Broken Bat - Help: Ok, At Wits End. WTF can I do???

Forum >> Help >> Ok, At Wits End. WTF can I do???

Post ID	Date & Time	Game Date	Function

#44022	01/17/2017 8:17:04 pm
Mig2015 Joined: 06/17/2015 Posts: 162 Inactive	Thanks everyone for the reply. I was in a bad mood last night if no one could tell haha. To the point about Burch, normally I would have kept him, but my roster is really expensive and I was on pace to lose 10-15 million. Looking back, it probably was worth taking the hit if he could have turned it around, but oh well. I will definately take a look at my management settings, maybe I am missing something. I also saw in that 22-0 game that my MR must have pitched for so long because my other 9 pitchers were too tired, so Salgado took the hit. Regarding my ballpark, I made my ballpark as small as possible a few seasons ago because of my outfielders limited range. After seeing my pitchers performance last year, I moved them back to start this season. Since my outfielders' range will improve in the coming seasons, maybe I should move them back more. Thanks everyone!

#44038	01/18/2017 8:16:02 am
amalric7 Joined: 01/20/2016 Posts: 2237 New York Lancers V.4	@Fury - It is a tough ask, but the vets in my lineup are guys I've been playing since I got here. Parisi is 33 so may well be declining but overall his numbers are decent (well they dropped 10pts in AVG this week), though he can't hit LHP for the first time since I took over. Lawson is always either hot or cold, nothing in-between, you take what you get. Fletcher is the real puzzle, been to the last two ASG and a career .292 hitter, can't buy a hit this season and at age 30 shouldn't have fallen off a cliff. Yet just a .172 AVG and never turns up for more than one game. Huge hole in my lineup now, and also sadly reminiscent of Lawson's 2029 lost season. Waters is finally reaching peak performance at age 28 but still doesn't live up to his Power rating. Berger murders LHP but is all over the map against RHP. Jorgensen is my best young hitter, future heart of the lineup guy, but another guy who can't hit RHP this season. Which brings me to my real issue: .244 AVG against RHP, when we've never hit below .274 against them - and RHP isn't exactly scarce on the ground. Traditionally we've struggled against LHP but this season its reversed. I let go my longtime 2B Dorsey (bar a short trial this week) and his replacement Vallejo never cut it, so he went too this season. Fisher was brought in for his lefty-mashing and power, but can't hit RHP. Gaytan is a rookie. I also certainly miss Fuentes and his great bat but at 35 I doubt he had/has anything left, and at least Alarcon gives me a decent glove. After that there's young guys needing PT (hence poor performance) and stop-gaps who mostly struggle - there's no quick fix but I didn't expect this level of futility. There's these Hit tools on my team: 3x19, 3x18, 2x16, 2x15, 1x14, 1x13 - surely that should count for something? I know most everyone is lacking in BC or PD but this is so far removed from our recent hitting it shocks me:- 2026: .285 AVG 2027: .264 AVG (LLIV) 2028: .272 AVG 2029: .271 AVG 2030: .253 AVG And that .253 is after raking against the bottom team in the West last night (.248 prior!) - and still losing two games. I mean, this guy shouldn't be on a roster, and we 8 hits and 2 R (1 ER!) against him in 8.1 IP. Similarly with this guy, another batting practice arm: 6 hits, 1 R in 7 IP. Those guys had an ERA way over 5.00 before playing us. And for all that, if you offered me a 51-29 record at halfway with a two-game lead in the division of course I would have bit your arm off! But we're the lowest-scoring team in the entire league and could be 10 (or more?) games further ahead with even at .260 AVG. That's the frustrating part.

#44076	01/19/2017 2:29:04 am
FurySK Joined: 02/07/2015 Posts: 299 Inactive	I just look at it as a game of statistics and outcomes. What is hitting? is it a perfect display? no. It is a barometer for where a player might stand. Ortiz looks like 19/17/8/14/17, but is he that to me? no. player that has produced a .320 average, a .350 obp, and a .550 slugging at D.V, and his lack of speed on the paths means he probably holds a higher than normal amount of XBH over the average. Thats not what his skillset says, thats what you learn. So the first hurdle of business is getting over what ratings tell you and looking at invidual performances. You're lineup isn't optimized based on the stats at all. Ideally Ortiz bats second to take advantage of how many times he moves into position (44% of his hits will place him in scoring position). Parisi at .370 obp should be playing higher up in the order, and his power really screams 3rd or 4th in the order. You picked up a new hitter that might fit at the top of the lineup (Quiroz), so moving one of the lower performers out of the lineup (or old and useless enough, off the team) and picking up someone that has statistically performed to the level you'd expect in FA/waivers to take their place will improve your team. Fletcher or Lawson seem like the obvious, you've already somewhat given up on giving AB's to one of them.

#44081	01/19/2017 5:46:47 am
amalric7 Joined: 01/20/2016 Posts: 2237 New York Lancers V.4	I batted Ortiz third when Parisi was raking, and sometimes at second when Ortiz himself was struggling (I don't personally put a lot of difference between batting 2nd or 3rd). Plus, Ortiz is second on the team in SLG which is why I have him in the 3 or 4 spot. Of course, that's usually when the 1 and 2 hitters are actually hitting, so perhaps there's merit in moving him up to second. Parisi has been my cleanup hitter since day one but that power has dropped off in the last couple of seasons (no SI change, just outcome), and this season - despite 28 XBH - he's hitting just .115 with RISP. I know that's a recent stat but it does reflect actual performance for the season as a whole. Berger hits fifth and made the ASG on his performance, and sometimes I swap him and Parisi around. Should these three guys bat 2-4 after Quiroz? Might be worth a try, as its the top two spots that are giving me the headaches. But Lawson can hit RHP and Sheppard LHP and both can steal the occasional base, so they're my two leadoff guys. Quiroz might then fill the two spot, but I put Trejo there against LHP (with some success, though don't ask me why he couldn't hit LHP before I picked him up and now he can't hit RHP). But hitting LHP isn't the problem this season, unlike last season, so let's concentrate on RHP. 1. Lawson - sports a .302/.344/.417 line, and has 17 Speed (doesn't really steal bases after dropping 1 SI through ageing and wasn't spectacular at it anyway) 2. Quiroz - don't usually go for players over age 31-32 but desperate times...will see how it goes 3. Ortiz 4. Parisi 5. Berger 6. Waters 7. hitter 8. 2B 9. SS Alarcon Fletcher appears to have fallen off the cliff, but as I said previously Lawson did that last season then bounced back. Nothing in Fletcher's previous performance showed anything like this, so if it means sitting him all season and trying again I will. Not much on waivers/FA to replace him with. But I'd welcome thoughts on the above.

#44085	01/19/2017 9:41:28 am
newtman Joined: 11/02/2013 Posts: 3343 Inactive	I find I can get much better performance out of my guys by tweaking hook and pitch count. If I have unreliable guys, a quick hook get them out before they get in trouble, and subsequently those guys sometimes have the lowest ERAs on my club. I honestly credit most of my success to having low hooks and pitch counts. No pitcher gets left in long enough to be torn apart except in the very rare circumstance that lots of my pitchers are fatigued. I also think it is how I managed to run a 4 man rotation for three seasons without getting a starting pitching injury (because I didn't have high pitch counts) in addition to a lot of luck. My bullpen is fairly consistently top two or three in the league, not just because they are good, but also because I try to make sure no one guy can blow it for me. Of course my strategy could be completely wrong since I failed to make Legends and finally demoted for the first time last season.

#44104	01/19/2017 7:36:47 pm
Mig2015 Joined: 06/17/2015 Posts: 162 Inactive	Well....... Losing streak has ticked up to 17 games......... It's really a good thing I'm in a good mood tonight or I might lose it. I had a winning streak of about 20 games just two seasons ago and I never in a million years thought we would get anywhere close to a streak like this. My "ace" was on the mound for the final game and we lost 21-6. I think another pitcher, ANY PITCHER, to help spell my 10 losers would help, so I will either promote someone early or pick another sorry pitcher up off of waivers. I will also give your strategy a whirl newt. That strategy will fit perfectly with my team. 1 out of my 10 pitchers must be on in a given night. And setting a low hook to go through pitchers quickly until I find that guy might reduce the runs I allow from 25 to 13, giving me a 2% to win the game. I almost laughed once I simmed the final game of the series. It's almost comical. Five days ago I was in first place by about 3 games; now I am praying I can turn it around in time to cling onto fourth place, although I'm not liking my odds. Edit: Alright, I've signed Otera and will be continuing an aggressive waiver spree hoping I can land someone like Burch who is a bit better than Otera. No pitcher on my team has a hook higher than 5, and I decreased the max pitch count of EVERYONE on the team. I set everyone to being available any time during the game, with the exception of Ben Brett who is my only bullpen arm to have an ERA under 6.00 . I will adjust as needed, but I have made some radical changes. Hopefully, my offense can put up enough touchdowns to win a few games. Wish me luck Updated Thursday, January 19 2017 @ 7:54:00 pm PST

#44106	01/19/2017 10:27:18 pm
FurySK Joined: 02/07/2015 Posts: 299 Inactive	I'm not a huge fan of short pens unless the rotation is rock solid. I would definitely suggest you take on some less than stellar guys from FA, throw them in the long relief role, let them get burned on huge innings, and get your guys off of fatigue.

#44110	01/20/2017 2:19:18 am
FurySK Joined: 02/07/2015 Posts: 299 Inactive	@Amalric I'd heavily disagree with your premise on there being nothing on the market. You could argue that there don't appear to be that many options, but i see probably 10-15 guys i'd consider trying on the open market or on low claims (3 or less) that have statistically outperformed several of your veterans. So not sure if you want to take that leap, but if you look at statistics rather than skills, you'll find that there are guys that either put up .770 ops in D.V or higher in their careers or have .470+ SLG or .360+ OBP and speed. Just have to look a bit harder!

#44120	01/20/2017 9:05:10 am
Rock777 Joined: 09/21/2014 Posts: 9599 Haverhill Halflings III.1	Ratings can definitely be deceiving, but make sure that you consider the league as well when looking at statistics. Sometimes a guy who is MVP material in one league, is dog food at the next level. Legends is a pitching league, so most of my batters who do great in II, are garbage in Legends.

#44130	01/20/2017 11:21:20 am
amalric7 Joined: 01/20/2016 Posts: 2237 New York Lancers V.4	Okay, so there are some guys out there who might be able to help. But they are all 31 or older, for the most part, and as I said I try to avoid those guys because usually they don't work out for me. Quiroz has been okay in a small sample, Fuentes started well but fell off (and was cut). Is this the time to gamble on a few? Probably. I'm still giving my young guys playing time, and to complicate matters Burkhart got the call today (he's a lefty who hits better against RHP so might be worth trying full-time immediately). But statistics, SI, league level, whatever - there's nothing in Fletcher's previous performance (in LLIV and LLV) to explain this season, and as I said I'm reluctant to cut him given how Lawson bounced back this season after a terrible performance last season. I had rather hoped to trot out Lawson, Fletcher, Parisi, Berger and Trejo for at least this season before moving on. I guess I'm not ready to make that move just yet.