th inning with the score tied 2-2. Yimi Garcia took over on the mound and pitched a 1-2-3 top of the 8th for Toronto. Whitlock retired Guerrero to begin the bottom of the 8th before Teoscar Hernandez singled to put the go ahead run on base with 1 out. Bo Bichette was up next and drove a ball the opposite way short hopping the wall in RF for a double to bring up Alejandro Kirk with runners on 2nd & 3rd with 1 out. Alex Cora called for the intentional walk of Kirk to load the bases and try to set up the double play with Lourdes Gurriel coming up to bat. Whitlock would go to work after a mound visit from the pitching coach and Gurriel would fight off a couple of tough pitches with two strikes before hitting a fly ball fairly deep to LF where Verdugo would make the catch and throw home but his throw was off line as Hernandez scores the go ahead run to give the Blue Jays a 3-2 lead. Matt Chapman would ground out to Bogaerts as Whitlock gets out of the inning with no further damage and we would go to the 9th inning with the Blue Jays leading 3-2 and Jordan Romano coming on to try and close it out for Toronto. Trevor Story flew out to Gurriel in LF to start the top of the 9th and Romano would get Dalbec to chase a slider away for a big K and the Red Sox were down to their final out. Travis Shaw would be called on to pinch hit for Christian Vazquez and he would go down swinging for the final out as Romano records the save and the Red Sox lose a tight one 3-2

HIGHLIGHTS








* Gausman and Eovaldi were both excellent in this game as Gausman stuck out 11 Red Sox batters while Eovaldi struck out 8 Blue Jays

Boston Red Sox at Toronto Blue Jays
Apr 3, 2022	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Boston (Test)	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	2	7	0
Toronto (Test)	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	X	3	9	1
W: Yimi Garcia L: Garrett Whitlock S: Jordan Romano

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			BOS	TOR
BOS	6	JD Martinez solo HR to CF	1	0
TOR	6	Vladimir Guerrero 2-run HR to LF (Jansen scores)	1	2
BOS	7	Bobby Dalbec solo HR to LF	2	2
TOR	8	Lourdes Gurriel sac fly to LF (Hernandez scores)	2	3

Boston Red Sox
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Hernandez, CF	4	0	1	0	0	2	0
Devers, 3B	4	0	1	0	0	1	0
Bogaerts, SS	4	0	0	0	0	2	0
Martinez, DH	4	1	2	1	0	1	1
Verdugo, LF	4	0	2	0	0	1	0
Story, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	1	0
Dallbec, 1B	4	1	1	1	0	3	1
Vazquez, C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shaw (PH)	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
Bradley, CF	3	0	0	0	0	3	0
TEAM TOTALS	35	2	7	2	0	15	2
BATTING: HR: Martinez, Dalbec RBI: Martinez, Dalbec

Toronto Blue Jays
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Springer, CF	4	0	1	0	0	1	0
Guerrero, 1B	4	1	1	2	0	1	1
Hernandez, RF	4	1	2	0	0	2	0
Bichette, SS	4	0	2	0	0	0	0
Kirk, DH	3	0	0	0	1	0	0
Gurriel, LF	3	0	1	1	0	0	0
CHapman, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	2	0
Biggio, 2B	3	0	1	0	0	1	0
Jansen, C	3	1	1	0	0	1	0
TEAM TOTALS	32	3	9	3	1	8	1
BATTING: 2B: Bichette 2, Jansen HR: Guerrero RBI: Guerrero 2, Gurriel SF: Gurriel
FIELDING: E: Bichette

Boston Red Sox
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Nathan Eovaldi	6.0	6	2	2	0	8	1
Garrett Whitlock (L)	2.0	3	1	1	1	0	0
TEAM TOTALS	8.0	9	3	3	1	8	1
PITCHING: Pitches-Strikes: Eovaldi - 82 Pitches (72% Strikes)

Toronto Blue Jays
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Kevin Gausman (W)	6.0	6	2	2	0	11	2
Trevor Richards	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Yimi Garcia	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Jordan Romano (S)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0
TEAM TOTALS	9.0	7	2	2	0	15	2
PITCHING: Pitches-Strikes: Gausman - 88 Pitches (75% Strikes)

[ILLICIT206]

First time using your sliders, and really enjoyed the first game offensively. They feel very balanced. My only issue was pitching felt very easy, but could've been just a well pitched game. I threw like 85% strikes and walks were not an issue. Will def play some more, I'm guessing I'll see some more variety as I go. Your box scores seem to show a lot of that. Excited to play more with these!

[TNKNGM]

Quote: Originally Posted by ILLICIT206

First time using your sliders, and really enjoyed the first game offensively. They feel very balanced. My only issue was pitching felt very easy, but could've been just a well pitched game. I threw like 85% strikes and walks were not an issue. Will def play some more, I'm guessing I'll see some more variety as I go. Your box scores seem to show a lot of that. Excited to play more with these!

You should purposely pitch a little more off the plate which which will produce more balls, more hitters counts, etc.....it gets easy to just aim every pitch in the zone when you are not necessarily "pitching off the plate or on the edge" rather than focusing on putting the pitch in the zone rather than on the edge or off the edge

I would at the very least give it a few games before you adjust anything.....then if necessary, you could either reduce HUM control or consistency.....or you could increase the CPU hitting a bit

Just be careful to not fall down the rabbit hole where you are constantly tweaking the sliders

[ILLICIT206]

Quote: Originally Posted by TNKNGM

You should purposely pitch a little more off the plate which which will produce more balls, more hitters counts, etc.....it gets easy to just aim every pitch in the zone when you are not necessarily "pitching off the plate or on the edge" rather than focusing on putting the pitch in the zone rather than on the edge or off the edge I would at the very least give it a few games before you adjust anything.....then if necessary, you could either reduce HUM control or consistency.....or you could increase the CPU hitting a bit Just be careful to not fall down the rabbit hole where you are constantly tweaking the sliders

Yeah, definitely don't want to go down that road. I should clarify that the game has overall felt easier pitching than hitting for a while now, so trying to find that balance is tough and I've been searching for it for at least the last three games. I didn't mean it to sound critical of your sliders, I think these are very solid!

[TNKNGM]

TNK - Exhibition Game
Slider Testing - Game #5

Boston Red Sox @ Chicago White Sox
Pitching Matchup - Tanner Houck vs Michael Kopech

The Red Sox opened the scoring in the top of the 1st on a towering fly ball to RF by Rafael Devers that cleared the wall for a solo HR to give Boston a 1-0 lead. Tanner Houck was sharp early on the mound for Boston as he retired the first 6 batters that he faced. The Red Sox extended the lead in the top of the 3rd inning when Kopech hung a curveball that Jackie Bradley ripped on a line deep down the RF line and the ball would stay fair for a solo HR that hooked around the foul pole making it 2-0. The White Sox would get on the board in the bottom of the 3rd as Andrew Vaughn doubled down the RF line to lead off the inning and would come around to score when Tim Anderson lined a RBI single to CF making it 2-1. Chicago was threatening to have a big inning as Luis Robert walked to put two men on with 2 outs for Jose Abreu but Houck would escape the jam and avoid the big inning as he would get Abreu to ground out to Bogaerts to end the inning and send the game to the 4th inning with Boston leading 2-1. The White Sox were threatening again in the bottom of the 4th after a Yasmani Grandal double put runners on 2nd & 3rd with 1 out for Andrew Vaughn and he would pick up the RBI driving in Jimenez with a sac fly to LF tying the game 2-2. Houck would get a big K to end the inning as he fanned Gavin Sheets on a 96 mph fastball up and in for his 6th K of the ball game and we would go to the 5th inning with the score tied 2-2. Kopech and Houck were both showing signs of tiring and would get through the 5th inning clean despite their rising pitch counts. Reynaldo Lopez replaced Kopech on the mound to begin the top of the 6th and retired the Red Sox in order while Houck returned to the mound for the bottom of the 6th with the heart of the White Sox order due up and Houck would finish his outing with a 1-2-3 inning as he retired all 3 of them on ground ball outs to send the game to the 7th inning tied 2-2. Trevor Story led off the top of the 7th by lining a rocket into LF for a single and he would advance into scoring position on a pitch in the dirt with 1 out but Lopez did a great job to pitch out of the jam as he recorded back to back Ks of Vazquez and Bradley to end the threat and keep it a 2-2 game. Ryan Brasier came on to pitch the bottom of the 7th and worked around a 1 out walk to Andrew Vaughn for a scoreless frame sending the game to the 8th inning with the score tied 2-2. Xander Bogaerts made a bid to give Boston the lead in the top of the 8th when he crushed a ball deep down the LF line but it would hook foul by a few feet and Lopez would get through the inning unscathed keeping it a 2-2 game. Garrett Whitlock took over on the mound for Boston as the White Sox came up to bat in the bottom of the 8th with the top of the order due up and Whitlock would retire the side in order with ease to send the game to the 9th inning tied at 2-2. Lopez returned to the mound to begin the top of the 9th and sat down Martinez, Verdugo and Story in order to send the game to the bottom of the 9th where Chicago would have a chance to walk off with a victory. Whitlock remained in the game to pitch the bottom of the 9th and made quick work of the White Sox retiring the side in order to send the game to extra innings with the score tied 2-2. The Red Sox started the top of the 10th with the extra innings runner on second base and had runners at the corners with 2 outs but failed to plate a run as Kike Hernandez put a charge into a ball as he drove it deep to left-center and Luis Robert would make the catch on the warning track just in front of the wall for the 3rd out. Chicago would come to bat in the bottom of the 10th with the potential winning run on second base. Whitlock would get Vaughn to pop up for a big first out and Jake Diekman would come from the pen and get Gavin Sheets and Josh Harrison on routine fly ball outs to send the game to the 11th inning. Kendall Graveman took over on the mound for Chicago to begin the 11th and would get JD Martinez to ground into an inning ending double play as the Red Sox strand a pair. Hansel Robles would get through the bottom of the 11th as the score remained 2-2 and we would go to the 12th inning. The Red Sox stranded runners at 2nd & 3rd as they failed to score against Graveman in the top of the 12th but and Yoan Moncada would end the game leading off the bottom of the 12th as Robles went to the changeup with two strikes and it stayed out over the plate and Moncada launched it high and deep to RF for a 2-run walk off HR to give the White Sox a thrilling 4-2 win

HIGHLIGHTS

Red Sox at White Sox |
Apr 4, 2022	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Extras	R	H	E
Boston (Test)	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	000	2	6	0
Chicago (Test)	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	002	4	5	1
W: Kendall Graveman L: Hansel Robles

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			BOS	CHW
BOS	1	Rafael Devers solo HR to RF	1	0
BOS	3	Jackie Bradley solo HR to RF	2	0
CHW	3	Tim Anderson singled to CF (Vaughn scores)	2	1
CHW	4	Andrew Vaughn sac fly to LF (Jimenez scores)	2	2
CHW	12	Yoan Moncada 2-run walk off HR to RF (Abreu scores)	2	4

Boston Red Sox
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Hernandez, CF	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
Devers, 3B	4	1	1	1	0	3	1
Bogaerts, SS	5	0	0	0	0	3	0
Martinez, DH	4	0	0	0	1	0	0
Verdugo, LF	4	0	1	0	1	1	0
Story, 2B	5	0	2	0	0	1	0
Dallbec, 1B	5	0	0	0	0	4	0
Vazquez, C	5	0	0	0	0	3	0
Bradley, RF	4	1	2	1	0	1	1
TEAM TOTALS	41	2	6	2	2	16	2

Chicago White Sox
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
ANderson, SS	5	0	1	1	0	3	0
Robert, CF	4	0	0	0	1	1	0
Abreu, 1B	5	1	0	0	0	1	0
Moncada, 3B	5	1	1	2	0	0	1
Jimenez, LF	4	1	1	0	0	1	0
Grandal, C	4	0	1	0	0	2	0
Vaughn, RF	2	1	1	1	1	0	0
Sheets, DH	4	0	0	0	0	2	0
Harrison, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	1	0
TEAM TOTALS	37	4	5	4	2	11	1
BATTING: 2B: Grandal, Vaughn HR: Moncada RBI: Moncada 2, Vaughn, Anderson SF: Vaughn
FIELDING: E: Anderson

Boston Red Sox
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Tanner Houck	6.0	4	2	2	1	7	0
Ryan Brasier	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0
Garrett Whitlock	2.1	0	0	0	0	2	0
Jake Diekman	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hansel Robles (L)	1.0	1	2	1	0	1	1
TEAM TOTALS	11.0	5	4	3	2	11	1
PITCHING: Pitches-Strikes: Houck- 85 Pitches (71% Strikes)

Chicago White Sox
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Michael Kopech	5.0	4	2	2	1	7	2
Reynaldo Lopez	5.0	2	0	0	1	6	0
Kendall Graveman (W)	2.0	0	0	0	0	3	0
TEAM TOTALS	12.0	6	2	2	2	16	2
PITCHING: Pitches-Strikes: Kopech - 82 Pitches (62% Strikes)

[TNKNGM]

Quote: Originally Posted by ILLICIT206

Yeah, definitely don't want to go down that road. I should clarify that the game has overall felt easier pitching than hitting for a while now, so trying to find that balance is tough and I've been searching for it for at least the last three games. I didn't mean it to sound critical of your sliders, I think these are very solid!

No worries man.....another thing you can try in order to make pitching more difficult is to turn off the ball marker

It's set to classic fade, you could set that to OFF so that you can't see the visual of lining the ball up right on the corner and instead need to rely on feel when placing where you want the pitch. I guarantee that it will be harder to pitch that way and that's a way of doing it without tweaking the actual slider values

Again though - you might want to play a handful of games and switch your starting pitchers up as well. Throw your #5 guy against a strong lineup and see what results you get.

That's another important factor when trying to figure out sliders.....I can't base anything off the results of a single game. I also can't throw Chris Sale every game against the Marlins or Orioles and expect the results to be solid data. I need to test with a variety of pitchers against a variety of different lineups.

What I mainly focus on is first how things look, feel, flow, etc and then I work on making sure things aren't way off statistically. Ultimately, you want variety without being unrealistic

* Do things look & feel right?
* Forget about results - anything can happen in any one game
* Unless their is an abnormal result that constantly happens
* Does fielder speed, throw speed, baserunner speed all look and feel ok without any of them being too far out of whack
* Once I have everything looking and feeling right....then I focus on results/statistics
* As long as there is variety in a semi-realistic manner, I try not to overthink it
* Last thing is to look at results over long stretches and see if anything needs adjusting
20 game block
50 game block
half a season
whole season

[cme26wvu]

I haven't picked up the game yet but when I do I'll be plugging your sliders in for my franchise. I'm interested in hearing your take on the sim injury slider at 2? Are you still seeing a realistic amount of injuries like last year?

[ILLICIT206]

Quote: Originally Posted by TNKNGM

No worries man.....another thing you can try in order to make pitching more difficult is to turn off the ball marker It's set to classic fade, you could set that to OFF so that you can't see the visual of lining the ball up right on the corner and instead need to rely on feel when placing where you want the pitch. I guarantee that it will be harder to pitch that way and that's a way of doing it without tweaking the actual slider values Again though - you might want to play a handful of games and switch your starting pitchers up as well. Throw your #5 guy against a strong lineup and see what results you get. That's another important factor when trying to figure out sliders.....I can't base anything off the results of a single game. I also can't throw Chris Sale every game against the Marlins or Orioles and expect the results to be solid data. I need to test with a variety of pitchers against a variety of different lineups. What I mainly focus on is first how things look, feel, flow, etc and then I work on making sure things aren't way off statistically. Ultimately, you want variety without being unrealistic * Do things look & feel right? * Forget about results - anything can happen in any one game * Unless their is an abnormal result that constantly happens * Does fielder speed, throw speed, baserunner speed all look and feel ok without any of them being too far out of whack * Once I have everything looking and feeling right....then I focus on results/statistics * As long as there is variety in a semi-realistic manner, I try not to overthink it * Last thing is to look at results over long stretches and see if anything needs adjusting 20 game block 50 game block half a season whole season

Absolutely! I'm going to continue tonight, when I start my M's franchise. The only difference is I'm using directional hitting, not zone. In your experience, have others found them to work with directional?