Directional Hitting Guide

[TheWarmWind]

Although the stream from SDS mostly focused on zone hitting, some of the things that were talked about do further legitimize some of the theories in this thread.

The first thing and easiest to confirm is the fact that Bat Exit Velocity is directly tied to the power attribute. As I've said many times throughout the thread, the only thing power effects is the average bat exit velocity.

Second is the "Using Timing to Adjust to Pitches in Directional" section has mostly been confirmed. They talked specifically about the timing gradient and how more timing is applicable when the pitch is right down the middle.

Third, when looking at the PCI breakdown, you can see how the height of the PCI can change how effective of a hitter a player can be. In zone hitting, contact effects how wide the PCI is, while vision effects how tall it is. This means in directional hitting, vision is the most important attribute to getting good contact. It doesn't fully confirm my theory about vision and directional hitting, but it's a pretty solid clue.

Obviously not the full confirmation that I know some of you were looking for, and probably not on the topics many wanted, but still some important evidence further supporting the theories.

[GoodyBucs]

WarmWind I hit a home for the first time today pulling down! It was a 3-2 count with Evan Gattis off a Mike Leake cutter. It was a 366 foot laser right down the left field line. It hit the funny cut out wall that attaches to the bullpen in Safeco.

[KBLover]

Sorry to necro but I do love me some directional hitting.

I had a "down swing" HR. My fictional slugger (98 Power, then 70's vision) did it - hit the ball 440 feet or so. Pitch was up, probably a mistake and hitter analysis said I was Just Early. Sometimes with him I use Down-middle + Power swing. That's the "try to hit a hard liner and if you elevate enough for a HR, fine" approach for me.

Reading your thoughts on Contact vs Vision - I actually prefer Contact because that seems to be the BABIP/BA/LD rate. Better trajectories are key and I've found that even with high Vision, low Contact will thwart my hitters because of crap trajectories.

And I absolutely hate too many lazy flies and a lack of line drives from my team. If they didn't hit 25% line drives, I feel like I had a bad game at the plate.

[TheWarmWind]

Quote: Originally Posted by KBLover

Sorry to necro but I do love me some directional hitting. I had a "down swing" HR. My fictional slugger (98 Power, then 70's vision) did it - hit the ball 440 feet or so. Pitch was up, probably a mistake and hitter analysis said I was Just Early. Sometimes with him I use Down-middle + Power swing. That's the "try to hit a hard liner and if you elevate enough for a HR, fine" approach for me. Reading your thoughts on Contact vs Vision - I actually prefer Contact because that seems to be the BABIP/BA/LD rate. Better trajectories are key and I've found that even with high Vision, low Contact will thwart my hitters because of crap trajectories. And I absolutely hate too many lazy flies and a lack of line drives from my team. If they didn't hit 25% line drives, I feel like I had a bad game at the plate.

Hmm, interesting thought about the trajectories. I'll try to keep an eye out for it. It does make some sense though, as lowering contact reduces the area of that "prime contact" while high vision increases the area of "any contact". What sliders are you playing on?

Edit: do I still claim I've never hit a HR with the down swing in the OP? I meant to edit that out, but the OP has become such a monster I miss a lot of the edits I intend to do.

[Bmarcoux]

On using no influence on power hitters with low vision what rating do you consider low. Vision under 50 ?? Thanks

[TheWarmWind]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bmarcoux

On using no influence on power hitters with low vision what rating do you consider low. Vision under 50 ?? Thanks

It's kind of a personal choice. Basically you are asking yourself how much you want to rely on the vision attribute to get you good results.

I play it by ear from player to player, but in general I trust a vision attribute higher then 60 and I refuse to trust a vision attribute lower then 40. The space in between is kind of a grey area where on field performance matters more then the raw number.

[KBLover]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bmarcoux

On using no influence on power hitters with low vision what rating do you consider low. Vision under 50 ?? Thanks

I consider 60-65 about MLB average, so anything under about 55 I would put as "solidly below average".

Of course, I don't know what the game engine considers MLB average (if anything) nor had the patience to calculate it in my current franchise's state!

Quote: Originally Posted by TheWarmWind

Hmm, interesting thought about the trajectories. I'll try to keep an eye out for it. It does make some sense though, as lowering contact reduces the area of that "prime contact" while high vision increases the area of "any contact". What sliders are you playing on? Edit: do I still claim I've never hit a HR with the down swing in the OP? I meant to edit that out, but the OP has become such a monster I miss a lot of the edits I intend to do.

I'm experimenting (making my own set and tracking results) but most of the games I've played on Hall of Fame with 5/7/8/0/8 human hitting vs 2 CPU control and 4 Consistency (borrowed Nomo's CPU pitching settings from his CPU vs CPU sliders).

[MoneyMan17]

Lots of good info in here. With 18 dropping it was a nice refresher rereading the OP. Will definitely apply some of the strategies and tips that I had forgotten about