This isn't a question about their delicate handle with care pitch count or fatigue, but I've seen listed RPs used as Starters with as few as 3 real-life starts. Nice trick.

The other disclaimer observations I can offer is despite being listed as an RP, most of their limited real-life use were starts, and that their owner in addition to short spot starts also used them many many many more times from the pen. Not sure if either of those items is a piece of the get around it puzzle, but . . .

. . is there technically a rule on listed RPs real-life use converted to the SIM as a Starter ? Can I start one with 2 real-life starts ? 1 ? 0 ?

To my knowledge SP and RP have no distinction in the sim other than their actual stats. IP/G is what matters, not status. You can start any pitcher at any time.

Right, that was part of my inherent point; why have listings ? But as far as their use here, and not that I have an example of actually use, but could I start a 0 real-life starts RP ? Like I said, I've seen as few as 3, but could it be pushed even further back ? Never mind for now it's strategeries or success, but its use is possible ? I want to test this in a spring league before purchasing an OL, but is any of this moot in not possible.

RL starts have no bearing on sim starts... you can start anybody or use anybody in relief. It's easier to manage guys with higher IP/G, but you can use them however you'd like. I occasionally start '83 Quisenberry who had 0 RL starts and 2 IP/G.

Perfect

A guy like '88 Milacki is a favorite of many to use as a closer or as a starter in a high leverage game. His high IP/G allows that. Don't expect a guy like Quisenberry to be able to match that. Fatigue would eat him alive by the middle innings.

Posted by Mwett on 6/23/2020 8:28:00 PM (view original):
Right, that was part of my inherent point; why have listings ? But as far as their use here, and not that I have an example of actually use, but could I start a 0 real-life starts RP ? Like I said, I've seen as few as 3, but could it be pushed even further back ? Never mind for now it's strategeries or success, but its use is possible ? I want to test this in a spring league before purchasing an OL, but is any of this moot in not possible.

A 10 game spring season might be beneficial, but you won't see fully how fatigue affects your pitching. You need to get to and beyond the fatigue buffer around game 30 to get a true sense as to how this game plays...early season fatigue is very real, and must be managed.

Posted by DoctorKz on 6/24/2020 9:12:00 AM (view original):
A guy like '88 Milacki is a favorite of many to use as a closer or as a starter in a high leverage game. His high IP/G allows that. Don't expect a guy like Quisenberry to be able to match that. Fatigue would eat him alive by the middle innings.

But you don't always need a CG, or even 6 innings from your starter. Sometimes you just want your best pitcher to face their best hitters, so you throw Quisenberry for the 1st, maybe 2nd inning and get through the 1-7 hitters, then swap to a LHP to throw the next 3-7 innings, and if they relied on a LH lineup based on Q starting, now you have the platoon advantage for the rest of your game.

Pitches are pitches, IP are IP, doesn't really matter how you go about getting them or the pitchers role... it's all about maximizing your matchups and the pitches you get.

I get more innings out of starters than relievers.It's a small difference but I've looked at enough results to believe it's true.Maybe it's just the way I'm using them but I don't see how.
Early in WiS history there was a loophole know as the Superman Long A strategy.Until a couple rule changes stopped it. One change was that SP pitching in relief would fatigue at a slightly faster rate.I don't know if that rule is still in effect.
I haven't used enough RP as starters to have an opinion on that. Except Jim Hearn who is incorrectly listed a RP.

Well it's not that starting pitchers going in relief will tire at a faster rate. As observed above the distinction between "SP" and "RP" is without a difference. IP/G is what matters (actually pitches/G but IP/G is a good shorthand; see other threads regarding calculation of pitches per inning).

The Superman correction applied to all pitchers equally. That strategy exploited a bug that was evident from approximately '02 - '03 (not sure on time frame - check me fellow old timers). A flaw in the algorithm enabled overuse of pitchers by 50% or more above their RL season-long pitch counts if you used them every day for fewer pitches than they really threw. You could get 400-450 IP out of '94 and '95 Maddux at prices that presumed 236-288. More critically you could get well over 1,000 innings out of Silver King 1888 at a price that presumed 703. 6-7 innings a day, every day. John Clarkson and Cannonball Ed Morris could do it too, among others. In practice it was nearly always starters, but it would also have worked with a pitcher who threw 3-4 IP/G out of the pen, though you'd be using 2-3 innings per day not 6-7.

FWIW in the earlier history of this game IP/G was no factor. If you had saved the innings you could use the above-mentioned Quiz or Rivera to go long without issues. It was the update for that problem that enabled the Superman strat. When there were more frequent updates, identitying and capitalizing on unintended consequences was pretty important.

Anyway, the Superman fix is why you will now get a message stating (roughly): "Overused: Player has appeared in XX% of team games" when you mouse over a pitcher's stamina level.