I’ve only got a few seasons of credits left before I step away from HBD so I thought I’d share some playoff tips before I’m done. I’m certainly not the most prolific owner when it comes to championships but I’ve got a .590 win% in the postseason which seems like it’s on the higher end.

Here’s a couple of things that I think have helped my playoff runs. Some are subjective and based on my preferred play style but some are probably true in any situation.

1. I think maybe the most helpful strategy (and one that I rarely see other owners employ) is using a RP as an opener for 20 pitches in the T1A spot with a SP of the opposite arm in T1B. Find out whichever one of your opponent’s two lineups is weakest against the opposite arm and target that. I’d wager I’ve won a bunch of series I might not have using this. Amazes me how few owners notice I’m doing this and then make adjustments accordingly. Only time it doesn’t really give you an edge is if the opponents VRH and VLH lineups are nearly the same or you don’t have the right combo of pitchers to pull it off. Having a good balance of lefties and righties in your pen and rotation is ideal for this to work.

2. Shorten up the pitching staff and add plenty of platoon hitters to the bench. Similar to above, play the matchups to squeeze out even the smallest advantages. I’ve found I can oftentimes get away with four starters and four RP’s (more if I have a lot of great P’s with low DUR/STA) which leaves a ton of room for platoons and pinch hitters. Skill positions can be hard to platoon for. But playoff caliber DH/C/1B/RF’s are fairly easy to pick up even in the late 1st Rd, supp or 2nd round of the draft or for relatively cheap in FA/IFA. I’ve noticed I can reliably get 6 or more bats in a lineup that are the opposite of the arm I’m facing. I’ve lost a number of series because my squad was stacked with great LHB’s but low on RHB’s and I ended up getting smoked by a LHP heavy staff.

3. But also, keep an eye on splits because occasionally a pitcher’s splits will be relatively similar or their splits will be the opposite of what you’d expect and your RHB’s might be better against a RHP (or LHB vs LHP).

4. I know this one is a “no duh” tip, but getting that 1st or 2nd seed instantly makes your job 25% easier, and those short 5 game series are already a crap shoot. It pays to make those little in-season adjustments and matchup tweaks if it means they get you a few extra wins to push you into the bye round, dramatically increasing your odds of winning a title.

5. But having said that, if I’m fairly certain early in the season that my team is gonna be top 2, I use low thresholds for the rest replacement settings to keep my guys fresh and reduce the likelihood of injury. But I also adjust accordingly if my team starts falling behind a top two spot pace. Seeing your players win the end of season awards is really nice, but I’ll rest them and reduce their chance for an MVP/CY/RoY for a better shot at a trophy. Nothing derails a championship run more than a key player going down to injury for the season.

6. I personally like playing in the AL because I always have a stockpile of big bats (again, cheap and easy to acquire). Which oftentimes (though not always) means I’ll have the edge at DH against fellow AL owners without as much depth, and especially against the NL teams when I reach the world series.

7. I prefer C’s with huge bats (.900+ OPS at their split) and below average defense rather than the inverse. I also prefer sticking those same players in RF if I don’t have a traditional RF with a huge bat.

8. Having a SS/CF/2B/3B with an elite bat is worth its weight in gold. If you look at the playoff hitting stats of most of these guys, they fall waaay off when they’re repeatedly facing top tier pitching.

9. This might be more personal preference, but given the depth of big bats my teams have, they usually have very high OBP with very low baserunning and speed. Because of this I have very few teams that I steal with. Unless I can get a success rate of ~75%+ I set my SB setting to the lowest rung. Why risk stealing when there’s a good chance the next guy will knock them in?

10. Knowing when to make your move and go all in for a championship run. I see plenty of owners make huge FA plays with mediocre squads. Look at the championship squads of owners with lots of titles to get a feel for how many elite pitchers and position players are typically needed before committing. It’s probably more than you think. I’ve also seen the opposite though - owners never going all in. Especially the owners committed to getting a top IFA prospect every single season. Rather than pull the trigger on a few high price FA’s to immediately make them an elite team they keep chasing the IFA value. These guys will have teams that are consistently very good but rarely great.

Anyway, those are some of the things that seem to work for me and my play style. Hopefully a few owners learned something new from it. Anyone got their own tips?

Posted by brianplath on 8/4/2024 7:37:00 PM (view original):
I’ve only got a few seasons of credits left before I step away from HBD so I thought I’d share some playoff tips before I’m done. I’m certainly not the most prolific owner when it comes to championships but I’ve got a .590 win% in the postseason which seems like it’s on the higher end.

Here’s a couple of things that I think have helped my playoff runs. Some are subjective and based on my preferred play style but some are probably true in any situation.

1. I think maybe the most helpful strategy (and one that I rarely see other owners employ) is using a RP as an opener for 20 pitches in the T1A spot with a SP of the opposite arm in T1B. Find out whichever one of your opponent’s two lineups is weakest against the opposite arm and target that. I’d wager I’ve won a bunch of series I might not have using this. Amazes me how few owners notice I’m doing this and then make adjustments accordingly. Only time it doesn’t really give you an edge is if the opponents VRH and VLH lineups are nearly the same or you don’t have the right combo of pitchers to pull it off. Having a good balance of lefties and righties and lefties in your pen and rotation is ideal for this to work.

2. Shorten up the pitching staff and add plenty of platoon hitters to the bench. Similar to above, play the matchups to squeeze out even the smallest advantages. I’ve found I can oftentimes get away with four starters and four RP’s (unless I have a lot of great P’s with low DUR/STA) which leaves a ton of room for platoons and pinch hitters. Skill positions can be hard to platoon for. But playoff caliber DH/C/1B/RF’s are fairly easy to pick up even in the late 1st Rd, supp or 2nd round of the draft or for relatively cheap in FA/IFA. I’ve noticed I can reliably get 6 or more bats in a lineup that are the opposite of the arm I’m facing. I’ve lost a number of series because my squad was stacked with great LHB’s but low on RHB’s and I ended up getting smoked by a LHP heavy staff.

3. But also, keep an eye on splits because occasionally a pitcher’s splits will be relatively similar or their splits will be the opposite of what you’d expect and your RHB’s might be better against a RHP (or LHB vs LHP).

4. I know this one is a “no duh” tip, but getting that 1st or 2nd seed instantly makes your job 25% easier, and those short 5 game series are already a crap shoot. It pays to make those little in-season adjustments and matchup tweaks if it means they get you a few extra wins to push you into the bye round, dramatically increasing your odds of winning a title.

5. But having said that, if I’m fairly certain early in the season that my team is gonna be top 2, I use low thresholds for the rest replacement settings to keep my guys fresh and reduce the likelihood of injury. But also adjust accordingly if my team starts falling behind a top two spot pace. Seeing your players win the end of season awards is really nice, but I’ll rest them and reduce their chance for an MVP/CY.RoY for a better shot at a trophy. Nothing derails a championship run more than a key player going down to injury for the season.

6. I personally like playing in the AL because I always have a stockpile of big bats (again, cheap and easy to acquire). Which oftentimes (though not always) means I’ll have the edge at DH against fellow AL owners without as much depth, and especially against the NL teams when I reach the world series.

7. I prefer C’s with huge bats (.900+ OPS at their split) and below average defense rather than the inverse. I also prefer sticking those same players in RF if I don’t have a traditional RF with a huge bat.

8. Having a SS/CF/2B/3B with an elite bat is worth its weight in gold. If you look at the playoff hitting stats of most of these guys, they fall waaay off when they’re repeatedly facing top tier pitching.

9. This might be more personal preference, but given the depth of big bats my teams have, they usually have very high OBP with very low baserunning and speed. Because of this I have very few teams that I steal with. Unless I can get a success rate of ~75%+ I set my SB setting to the lowest rung. Why risk stealing when there’s a good chance the next guy will knock them in?

10. Knowing when to make your move and go all in for a championship run. I see plenty of owners make huge FA plays with mediocre squads. Look at the championship squads of owners with lots of titles to get a feel for how many elite pitchers and position players are typically needed before committing. It’s probably more than you think. I’ve also seen the opposite though - owners never going all in. Especially the owners committed to getting a top IFA prospect every single season. Rather than pull the trigger on a few high price FA’s to immediately make them an elite team they keep chasing the IFA value. These guys will have teams that are consistently very good but rarely great.

Anyway, those are some of the things that seem to work for me and my play style. Hopefully a few owners learned something new from it. Anyone got their own tips?

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