I was hoping for some help understanding a few aspects of the sim. I'm currently in the playoffs on a 24 team 1954/1979 progressive league that uses DH.

1. Pinch Hitting
Every game I'd like to pinch hit for my starting 2B with a bench bat, then put in the backup 2B to finish the game on defense. Ideally I'd like for this to happen late in the game around 7-9th inning. Here are my settings and relevant players:

Starting 2B (batting 9th): 1979 Joe Morgan 542 PA .250/.379/.376 9 HR, B/D+ at 2B, bats left
Bench: 2020 Grady Lampton, AAA 2B with B/C+ defense, bats switch
Bench: 1979 Oscar Gamble 327 PA, .358/.456/.609 19 HR, C-/D+ at OF, bats left

On Team Managerial Style, pinch hitting set to '5 - very aggressive'
On Player Hierarchies - Defensive Replacements Joe Morgan is starting 2B and Grady Lampton is backup
On Player Hierarchies - Pinch Hitting Oscar Gamble is set to the top spot for pinch hitter selections for all 6 categories
On Advanced Settings the PH column is checked for Joe Morgan (he is the only player checked)
On Advanced Settings, in the PH column there's a check box to toggle whether all players can PH or not. This is unchecked. However, if I check it, then uncheck everyone but Joe Morgan and save it, it switches to unchecked, but Joe Morgan remains checked.

NLDS Game 1, Bot 8th, leading 5-3, 2 runners on, 1 out : Joe Morgan flies out to left
NLDS Game 3, Top 7th, leading 9-4, no runners on, 2 out: Joe Morgan pops out to first

Why isn't Gamble pinch hitting for Morgan here? Any settings I am missing?

2. Pinch Running
I have 2 quality catchers who are slow, so I'd like to pinch run if given the chance.

Starting C: 1979 Gene Tenace 586 PA .263/.403/.445 20 HR, A+/C+/A+ at C, 48 speed
Bench C: 1954 Walker Cooper 191 PA .310/.398/.532 7 HR, C-/C/A- at C, 42 speed
Bench: 1979 Miguel Dilone 137 PA .220/.267/.283 1 HR, C/D- at OF, 94 speed

On Team Managerial Style, pinch running set to '5 - very aggressive'
On Player Hierarchies - Defensive Replacements Gene Tenace is starting C and Walker Cooper is backup C
On Advanced Settings the PR column is checked for both Gene Tenace and Walker Cooper (all other players are unchecked)
On Advanced Settings, in the PR column there's a check box to toggle whether all players can PR or not. This is unchecked. However, if I check it, then uncheck everyone but Gene Tenace and Walker Cooper and save it, it switches to unchecked, but Tenace and Walker remain checked.

NLDS Game 1, bot 6th, leading 5-2 with no runners on, 1 out and Gene Tenace walks

Why wasn't Dilone put in to pinch run so I could steal, then after we are retired put Walker Cooper in for C defense?


3. Platoon Splits (lefty v lefty or lefty v righty)

I believe I've read that all players are equally adjusted, so that if you are facing a pitcher who throws the same side as you bat, you receive a 5% penalty? Or what is it?

Let's say we are facing a lefty starting and have 2 players to choose from (disregard defense and speed)

Lefty: 1979 Oscar Gamble 327 PA .358/.456/.609 19 HR
Righty: 1954 Joe Adcock 592 PA .308/.365/.520 23 HR

Gamble is clearly the better hitter. Even against a lefty pitcher, I would assume he would still be expected to outperform Adcock in a game. Obviously, if they had equal stats, Adcock would be expected to perform better against a lefty pitcher. So the question is exactly how much better does the lefty need to be before putting him in against a lefty starter (and let's pretend this starter will pitch the whole game)?


Thanks for the help

edit: misread your post, I think the issue for 1 and 2 is Sparky doesn't believe the game situation to be late/close enough to justify a pinch hitter or pinch runner, even with the settings cranked all the way up. if what you have set doesn't work then it can't be done in that situation. especially in the pinch hitting example, since Joe Morgan is a decent hitter that might have some impact, perhaps if you had an awful hitter instead the pinch hitting would work.

for 3, there is a 5% adjustment up or down for platoon. against a lefty, Gamble would hit .340 and Adcock would hit .323.

you also must have monsters at DH/OF if you're not starting Gamble somewhere

Thanks for the reply. This must be the case, but is a bit frustrating since my pinch hit setting is as high as possible. I looked back in the regular season to some games:

Situation 1: Top 7th, leading 11-8, nobody on, 0 out: Oscar Gamble pinch hits for Joe Morgan
Situation 2: Top 8th, leading 9-7, nobody on, 1 out: Oscar Gamble pinch hits for Joe Morgan
Situation 3: Top 9th, tie 4-4, nobody on, 1 out:Oscar Gamble pinch hits for Joe Morgan (Gamble singles, and then they pinch run with Dilone)

I'm happy with situation 3, which is an obvious high leverage situation. And I like the decisions in 1 and 2. But then how are the situations in 1 and 2 higher leverage than NLDS Game 1 (Bot 8th, leading 5-3, 2 runners on, 1 out) in which they decided not to pinch hit? I don't agree with that.

For the pinch running, I just wish they pinch ran for Tenace anytime after the 4th inning, since Cooper is actually a better player, except for the low PA.

As for having monsters, I do have some good other OF/DH players but Oscar Gamble is definitely my best hitter. I sat him in the NLDS because of his low PA and I figured I could easily handle the NLDS team (if I lost a game I have put him in for the next one) and then use him for all NLCS and World Series games. Gamble has 327 real PA and had 313 sim PA so I wasn't sure he could last the full playoffs - can he?

For the 5% boost, does that including slugging, hitting home runs, etc? Even walks? And how do they handle switch hitters - do they always receive the 5% boost? And do they account for the fact that say Eddie Murray was a better left handed hitter, or would he be expected to hit equally from each side of the plate?

I believe it only affects BA

From a thread linked in at the top of the forum:

"Step 1: Determine if an unusual event occurs (defined as IBB, WP, PB, SB, CS, SH, H&R, Balk, Pickoff) or if it is a normal PA
Step 2: If normal PA, determine if HBP or not
Step 3: If not HBP, determine if walk or not. At this point, if the PA does not result in a walk, then we have an "at bat"
Step 4: Determine if the at bat results in a hit or an out (included park adjustments and any platoon advantage)

If the result of an at bat is an out, then do the following:
Step 5: Strikeout, or "normal" out (and if it's a normal out, is it a groundout or flyout, and in which direction)
Step 6: If "normal" out, determine if an error occurs (fielding rating) or if it becomes a hit (range rating, minus plays)

If the result of an at bat is a hit, then do the following:
Step 7: Determine if HR or "normal - in play" (Park effects used to determine HR)
Step 8: If "normal - in play" then determine if fielder converts it into an out (range, plus play)
Step 9: If it remains a hit, determine what kind of hit: triple, double, single (Park effects used to determine type of hit)"

The platoon advantage only directly affects step four, or batting average, but it will also have a downstream effect on home runs and all types of hits.

Switch hitters hit equally well from both sides of the plate, and don't get a 5% platoon advantage either.

06gsp The splits are not used for hitters or, I guess, for pitchers. Is that correct?

By splits not being used, I mean Real Life stats.

you mean real life stats vs lefties and righties? correct.

I also don't think the simulation takes "this is a playoff game" into account for any decision making, though someone correct if I'm wrong.

The only way to get what you want is to play live. Settings are just a nudge in the direction you want. Sparky makes most of the decision.
You need better hitters on the bench he probably won't PH if it's not an improvement. L/R matchup is also a factor. If you want to PH for one particular player you have a slightly better chance if everybody else is set to Do Not PH for.

Bumping this thread. I have some good bench bats. And I have a deep bullpen. I have Pinch Hit and Double Switch maxed. Yet Sparky rarely executes pinch hits and double switches, even for my pitchers. For pitchers there'd be no (not for my current staff anyway) "he's a decent hitter so why would I pinch hit for him" logic.

With such a deep pen I'd really like to pinch hit for my pitchers practically every time they're due for a PA, at least from, say, the 5th inning onwards. With me having these settings maxed, I don't understand why Sparky almost never does.

I've been experimenting with my pitchers' TPC, MPC, and Call Bullpen settings, but nothing seems to make a difference.

Any thoughts or tips out there?

Are you talking about your current team that has played a total of SIX games? Or the one that recently finished its season?

If you're talking about the current team that is 5-1:
-- 6 games is way way way way way way way way way too small a sample size to draw any conclusions about anything.
-- How much experimenting could you possibly have done in six games? And how could you have enough data to validate or disprove that "nothing seems to make a difference"

If you're talking about the team that recently finished its season, you had 267 PH at bats (and so I would estimate ~300 PH plate appearances) which is an astonishingly high total. I doubt there is anything you can do with your settings to significantly increase that total.

So, I guess my answer is that I really don't understand your question.

While this is relevant, I can get a defensive replacement at 2nd, and move my 2B to CF, but I can’t figure out how to do the same for player rest.