Assuming they have the same inning availability and fatigue level, how does the sim choose who to bring in between a RP designated as Setup A vs RH/LH Specialist?

Does it use OAV like it would to differentiate between two Setup A pitchers? Or is there a preference for the Specialist?

Additionally, what happens if they have he same OAV?

From one of Contrarian23's pinned threads...

https://www.whatifsports.com/forums/Posts.aspx?TopicID=452075

Part 5: How Sparky Chooses a Reliever

This section assumes that at least 1 pitcher meets the “availability” criteria spelled out above. Part 6 looks at what happens if no pitcher meets those criteria.

Sparky appears to take into account 4 factors:
· What inning is it?
· If mid-inning, what is the out/baserunner situation?
· What is the score differential (tied, ahead by 1…X runs, behind by 1….X runs)? (At some point, games get classified as “blowouts,” and the exact combination of inning and score differential for which this designation kicks in appears to be park-dependent).
· If ahead, is it a save situation?

The combination of those 4 variables leads to a prioritized list of relievers (or rather “relief roles”) that Sparky will then work his way down. If the first role on his list is not available, he moves to the second role, and so forth.

I do not believe any other variables come into play (e.g. salary cap, recent performance history by the pitcher, amount of usage for the pitcher, etc). There has been some discussion in the past that Sparky factors in other things, like whether a pitcher has been significantly underused compared to his real life IP, in selecting a relief pitcher. I have not seen convincing evidence that such things are included in the algorithm. Right now I am going with Occam’s razor and assuming that WIS’s programming is as parsimonious as possible.

To take an easy example, let’s look at the 9^th inning, ahead by 1 run. Classic save situation. I do not know exactly what the prioritized list looks like for this situation, but I believe it is as follows:
Closer A
Closer B
Set Up A
Set Up B
LH/RH Specialist
Long A
Long B
Starting Pitcher from the rotation
Mopup

I could be wrong about the exact ordering, especially toward the bottom of that list. But the point is that each unique game situation, based on the 4 variables outlined above, leads to a unique list like this one. Sparky will start at the top and move down until he finds a role that has an available pitcher assigned to it.

What happens if more than 1 available pitcher is assigned to a role (e.g. you have 2 SetUp A pitchers available)? It appears he considers platoon advantage (LHP to face LHB, etc.) and OAV (lowest OAV is used first).

In most cases, a SetUp A will be used before a SetUp B and a Long A will be used before a Long B. There are exceptions to this, but it is generally true.

WIS has never published the full exact algorithm in detail. To give an idea how the list may vary based on the game situation, Bribar posted in the original thread an exchange that he had with admin in which they listed the exact pitcher who would be chosen (read: at the top of Sparky’s list) in a number of different scenarios. That detail can be found on page 3 of this thread.

History has shown that Specialists are way under used, no matter how good they are. I would shy away from setting up any of my pitchers as a Specialist...

Long B ahead of Long A if it's nearly a blowout. I've seen Setup B used before Setup A when it's not a Setup situation but you are out of Long Relievers. Specialists don't get used much, seems like an afterthought if nothing else is a good match.

In my experience, I’ve never seen a RH specialist used ever. And a LH specialist only getting used a few times a season.

(not including using the specialist only strat that I heard from Skunk)

I am trying a few teams right now where all relievers are specialists, and also one where most are specialists and two are Setup A. In the second case, so far the Setup A's have seen most of the work

In my bullpens, I'll set underused pitchers to Setup A for a few games to get them work. They have always been the first reliever into the game, over every other specialist role, without fail. There may be rare situations where a specialist would get the call over a Setup A/B, but I've yet to see one.

Got it. Sounds like I can use Available Inning then. Thanks!

I have always believed that many games are won and lost in the middle innings, that the 9th is not the only crucial inning. So other than the closer, I use any inning setting for just about all of my relievers.

Posted by DoctorKz on 10/3/2018 6:28:00 PM (view original):
The default Specialist setting in the User General Settings is 10%. I don't think I have adjusted that before. That is the one just below your Team Center...

By comparison the setup is 60%, long relief 50%.

Has anyone seen increased Specialist usage by bumping up the setting?

I don't think I adjusted mine, but I have different numbers. Specialist is listed at 50% on mine, and there's no impact. Since it says it's for recommendations, I think it's only there as a guide anyway. I would have thought by now someone would have found a way to get the sim to use the specialists more if that was all you had to change, no?

All those percentages do is determine default settings for pitch counts.

It has no impact on how frequently those types of pitchers make game appearances.

On a separate Bullpen Hierarchy matter...

I believe WIS staff told us that starting pitchers, when checked for allowing to relieve, are treated as Long-B relievers, to potentially come to the mound when no other Long-B relievers are available (granted that one allows the starting pitcher to relieve during that inning).

Just had a game where that did not work for me.

In the sixth inning, behind 6-2, my closer came to the mound, even though I had two SP's designated for relief at any inning and at least one of them available regarding fatigue.

As it happened, they were set in a Starter-1, Starter-2A, Starter-2B format. But if they are cleared for relief in that inning, one of them should still come to the mound, according to what I remember our being told.

What inning was your closer available to come in?

Any inning.