Why am I struggling on Veteran?

[citybythebay85]

With 18 I could blow teams out easily on Veteran. Now I'm struggling to score runs on Veteran. I get fly outs or hit it right at fielders. I know the pitch speed is up, but the PCI is also significantly smaller. What is going on here?!

[truth72]

I think there's alot of this going around. This year is more geared towards contact and defense than power.

Were you a big homerun hitter in 18?

[BigOscar]

Yeah I'll be honest, I'm close to getting annoyed already at this game. Everything I hit is a dipping line drive either that falls in front of an outfielder, or I really nail it perfectly and they snag it easily, without even having to go back. And this is on rookie and veteran. I'm absolutely nailing the ball, just like I would on 18, but it's going absolutely nowhere.

[truth72]

I'll be honest, I absolutely love the changes.

I hated the homerun derby that was 18. I remember playing games and it was basically 4-5 homeruns per side. With very little of anything else.

This year feels like a real baseball game, where you need to have more to your offense. You need to be able to manufacture runs, put the ball in play, move runners over, sacrifice, walk etc. I hate to break it to you guys, but sometimes (even in MLB) when you square up a ball, it doesn't go out. And sometimes they go right at someone.

The ONLY thing I don't like is the pitching. You've got get really fooled to strike out, which takes some of the skill out of it. I think with the ability to hit, it has taken some of the skill out of pitching.

[citybythebay85]

Quote: Originally Posted by BigOscar

Yeah I'll be honest, I'm close to getting annoyed already at this game. Everything I hit is a dipping line drive either that falls in front of an outfielder, or I really nail it perfectly and they snag it easily, without even having to go back. And this is on rookie and veteran. I'm absolutely nailing the ball, just like I would on 18, but it's going absolutely nowhere.

Yeah, I feel you. It seems like we aren't the only ones.

[Mercury112491]

Lol I was just thinking how much I suck today.

Part of it I think is they don’t throw everything over the plate on Veteran anymore. You need to be selective like on the higher difficulty.

That being said I feel like they did something with that tiny 1.04 patch. I couldn’t hit with power at all. Lots of balls drilled to the warning track and lots of pop ups. I’m using zone so some of that is on me but somehow it feels different than it did yesterday, and Monday night. If that’s even possible. Maybe I’m just slumping.


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[BigOscar]

So, according to the records, I've played 7 games of conquest (4 on vet, 3 on rookie) and I've had a total of 92 at bats. In those 92 at bats, I've got 39 hits, so I'm hitting a pretty impressive .424 I think? But not a single homerun, only 7 doubles and a triple.

I am by no means a particularly good player, but that is surely a sign that something isn't right? It's not as if I'm using a team of contacts hitters, I've got Hoskins, ozuna, Ramos and a few mid 60's power guys.

Last year I could win on All Star no problem, that's always been about my level. Now I apparently can't even hit a homerun on rookie! I am apparently playing in the dead ball era

(I have hit a few homers in moments, but they were few and far between)

[bcruise]

Just finished a RS game that featured 5 homers, 3 of them by me. It was my last ST rank game before being promoted to regular season, and ST games are played on Veteran.

I've also hit two in my current March to October run. Not really seeing any issues with power here. Seems like mistakes can still get punished easily, but if you stay near the corners it's tougher and they really need to either push or pull to the shorter fields to hit one out.

My team's not world-beating yet either - the 3 that hit HR's in this one were Blackmon, Smoak, and Avisail Garcia. All Live series.