I am loving the game, but the CPU Manager Hook is very bothersome and really sucks the reality out of the game.
It seems to me like the CPU Manager Hook is being determined by the relief pitcher's stamina and not necessarily by his performance and/or situation.
In almost every game, I have ran into a scenario where the CPU Manager brings in a relief pitcher either a MRP or LRP in the middle innings, has arms warming up in the bullpen, but does not go to them because the original RP still has stamina left.
This is causing a few things to happen:
1. If you are locked in on the RP, you are going to kill him and CPU Manager never goes to bullpen or mound visit (I think I have seen 1).
2. Unrealistic pitch counts from relief pitchers (30-50 range)
3. Unrealistic innings pitched by relief pitchers (3-5 innings)
4. Runs up score of the game due to ineffective RPs being left in too long.
All of this is regardless of the situation.
Here are two examples:
1. Yankees at Red Sox (CPU) - I am absolutely murdering Rick Porcello. I light him up to the tune of 7 runs in 3 innings pitched. The Sox proceed to bring in their LRP Brian Anderson (he is a technically a starter so his stamina is in mid-70s). I then proceed to tack on 12(!) runs for the next 6 innings on Anderson...I hit back to back to back HRs at one point. He pitched ALL remaining 6 innings and I only saw one mound visit. I beat the Red Sox 20-4. Now, while I understand that when there is a blow out, there is usually a guy who has to take a beating to save the bullpen, and had this been an anomaly, I would have said good job by the CPU....but no...
2. Yankees at Rangers (CPU) - Tanka vs Moore, both guys give up 4 runs through 5 innings. in the 6th inning Texas brings in Bartolo Colon (LRP w/ 80+ Stamina). Colon pitches Innings 6-9. He came in during a tied game (4-4). promptly gave up the lead in the first 4 batters he faced. In the 9th inning (with over 40 pitches) he was still pitching. He got to face Aaron Judge in a run 1 game, in the 9th. Judge hit a double, they intentionally walked Stanton to load bases for Didi Gregorious. Texas left Colon in the game in the 9th, losing by one with the bases loaded, 1 out, and 50+ pitches under his belt. He should have been out of the game 3+ innings/20 pitches ago. Not once did he get a mound visit, AND there were 2 MRPs warming up since the 6th Inning! The CPU never went to the bullpen. Not even to neutralize Greg Bird (LH) with a lefty specialist, again, in a close 1 run game in the late innings.
All of this happened with me having the CPU Manager Hook Slider= 9 and CPU Relief Stamina = 3. Meaning I tipped the scales to try and force the CPU to be more likely to go to the pen and they did not, so I don't even want to know how long the leash would be if CPU Manager Hook = Default!
I have opened a bug about this on TheShowNation.com, but to me this might be the biggest problem in the game at the moment. I would urge anyone who experienced anything similar to this to also report a bug. This logic just seems completely off, and I think somewhere in there this code just is not triggering, because the CPU's Bullpen Management is practically non-existent.
For the record...this is happening to me in Play Now (Exhibition). Not sure if the bullpen logic is different here vs Franchise, where the CPU does not have to "save" the pitchers arm for the next calendar day. I wait until OSFM Rosters are done to begin Franchise usually, so it will be a while before I test it there.
It seems to me like the CPU Manager Hook is being determined by the relief pitcher's stamina and not necessarily by his performance and/or situation.
In almost every game, I have ran into a scenario where the CPU Manager brings in a relief pitcher either a MRP or LRP in the middle innings, has arms warming up in the bullpen, but does not go to them because the original RP still has stamina left.
This is causing a few things to happen:
1. If you are locked in on the RP, you are going to kill him and CPU Manager never goes to bullpen or mound visit (I think I have seen 1).
2. Unrealistic pitch counts from relief pitchers (30-50 range)
3. Unrealistic innings pitched by relief pitchers (3-5 innings)
4. Runs up score of the game due to ineffective RPs being left in too long.
All of this is regardless of the situation.
Here are two examples:
1. Yankees at Red Sox (CPU) - I am absolutely murdering Rick Porcello. I light him up to the tune of 7 runs in 3 innings pitched. The Sox proceed to bring in their LRP Brian Anderson (he is a technically a starter so his stamina is in mid-70s). I then proceed to tack on 12(!) runs for the next 6 innings on Anderson...I hit back to back to back HRs at one point. He pitched ALL remaining 6 innings and I only saw one mound visit. I beat the Red Sox 20-4. Now, while I understand that when there is a blow out, there is usually a guy who has to take a beating to save the bullpen, and had this been an anomaly, I would have said good job by the CPU....but no...
2. Yankees at Rangers (CPU) - Tanka vs Moore, both guys give up 4 runs through 5 innings. in the 6th inning Texas brings in Bartolo Colon (LRP w/ 80+ Stamina). Colon pitches Innings 6-9. He came in during a tied game (4-4). promptly gave up the lead in the first 4 batters he faced. In the 9th inning (with over 40 pitches) he was still pitching. He got to face Aaron Judge in a run 1 game, in the 9th. Judge hit a double, they intentionally walked Stanton to load bases for Didi Gregorious. Texas left Colon in the game in the 9th, losing by one with the bases loaded, 1 out, and 50+ pitches under his belt. He should have been out of the game 3+ innings/20 pitches ago. Not once did he get a mound visit, AND there were 2 MRPs warming up since the 6th Inning! The CPU never went to the bullpen. Not even to neutralize Greg Bird (LH) with a lefty specialist, again, in a close 1 run game in the late innings.
All of this happened with me having the CPU Manager Hook Slider= 9 and CPU Relief Stamina = 3. Meaning I tipped the scales to try and force the CPU to be more likely to go to the pen and they did not, so I don't even want to know how long the leash would be if CPU Manager Hook = Default!
I have opened a bug about this on TheShowNation.com, but to me this might be the biggest problem in the game at the moment. I would urge anyone who experienced anything similar to this to also report a bug. This logic just seems completely off, and I think somewhere in there this code just is not triggering, because the CPU's Bullpen Management is practically non-existent.
For the record...this is happening to me in Play Now (Exhibition). Not sure if the bullpen logic is different here vs Franchise, where the CPU does not have to "save" the pitchers arm for the next calendar day. I wait until OSFM Rosters are done to begin Franchise usually, so it will be a while before I test it there.
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