MLB 15 The Show Livestream - Live Gameplay with Senior A.I. Programmer

[El_MaYiMbE]

One thing I noticed was when they changed to Veteran hitting, the hit variety was a lot better.
Yes the game was on sided, but they BOTH were using Veteran...one struggled, one did not, so they showed its possible to have a bad day even on Veteran.

I have always played on All-Star and used sliders, but always felt like I do not get enough hits on a consistent basis. I guess my pride kept me from lowering the difficulty, but I think I am seeing more hits in-line with what I expect from an MLB hitter, and not hits that look like I am at the plate when these guys played on Veteran.

Now that they introduced directional hitting, I feel that I might get better results anyway (I always had a beef with PCI and Analog hitting as well)...but I think if I struggle on All-Star this year, I will take a look at Veteran, and maybe create some sliders off of that experience.

I do not want the game to be easier, just "realer".

[El_MaYiMbE]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bobhead

Here's math to disprove the radar gun discrepancy suggested above (by WaitTilNextYear) as the sole cause of this issue. Let's say hypothetically that a high fastball is completely flat with no vertical movement (0 inches). The average strike zone is about 3 feet tall, so a low pitch would of course have 3 feet of vertical movement between release and crossing home plate (the threshold I'll use here). I'll use 59 feet as the distance traveled from the pitcher to home plate, after you account for the pitcher stepping forward before releasing the pitch, and his wingspan. Pythagorean theorem: A^2 + B^2 = C^2. (59*59) + (3*3) = ??? If a high pitch travels 59 feet, the low one will travel 59.076 feet. The theory proposed above is that two pitches traveling at the same speed show different radar gun numbers because of this difference in distance. A radar gun works by counting the amount of time it takes for a ball to travel a pre-defined distance. Let's use a 95 mph (in actual speed) fastball, which converts to 139.33 feet per second. 139.33 feet/second over 59 feet is .423 seconds of time. 139.33 feet/second over 59.076 feet is .424 seconds of time. The radar gun "thinks" both distances are the same, so it returns both speeds based on the distance of 59 feet (not accounting for vertical movement). Unfortunately, when you do the math, that only results in a differential of: 59 / .423 = 139.4799 feet per second, or 95.09999 mph 59 / .424 = 139.1509 feet per second, or 94.8756 mph. So the radar gun issue only accounts for a differential of about .2 Meanwhile, the differences in The Show are documented at anywhere between 2 mph and 5 mph for high vs low pitches. Sorry for the long post, but I can't stress it enough. There's absolutely no factual, scientific, or mathematical basis for the exaggerated velocity differences we currently see in The Show. They do not belong in the game.

I could have done without all the math :-) but I think some needed to see this.
In real life, when a pitcher can max out at lets say 95 MPH, he doesnt gain 2-5 MPH when he decides to throw it up in the zone, as opposed to down in the zone. Its just not possible...

The batter at the plate "feels" the ball gains on him quicker, but thats just relative to his view of the pitch (its closer to his eyes) and the release point (the ball seems to make a b-line towards the dish, as opposed to dipping down).

I completely agree, there should be no difference between max speed on low and high pitches, but the timing for hitter should vary slightly to properly reflect the feeling the ball is getting on you quicker, even though it really isn't.

[Armor and Sword]

Quote: Originally Posted by authentic

Guys, the main reason that there's more break on lower pitches is because the pitcher was able to get on top of the ball and produce more spin on the baseball. It's impossible to throw a high slider/curveball with the same break as a low pitch because the pitcher is unable to get on top of the ball. I know this because I pitched for 15 years and played at a high level. There's a reason hanging sliders get hit out of the park a lot. There's a reason they don't break and it's not because of reduced ball revolutions or air resistance. It's rather simple and any pitcher will tell you this. I didn't really read through all the comments because I'm tired but from what I read I think I got it.

100% correct.

No spin or poor spin will equal a flat, or what you hear called hanging curve or slider. And changes-up's too. If a change hangs up in the zone instead of having it drop out of the zone it will be crushed.

Curves, sliders and changes are pitches that are designed to drop out of the zone or hit the lower half of the zone....up in the zone and they become a giant meatball that any good hitter will tee-up.

[HozAndMoose]

Quote: Originally Posted by Armor & Sword

100% correct. No spin or poor spin will equal a flat, or what you hear called hanging curve or slider. And changes-up's too. If a change hangs up in the zone instead of having it drop out of the zone it will be crushed. Curves, sliders and changes are pitches that are designed to drop out of the zone or hit the lower half of the zone....up in the zone and they become a giant meatball that any good hitter will tee-up.

Should tell Mike Moustakas that. Not quite sure he understands.

[ryanmc564]

see, that last few pages of this thread is one of the reasons this site is great. great civil debate between OS users, all very informative information and done in a respectful manner. great read among the last couple pages.

[NAFBUC]

Quote: Originally Posted by ryanmc564

see, that last few pages of this thread is one of the reasons this site is great. great civil debate between OS users, all very informative information and done in a respectful manner. great read among the last couple pages.

I was going to submit a similar post. One of the reasons I love baseball.

#baseball is better

[Go Yankees]

Hmmm, interesting, so is what people are saying is if you pitch a fastball low in the zone it will be slower than a fastball up in the zone? Not in real life but in the game a low fastball and high fastball should be the same speed?

[Armor and Sword]

Quote: Originally Posted by Go Yankees

Hmmm, interesting, so is what people are saying is if you pitch a fastball low in the zone it will be slower than a fastball up in the zone? Not in real life but in the game a low fastball and high fastball should be the same speed?

In real life a rising fast ball is harder to hit. It is harder to climb the ladder and catch up to a rising fastball and hit it square or have a good shot at good contact vs a lower fastball.

As far in the game. Yeah that is what people are saying.