By no means am I expecting this to be used by or work for everyone but this is what works for me in my franchise on MLB The Show 21 (ps5) and I've gotten some pretty good results from it so here we go.
I run a 30 team controlled franchise and I've come up with some slider adjustments, coupled with a SPECIFIC NUMBER OF RELIEVERS for each team, along with their placement within the bullpen (LRP, MRP, SU and CP) that has allowed me to get realistic bullpen usage from game to game.
I'm writing this on my phone so I don't know if the screenshots will end up above or below the post but as you can see from the first 4 pics, multiple relievers are being used, they arent stretched into being used for more than 3 innings at a time and the setup men do come in during a time where they are actually needed to set up the closer. In the case of the Phillies Braves game, Soroka actually got hurt in that one and while the CPU could have stretched a guy out for 3 or 4 innings like they normally do anyway when a starter doesn't go deep into a game, they actually went from guy to guy pretty good there and 6 guys were used.
So I believe the sliders I use, the placement of the pitchers within the bullpen and the amount of relievers on all mlb rosters make a difference in bullpen usage. Again this may not work for all but I thought I'd share anyway based on the results I've found.
First up, sliders. I've tried multiple variations to get proper bullpen usage and it either ended up with every starter going 8 plus innings or them going for no more than 3 innings. So with cpu stamina(both starter and reliever) at 6 (human starter/reliever stamina also at 6 for played games to keep it fair), along with cpu hook at 7 has given me the results you see in the pictures. But like I said there's more to it than that.
As for the amount of relievers I have on each mlb roster (remember 30 team control guy here), I have only 6 relievers up at a time. Just 6. Thats NOT INCLUDING the closer. Now in the case of teams like the Cardinals and Dodgers who have like 8 good starters and (depending on which roster you use) and maybe 4 or 5 good relievers, I opted to let them have 7 starters and only 4 relievers up. So the majority of my mlb rosters consist of 5 starters and 6 relievers (and 1 closer of course) which ultimately gets rid of the quote unquote LONG MAN. And that's where the reliever placement within the bullpen comes into play.
Two of those pics that I've screenshot show the way I set up each bullpen. I have 2 guys in the LONG RELIVER SLOT but none are necessarily long men as their stamina is a basic reliever stamina 20 30 range. The MIDDLE RELIEVER SLOT has 3 guys in it while I only have 1 guy in the SETUP SLOT and of course the 1 CLOSER. So it looks like this...
LRP
LRP
MRP
MRP
MRP
SU
CP (not a reliever)
Six guys. Just six guys. Again I'm not counting the closer as one of the 6 relivers because on the roster screen the closer is not considered a reliever.
When I had 7 actual relievers in there, it just threw everything off. One guy was being used to much for whatever reason or when I had an actual long relief guy (extra starter) in the long reliever slot, he was the guy being used all the time. The way I have it now each guy ends up being used and it sometimes becomes consistent from day to day barring fatigue of course. As for the player ratings, I'm not sure if it makes a difference but I like to place them in their slots from lowest to highest. So as you can see from the pics, you have a two 75s in the long reliever slot and then a 75, 78, 78 in the middle reliever slot. It's just something that I do and something that I plan on testing more to see if it makes a difference on when certain pitchers are being used within the game.
Also, in the case of the Dodgers and Cardinals which I should have screenshot, their additional starters who are coming out of the bullpen are NOT PLACED in the long reliever slot as that will just lead to them being used all the time based on their stamina alone. They are in the middle relief slots and are used just fine, one or two innings at the most so far.
So that's it. That's my story. This is again what works for me and I can't promise that this will work for you but with so much discussion on the topic of bullpen logic I thought I'd share what I've figured out to see if it will help with anyone else's franchise as well.
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