MLB The Show 17 News Post

Constructing a MLB The Show '17 Lineup & Staff: Traditional vs Sabermetrics

01:37 PM - April 10, 2017 by RaychelSnr

OS Writer Mike Lowe spent an hour yesterday on his YouTube Channel to talk about how to put together a lineup both with a traditional and sabermetric method. The discussion includes a lot of discussion on what the terms behind sabermetrics mean, and also a lot of discussion on the traditional lineup method as well.

Similarly, Mike dives into the construction of a pitching staff as well with traditional vs. sabermetric methods.

If you are curious about how to construct a lineup and staff using either traditional or sabermetric methods, this is a video well worth a watch.

Be sure to subscribe to Mike's channel. Also be sure to subscribe to the Operation Sports YouTube Channel as this week we're going to spend a lot of time talking about strategies in MLB The Show 17.

Game: MLB The Show 17Hype Score: 9/10 - Vote Now
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Member Comments

# 1 Dice @ 04/10/17 04:38 PM

Interesting discussion. When I look at batting orders I tend to look at World Series lineups over the past couple of years. I found that many of the lineups are a more traditional with a mixture of sabermetrics. What�s interesting is that the Cubs lineup is probably the only World Series team that�s more heavy on the sabermetics and less on traditional. With Dexter Fowler�s departure and the return of Kyle Schwarber as a full time player, their lineup this year is heavy on the sabermetrics.

# 2 Caulfield @ 04/10/17 06:26 PM

I do auto-fix on my lineup. so long as my best hitters are 1-5 so they get the most PA's over the course of the season. setting a lineup is overated IMO
but I probably say that because pitching is my strong game.

# 3 RogueHominid @ 04/10/17 10:29 PM

That was really fun segment. As someone who doesn't know the Sabermetrics stuff very well, I thought Mike gave a really accessible breakdown of some of the major concepts. I liked that he did it in the context of a video tutorial and walked through a specific team's lineup and rotation + pen.

Great content!

# 4 SuperSeahawks @ 04/11/17 12:03 AM

Honestly I had no idea what the specifics of sabermatrics were so this video was pretty helpful. I'll look to use some of the sabermatric strategies towards my lineups when I get to year 2. Thank you Mike!

# 5 miamikb2001 @ 04/11/17 12:42 AM

Great stuff!Really explained well,it will definately make look more closely at the sabermetrics.I'm more a traditional guy but might try to mix in some stuff.

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# 6 Mike Lowe @ 04/11/17 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by squashbuggie


	are the sabermetric stats in the show really accurate ? I usually strongly consider: vision - discipline - and clutch for the 2, 4, 5 and 6 guys. speed at lead-off, best overall hitter of course at 3, and 7-9 as remaining.

"Best overall hitter of course at 3" eh? You might need to rewatch the video

# 7 tessl @ 04/11/17 01:13 PM

As it relates to MLB the Show each year the developers tinker with gameplay. I play the purest form of the game with no user input - manage mode - and first before I figure out what kind of a team to assemble I figure out what they have done to gameplay.

This year there are plenty of home runs but hits are down significantly. Therefore this is what I have done. Since all pitchers are overpowered and pitcher confidence is still a major factor I get starting pitchers with 80 or higher stamina and 65 or higher durability. H/9, bb/9 preferably in the 60's or higher. No need to spend big money on star pitchers because they are all overpowered. Get a good dominant closer and setup men - there appears to be a bit of rubber banding in the 9th this year.

For ballparks - to prevent home runs from determining the outcome of every game I chose Griffith Stadium. Home runs are possible but pitcher friendly. Stolen bases are back after going missing in the show 16. For position players speed and defense and small ball. Infielders are overpowered - human AI so all infielders are good. No need to acquire gold glove infielders, just fast fielders who can get to the ball and let human AI do the rest. A player like Starling Marte is absolute gold in this year's game.

Small ball. Having said that nobody other than the devs know what they are working on for the big patch which is yet to come so this isn't final until they are finished tinkering with gameplay but for now that's the formula.

# 8 miamikb2001 @ 04/11/17 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tessl


	As it relates to MLB the Show each year the developers tinker with gameplay. I play the purest form of the game with no user input - manage mode - and first before I figure out what kind of a team to assemble I figure out what they have done to gameplay. This year there are plenty of home runs but hits are down significantly. Therefore this is what I have done. Since all pitchers are overpowered and pitcher confidence is still a major factor I get starting pitchers with 80 or higher stamina and 65 or higher durability. H/9, bb/9 preferably in the 60's or higher. No need to spend big money on star pitchers because they are all overpowered. Get a good dominant closer and setup men - there appears to be a bit of rubber banding in the 9th this year. For ballparks - to prevent home runs from determining the outcome of every game I chose Griffith Stadium. Home runs are possible but pitcher friendly. Stolen bases are back after going missing in the show 16. For position players speed and defense and small ball. Infielders are overpowered - human AI so all infielders are good. No need to acquire gold glove infielders, just fast fielders who can get to the ball and let human AI do the rest. A player like Starling Marte is absolute gold in this year's game. Small ball. Having said that nobody other than the devs know what they are working on for the big patch which is yet to come so this isn't final until they are finished tinkering with gameplay but for now that's the formula.

I would agree with most of this on default,but not neccessarily with slider adjustments other things can matter.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

# 9 tessl @ 04/11/17 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by miamikb2001


	I would agree with most of this on default,but not neccessarily with slider adjustments other things can matter. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Regarding sliders I'll say this.

1 - If you are working on sliders now before the big patch which will eventually come you are putting the cart ahead of the horse.

2 - If you are testing the game during the beginning of the season you will not get accurate results because the devs have confirmed temperature is now a factor in gameplay.

3 - If you are using variable umpires to test sliders you will get inconsistent and inaccurate results.

4 - The CPU don't know what your sliders are. For example you can turn all base runners into Usain Bolt by adjusting the slider and get massive stolen base numbers but you are gaining an unfair advantage over the CPU which doesn't realize Prince Fielder is now Usain Bolt. The CPU thinks Prince Fielder is still Prince Fielder. That's why I prefer default sliders and if the game is unplayable on default I stop playing.

I do believe the devs will address gameplay issues in the big patch which probably won't arrive until May or June.

# 10 My993C2 @ 04/11/17 04:09 PM

I am at work right now, so I can't watch the hour long video (I should not even be posting ... haha). Perhaps I will find the time later this evening to watch the video as I am curious as to what this fellow has to say.

I know when I am building my lineups I try and put the better hitters in the number #1 through #5 batting slots. But as someone who controls a team with a lot of left handed hitters, I also try and stagger the left and right handed hitters so that the opposition just can't throw a southpaw pitcher at me without having to face some sort of righty in an inning. I will also look at certain players and platoon them with other players if one handles right handed pitches while the other handles a southpaw better.

Also as far as some of the player ratings, despite playing the game for my 5th year now, I am still learning as I go. I do recognize that I have a fault in how I play the game and that is I like my games to simulate reality as best that they can and I have a difficult time not comparing the results I see in this game versus the results we see in the real world games. If I could just ignore that someone is doing well in the real world and yet performs poorly in this game (or visa versa), it makes playing the game better because historically I have made things worse trying to emulate real world performances with what I see in my games. My bad I guess

# 11 fightingirish595 @ 04/11/17 09:20 PM

traditional no dpubt

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Constructing a MLB The Show '17 Lineup & Staff: Traditional vs Sabermetrics