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Originally Posted by baseball_newbie
actually scratch that ive sorted my batting order and such, my next question is about substitutions. When do i use them? why? and how often?
Do i just use them when people are tired or playing badly? Is it just for relieving pitchers or batters too? How quickly should a pitcher be relieved when playing badly? What is playing badly? When do i need to use pinch hitters?
I know a lot of these question are down to opinion, but im just seeking some sort of guidance 
Also how do you tell if someone is tired when playing? |
The frequency of substitutions is a matter of managerial style to a degree; some people are quick to pull a pitcher who is struggling, some want to give him the chance to work himself out of the jam (or alternatively, bury himself neck deep). In choosing which option to take, you'll have to consider several things: How good is the pitcher compared to the guy you'd bring in from the bullpen? How many pitches has he thrown today (if he's your starter and it's over 100, he may be getting tired; if it's over 120, he *is* getting tired)? If there's just one out you need to escape the situation, is the next pitcher/batter match-up more favorable to the guy who's on the mound or the one who's in the bullpen (for example, if the bases are loaded and you have two outs, your lefty starter on the mound in the 7th inning and the next batter is a right-hander who kills left-handed pitching, it makes sense to bring out the righty relief guy).
Use pinch hitters for:
1. the pitcher, if you're not planning on using him in the next inning.
2. your weak hitters late in the game, when you desperately need that hit to tie or win the game (provided, of course, that the pinch hitter is better with the bat).
3. avoiding an unfavorable pitcher/batter match-up late in the game when you need a hit (or even earlier, if it makes sense to keep the pinch hitter in the game). For example, if the opposing team brings in a lefty reliever to deal with your left-handed hitter, you may want to bring in a right-handed pinch hitter.
Other forms of substitution are pinch runners and defensive replacements; use a pinch runner (a substitute for someone already on base) when you desperately need *one* run, and you have a slow runner on base. A really fast runner can score from first on a well-hit single, and will score from second on almost any hit that gets past the infield. This is especially useful in home games which are tied in the bottom of 9th (or 10th, 11th, etc.) inning, because you don't have to worry about fielding positions (if you get the run, that is).
Defensive replacements can be useful if you're protecting a small lead late in the game and you have a batter who's good with the bat but sub-par with the glove. However, to be really useful, the replacement had better be very good defensively and play an important defensive position (middle infield, CF).
As for the 'tired when playing' issue, it's a bit tricky when it comes to pitchers. The game never tells you when the current pitcher is tired -- you just have to develop some sort of a feeling for how long pitchers with different endurance ratings can last. I'm an old CM/FM grognard, so I use a 1-20 scale; I never start anyone whose endurance isn't at least 11. They can go 100 pitches on a good day; 120 is a lot for anyone, but someone with an endurance of 19 or 20 can do that and a batter or two more (again, on a good day). It seems like any reliever can throw 20 pitches if they're fully rested, but if their endurance is 1 or 2, that's about the limit of what I'd ask from them. Any reliever (even one who has starter-level endurance) will take a couple of days to recover from 40 or 50 pitches.
I'm not sure what to make of position player fatigue (except for catchers). Position players who get no days off get tired and will show yellow on the roster, but I really don't know how big a performance hit they take. I just finished the 2008 season and I had Ichiro Suzuki play 162 games and finish with a .350 batting average, so it doesn't look like it will absolutely plummet. There's probably an increased risk of injury to take into account as well, so this is just one of the choices you have to make as a manager. Note that catchers are the exception -- catching is physically a lot more exhausting than playing right field, so catchers with no days off get tired very quickly, and should frequently be given a day off (in other words, your back-up catcher should always have the 'use if starter is tired' option on the depth charts).