What is the “correct” way to warm up pitchers?

[HypoLuxa13]

I don't know if it has been proven, but I'm pretty sure if you have your reliever in the Bullpen 'Warming up' too much in a game, they start to lose stamina. Or at least this seems to be the case. That's where 'Stretch and Toss' and 'Ready and Waiting' come in.

If I get a reliever up in a "just in case" situation, and don't think I'll actually need him, I'll use 'Stretch and Toss' until I see reason to actually warm him up. Good for long relievers in case your starter starts getting in trouble early but you want to give him a chance to work out of it. Or good for closers in non-save situations where you don't trust the guy you put out there to finish the 9th inning without some drama.

For 'Ready and Waiting', once he gets to 3/4 ready or above, setting him to this will allow him to get to 100% ready but you won't take a risk of him starting to tire if it ends up being a long time before you actually bring him in and use him. Good to use for your closer if you are getting him ready the inning before.

[My993C2]

Quote: Originally Posted by HypoLuxa13

I don't know if it has been proven, but I'm pretty sure if you have your reliever in the Bullpen 'Warming up' too much in a game, they start to lose stamina. Or at least this seems to be the case. That's where 'Stretch and Toss' and 'Ready and Waiting' come in. If I get a reliever up in a "just in case" situation, and don't think I'll actually need him, I'll use 'Stretch and Toss' until I see reason to actually warm him up. Good for long relievers in case your starter starts getting in trouble early but you want to give him a chance to work out of it. Or good for closers in non-save situations where you don't trust the guy you put out there to finish the 9th inning without some drama. For 'Ready and Waiting', once he gets to 3/4 ready or above, setting him to this will allow him to get to 100% ready but you won't take a risk of him starting to tire if it ends up being a long time before you actually bring him in and use him. Good to use for your closer if you are getting him ready the inning before.

I agree with pretty much everything said above. Just want to add one or two more points.

You're relievers don't need to be 100% warm to bring them in. They can be effective at 3/4 warm as HypoLuxa13 states. But there is a pattern I have observed over time in MLB The Show series going back several years but it also repeats in this years game and it happens in many different gaming modes. So what is it? Even when relievers have been sufficiently warmed up to 100%, their first 1-2 pitches are often outside of strike zone. It does not happen all the time, but it happens more often than not. I have seen this in my MoM games (both my team and the opposition), I have seen it in CPU vs CPU games and I am also seeing it in the RTTS games I have been playing lately.

PS: if you leave relievers "Warming Up" in the bullpen for more than an inning or two they will begin to tire whereas they will not tire when they stretch and toss. I know I have forgotten relievers and when I go back in a couple of innings later you will see they have tired a bit and unless you are desperate for an arm, you really need to sit them for the rest of the game.

[Caulfield]

dont tell Manfred but after getting a reliever up to throw,
I usually just call a mound conference, find out where the guys are eating that night,
ask 'em if they've seen the chick in the 3rd row, then bring in the reliever.

[TheWarmWind]

Quote: Originally Posted by Caulfield

dont tell Manfred but after getting a reliever up to throw, I usually just call a mound conference, find out where the guys are eating that night, ask 'em if they've seen the chick in the 3rd row, then bring in the reliever.

This and the quick manage trick are pretty much the only way to guarantee your reliever doesn't come in with missing energy. Kind of sad that players get punished for doing it the right way.

PS the quick manage trick is to never warm up your relievers. When you want a new pitcher in, just pop into quick manage mode and bring in the new reliever. Pop back out and voila, perfectly warmed up reliever with no energy loss.

[HypoLuxa13]

Quote: Originally Posted by Caulfield

dont tell Manfred but after getting a reliever up to throw, I usually just call a mound conference, find out where the guys are eating that night, ask 'em if they've seen the chick in the 3rd row, then bring in the reliever.

Larry: [Larry jogs out to the mound to break up a players' conference] Excuse me, but what the hell's going on out here?
Crash Davis: Well, Nuke's scared because his eyelids are jammed and his old man's here. We need a live... is it a live rooster?
[Jose nods]
Crash Davis: . We need a live rooster to take the curse off Jose's glove and nobody seems to know what to get Millie or Jimmy for their wedding present.
[to the players]
Crash Davis: Is that about right?
[the players nod]
Crash Davis: We're dealing with a lot of ****.
Larry: Okay, well, uh... candlesticks always make a nice gift, and uh, maybe you could find out where she's registered and maybe a place-setting or maybe a silverware pattern. Okay, let's get two! Go get 'em.

[Culture Rot]

I've never once used anything but "Warm Up"