interesting moves by Sparky Topic

teaparty
Posts: 310 (0)
All Star
30 1
Prospect
First game of season:

Winning by 7 runs heading into bottom of the 9th, Sparky pulls the starter and puts in a Setup A, despite 3 Setup B guys and a Long A available. I would have expected any of the other 4 guys to pitch that fairly meaningless inning, instead of wasting one of Jack McDowell's.

Second game of season:

I sent down to AAA Joe Lis, who started at 1B in game 1 and was fatigued, calling up the rookie 1B. I forgot to insert a 1B into the lineup. Sparky had a choice between the rookie and Howie Clark. Sparky's pick? Tony Womack, who doesn't play firstbase.

3/2/2011 2:17 PM
Trentonjoe
Posts: 10962 (0)
Hall of Famer
390 589 54 1
Hall of Famer
Send in tickets.....the only way they'll fix it is if they know what is wrong.


3/2/2011 2:36 PM
Trentonjoe
Posts: 10962 (0)
Hall of Famer
390 589 54 1
Hall of Famer
You know what, I think I know why Sparky put Tony Womak.

If you don't have the "update hierarchy" button checked, sparky probably didn't recognize the AAA 1b as even being on the bench.

Is Clark in the defensive hierarchy?  If he isn't, Sparky probably saw his as a DH and then went to the position player with the highest fielding (which is how he determines who to use when no one is available).

If Clark was in your 1b hierarchy, I don't have an answer for you.
3/2/2011 2:41 PM
teaparty
Posts: 310 (0)
All Star
30 1
Prospect
Neither player was in the defensive hierarchy. I would think, however, that when Sparky looked around for someone, he would've found and chosen a guy who actually played the position in question.

I didn't send in a ticket on Womack as I doesn't really matter to me. I just found it odd.

I did send in a ticket on McDowell, as I want to know if there's a way to prevent my best reliever from being wasted in 10-3 blowouts.
3/2/2011 3:38 PM (edited)
contrarian23
Posts: 19284 (0)
Hall of Famer
1761 1
Hall of Famer

There is definitely a quirk in the programming when a position is empty in the lineup and the hierarchy is also empty.  Sparky definitely does NOT look at the actual positions played by your players - he only looks at the hierarchies.  If there is no available player in the hierarchy, I am not sure how he picks the player to use, but my first guess would be "most PA/162 among currently unused players."

This is kinda similar to what happens if your starter is fatigued and the players listed after him in the hierarchy are already being used at other positions.  Sparky won't keep searching your bench to find someone else who can play the position; he'll just keep playing your fatigued starter.

3/2/2011 3:42 PM
crazystengel
Posts: 11942 (0)
Hall of Famer
685
Hall of Famer
I made a trade in a league recently, SS for SS, and the trade went through before I could set my lineup for the next game.  The new SS took the old one's spot in the lineup.  However, the new SS had more PA, and better hitting stats, than any other player I had on my bench, so I'm not sure if he was inserted for his fielding, hitting, or # of PA.
3/3/2011 12:37 AM
teaparty
Posts: 310 (0)
All Star
30 1
Prospect
Just won another blowout, this time 12-2. Sparky pulled my starter and replaced him with the long reliever. This is perfect. Still don't know why Setup A finished up last blowout.
3/3/2011 8:51 AM
Trentonjoe
Posts: 10962 (0)
Hall of Famer
390 589 54 1
Hall of Famer
post the box score of the 1st game.
3/3/2011 9:02 AM
teaparty
Posts: 310 (0)
All Star
30 1
Prospect
So here's the response I got to my ticket. It's nonsensical.

"Thanks for the note. Entering the game in the 8th would not constitute a Long Reliever assignment. McDowell, unlike your other pitchers, you had designated, if needed, to enter the game in the 8th inning."

I pointed out that McDowell entered the game in the 9th, not the 8th, and that the other pitchers (Long A and Setup B) were also available for the 9th inning.

Then I mentioned that in 2 subsequent blowouts, my Long A pitched the 9th, even though that didn't "constitute a Long Reliever assignment."

Hopefully they'll come back with a better response.
3/4/2011 1:53 AM
eastvanmungo
Posts: 4924 (4)
Hall of Famer
415 7
Hall of Famer
IIRC... unfatigued Set Up pitchers will usually come in in the later innings over a Long relief pitcher... and Sparky will always choose an unfatigued Set Up A before any Set Up B. 

If you want to get guys in for the Mop Up, you gotta designate them as Mop Up and make sure that you turn off the "only if losing" option... although that may lead to Mop Up pitchers totally blowing some of your wins... although you could put them on a high pull setting...  but that screws with their ability to actually mop up.

The SIM.  Hard work. 
3/4/2011 12:26 PM
dougsisk
Posts: 42 (0)
Prospect
1
Prospect
Then there should prob be two settings:  mop up LEADING/mop up LOSING.  Mop-up leading has the high pull setting/Mop up Losing lets him take some punishment.
3/5/2011 8:22 AM
Trentonjoe
Posts: 10962 (0)
Hall of Famer
390 589 54 1
Hall of Famer
Mop up leading= Long B
3/5/2011 1:40 PM
boogerlips
Posts: 3731 (0)
Hall of Famer
204 45
Hall of Famer

'A' means a player is chosen first as EVM pointed out. 'B' means that player will be chosen when no 'A' player is available from that role type. This is one of the biggest misconceptions in pitching staffs. Most people think 'B' is meant for an inferior player and they expect sparky to choose him in lower leverage situations. Not going to happen...

Thats all of course a sidenote to why the long reliever wasn't chosen instead, but mcbowel was definitly the correct choice from among the setup relievers.

As far as admins response goes, it does make some sense that the late innings aren't "long" situations. It also appears that they are suggesting that they don't assume a different quality between long relievers and setup relievers. It may be that Sparky has three groups (mopup), (long/setup), and (closer) when considering the leverage of the game situation. Not sure though...

3/5/2011 4:27 PM (edited)
teaparty
Posts: 310 (0)
All Star
30 1
Prospect
In the last 4 or 5 blowout wins, Sparky has ALWAYS put in my Long A guy to close it out, when he wasn't unvailable due to fatigue.  Still puzzled by the first game though.
3/7/2011 3:20 PM
teaparty
Posts: 310 (0)
All Star
30 1
Prospect
Here's the final result of my ticket, which concerned McBowel (as Boogerlips calls him) pitching the 9th inning of a blowout win in lieu of the long reliever (Killian). 

3/8/2011 9:56 AM Customer Support
Todd,

You raise a good issue here. For the first game, Killian should have entered. It was a blowout and he was available. On the surface, we couldn't track this down. If you see it again, please let us know and maybe we can combine some info to figure it out.

Thanks
3/9/2011 2:46 AM
interesting moves by Sparky Topic
△Top△Bottom

Search Criteria

Terms of Use Customer Support Privacy Statement

© 1999-2024 WhatIfSports.com, Inc. All rights reserved. WhatIfSports is a trademark of WhatIfSports.com, Inc. SimLeague, SimMatchup and iSimNow are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts, Inc. Used under license. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.