Anyone know of any good in depth guide or baseball strategies?

[madhat42]

I always enjoy playing baseball games, I find them fun and relaxing. I really want to get into this years version, and I was wondering if anyone knows of a site that has good baseball strategies. I know the rules of the game and basic stuff that the average person knows..What I mean by this, are things like:

- What pitch to use in different types of situations, and in turn what types of pitches to expect.
- What types of pitches generally produce what kind of result when hit
- When to use a pinch hitter
- Best time to bunt/sacrifice
- As a batter, where to try and put the ball in certain situations

Things such as this..

Thanks!

[FoBs2007]

Quote: Originally Posted by madhat42

I always enjoy playing baseball games, I find them fun and relaxing. I really want to get into this years version, and I was wondering if anyone knows of a site that has good baseball strategies. I know the rules of the game and basic stuff that the average person knows..What I mean by this, are things like: - What pitch to use in different types of situations, and in turn what types of pitches to expect. - What types of pitches generally produce what kind of result when hit - When to use a pinch hitter - Best time to bunt/sacrifice - As a batter, where to try and put the ball in certain situations Things such as this.. Thanks!

Not sure as to an entire site based on this, but here are a few good answers.

1. First pitch in an at bat is usually a fastball. The pitcher wants to get ahead early in the count, and unless he is throwing one of his other pitches with great success, he will usually throw a fastball.

Some pitchers retire their batters by pitching high in the zone, causing most of the outs to come from fly balls. Additionally, groundball pitchers do the opposite. When facing a batter with a runner on first, it varies depending on the number of outs, or the speed of the guy on first. If he is likely to take off and attempt to steal, pitch-out and hope you catch him. Another option is to throw low in the zone to hopefully force a double play. Sliders and curves are good, just keep them down in the zone or you will pay for it!

2. Use a pinch hitter if you are going to be putting a new pitcher in next inning. For example, if I'm starting Lohse for the Brewers, and we are in inning 7 and he is due up third, I will usually warm up a pitcher and pinch hit for Lohse, unless he is doing well or we have a big lead.

A pinch hitter is also good to get lefty/righty matchups, because usually a left handed batter can hit a right handed pitcher with better success.

It's a little different in the AL because of the DH.

3. If it's late in the game and you need a run and your leadoff batter reaches first, consider a sacrifice bunt to move him into scoring position. Again, this kind of ties in to the pinch hitter above, but if the guy on first is really slow, consider subbing a faster player to run for him. Be aware that that player will take his position in the field as well.

Try not to bunt with heavy hitters (usually batters 3-5 in the lineup) unless absolutely necessary. It does happen though. Also, this doesn't really relate to bunting, but you can always try a 'hit-and-run' where you send your baserunners and swing at the pitch, no matter where it is in the zone. This is good for staying out of double plays, or taking a little gamble to try and advance the runner on first to third instead of second on a base hit.

4. Lastly, always go with the flow of the pitch. Try not to pull a ball that is thrown outside; swing a little late and slap it into right field for a base hit (with a right-handed batter). Obviously, try to pull a ball that is thrown inside.

If you have a runner on third with less than 1 out, try looking for something up in the zone to hit a sac fly to the outfield and get the runner in from third.


May not be what you're looking for, but those are some basics. And I'll throw in that these are based off of NL teams, I'm sure the strategy is somewhat different in the AL.

[madhat42]

This is fantastic information! Thank you very much for typing all of that out, it is greatly appreciated!

[fballturkey]

I'll throw in my two cents on a couple:

- What types of pitches generally produce what kind of result when hit
Like mentioned above high pitches will generally produce fly balls and low pitches will generally produce ground balls. Curves and sliders are usually low pitches so they're often thrown when going for a double play (runner on 1st, 0 or 1 out)
- When to use a pinch hitter
It's extremely situational. If your pitcher is tired and you know you're going to put in a reliever then you should pinch hit for him. If your pitcher has at least two innings left and the game is close you shouldn't pinch hit for him. Most everything else is up to the specific situation and your preference. If I'm down 3 with two runners on and two outs in the top of the 7th I'm going to pinch hit, pretty much regardless of the pitchers stamina. If I'm up one and I think the pitcher has one inning left? It's a judgement call. That's the fun part of the game .
- Best time to bunt/sacrifice
Best time to bunt: Never if your name isn't Billy Hamilton. Just kidding (mostly.) If there is a runner on first, less than two outs and the pitcher comes up that's generally a bunting situation. Sometimes a sacrifice bunt makes sense with non-pitchers. For example if you're in a tied game or down one and you have a generally poor batter followed by a generally good, powerful batter with a runner on first, the sac bunt might make sense. Again, these judgement calls are what make baseball fun. I tend to shy away from bunts with non-pitchers though.

- As a batter, where to try and put the ball in certain situations

If there's a runner on first you generally want to put the ball in right field so they can advance to third. Besides that I usually follow my batters natural hitting pattern (lefties usually hit to the first base side, righties to the third) unless the defense is using a shift in which case I try to hit against the shift.

[BA2929]

Quote: Originally Posted by madhat42

- What pitch to use in different types of situations, and in turn what types of pitches to expect.

0-0 or 1-0 or 2-0 - Expect anything, but most likely it'll be either a fastball or a change-up of some sort.

3-0 - Will be a fastball 98% of the time unless your hitter is named Miggy Cabrera.

0-1 or 1-1 - Could be anything.

0-2 or 1-2 - Expect a breaking ball or something out of the zone. The pitcher wants you to chase.

3-2 - Most likely a fastball/change up, but there is a chance of curve if the pitcher has good control of it.

Quote:

- What types of pitches generally produce what kind of result when hit

Curveballs/splitters/anything that moves down - This will most likely result in a line drive or ground ball if thrown down in the zone. Leaving it up in the zone could lead to a home run. I would not recommend throwing a curveball up in the zone very often.

Fastballs will result in anything and is determined on where the ball is thrown.

Change ups should be used in coordination with a fastball to hopefully ruin the hitters timing and result in a weak grounder or fly out.

Quote:

- When to use a pinch hitter

NL team - pinch hit for the pitcher late in the game.

AL or NL - Pinch hit for a poor hitter with a bench guy late in the game. Example: Pinch hitting for a weak hitter with a guy with power when down by 1 in the 9th.

Quote:

- Best time to bunt/sacrifice

NL - when your pitcher is up with a man on 1st/2nd with less than 2 outs.

Both leagues: When you're struggling to score against a top pitcher and you have a guy on 1st/2nd with nobody out.

If your name is Ned Yost - bunt all the time whenever you feel like it even if it's an awful idea.

Quote:

- As a batter, where to try and put the ball in certain situations

Man on 3rd, less than two outs is a good time to try and hit the ball to the right side of the field. A lazy grounder to 2nd scores you a run.

Man on 3rd, less than two outs - fly ball to semi deep OF to score a run.

Granted, all of this could change depending on what hitter you have up. You wouldn't want to put down a sac bunt with Mike Trout or David Ortiz.

Hope this helps you a little.

[GrayGhost63]

Pitches that drop usually produce ground balls because they tend to fool batters and usually result in the bat hitting the top half of the ball. But location also has a huge factor on the results of a pitch. It's gonna be harder to hit a home run on a pitch at your shins then it would be belt high.

So my advice is to constantly change your pitch location and speed, and use pitches and locations that complement each other. For example two fastballs followed by a changeup, or two pitches inside followed by a slider or cutter moving away from the batter.

The ideal locations to throw a pitch is the corners of the strike zone, I usually aim for about half the cursor to be in the strike zone. Two benefits when you hit the corners are 1.) The pitch isn't in a hitter's sweet spot 2.) It's a tougher call for the batter to swing or hold because its a borderline strike or ball. So you can have situations where they don't swing at a strike or whiff at a ball.

Pitch to the count. 0-2, 1-2 the hitter has to protect the plate so throw them a breaking ball that starts in the zone but breaks outside as it passes the plate. When you're behind in the count you have to pitch aggressively. I tend to stick with fastballs and an occasional change up.

And finally pick your pitches based on the hitter you're facing. Top of the lineup (1,2,3) tend to be higher contact hitters, so I tend to pitch them normally. Middle of the lineup (4,5,6) tend to be the power hitters so you want to stay out of the middle and upper part of the strike zone, I rarely ever throw a breaking ball to them because when it hangs they crush it. And the bottom of the lineup (7,8,9) are the worst hitters in the lineup, so I like to switch it up and start with a breaking ball and also use pitches your pitcher has a low confidence rating to give you a better arsenal for the 1-6 batters.

[madhat42]

This is all really awesome information. I really am looking forward to getting into the strategy of pitching and things like that. Normally I just throw what the catcher is asking for and there really isn't a sense of strategy doing that. Thanks everyone!

[HozAndMoose]

Quote: Originally Posted by BA2929

3-0 - Will be a fastball 98% of the time unless your hitter is named Miggy Cabrera.

Nah man pick up a Ventura and throw that **** right by him.