MLB 15 The Show - Controlling The Run Game

[Millennium]

Controlling the run game may be one of the most overlooked parts of not only MLB The Show, but baseball in general. It's the little things that keep good runners stationary, and some of the most basic things you may not be doing could be hurting your chances to mow down a runner at second. So I went to the lab, tested some methods myself, then asked the developers in order to bring to you my guide where we tell our opponents:

PICK OFF ATTEMPTS

L2+Double Tap is the casual move.

L2+Hold is the Deceptive move

L2+Tap is the Quick move

Many don't use pick off attempts because they only see the risk (throwing the ball into the stands). What you need to know is this: A pick off attempt affects the runner for the rest of the at bat. On a preloaded steal attempt (by either the CPU or User) the chance for a Good to Great "jump" (how quickly the runner gets into his running animation) is directly affected by a pick off attempt. There is still the chance your pitcher throws the ball away (determined by the type of move used and the pitcher's Arm Accuracy rating), but the reward of a runner being thrown out on a bad jump is immensely important.

SLIDE STEP

Achieved by holding R2 while pushing X to begin your pitch to the plate.

Again we are talking risk/reward. The risk: Your pitch will have less accuracy, less break, and less velocity. The reward: You get a shorter stride to the plate, giving your catcher more time to throw the runner out. Especially important for pitchers with high leg kicks and/or slow stretch motions to the plate (yes, it's just like real life: you CAN time pitcher's strides to the plate in MLB The Show)

PITCH OUT

You can use L1+X when selecting a pitch to select a pitch out.

This is good when you know a runner is going, but if you're wrong you will have just wasted a ball at the plate. Great in 0-1 and 1-1 counts.

PITCHING CADENCE (PRO TIP)

Here is my Number One tip to controlling the run game, either User or CPU. If you come to a set position and throw the pitch immediately every time then people stealing on you is completely your fault. Vary the length of time you are in the set position every time. Even count to yourself if necessary. This will not only throw off users who manually steal against you, THIS DIRECTLY AFFECTS THE CPU AND USER "JUMP" AND PICK OFF SUCCESS, especially with baserunners with high Steal ratings. I have confirmed this with a gameplay dev at SCEA recently, and can't stress this enough. This practice is what separates holding a decent runner to first from stranding a Jose Reyes type.

These 4 tips should have you keeping baserunners from running all over you in no time!

[Knight165]

Excellent tips.

Pickoffs especially. Even using the "safe" pickoff is a great way to keep the runner honest and gives you a better chance at A. Him not running and B. a better chance to have your catcher throw him out if he does.
I rarely use the pickoff attempt to actually pick off the runner....but more to keep him in check.

M.K.
Knight165

[Millennium]

Quote: Originally Posted by Knight165

Excellent tips. Pickoffs especially. Even using the "safe" pickoff is a great way to keep the runner honest and gives you a better chance at A. Him not running and B. a better chance to have your catcher throw him out if he does. I rarely use the pickoff attempt to actually pick off the runner....but more to keep him in check. M.K. Knight165

I always had a hunch about pick offs holding runners. It wasn't until I changed my pitching cadence that I saw immediate results. I was pumped when I confirmed that I wasn't seeing things and had my results confirmed by a dev.

[Smooth Pancakes]

Awesome tips Millennium! Honestly, I would never even think about pitch cadence. I'm on of those guys, as soon as I know what pitch I'm throwing and where, I'm jumping right in. I'll have to keep the cadence changes in mind in future games.

[nuckles2k2]

I'm glad that the "pitch cadence" was confirmed by a dev. I had a hunch about it's effectiveness last year.

I usually just wait out 4 pulses, & throw the pitch on the 5th one. But when I have a man on first, I usually look over 1-2 times, and throw the pitch on different counts. Sometimes on the 4th pulse, sometimes on the 6th pulse, etc. Kinda noticed that I was controlling the running game a bit, but wasn't sure if it was placebo.

This year I'll mix in a slide step every once in a while on a 1-0, or 0-1 count. Sometimes I'll slide-step a heater on 1-2 if I have a hunch they might hit-and-run; got a couple "strike 'em out, throw 'em out" in AA with that (I mainly play RTTS as a pitcher.)

I almost never pitch out tho. I try to save my purposeful balls for setting up the curveball in the dirt, or a changeup away.

Kudos to the devs for coding in varied pitch times actually affecting the CPU. That kinda detail is appreciated.

[jb12780]

The one time I had a lefty pitching and when I went to pickoff he stepped off and threw it over. Is there a way to throw over without stepping off a la Andy Pettitte?

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

[bcruise]

Great post Mill. I always suspected a lot of this was true but never had any way of proving it. The only thing I knew for sure was that there was a penalty on repeated steal attempts over the course of the game.

This is probably why I don't really notice a lot of issues with the CPU stealing - because I vary my pitch delivery instinctively.

[PsychoBulk]

Brilliant, informative post.

I was almost certain holding in the set position for different amount of times before throwing over would have some effect (just like it does in real life), great to have dev confirmation this is true.

Also, i did NOT know that throwing over then affects that runners jump (if hes going to go) for the rest of the at bat...this is going to be so useful controlling the running game especially with speedsters on base in the late innings.

Cheers Mill, great work