Soxfan is right, bunting costs you runs. You're giving up an out to gain 1 base. The reason it's done so much in the NL is the pitcher is an expected out anyway, so you're not really giving up an out.

The sac bunt does drive down RE, but if your playing in a run starved enviroment, or the infield is playing back for a hit, then it becomes a smarter play. Besides, the RE and WE are so close in most situations as to bunt/hit, it really doesn't matter.

moose is right that the bunt should be used occasionally to keep the infield honest. In HBD though, I am not sure it is ever a good play unless the pitcher is batting. Does the infield ever play "back" in HBD? I know they will play at DP depth, but that is mostly for the middle infielders.

Maybe the other team's third baseman tweaked an ankle the previous inning and the batter was trying to take advantage.

Or maybe the pinch hitter had been out drinking with the third baseman the night before and figured he'd be too hung over to charge and throw.

The bunt was a bad play because he was down 6-3. Who bunts in that situation?

In the 5th? No one. Except for SIMMY.

Bunting, when behind, is an exceptionally stupid strategy. Unless it's the 9th and you're down 1, because, then and only then, is the out worth advancing only one base.

And yes, I'm an AL fan. But I'm a bigger math fan. Giving away 1 of the precious, irreplaceable 27 is rarely a good strategic move according to the math. The single most valuable skill in offensive baseball - both HBD and real life - is to not make outs.

ETA: Please update the thread when you get a response on the ticket. The SIM should NOT be sacrificing in the 5th, trailing by 3 with the settings on average. I would think that would be 4 or even 5.

Mathematically speaking, he had a .248 WE with 0 outs, man on 1b. The guy batting had a .182 OPS, .143 AVG, so likely an out, likely a SO or DP. If he gets a SO, his WE goes down to .206 (-.042), but a DP get WE down to .157 (-.081). After the Sac Bunt, the WE is .220, (-.028). So mathematically speaking, the Sac Bunt was a pretty good play.

Moos may have a point. But, it was game 5 of the season I believe. So take the stats with a grain of salt.

Oliva is 1st on my pinch hit hierarchy under 'other'. I am fixing that now. Not sure how the recs came to that. My guess is Moos's analysis is comng into play. Simmy correctly pinch hit for the pitcher, it was an 'other' situation so he went with Oliva. Then it looked at Oliva's ratings or stats and determined the bunt was the best play mathematically. Id be willing to guess that if I had my hierarchy set up better and got a better hitter up there he would have swung away.

It makes no sense. 5 games in, stats mean little. Down by 3 at that point in the game is a porous play.

Yeah, I was just trying to figure out what may have happened, and that is my best guess.

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Makes sense I suppose.