I'll start right off by saying these are not big issues. If they persist, I won't quit the game or anything. But if you're planning on building a team focused on defense, they are things you should probably be aware of that I've run into over the last few seasons:

1) The DH exemption to the Rest depth chart

When HBD was designed, it was apparently designed with offense, and not defense, in mind. As a result, if you have a player in as your starting DH who has any other positions listed on his player card, and the starter at that other position gets Auto-Rested, the game engine will plug your DH in at that position - regardless of where, or even if, the DH is listed on your Rest depth chart.

Example: I've got a couple of guys who were drafted as catchers but who really are just DHs with mediocre AS, AA and PC ratings. I had them listed as DH/C, figuring they might have to play behind the plate in an extra-inning game or something if my bench got depleted.

Later in the season my starting catcher fell below his Rest %. Rather than give my backup catcher (the #2 guy on the Rest chart) the start, Sparky decided to move my starting DH (one of those guys drafted as a C) in at catcher, and put someone else in at DH.

When I sent in a ticket about it, I was told "This is special case logic in the game to prevent the manager from wasting players and giving them the best bat in the game."

No, I don't know what 'wasting players' was supposed to mean either. But the bottom line is, when the engine makes decisions on its own, it only thinks about offense. And it will completely disregard your depth charts when doing so.

2) There's no emergency bad enough to use a Resting player

In a recent game, my starting CF fell below his Rest%. I have five players listed on the Rest/Defensive Replacement charts at CF. The #2 guy went in at CF. The #3 guy went in at LF with that player Auto-Resting as well. The #4 guy was starting at SS. #5 guy, the other half of my SS platoon, was on the bench.

The game went to the bottom of the 9th - I was at home and losing. One of the ex-catcher DHs was used as a pinch-hitter for the CF. This turned out to be a good move, and he was a big part of a rally, eventually coming around to tie the game.

At this point, Sparky decided to use my other SS - the last guy I had listed on my CF depth chart - to pinch-run for the guy who'd driven in the tying run, who happened to be my other SS. The rally died, the inning ended, and for the top of the 10th my #2 SS stayed in at short... while my crappy-fielding DH/ex-C stayed in center field.

The number of things wrong with the scenario are legion. Why wasn't the backup SS used to pinch-run for the slow-footed DH who represented the tying run, at which point he could have stayed in CF? Why was he used as a pinch-runner at all, if he was the last guy on the bench on my CF depth chart after the CF had been removed from the game?

Most baffling though, why didn't my resting #1 CF come into the game after all that to replace the DH?

When I sent in a ticket, I got told "Players below their auto rest will almost never come into a game and only do in emergency situations when it's absolutely necessary." How having a DH who's a bad defensive catcher play CF doesn't count as an "emergency situation" and "absolutely necessary", i have no idea, but again it's clear the engine gives no thought or priority to defense at all.

In both case, I got told something like this as a 'solution':

"To prevent this, you would need to lower the players' auto rest settings and adjust your lineups so they aren't starting. Then they would be available to come into games."


In short: if you plan on building a team around defense, be prepared to do a metric crapload of micro-managing. Because the engine is going to try and sabotage your defense if you give it a chance.

Thank you for your time, and God bless the United States of America.

So.... what's your point?  Sparky won't play your resting players?  The next time a player on "rest" comes in, should be the first, and with the prevailing theory that lower % = more likely to get injured, can you imagine the complaining if one were to get injured??

Rest is about the only sacred cow in HBD.  Rest = didn't/don't/won't dress, for all intents and purposes.

Its been stated the the defensive logic is flawed.

Uh-oh.  What's that I hear?

If someone comes off the bench rested, and gets hurt, then this thread has a different title. Strike #2.

Just about every team I've had is defensive, and I've rarely hit auto rest for position players and/or the endd of my bench..
Because...

1. You're probably in a defensive park
2. Which means you should have 10-11 pitchers because they should be throwing less pitches
3. Which means your bench should be 5 - 7 players deep (depending on AL or NL)

Some would add 4. Because your offense sucks and sees only 90 pitches a game, but let's assume it was one of the 90 win teams for this argument.

Why would you use autorest at the ML level?

Posted by boogerlips on 3/29/2011 2:44:00 AM (view original):
Why would you use autorest at the ML level?

According to the OP, it's to avoid doing "a metric crapload of micro-managing".

And I was under the impression that the player rest heirarchy ONLY applied to "in game" substitutions like "leading by X or more runs after the Xth inning"
If a player is below his auto-rest setting YOU should manually make the change to your line-up.

Posted by tecwrg on 3/29/2011 6:00:00 AM (view original):

Posted by boogerlips on 3/29/2011 2:44:00 AM (view original):
Why would you use autorest at the ML level?

According to the OP, it's to avoid doing "a metric crapload of micro-managing".

What are any of us doing playing this game, if not to micro-manage?

In SLB, you can set your line-up and check in a month later.   Perhaps anton would be happier with that product.

Posted by boogerlips on 3/29/2011 2:44:00 AM (view original):
Why would you use autorest at the ML level?

Why wouldn't you?
I don't believe it ever stopped you from micro managing anyway, but sure is a nice safety net to have 99s or 98s across the board.

This isn't exactly on-point with the OP, but I'll add a point anyway:

I leave my rest settings blank for the DH spot. When simmy does his "rest replacements," he replaces the DH too if you have a heirarchy. Which is dumb. I know in the slliness that is the fatigue engine of HBD that an out-of-the-lineup DH is getting less fatigue (I guess it is all that stress worrying about the next AB), but there is no other practical reason for a sub of a DH before he's due to bat.

Posted by MikeT23 on 3/29/2011 9:22:00 AM (view original):
In SLB, you can set your line-up and check in a month later.   Perhaps anton would be happier with that product.

Works for me in HBD. I know what my players are capable of, micro managing just has you chasing shadows.

I'd argue that your 969-975 record in MG states you should chase an occassional shadow.