Fastball, fastball, fastball... catcher pitch logic awful

[Aviator87AC]

What is with catchers calling for the same pitch back to back to back throughout a game? A deadred hitter could be up to the plate with an 0-2 count and catcher will call for gas down the middle.

I'll step off the mound 10-15 times and finally get him to call something else. Seriously immersion breaking - is there any way to have the catcher call for something offspeed? I swear there is little to no logic behind what they call.

[countryboy]

Re: Fastball, fastball, fastball... catcher pitch logic awful

I get a good mixture of calls from the catcher, and if he calls something I don’t want to throw I just throw what I want to throw.


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[Aviator87AC]

Re: Fastball, fastball, fastball... catcher pitch logic awful

I get a good mixture of calls from the catcher, and if he calls something I don’t want to throw I just throw what I want to throw.

That's just listening to the catcher when you want. Another thing I'd like to see added are cross-ups.

[countryboy]

Re: Fastball, fastball, fastball... catcher pitch logic awful

That's just listening to the catcher when you want. Another thing I'd like to see added are cross-ups.

Yeah but there is no ability, at least I’m aware of, to shake off the catcher. So in the event we aren’t on the same page I pitch what I think is best


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[Caulfield]

Re: Fastball, fastball, fastball... catcher pitch logic awful

I dont let the catcher call my game. I know more about what I'm trying to accomplish than Sony. The same as I dont let Madden call the shots either. I also wouldn't say the logic is awful. I'd say what I want to throw matches what my catcher wants a good 75% of the time. matter of opinion I suppose. I think letting the catcher call the pitch is a good idea for less experienced players, on easier difficulties though.

[JPCaveman13]

Re: Fastball, fastball, fastball... catcher pitch logic awful

Sometimes the logic is pretty bad. Other times, it seems passable, as viewed by a former catcher.

There have been times where I've been paying attention to how the catcher is calling a game, I've noticed that they'll make calls based on the heat-map of the hitter and they tend to value the confidence in the pitch as well. In one game, my pitcher had his screwball working and ended up with 52(70+% strikes) thrown in a 110-pitch outing (his poor simulated arm). In another game with a different pitcher, I couldn't get the splitter to find the zone (even with perfecting the release and having aimed the break to be dead-center) in the first two innings (threw 12 with 0 strikes), I didn't see it called again until the 8th inning (finally landing it for strikes on whiffs).

I do think there is a somewhat hidden mechanic for catchers on how they call the games though (similar to how certain pitchers have the "Pick-off Master" quirk) because there's a bit of difference in having Yadi, Mathis, Avila, Posey, or a random CAP in AA/AAA call the game.

[Blzer]

Re: Fastball, fastball, fastball... catcher pitch logic awful

Logic has been decent for me, I think.

What's funny is when the catcher calls a pitch and I opposingly choose another pitch, if I'm successful with it it seems like he'll go: "Hey, that wasn't bad! Let's do that again!" So say he wants a low-and-away fastball, and I want to try and freeze the batter with a front-door slider and nail it, that next pitch he seems to want to call about that same slider. Kind of nifty, really.

The per-pitch confidence has quite a bit to do with how often a catcher will want something called, as well.

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Now, the problem with the game calling the same pitch type multiple times in this year's game is I think the developers are punishing players for doing it over and over, eventually leaving a ball over the plate or something like that. I know they made mention of it, to prevent cheesing online (like getting someone with the same changeup constantly). So while the logic might even seem proper to throw four fastballs in a row, it might cause an issue for you to execute that way, even against the CPU.

[countryboy]

Re: Fastball, fastball, fastball... catcher pitch logic awful

Using the same pitch over and over, at least in offline play, doesn't result in the game forcing you to throw a meatball over the plate. There have been plenty of times I've thrown nothing but fastballs in an at-bat (5,6,7 pitches) and was able to either record the strikeout or induce weak contact.

In offline play, throwing the same pitch over and over, or pitching the same pattern repeatedly, will result in the CPU adjusting and recognizing and making your margin for error smaller, but if you execute your pitch (hit accuracy line on meter) then more often than not you're going to be successful in your pitch.

[Blzer]

Re: Fastball, fastball, fastball... catcher pitch logic awful

Using the same pitch over and over, at least in offline play, doesn't result in the game forcing you to throw a meatball over the plate. There have been plenty of times I've thrown nothing but fastballs in an at-bat (5,6,7 pitches) and was able to either record the strikeout or induce weak contact.

In offline play, throwing the same pitch over and over, or pitching the same pattern repeatedly, will result in the CPU adjusting and recognizing and making your margin for error smaller, but if you execute your pitch (hit accuracy line on meter) then more often than not you're going to be successful in your pitch.

I don't doubt the latter (and always assumed that to be true), but I thought that the former was placed into online play this year, and the gameplay code is baked universally across the board (hence why we got "rocket bunts" offline, and the like).

Regardless, as you can imagine, if the catcher keeps calling it even with the greatest of intentions and if all things were independent then ideally for the best outcome, you still might be punished for doing so if the AI is going to recognize it a lot better. I personally mix it up too often than to throw a pitch that many times in a row (except a knuckleball), but there you have it.

[Drty_Windshield]

Re: Fastball, fastball, fastball... catcher pitch logic awful

Honestly, I throw what the catcher calls something like 98% of the time. I choose my own location but I throw his pitch. It seems to work out ok for the most part.

[countryboy]

Re: Fastball, fastball, fastball... catcher pitch logic awful

I don't doubt the latter (and always assumed that to be true), but I thought that the former was placed into online play this year, and the gameplay code is baked universally across the board (hence why we got "rocket bunts" offline, and the like).

Regardless, as you can imagine, if the catcher keeps calling it even with the greatest of intentions and if all things were independent then ideally for the best outcome, you still might be punished for doing so if the AI is going to recognize it a lot better. I personally mix it up too often than to throw a pitch that many times in a row (except a knuckleball), but there you have it.

It might be that way for online but it’s not for offline in my experience.




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[RogerDodger]

Re: Fastball, fastball, fastball... catcher pitch logic awful

Every catcher should have a rating to reflect their ability to call the game but that would also require a massive rethink in the way catchers call the game to reflect differences.

[TheWarmWind]

Re: Fastball, fastball, fastball... catcher pitch logic awful

I never got why so many OSers want to play with the catcher making suggestions on in the first place. I mean, maybe if I'm playing a RttS as a pitcher I get it a little, it's more immersive. But in franchise, you are in control of every player on the field, including the catcher. Why don't you want to call your own game? Why automate that aspect when you can be the catcher yourself?

I'm not trying to criticize, to each their own, and the way you play the game is honestly none of my business, just trying to understand for curiosity's sake.

[Drty_Windshield]

Re: Fastball, fastball, fastball... catcher pitch logic awful

I never got why so many OSers want to play with the catcher making suggestions on in the first place. I mean, maybe if I'm playing a RttS as a pitcher I get it a little, it's more immersive. But in franchise, you are in control of every player on the field, including the catcher. Why don't you want to call your own game? Why automate that aspect when you can be the catcher yourself?

I'm not trying to criticize, to each their own, and the way you play the game is honestly none of my business, just trying to understand for curiosity's sake.

As you said, "with the catcher making suggestions ON" , I don't have anything turned on as I play with a clean screen, he just gives one finger or two fingers etc... I usually throw the pitch he wants in the location of my choosing but sometimes I shake him off and throw a different pitch, just as pitchers do in real life. I don't really know another way of explaining why I do what I do other than when it's my turn to pitch my primary focus is being the pitcher and part of that is taking instructions from the catcher.

[John_2400]

Re: Fastball, fastball, fastball... catcher pitch logic awful

As you said, "with the catcher making suggestions ON" , I don't have anything turned on as I play with a clean screen, he just gives one finger or two fingers etc... I usually throw the pitch he wants in the location of my choosing but sometimes I shake him off and throw a different pitch, just as pitchers do in real life. I don't really know another way of explaining why I do what I do other than when it's my turn to pitch my primary focus is being the pitcher and part of that is taking instructions from the catcher.

Chris Sale always throw what his catcher wants. I like API on but I change location.