Pitch Location

[Scrapps]

CPU pitch location is driving me absolutely insane. I can understand the good to great pitchers, hitting their spots often. However, when average to crap pitchers are constantly nibbling and hitting the corners, its frustrating the living @^&%&! out of me. To the point, where the game isn't even fun anymore.

I currently have location and consistency @ 5 & 7. I don't want to reduce the two to the point where it turns into a meatball fest. Can anyone suggest settings/sliders that produce relatively realistic pitch locations?

[cardsleadtheway]

Re: Pitch Location

CPU pitch location is driving me absolutely insane. I can understand the good to great pitchers, hitting their spots often. However, when average to crap pitchers are constantly nibbling and hitting the corners, its frustrating the living @^&%&! out of me. To the point, where the game isn't even fun anymore.

I currently have location and consistency @ 5 & 7. I don't want to reduce the two to the point where it turns into a meatball fest. Can anyone suggest settings/sliders that produce relatively realistic pitch locations?

You have to change the strike frequency. I don't remember what I have mine on, but psycho's sliders are good. This way, they can still paint the corners from time to time, but will also throw more balls and will not always get the call when they do paint the corner.

[Dabeeds]

Re: Pitch Location

I think the hitting difficulty also effects the Cpu pitching. What level are you playing on ? How about the Cpu strike frequency ? And there is a slider sub-forum if you look up.

[jim416]

Re: Pitch Location

This is something I don't understand. In my games vs. the CPU I can't tell you how many times in a game I'm 1-2, only to look at the pitches made by the CPU and I should be 3-0, then I strike out on ball four, and the chart shows those were not pitches that "nibbled" the corners, but clearly out of the zone. The pitcher sliders I use are on DEFAULT for both me/CPU.
The CPU will walk me if I let it.

[chuckm1961]

Re: Pitch Location

SOMETHING is going on here because ....

.... some say there are plenty of Balls thrown by the CPU, even on Default sliders ...

....and others say they can't buy a walk (like me!).


My latest theory is that Guess Pitch has some effect on what the pitchers are doing.

I use Guess Pitch, on almost every pitch. (I guess multiple locations, not always the same at all.) And here are two things I can almost guarantee the AI pitcher will do, game after game (I play on All-Star, currently with Strike Fr at 2, Pitch Control at 3, Pitch Consistency at 7):

1) they will throw perfect corner strikes early in the count, almost always hitting the lower part of the plate;

2) if I get a man on first, they will pound the strike zone; they will throw a ball only as a pitch-out and they will make it nearly impossible for me to hit anything but a low pitch.


OP, I totally sympathize. I can't tell you how many times this year I have dropped the controller to the ground in disbelief, as another CPU pitcher with a terrible BB/9 rating fires low pinpoint strike after low pinpoint strike.

[PsychoBulk]

Re: Pitch Location

This is something I don't understand. In my games vs. the CPU I can't tell you how many times in a game I'm 1-2, only to look at the pitches made by the CPU and I should be 3-0, then I strike out on ball four, and the chart shows those were not pitches that "nibbled" the corners, but clearly out of the zone. The pitcher sliders I use are on DEFAULT for both me/CPU.
The CPU will walk me if I let it.

Yep, my last game box score in my Mets chise...



I keep banging on about these to people who moan they cant walk, they are simply not patient or choosy enough over what they swing at. My walk total through 10 franchise games is 33, bang on the 3.3 walks per team average in the MLB ironically enough.

The walks are there people.

[NEOPARADIGM]

Re: Pitch Location

Basically you'll never walk if you never walk. The more you walk, the more you'll walk.

I know that sounds ridiculous, but I'm completely serious.

As for the fear of the game turning into a "meatball fest," I don't think you have anything to worry about. If you can rip off 15 wins in a row where you're scoring 10+ runs per game, by all means, do it and don't look back. You're not gonna hit 90 homeruns with anyone, you're not gonna drive in 200 runs with anyone, no one is gonna hit .554, and you're not gonna win 140 games.

I played about 20 games or so with human contact at zero because I thought my batting averages were "too high," fast forward and I'm 17.5 games back, maybe have lost the season, and even though I put it back to default 15 games ago, I'm still struggling to score more than 5 runs in any given game.

Just put the sliders where they make sense and run with it. This is NOT the game to have sliders in the back of your mind all the time, it's way too dynamic.

[BV28]

Re: Pitch Location

Yep, my last game box score in my Mets chise...



I keep banging on about these to people who moan they cant walk, they are simply not patient or choosy enough over what they swing at. My walk total through 10 franchise games is 33, bang on the 3.3 walks per team average in the MLB ironically enough.

The walks are there people.

Edit - nvm, found your slider set and I'm gonna give them a try.
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[cardsleadtheway]

Re: Pitch Location

Basically you'll never walk if you never walk. The more you walk, the more you'll walk.

I know that sounds ridiculous, but I'm completely serious.

As for the fear of the game turning into a "meatball fest," I don't think you have anything to worry about. If you can rip off 15 wins in a row where you're scoring 10+ runs per game, by all means, do it and don't look back. You're not gonna hit 90 homeruns with anyone, you're not gonna drive in 200 runs with anyone, no one is gonna hit .554, and you're not gonna win 140 games.

I played about 20 games or so with human contact at zero because I thought my batting averages were "too high," fast forward and I'm 17.5 games back, maybe have lost the season, and even though I put it back to default 15 games ago, I'm still struggling to score more than 5 runs in any given game.

Just put the sliders where they make sense and run with it. This is NOT the game to have sliders in the back of your mind all the time, it's way too dynamic.

This is a very good post. You are spot on about walks. If you don't walk, you won't get walked very often. They tend to come in bunches, just like hits. If a pitcher walks one of my guys, I won't swing at the next pitch even if it is right down the middle. The next 4-5 pitches will be out of the zone and another walk. I also can't understand why people want to drop contact to 0 just because they have a high batting average out of the gate. Doesn't anyone remember Chipper Jones last year (or was it the year before) when everyone though he would bat .400 because of his stellar April? That obviously didn't happen. I have all batting sliders at default. The first few weeks I had 6 players batting over .300 and one over .400. Just started June and I have one player barely over .300 and as a team we are batting in the bottom ten in the majors, last in the AL I think. The reason they play 162 games is so that the stats will garner a large enough sample size.

[chuckm1961]

Re: Pitch Location

I keep banging on about these to people who moan they cant walk, they are simply not patient or choosy enough over what they swing at. My walk total through 10 franchise games is 33, bang on the 3.3 walks per team average in the MLB ironically enough.

The walks are there people.

I almost always agree with you, but not on this. Read my post again, and you see I am suggesting that the reason people have different experience with Pitch Locations may NOT be Plate Patience, as you seem to have decided.

My theory is that the reason people are experiencing variety with Pitch Location (even with the same sliders and game difficulty) MAY be because of other factors that we have not thought of. For example, the AI adjusting to Guess Pitch decisions.

Or the AI adjusting to Swing decisions.

Or the AI adjusting to failure to swing at certain points in the count.

I wish you could watch one of my games. I rarely, rarely swing until each hitter has seen at least two pitches (which may be one of the issues, by the way). I have been keeping an eye on the number of Balls thrown by the AI ... forget counting walks, as they are rare. The number of Balls thrown by the AI in the sixth inning is typically around 25 Balls, 50 strikes. Sixth inning, say I have six hits....do the math .... the AI has faced 24 hitters, and thrown each one an average of One Ball.

I DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT chase pitches outside the zone often. I have developed a good eye using the High View.

Again, despite your insistence that Patience is the issue, the AI for some of us just pounds the strike zone... and with quality pitches on corners.

Double checked my SLiders: All Star, AI Pitch Control at 3, Pitch Consistency at 8, Strike Frequency at 2.

Also, I must note it is better than last year. Last year, I was dead last in the league in drawing walks, by a long shot (I was a much-less selective hitter last year, swung at way too many balls out of the zone). This year, I am 26th as of May 3. Yay! I do get a few.

[PsychoBulk]

Re: Pitch Location

I rarely, rarely swing until each hitter has seen at least two pitches (which may be one of the issues, by the way).

Thats certainly a contributing factor Chuck, and a big one.

The AI in this game adapts to how you play, if you hardly ever swing early in the count the CPU will catch on to this pattern and pound the zone early in counts, ergo leaving you in pitchers counts all the time, ergo way less walks.

I am obviously not saying swing at the first one or two pitches all the time, but if its there to hit, swing, as soon as you get a couple of early count hits believe me the CPU adjusts, starts throwing more first pitch balls, ergo you get far more hitters counts from that position, ergo lots more walks.

One thing you simply cannot afford to be in this game is predictable

[chuckm1961]

Re: Pitch Location

Thats certainly a contributing factor Chuck, and a big one.

The AI in this game adapts to how you play, if you hardly ever swing early in the count the CPU will catch on to this pattern and pound the zone early in counts, ergo leaving you in pitchers counts all the time, ergo way less walks.

I am obviously not saying swing at the first one or two pitches all the time, but if its there to hit, swing, as soon as you get a couple of early count hits believe me the CPU adjusts, starts throwing more first pitch balls, ergo you get far more hitters counts from that position, ergo lots more walks.

One thing you simply cannot afford to be in this game is predictable

Now we agree ...drawing walks is about more than plate patience.

[chuckm1961]

Re: Pitch Location

Let me try addressing this problem from another angle (my woes continue, currently on All-Star with pitch C and C at +2 from default and Strike Freq at minus 5, I still draw maybe one wallk per game, and the starting pitcher has typically thrown an average of about one ball to each hitter in the seventh inning):

In real life, a pitcher with poor control will sometimes throw balls, even when they are trying to throw strikes.

In this game, it feels like every pitcher, NO MATTER HOW POOR THEIR BB/9 RATING, can hit corners almost at will .... and that I have to "earn" balls and walks by battling off multiple pitches and having the ability to lay off pitches that are micrometers off the plate.

I try to "wait out" poor-control pitchers, figuring their wild side will show up, at least once in a while. It never does ... never. Is that strategy simply not part of this game?

[capnharry]

Re: Pitch Location

Thats certainly a contributing factor Chuck, and a big one.

The AI in this game adapts to how you play, if you hardly ever swing early in the count the CPU will catch on to this pattern and pound the zone early in counts, ergo leaving you in pitchers counts all the time, ergo way less walks.

I am obviously not saying swing at the first one or two pitches all the time, but if its there to hit, swing, as soon as you get a couple of early count hits believe me the CPU adjusts, starts throwing more first pitch balls, ergo you get far more hitters counts from that position, ergo lots more walks.

One thing you simply cannot afford to be in this game is predictable

This x100. At least once every few innings I take a big rip at the first pitch, no matter what. If I see a few first pitch strikes, you can bet I'm taking a power swing at a first pitch, timing it as if a fastball is coming down the middle (situationally dependent of course). Going to the plate each at-bat and strictly reacting to the pitcher will consistently yield poorer results. The call it offense for a reason...you can't be defensive at the plate throughout an AB time after time. It's your plate, own it.

[chuckm1961]

Re: Pitch Location

Well, I will try it, reluctantly.

Normally what happens is I make an out on that swing, and then wish I had not swung.

I really like to push the pitch count whenever possible.