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Originally Posted by Bobhead |
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I agree with your sentiments completely, the CPU paints the corners excessively, and the "robo pitcher" thing is completely accurate. However, lowering Strike Frequency doesn't really change this. It only changes aggression, and this aggression (or lack of) is only a factor at the start of the at-bat. Decreasing it to 0 won't make the pitcher significantly more likely to throw a ball on 3-0, unless it was intentional to start with.
Without a change in accuracy, that 3-0 pitch is still probably going to be a slider on the corner, the 3-1 pitch is still going to be a high fastball, and the 3-2 pitch is still going to be strike 3. All lowering Strike Frequency really does is make the CPU pitcher less prone to challenge hitters. Yes this leads to deep counts and increased walks, but these deep counts and walks also include your #9 hitter/pitcher - my biggest problem with a large cut to Strike Frequency.
To answer the question in your last paragraph, I have been considering a 1 point decrease to Strike Frequency in the back of my mind, for quite some time. The biggest reason to lower Strike Frequency would probably be to reduce the frequency of "meatball" pitches.
Lowering Strike Frequency would make the pitcher more comfortable with pitching around your hitters, and less apt to just lay one in there in attempt to avoid a walk. This is more of a perception thing though, no stat can really tell you how many meatball pitches you are averaging. This is probably why I've yet to make a change (and probably won't, with the year being where it is, and most of us already deep into franchises), but I have definitely wanted to try and play around with a slightly lower strike frequency, although I haven't really had the time or commitment to do it.
I would want to raise Strike Frequency if I felt that the CPU was pitching around too many batters, and that they weren't challenging the strike zone enough, ie: if first-pitch strike percentages were excessively low, and pitches-per-at-bat were excessively high, not that I am familiar with what the average length of an at-bat is in MLB.
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Excellent analysis. I played my first game with your sliders facing Josh Beckett. This of course is a perfect ace pitcher to start with. I managed to walk 4x vs. Beckett, something I had not done since playing MLB the show.
he did walk me 2x in the 8th (which he had no business being in the 8th as his fatugue was very low). The score was 8-2 (Redsox) and Beckett's confidence meter was about 7/8ths full which meant he was dealing pretty good. I honestly believe he struggled in the 8th due to your slider configuration of control 4, consistency 1, etc....
I managed to get his 60% strike level down to 58% by the 8th as seems to be my usual game but increased walks and my strikeouts were down to 6 compared to the usual 10 vs. an ace like Josh.
The comfort was my hits were only 6 and I managed a 2-run homer.
Even though Beckett was dominating, I did not feel overwhelmed. Every at bat was a decent one, most strikeouts required 5 pitches or more before Beckett struck me out.
It will be interesting to see when I face 4th and 5th rotation guys to see if my offense sees improvement. By the way, I still chased 11 pitches as is my normal game which means my eye for the plate can still be challenged.
Thanks!