June 13, 2007

Pinch Hit Changes in the Simulator

Have you ever noticed that occasionally a pitcher will bat for himself when you might have expected a pinch hitter? Over the past couple of years several owners have raised concerns about it. We've made a significant change to the PH logic, but first let's examine why this occurred. The PH permission switches on the batting roster screen offered you the option of setting your pinch hitters to bat exclusively against either right or left handed pitching. So, when you ran out of options from one side of the plate, the computer (technically) would find no available pinch hitters and allow the pitcher to bat. Since 2/3 of all pitchers are righties, often means that managers run out of left-handed pinch hitters in a game with lots of pitching changes, which led to owner complaints like "why did so-and-so pitcher bat when I had guys on the bench?"

Effective today, the PH switches are now considered optimizer switches rather than exclusive permissions. This means that when you run out of optimal pinch hit matchups (left-right, right-left) the computer will allow a non-optimal matchup (left-left, right-right). What does this mean for you the manager? You may see considerably more pinch hitting than before, especially if you carry only one or two lefties on the bench, and your pitchers will bat less. If you liked the way things were operating, just keep a deep set of optimal matchups--especially from the left side of the plate--on your bench and you won't see a difference. Remember, the sim will only allow a non-optimal matchup when it runs out of optimal ones.

After running some tests, we noted the need for another change (though this change was overdue and is not solely in response to the new policy). Since more PH appearances will now occur over the course of a season (see date comparison below), some restraints need to be applied so that owners don't misuse their pinch hitters. For example, imagine a guy who goes 10-20 as a PH who comes to the plate 60 times during the season in that role. He could potentially wrack up 30 hits in 60 at-bats as a pinch hitter--unrealistic and unfair, indeed. So, to prevent unrealistic outcomes, as soon as a pinch hitter with 10 or more PH appearances in his historical stat line exceeds his PH appearances, he will revert to his seasonal norms as regards batting average, homers, and walks. There is no limit to the number of PH appearances a player can have, but the potency of the at-bats will regress to the player's norms as he piles up appearances.

Can you still shut down a bench player so that he doesn't pinch hit at all? Yes, you can. Just make sure that he is deactivated (i.e., the lights are off) against both LHP and RHP.

Data Comparison: Pinch Hit Appearances before and after the change

June 1,  2007

Fresh Look for the Website

The Nostalgia Baseball website got an overhaul for better overall integration with the owners' software. We've greatly enhanced the leagues pages with up-to-the-minute information on franchise openings, and  introduced  many  other  features  as  well.  Enjoy!