What I'm doing wrong, and What I can do about it?

[Dellinger]

Setup:
Difficulty (Fielding/Hitting/Pitching)- All Star

Sliders- TNK

Hitting- Timing

Pitching- Meter

Scenario:

Franchise w/ OSFM S.T., Braves. Currently in Spring Training with 8 games under my belt. I am 0-8, currently. I've lost a few games by more than 5 runs but the majority were less than 3. The CPU is scoring mostly by HRs with runners on.

Problems:

Pitching- I just don't get it. I've read quite a few threads here on the subject and what seems to work for some doesn't work for me. Or I am executing on the advice poorly, which could be true.

I'm throwing 68-72% strikes a game.
I'm walking 1-2, maybe 3 batter a game (the latter is rare.)
I'm getting bombed by no names, striking out the big sluggers, and nickle-and-dimed by the opposing pitchers when at the plate plus their pitch hitters.

I hate 2-strike counts because it turns into a 9 pitch at bat from the foul tips.
I get maybe 4-5 ground outs a game.

I've followed the advice of my catcher and I've followed my own intuition.
I've stuck to my first and second pitches for the most part and also pitched games where I've mixed it up with every pitch at my player's disposal.

I've stayed away from pitches where confidence is poor and also done the opposite.

Bottom line:
I'm not seeing ANY trends develop where I can say..."this is working better,." or "...ok, that's dumb." I see the same results from implementing strategies at both ends of the spectrum provided by this forum. I feel I'm not learning anything or improving my game.

Where am I going wrong here? What can I do about it?

[mmorg]

Is there anyway you can record yourself pitching? Or at least chart your pitches? You may be getting into a pattern that the CPU is able to take advantage of.

[Dellinger]

I often visit the in game pitch 'breakdown'... which does chart pitch type, location, hit, foul, K, etc...

It's as good or as bad of an indicator as you can get, depending on your view.

[tril]

you really need to know your pitchers strengths versus a batters hot/cold zone and tendencies.
also it seems like you are going for the strike out to much. the foul balls lead me to believe that the CPU/AI has adjusted to your style of pitching.
change the speeds of your pitches, switch up the pace of your pitching also.

[mmorg]

Also, how consistent are you on getting perfect timings on your pitches? The more perfect, or close to perfect, you can consistently get the better results you will have.

[IXI DECAY IXI]

I'm using the same sliders as him and I usually struggle with pitching in the first inning and cruise from there. The problem I'm having with the game is hitting. My pitch recognition has gotten pretty good and I can determine balls and strikes fairly well.

I'm using the timing hitting and I can't get more than 3/4 hits a game! I get about 2/3 walks a game but hitting is just no where in site. I'm not sure if I should be using the contact swing or normal or power. I rarely use the power unless it's 3-0 and even then they miss. I always use contact when I have 2 strikes.

It seems even when I'm on perfect timing and good contact, I'm still flying out or grounding out...

Help!?!

[cusefan74]

For starters never swing 3-0, because you never get a great pitch to hit. 3-1 or 2-0 you can use power swing, but look for a certain pitch in a certain location, if the pitch is not there don't swing. When you have 2 strikes use the contact swing, you will still get hits and homeruns. Everything else I use normal swing. At least that is how I do my at bats, someone else might have a better way.

[Dellinger]

First off, thanks for the replies...

Quote: Originally Posted by tril

you really need to know your pitchers strengths versus a batters hot/cold zone and tendencies. also it seems like you are going for the strike out to much. the foul balls lead me to believe that the CPU/AI has adjusted to your style of pitching. change the speeds of your pitches, switch up the pace of your pitching also.

I get this but I don't have the hot/cold zones appearing. I guess I should have it flash prior to the batters appearace? I thought this was a little cheap but the more I think about it, the pitchers have all the scouting reports on the players, so maybe it's not.

Quote:

Also, how consistent are you on getting perfect timings on your pitches? The more perfect, or close to perfect, you can consistently get the better results you will have.

I'm not nailing it 'line on line' every time but it's pretty close. From time-to-time it'll be all over the place and the result is more or less a wild pitch. But even when I've nailed the timing on the meter... my starter misses across heart of the plate with a 4-seemer that should have been in on the hands and it ends up a round tripper. (As it should be.)


So analyze this...
So, 1st inning, playing the Yankees today in more spring training, Jeter is leading off. I get him to ground to the 2nd baseman after 3 pitches. Ends up as an E-4 because Uggla booted it. Next guy, Granderson (I think), I miss two outside fastballs. On the 3rd pitch I send a changeup down and away (2nd best pitch at this point) and I nail timing but it ends up down the heart of broadway, BOOM, I'm two runs down after 6 pitches.

At this point Jurrigens is worth as much as a someone from rookie ball because his confidence is shot and he can't throw a strike. So I have leave the ball cursor dead middle, he still outside. Finally he throws a strike but it's a double down the right field line. And the damage just continues...

I'm NOT complaining... I just don't understand what strategy to implement in a situation like this other than getting someone up in the pen and getting them on the mound in the 2nd.

When I'm in this situation, I don't have many, if any options. My pitchers confidence is broken, his pitch confidence is broken, the strike zone gets smaller (the ump misses strikes like a champ when these things happen), and I have to serve them up to hope to get a fly out or ground out.

It's like ONE mistake in a game when on the mound just leads to an absolute landslide of runs. I don't know how to counter that and get through the inning. Or minimize the impact. The only 'way out' I see is getting a reliever in the game.