Any good examples of top notch starters with five different pitches all between 60-79?

I'm curious if having 5 good pitches makes up for not having any great 80+ pitfches and low velocity, with average high 60's splits.

I have definitely seen players like that succeed.  I can't recall what worlds/teams, but I know I have.  If velocity is low and gb/fb is low you may run into problems depending on the park.  I definitely wouldn't be afraid to start a guy like that though if he was stable with gb/fb and/or he was in a balanced or pitcher friendly park.

I've had a guy that had mid-50's splits, but 3 great pitches and he was a successful MP SP.

I have always had decent success if a pitcher has good control and good pitches if the splits are at least 50+

Are any of the following scenarios better than the other for an SP?  (these are pitch ratings - assume all other ratings are identical)

a) 80, 70, 60
b) 80, 70, 60, 50
c) 80, 70, 60, 50, 40

Posted by opie100 on 9/11/2012 1:19:00 PM (view original):
Are any of the following scenarios better than the other for an SP?  (these are pitch ratings - assume all other ratings are identical)

a) 80, 70, 60
b) 80, 70, 60, 50
c) 80, 70, 60, 50, 40

c is best.

I believe the break-even point for when a fifth pitch hurts or helps is somewhere around 30.

I guess that means there is something built into the formula to add value for batter "surprise", since 60 is always > 50 and so forth.

There is a "guess" factor, apparently.

And more pitches (assuming they are above a sliding threshold of usefulness, as tec implies) means the hitter is less likely to guess right.

Somewhere in an HBD Dev Chat, they mentioned that more pitches are better, even if the "extra" pitches are below average (i.e. < 50).

My comment about the break-even point of 30 goes back to the observation of the somewhat rare instance in which a pitcher's projected OVR rating is less than his current OVR rating.  In all those cases, it's because he dropped a low rated fifth pitch.  The highest dropped pitch in which I've seen this phenomenon was in the high 20's, leading me to believe that the formula for OVR devalues pitches rated below 30.

http://whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=1693201

http://whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=1806187 (still going strong even as his pitches dipped into the 70s)

http://whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=1804013 (perhaps the best example of what I think you're looking for.  An Ace he is not, but 200+ career wins I think many would take)

Is there a known % of time that each pitch is used 1-5?

Individual pitches are not thrown.  My guess is that there is a weighted formula that goes into the calculation for the result of a PA.  What the weights are for P1-P5 is anybody's guess.

Posted by opie100 on 9/11/2012 1:19:00 PM (view original):
Are any of the following scenarios better than the other for an SP?  (these are pitch ratings - assume all other ratings are identical)

a) 80, 70, 60
b) 80, 70, 60, 50
c) 80, 70, 60, 50, 40

Even better:

a) 80, 80, 70
b) 80, 70, 60, 50, 40

I've never really gotten a good feel for how the pitches work together.

B is easily better assuming that both pitchers are LR/SPs.  5 pitches as tec said is always better then 3, unless the 3 are insane like 90, 90, 90.  But in this case I would use him as a setup A guy, and have him guarantee games from the 7th on.

Ive noticed that any time you use a SP or LR with less then 4 pitches no matter how good those 3 pitches are will under-perform because batters get a chance to figure him out.  

"Ive noticed that any time you use a SP or LR with less then 4 pitches no matter how good those 3 pitches are will under-perform because batters get a chance to figure him out."

Not always: James Haselman