Ground ball/fly ball pitchers

[DarthRambo]

Does the game account for them? For example does a guy like Dallas Keuchel pitch and get a lot more ground outs (like he doea irl) than another? I'd like to see a attribute or at least a stat that keeps track of the % of ground outs vs fly ball outs. Or maybe a certain pitch that will generally produce more ground balls than others for pitchers like Keuchel.

[KBLover]

Sadly, I don't think there's any sort of hidden rating or otherwise.

I agree, I'd like to see something like this in later versions.

Right now, I like using the 2-seamer low in the zone. If the pitch executes correctly, there's quite a few grounders as a result. Sinker as well, of course, and pitches like splitters and forkballs can generate a lot of grounders if they work down in the zone or below the zone.

For flyball pitchers (and fictionals I imagine as flyball types) I usually use any of the other pitches (i.e. any not a 2-seam, forkball, splitter, or sinker) up in the zone frequently, even against power types. That seems like it gets more fly outs, though I don't have any data.

[nomo17k]

I think the idea is that the difference between ground/fly ball pitchers are made in terms of pitch movement, as in those pitches with sinking movement (e.g., 2SFB, SNK, etc.) move slightly off from flatter pitches (e.g., 4SFB), so that those who throws a lot of them with good movement avoid being squared up by sinking, which should in theory lead to more ground balls.

I'm not sure if this actually works as well as intended, especially when you play with Zone on lower difficulty levels where PCI is pretty big...

... but the pitch movement (and hence the Pitch Break attribute rating) should have influence on these things.

[Bobhead]

Quote: Originally Posted by nomo17k

I think the idea is that the difference between ground/fly ball pitchers are made in terms of pitch movement, as in those pitches with sinking movement (e.g., 2SFB, SNK, etc.) move slightly off from flatter pitches (e.g., 4SFB), so that those who throws a lot of them with good movement avoid being squared up by sinking, which should in theory lead to more ground balls. I'm not sure if this actually works as well as intended, especially when you play with Zone on lower difficulty levels where PCI is pretty big... ... but the pitch movement (and hence the Pitch Break attribute rating) should have influence on these things.

Don't forget delivery (overhand vs sidearm) factoring in but yes I agree, these factors are what lead to a higher or lower ground ball rate. Realistically, a specific rating for ground ball frequency should not be necessary... A pitcher with an accurate arsenal of pitches, all of which have accurate physics, would inherently induce an accurate number of ground balls per-100

[KBLover]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bobhead

Don't forget delivery (overhand vs sidearm) factoring in but yes I agree, these factors are what lead to a higher or lower ground ball rate. Realistically, a specific rating for ground ball frequency should not be necessary... A pitcher with an accurate arsenal of pitches, all of which have accurate physics, would inherently induce an accurate number of ground balls per-100

Assuming the hitters also have their tendencies reflected because both hitter and batter doing their things (or trying to) is what creates the results.

And, at least in Directional, I'm not particularly sure that's reflected. Yelich certainly doesn't hit 67% of his BIP on the ground like he has irl this year, even with me wearing out the "down" direction on my controller.

[Bobhead]

Quote: Originally Posted by KBLover

Assuming the hitters also have their tendencies reflected because both hitter and batter doing their things (or trying to) is what creates the results. And, at least in Directional, I'm not particularly sure that's reflected. Yelich certainly doesn't hit 67% of his BIP on the ground like he has irl this year, even with me wearing out the "down" direction on my controller.

Oh I agree, The Show doesn't have any representation of ground ball tendencies, for neither hitters nor pitchers. I was just echoing nomo's sentiments that, in an ideal scenario where the physics, mechanics, and player attributes are all done correctly, a specific Ground Ball rating would not be needed.