How Can I Make My Manager Platoon?

RocheBag · 05-07-2015, 09:54 AM

I'm playing only GM mode, because I did an expansion draft, and I don't want to spend my time micro-managing lineups, etc. What I do want, however, is for my team to be run like the Oakland Athletics in real life.

13 position players, and all of them start either vs LHP or RHP. The lineup vs RHP has 7 left handed hitters, the lineup vs LHP has 0.

As soon as the pitcher is switched to the opposite handedness, the pinch-hitting begins. Anyone who doesn't start vs that type of pitcher, is lifted for the person who does their next at-bat.

I want to replicate this in OOTP but I haven't had much success. I hired a Sabremetric Manager, who allows me leeway with the strategy. I have "Prefer Lefty-Righty Matchup" put all the way to extreme, and the same with "Pinch Hit for Position Players".

I'm seeing some matchup-based pinch hitting in late innings of tight games, but the starting lineups remain unchanged. The same guys start vs both types of pitching, even though there is little to no difference in ability between the players I want platooning.

I am fairly new to OOTP though, so it's entirely possible I'm just doing something wrong.

If anyone could give me a hand with this it'd be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

RchW · 05-07-2015, 09:59 AM

What you describe is platooning and it's following your slider setting. Why are you surprised/concerned?

RocheBag · 05-07-2015, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RchW

What you describe is platooning and it's following your slider setting. Why are you surprised/concerned?

I apologize if I was unclear. My long explanation is what I want to happen. The issue is it isn't happening.

The last sentence is what I'm actually seeing. Limited pinch hitting and no difference in starting lineups.

sc_superstar · 05-07-2015, 10:13 AM

is your manager a sabermetric manager or a traditional style?

and also ive always found that unless there is a huge L/R split, the AI will tend to go with its "best" lineup regardless of which way they bat.

Switch hitters often get burned this way by the AI, ive seen some guys who hit switch with some unusually large splits, still hit both sides because they can, not because they are good.

RocheBag · 05-07-2015, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sc_superstar

is your manager a sabermetric manager or a traditional style?

and also ive always found that unless there is a huge L/R split, the AI will tend to go with its "best" lineup regardless of which way they bat.

Switch hitters often get burned this way by the AI, ive seen some guys who hit switch with some unusually large splits, still hit both sides because they can, not because they are good.

He's sabremetric, and his default "Prefer Left-Right Matchups" was high frequency, which I manually edited up to the maximum.

Anyone · 05-07-2015, 10:59 AM

Most (not all) managers will let you set the lineups as well. If he's letting you set the strategies you list, he probably will let you set the lineups as well.

In any event, if you don't touch the lineups he's making, it will always be the manager's preferred lineups, and I think the prefer platoon advantage setting only applies to subs. It may only apply to relief pitchers, but at most it would apply to pinch hitters as well.

So I suggest at least trying to directly set the depth charts and lineups.

RocheBag · 05-07-2015, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anyone

Most (not all) managers will let you set the lineups as well. If he's letting you set the strategies you list, he probably will let you set the lineups as well.

In any event, if you don't touch the lineups he's making, it will always be the manager's preferred lineups, and I think the prefer platoon advantage setting only applies to subs. It may only apply to relief pitchers, but at most it would apply to punch hitters as well.

So I suggest at least trying to directly set the depth charts and lineups.

Yeah, there's always that option, I was just trying to avoid it if at all possible.

Really wish there was a "force start vs LHP" option or something to that effect in the layer strategy.

awick · 05-07-2015, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RocheBag

Yeah, there's always that option, I was just trying to avoid it if at all possible.

Really wish there was a "force start vs LHP" option or something to that effect in the layer strategy.

That's a good suggestion for future versions of the game.

RchW · 05-07-2015, 01:17 PM

Use 7-day lineups to set proper platoons. You have many choices.

RocheBag · 05-07-2015, 02:08 PM

I know I can do it, I'm just trying to play the role of GM here. In real life I could meet with my Manager and say "we want to platoon whenever we can and take advantage of matchups" without having to set the lineup myself. I was just wondering if that was possible in the game

RchW · 05-07-2015, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RocheBag

I know I can do it, I'm just trying to play the role of GM here. In real life I could meet with my Manager and say "we want to platoon whenever we can and take advantage of matchups" without having to set the lineup myself. I was just wondering if that was possible in the game

Change the manager and become the manager.

It seems to me that even IRL you might as well be the manager if you want that level of control. Let's face it, if you want platooning where no platooning is called for you would get push back from any RL manager worth his salt.

SteveP · 05-07-2015, 02:46 PM

I'll offer an educated guess:

My manager platoons the lineups pretty aggressively. I think the reason is that my batters tend to large discrepancies in their ratings based on pitcher handedness. (I'll add that the AI always based lineups/depth charts on ratings, nothing else).

You may want to look at a couple of things: (1) do your players have notable rating discrepancies; and/or (2) do you see notable difference in their performance based on pitcher handedness. That latter would help to validate what you see when you look at the ratings (particularly if scouting is turned on).

The strategy slider setting for handedness-related preference basically only affects PH and RP choices, and IMO is a soft setting -- that is, it has a modest impact on what the AI manager does.

My guess is that Billy Beane doesn't tell Bob Melvin to use aggressive platooning, but it's possible Billy would have looked more a manager inclined to do that. You could try that yourself, but I think your stuck unless you shuffle your roster to make rating discrepancies among your batters more prominent.

Anyone · 05-07-2015, 03:18 PM

If you want to step back from complete lineup control, but still choose who plays, you could set your depth charts and then use the "ask manager for all lineups" setting, in which case I'm pretty sure would mean he uses your starters (and who to sub in case of injury/fatigue) but then he chooses the batting order.

Just another option....

RocheBag · 05-07-2015, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveP

I'll offer an educated guess:

My manager platoons the lineups pretty aggressively. I think the reason is that my batters tend to large discrepancies in their ratings based on pitcher handedness. (I'll add that the AI always based lineups/depth charts on ratings, nothing else).

You may want to look at a couple of things: (1) do your players have notable rating discrepancies; and/or (2) do you see notable difference in their performance based on pitcher handedness. That latter would help to validate what you see when you look at the ratings (particularly if scouting is turned on).

The strategy slider setting for handedness-related preference basically only affects PH and RP choices, and IMO is a soft setting -- that is, it has a modest impact on what the AI manager does.

My guess is that Billy Beane doesn't tell Bob Melvin to use aggressive platooning, but it's possible Billy would have looked more a manager inclined to do that. You could try that yourself, but I think your stuck unless you shuffle your roster to make rating discrepancies among your batters more prominent.

Yeah, he probably doesn't tell Bob Melvin who to play, (although it wouldn't surprise me) but he did hire a manager who shares his ideals.

The issue is in OOTP I don't have that option. Closest I can do is to hire a sabremetrician, which I have.

RocheBag · 05-07-2015, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RchW

Change the manager and become the manager.

It seems to me that even IRL you might as well be the manager if you want that level of control. Let's face it, if you want platooning where no platooning is called for you would get push back from any RL manager worth his salt.

The platooning is called for though. The players in question have pretty visible splits. It appears the manager is just setting the lineups based on overall rating or overall contact rating or what-have-you.

SteveP · 05-07-2015, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RocheBag

The platooning is called for though. The players in question have pretty visible splits. It appears the manager is just setting the lineups based on overall rating or overall contact rating or what-have-you.

You may have a bit of a mystery there. IMO, the AI tends to platoon more often than it should, putting marginal players in the lineup just because of handedness. In the past there have been times that I have made a roster move simply because my AI manager was starting a marginal guy due to handedness.

The AI manager is going to do what the AI think is the optimum strategy given the roster, subject to some degree of bias that the game builds in to very manager "tendencies". There is no simple way to get the AI manager to do something different from what the AI thinks is optimal.

RocheBag · 05-07-2015, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveP

You may have a bit of a mystery there. IMO, the AI tends to platoon more often than it should, putting marginal players in the lineup just because of handedness. In the past there have been times that I have made a roster move simply because my AI manager was starting a marginal guy due to handedness.

The AI manager is going to do what the AI think is the optimum strategy given the roster, subject to some degree of bias that the game builds in to very manager "tendencies". There is no simple way to get the AI manager to do something different from what the AI thinks is optimal.

Interesting. Oh well I guess that's kind of what you sign up for when you play GM only. I just wish there was a little middle ground. The force start vs LHP/RHP I'd really like to see.

SirMichaelJordan · 05-07-2015, 05:42 PM

AI settings then change to sabrematrics from traditional.

RocheBag · 05-07-2015, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirMichaelJordan

AI settings then change to sabrematrics from traditional.

What AI settings?

r0nster · 05-07-2015, 06:12 PM

Managers do not always agree with what GM says .... look at the movie Moneyball as a off hand example and see how the manager didn't agree with what the GM was doing.

05-07-2015, 09:54 AM	#1
RocheBag Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2015 Posts: 28	How Can I Make My Manager Platoon? I'm playing only GM mode, because I did an expansion draft, and I don't want to spend my time micro-managing lineups, etc. What I do want, however, is for my team to be run like the Oakland Athletics in real life. 13 position players, and all of them start either vs LHP or RHP. The lineup vs RHP has 7 left handed hitters, the lineup vs LHP has 0. As soon as the pitcher is switched to the opposite handedness, the pinch-hitting begins. Anyone who doesn't start vs that type of pitcher, is lifted for the person who does their next at-bat. I want to replicate this in OOTP but I haven't had much success. I hired a Sabremetric Manager, who allows me leeway with the strategy. I have "Prefer Lefty-Righty Matchup" put all the way to extreme, and the same with "Pinch Hit for Position Players". I'm seeing some matchup-based pinch hitting in late innings of tight games, but the starting lineups remain unchanged. The same guys start vs both types of pitching, even though there is little to no difference in ability between the players I want platooning. I am fairly new to OOTP though, so it's entirely possible I'm just doing something wrong. If anyone could give me a hand with this it'd be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

05-07-2015, 09:59 AM	#2
RchW Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: The big smoke Posts: 15,628	What you describe is platooning and it's following your slider setting. Why are you surprised/concerned? __________________ Cheers RichW If you’re looking for a good cause to donate money to please consider a Donation to Parkinson’s Canada. It may help me have a better future and if not me, someone else. Thanks. “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition …There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” Frank Wilhoit

05-07-2015, 10:59 AM	#6
Anyone Major Leagues Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 405	Most (not all) managers will let you set the lineups as well. If he's letting you set the strategies you list, he probably will let you set the lineups as well. In any event, if you don't touch the lineups he's making, it will always be the manager's preferred lineups, and I think the prefer platoon advantage setting only applies to subs. It may only apply to relief pitchers, but at most it would apply to pinch hitters as well. So I suggest at least trying to directly set the depth charts and lineups. Last edited by Anyone; 05-07-2015 at 11:54 AM. Reason: Fixed typo: was "punch" instead of "pinch" hitters

05-07-2015, 01:17 PM	#9
RchW Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: The big smoke Posts: 15,628	Use 7-day lineups to set proper platoons. You have many choices. __________________ Cheers RichW If you’re looking for a good cause to donate money to please consider a Donation to Parkinson’s Canada. It may help me have a better future and if not me, someone else. Thanks. “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition …There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” Frank Wilhoit

05-07-2015, 05:42 PM	#18
SirMichaelJordan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 2,629	How Can I Make My Manager Platoon? AI settings then change to sabrematrics from traditional.

05-07-2015, 10:13 AM	#4
sc_superstar Major Leagues Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 407	is your manager a sabermetric manager or a traditional style? and also ive always found that unless there is a huge L/R split, the AI will tend to go with its "best" lineup regardless of which way they bat. Switch hitters often get burned this way by the AI, ive seen some guys who hit switch with some unusually large splits, still hit both sides because they can, not because they are good.

05-07-2015, 02:08 PM	#10
RocheBag Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: May 2015 Posts: 28	I know I can do it, I'm just trying to play the role of GM here. In real life I could meet with my Manager and say "we want to platoon whenever we can and take advantage of matchups" without having to set the lineup myself. I was just wondering if that was possible in the game

05-07-2015, 02:46 PM	#12
SteveP Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 3,109	I'll offer an educated guess: My manager platoons the lineups pretty aggressively. I think the reason is that my batters tend to large discrepancies in their ratings based on pitcher handedness. (I'll add that the AI always based lineups/depth charts on ratings, nothing else). You may want to look at a couple of things: (1) do your players have notable rating discrepancies; and/or (2) do you see notable difference in their performance based on pitcher handedness. That latter would help to validate what you see when you look at the ratings (particularly if scouting is turned on). The strategy slider setting for handedness-related preference basically only affects PH and RP choices, and IMO is a soft setting -- that is, it has a modest impact on what the AI manager does. My guess is that Billy Beane doesn't tell Bob Melvin to use aggressive platooning, but it's possible Billy would have looked more a manager inclined to do that. You could try that yourself, but I think your stuck unless you shuffle your roster to make rating discrepancies among your batters more prominent.

05-07-2015, 03:18 PM	#13
Anyone Major Leagues Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 405	If you want to step back from complete lineup control, but still choose who plays, you could set your depth charts and then use the "ask manager for all lineups" setting, in which case I'm pretty sure would mean he uses your starters (and who to sub in case of injury/fatigue) but then he chooses the batting order. Just another option....

05-07-2015, 06:12 PM	#20
r0nster Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2006 Location: Michigan Posts: 3,002	Managers do not always agree with what GM says .... look at the movie Moneyball as a off hand example and see how the manager didn't agree with what the GM was doing.