I think the (Human) timing window really needs to be expanded

[Clarityman]

Count me among those who think the timing window is perfect this year.

Hitting is supposed to be hard. You're supposed to be late on most fastballs.

I can hit the ball the other way, or pull it no problem, depending on the pitch speed, pitch location, and batter's count. It's important to practice and learn the nuances of the game, just like real baseball.

[Syce]

the one thing i have noticed this year though, is if you get a "Good" contact with the ball while batting, atleast for me has been a foul ball everytime. Even for Home Runs, i end up having early contact, you can even see it in the replay if you watch it. early contact homers.

[The Blargh]

I've been playing on All-Star hitting, using pure analog when my carpal tunnel isn't acting up and directional + buttons when it is. Switched up between pure analog and zone + buttons in previous years.

To me, it seems like it really depends on the pitcher. Some of them, I just flat out rake on, even with a pitcher hitting. Others, particularly ones with a nasty changeup (@#$% you, Hyun-Jin Ryu), the best I can do is be patient and try to get them to throw enough pitches to get pulled after 6 so I can feast on a 7th inning guy.

The timing window is definitely smaller this year, but after a thousand ABs or so across Franchise and RTTS, I've adjusted and my averages are getting inflated enough to consider moving batting up to HOF.

[rjackson]

It feels just a hair different to me this year as well. Not necessarily a smaller window, maybe shifted slightly since going oppo field was overpowered in '14. Inside pitches are harder to keep fair (which is good) or they seem to saw you off too often. I still don't think effective velocity was implemented correctly as well nor will it probably ever be in this game and that throws me off as well.

[Madden's Jowels]

I feel that when every single time I swing "early" on something it goes foul, that indicates a problem. I'll consciously try to pull the ball by swinging slightly early, and even when I feel I timed something up perfectly (let's be honest, we've all been playing this game for years, we know when we just lock in and "get one") it will still sail foul.

I've had better luck going the other way by waiting a pitch out, except once you reach HOF or higher, at least in my case, it becomes almost impossible for me to hit off-speed lol. Especially changeups. On HOF or Legend, every pitcher has a 100 mph fastball and a 45 mph changeup that floats in the breeze for 5 seconds. It reminds me of the old cartoon where Bugs Bunny swings and misses at the same pitch about 10 times before it reaches the plate. Now that's more of a design choice, to make this contrast between fastballs and off-speed seem more and more intense as you go up in difficulty levels. But when you wait for what seems like an eternity for a changeup to reach the plate, and then you finally swing and it still says "early" and dribbles foul, maybe they do need to open it up just a TAD.

[JTommy67]

I don't want to jump to conclusions before I've played enough, but I'm starting to think after about twenty games into my franchise that it's more difficult, maybe too much so. I play using directional/timing hitting so keep that in mind (all-star level).

Some have commented that the off-speed pitches look too slow. It does appear that way to me. There could also have been an adjustment to the timing window. Maybe both. And while it might be instinctive to praise the increased difficulty as more reflective of real MLB hitting, keep this in mind:

In real life, a batter can gear up for a fastball and make an adjustment when he gets something off-speed. You'll see hitters stride but they're still able to keep their hands back and hit the changeup. But you can't do this when your swing is linked to a button. Once you press it, you're swinging unless you let up and check. So if I'm looking fastball in say, a 2-0 count I find it next to impossible to hold up on a change due to the more difficult timing. Didn't have this problem before.

With two strikes, I'm using contact swing mostly and looking off-speed, which is why I don't strike out much. But on the hitter's counts (2-0, 3-1) I'm actually finding it more difficult to hit for the reasons stated. This doesn't seem right to me.

So I think this is why the previous years' timing window/speed differential was a little more fluid and perhaps more fair. If I was looking for a fastball and didn't get it I could adjust well enough.

For me, the only thing would be to increase the timing window or lower the pitch speed, which I don't really want to do.

[Dolenz]

The timing window does seem pretty small with the timing/directional. But I never used this mode in the past so who knows how much faster it may be. It's made for some tight low scoring games for me in Season Mode.

The thing I hate is seeing the Good timing ball pop up on a pitch in the middle of the plate and having my guy foul it off.

[NEOPARADIGM]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dolenz

The thing I hate is seeing the Good timing ball pop up on a pitch in the middle of the plate and having my guy foul it off.

I put almost zero stock in that. Reason being, I swear the game knows the difference between "good timing" and a pitch you truly saw, timed, and barreled up. Fact is you can pretty much luck your way to "good timing" on a lot of pitches, especially if you're a vet of the series. But REEEEALLY seeing the ball and barreling it up requires that extra dash of skill & anticipation that "good timing" doesn't really account for.

Just my experience.