User-controlled players having insane seasons...?

[JTommy67]

I have to share this because it has me extremely puzzled and I am starting to feel slightly disappointed.

I have a player (1st baseman) whose ratings are as follows:

CR: 63
CL: 62
PR: 72
PL: 55
V: 64
PD: 70
CLTCH: 64

These are fairly decent ratings, and I would expect him to hit anywhere between .250 and .300 with HR's in the 25-40 range.

I've played every single game in my season and am now at the All-Star break. Every other player on my team is performing more or less to their ratings, with occasional hot and cold streaks. I play on All-Star level with default sliders with the exception of cpu strike frequency turned down a notch.

However, this guy currently is batting .345 with 24 HRs. At the end of May he was at .290, which means he's batting around .400 in June and July.

This is certainly not unheard of, but a player with those ratings hitting .400 for two months straight? Seems a bit much...

There's not much of a threat behind him, so he's drawn 45 walks. But here's the really troubling part. It's very noticeable that he's getting tons of meatballs at the same time. It's weird, it's pretty clear when the cpu is pitching around him, but when it's not, he sees changeups and fastballs right down the pipe. In the last 10 games, he's hitting .465....!

I'm starting to think something is amiss because of this, to the point I cringe when the cpu throws him a meatball and he gets another hit. This is not a slider issue because the other guys on my team are performing to their ratings, and they're all controlled by me.

It just doesn't seem right. Every time I go up to the plate with him I know he's gonna get served up. Yikes...

This just seems off to me. I'd like to know if any of you have had this experience and what your thoughts are.

[nomo17k]

I think you are just getting very lucky with him.

[G3no_11]

From past experiences I just seem to hit better with certain players, regardless of ratings.

If there is a different batting stance that you could use for him, try switching to that. Often times it seems like you just get really good at timing his swing with that particular stance.

If it is a pitching issue like you say he is frequently getting meatballs, try moving him around in the order.

[HechticSooner]

Why do either of those, ride it like there's no tomorrow and be happy your guy his having his outlier year. All players have them its just that most of them are down years, but the few who get lucky have awesome ones...he's having an awesome one!

[HighCmpPct]

Really I'd be happy if I had a lower player having a great year.

Just shows how much the Show accurately depicts the sport.

[JTommy67]

Yeah I get all of your points, but my curiosity is directed at how it's happening. It's just too noticeable that the cpu pitchers are turning into batting-practice throwers when he's at the plate. It has a tendency to cheapen the results.

If I were swinging at marginal pitches and eeking out a lot of hits that way, that would be one thing, but firing fastballs down the middle against a red-hot player who is relatively unprotected in the lineup seems, well, stupid.

Ironically, the guy preceding him in the lineup is higher rated in the hitting categories, and gets pitched around quite a bit and sees very few good pitches. Should be the other way around, since he's hitting about .270 right now.

Not a game breaker, of course, but I wanted to see if anybody else noticed this.

I refuse to pull any stunts to get his average to go down, btw...of course I will keep ripping the meat pitches. It may get me to the World Series lol.

[HadlerT]

Quote: Originally Posted by JTommy67

Yeah I get all of your points, but my curiosity is directed at how it's happening. It's just too noticeable that the cpu pitchers are turning into batting-practice throwers when he's at the plate. It has a tendency to cheapen the results. If I were swinging at marginal pitches and eeking out a lot of hits that way, that would be one thing, but firing fastballs down the middle against a red-hot player who is relatively unprotected in the lineup seems, well, stupid. Ironically, the guy preceding him in the lineup is higher rated in the hitting categories, and gets pitched around quite a bit and sees very few good pitches. Should be the other way around, since he's hitting about .270 right now. Not a game breaker, of course, but I wanted to see if anybody else noticed this. I refuse to pull any stunts to get his average to go down, btw...of course I will keep ripping the meat pitches. It may get me to the World Series lol.

Who is the player anyway? Is he a drafted player?

[nomo17k]

Which batting spot is he hitting? It's possible CPU is pitching to the guy aggressively (in the strike zone) if the players behind him is considered a better hitter than the player in question.

It's still entirely possible you are having a great luck with him, or like other posts have said you feel comfortable hitting with him. Although not as drastic as yours, I experienced something similar with Daniel Murphy in my Mets franchise in 2011. He's decent in the mediocre Mets, but he's not a high-average hitter. But he stood out in hitting .330 for the year for me. Check out my stats here.

I think I was very comfortable with him (open stance? IDK...). He was also hitting like 6th or 7th spot (or 2nd) mostly, so I wasn't expecting much from him. I did very bad with David Wright, because I thought I pressed when using him.