Relative pitching ratings

[cath0de]

I was working on my hopelessly inept minor league career today and after several seasons of failed tinkering with pitching strategies, I said screw it, and assigned SPs to starting positions no matter how low their endurance or pitching ratings and MRs to their respective positions.

Hitherto, I would ignore the labeled pitching roles and set my staff according to their objective stats, so if a MR had an endurance of 70 and STU/MOV/CON of 40/30/40 (remember, I play single A), I would make him my ace of my starting rotation.

After several seasons of middling to poor results and frequent injuries, I just put my SPs into order on the rotation, put my closer as the closer, and relievers as relievers. I watched my team ERA cut in half.

Now, under game settings, I have the box checked that makes stats non-relative (that is, pitch ratings are relative to pitchers in general not just SPs or MRs), so why did this happen? Was it a fluke in the stats or is there something programmed in that makes this happen?

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by cath0de

Now, under game settings, I have the box checked that makes stats non-relative (that is, pitch ratings are relative to pitchers in general not just SPs or MRs), so why did this happen? Was it a fluke in the stats or is there something programmed in that makes this happen?

That box is for making ratings compare all PLAYERS across positions, not just all pitchers. Frankly, I don't know the reason for wanting to do that, but I'm sure there is one.* Anyway, you may want to uncheck that box to go back to rating pitchers against pitchers. That may not be exactly SP vs SP, MR vs MR, or CL vs CL, but it's closer than what you are working with, I have to believe.

*Actually, I thought of one. You may not have seen this yet if you are managing in the minor leagues, but at the amateur draft you will often see a bunch of MR's at the top of the potential rating chart (if you scouted the draft pool and sorted the draft screen that way). The game rates MR's pretty cheaply, apparently, because you quite often see 5-star potential MR's go undrafted until later rounds. I guess if you turned that option on, you would see the MR's rated as to their value versus ALL players, not just MR's or pitchers in general, and they would be well down on the draft chart in terms of desirability if my theory is correct.

[zekester91]

Originally Posted by cath0de

After several seasons of middling to poor results and frequent injuries, I just put my SPs into order on the rotation, put my closer as the closer, and relievers as relievers. I watched my team ERA cut in half.

Now, under game settings, I have the box checked that makes stats non-relative (that is, pitch ratings are relative to pitchers in general not just SPs or MRs), so why did this happen? Was it a fluke in the stats or is there something programmed in that makes this happen?

It might have something to do with the fatigue formula being diffrent for Starters and relivers. if you have a starter being used as a reliver that normaly are not as good becuse they need x number of days between aperances. Where relivers tend to get pulled early by the computer when they are asked to start, giving more work to the bullpen.

Picking your pitchers your way might work but you also need to change thier role so that they are used the way you wish them to be used.

[damonrusst]

How do you change a pitcher's role? Not in the pitching rotation, I know how to do that but can you change a MR with 20 out of 20 endurance to a starter so that shows up as his default position? I just picked up a MR with great ratings and endurance and threw him into my starting rotation. His ERA isn't terrible but his record is around 1-6 and he seems to consistently blow any lead he's given. Thought it was just coincidence but could it be because he's MR and I made him a starter?

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by damonrusst

How do you change a pitcher's role? Not in the pitching rotation, I know how to do that but can you change a MR with 20 out of 20 endurance to a starter so that shows up as his default position? I just picked up a MR with great ratings and endurance and threw him into my starting rotation. His ERA isn't terrible but his record is around 1-6 and he seems to consistently blow any lead he's given. Thought it was just coincidence but could it be because he's MR and I made him a starter?

AFAIK, although you can list the two separately on roster screens, a pitcher's position is the same as his role and is changed as shown below. Neither are affected by where you place a pitcher on the pitching staff chart.

Also, I doubt that a pitcher's performance is affected by his role or where he is on the chart; it all comes down to his ratings and endurance and, of course, the randomization of the game engine in producing results. You are basing your conjecture on one pitcher and it is probably a coincidence.

Back to what is puzzling me. Does anybody know of a situation where a pitcher's position <> his role? If so, when and why? If not, why do we have both?

[damonrusst]

thanks, just fixed it. Also wondering, if you change a starter's position to MR, does he get annoyed? Or does changing the position avoid the annoyance because he's not listed as a starter anymore who is stuck in MR?

[1998 Yankees]

Well, I know of one reliever who bitched at me for 10 "years" or so because he wanted to start and I kept him in the bullpen because he had very marginal endurance; he could scarcely last five innings in a game. Finally had to let him go, and he went to the Mets for his final year. He started 32 games for them, went 7-13 with 5.20 ERA, presumably lasted at least the required 5 innings for 7 wins, and retired happy that at least he finally got a chance to start.

All of which has nothing to do with your question, of course.

If you change a pitcher to reliever when his expectation is starting rotation (see the guy above, for example) then yes, it will annoy him eventually. Not right away, but soon.

The question that this begs is, what triggers his annoyance? Is it the position change or being taken out of the starting rotation on the pitching chart? I'll post later on this.

[1998 Yankees]

Originally Posted by 1998 Yankees

I'll post later on this.

Interesting. I created a test league, took over a team, and examined my five starters. All five at that time wanted to be starters.

I changed their positions to MR but left them in the starting rotation and simmed for a couple of months. None of them were bothered as to expected role by the position change.

Then, I moved all of them to the bullpen and put the relievers in the starting rotation. It took a while, but eventually three out of five became very unhappy over their expected roles not being met.

The interesting thing is that two of them had changed their expectations to be bullpen. The variability in this game amazes me sometimes.

Anyway, as a final test, I changed the positions of all five back to SP but left them all in the bullpen. The three malcontents did not change their attitudes at all after several more months of simulating.

Small test sample for sure, but I think it says that it's where the pitcher is on the pitching chart, not his pitching role designation, that is used to determine whether he is going to be happy or not according to his role expectation. But not absolutely, as I found out. Rather neat, that.

[damonrusst]

Interesting. Here's another very small test sample. On the pitcher I originally asked about, Bill Hallahan, his expectation had always been bullpen. His position was listed as MR but he had 18 of 20 endurance so I put him in the starting rotation. Expectation remained bullpen.

So after you so kindly showed me how to change his position, I switched it to SP and the expectation immediately became Starting rotation. I tried it with another pitcher with 10 endurance changing him from SP to MR. His expectation hasn't changed yet and he's still very upset with me for not putting him in the rotation. Will post again if it does.