What Is Your Hitting Strategy/philosophy/method On Mvp?

[CircleChange11]

This is something I have been wondering about lately. How do others approach hitting on this game?

I'll start to give an idea of what I interested in gleening from others ...

Philosophy/Strategy ...

I generally take until I get a strike with most hitters. Weaker hitters, I'll take until I get 2 strikes occassionally if the count is even or if they're ahead in the count, as to try and draw a walk. With speedsters, I'm usually very selective, as a walk often ends up being "a double".

With most hitters I'm looking for something "up" that sluggers can drive deep and weaker hitters can lift over the infield. If you're gonna swing at a low and away pitch, you might as well do so with 2-strikes and make the pitcher work a little bit.

Method ...

This is what I am most interested in. "How do you use the left stick?" Do you push in the direction the pitch is coming as it is being delivered, or do you set up your direction pre-pitch and look for something in that area (i.e., push stuck up and left and look for something inside to pull in the air)?

I'm a "pre-pitch" setup type, that uses the stick for where I want to hit the ball, and then look for a pitch that aloows me to do so. But, lately I've been flirting with the idea of using the left stick as the pitch is being delivered as a type of "zone hitting" method, and I was wondering if anyone uses this successfully (i.e., you read the pitch is going to be away, so you push in that direction to 'go with it' or 'get better contact' ". Generally I'm a "swing with the stick centered" type and use timing to go with the pitch.

I let the situation dictate when to "push up" on the stick. If I have a power guy at the plate with men on, I give myself "one push up" swing, and if I miss it, I miss it, and "swing normal". Medium power guys occassionaly get the option, and almost always do with the bases empty with 2-outs. Lesser hitters get to do this with 2-outs and multiple runners on ... an all or nothing risk.

As many people that have played numerous MVP games, there have to be some key hitting methods that are intersting and that people can use.

Thanks for sharing.

[SESbb30]

i usually take the first pitch, i pretty much sit dead red on the first pitch. if its a ball i take till i get a strike. if its a ball i just sit on the fastball and react to offspeed stuff. but i tend to get more agressive with risp.

[GoRedSox34]

- I use the Hitter's Eye.

- I NEVER use the left stick to influence my swing.

- If the first pitch of an at-bat is any kind of breaking ball, it's pretty much an automatic take for me. Unless it looks meaty.

- If I see a fastball on 3-0, I'll probably swing. ANY other pitch besides a fastball on 3-0 is an automatic take for me.

- I hit using the 1-Hitter's Eye stance.

- I play on the MVP level, with my own custom sliders. It's great, really realistic.

- Good idea for a thread CC, it will be cool to see how different members of this community bat in this game.

[bigpapifan]

I started to play a couple of months ago, so I'm not very good at it. YET!

Playing at the PRO level, with customized sliders, a datafile, but playing with HITTER'S EYE. I tried to play without it, but so far, there's no way. In 3 innings the opponent's pitcher struck out 8 of my batters, and a popped out. Jeez, it's too hard.

So, since I see what the pitch is gonna be, I should hit very well. But, I don't. I increased the pitch speed to 50, so the game wont be too easy. I still struck out a lot, but not as much as without the hitter's eye.

Unless the red dot appear when the pitcher throws the ball, I don't swing at it. I always take the first pitch, to see what the intention the the pitcher. And I usually strike out when there's a full count. I get a little anxious or nervous, and swing at a ridiculous pitch. But, I'm getting better at it.

I can't steal bases. Just can't. I increased the user steal speed to 20 and the user steal delay to -15 and I still get caught. WFT! I gotta be retarded. Seriously, it can't be that hard.

So, unless the game is beginning (1st, 2nd or maybe 3rd inning) I keep my guys standing there, waiting for a hit.

And here's the other problem. I bought a controller last week (just like the PS2 controller). I find it much harder to hit now. Especially long balls. My guys are mostly hitting cheesy singles, but I already hit a few homers.

Foul ball is a problem. In real life, the batters keep fouling the balls to "defend" themselves. Well, I suck at it. It's a bit rare for me to keep fouling, like 3 or more times. And the foul ball frequency is at the highest (50). What should I do!?

So, after writing way more than I expected, the thing is: I'm still a newbie to the game, but I'm improving. And with the gameplay and everything else this game has, I have a lot of time to get better at it.

P.S.: I'll be reading this thread to get tips, and maybe improve the way I play

By the way, great thread CircleChange11. You should also create one for Pitching strategy.

[Jaquio]

Depends on the batter and what pitches the pitcher throws.

I play with the Marlins, so I tend to have a lot of slow sluggers, Dan Uggla types. These guys tend to have hot zones inside and decent power numbers, so often I sit with the left stick on pull-up for home run shots and sit on pitches I'd like.

What pitches I like are dependent on what the pitcher throws. I usually like to get a good look at all pitches in his arsenal and get a sense of their movement. In general I always take sinker/splitter/purple pitches, unless there are 2 strikes and I'm being defensive. Breaking pitches are different though... if a pitcher has two breaking pitches in their arsenal (i.e. curve and slider) then I always take because the movement will be difficult to predict, unless I'm in defensive mode. If a pitcher only has one breaking pitch and has two fastballs, then I get a feel for the movement of the break, and if I like it and feel comfortable with it, I'll wait for the breaking pitch.

So if I've got a guy like Dan Uggla up, and the pitcher throws 4seam/curve/slider/change, then I'll be waiting for a fastball inside which I can pull for the fences. If the pitcher throws something outside, and I know it's going to be in the strike zone, I'll still take the strike because I'm waiting on my inside pitch (unless there are 2 strikes). On the other hand, if the pitcher throws 4seam/2seam/curve/change, then I'll sit and wait for a curveball inside in the strike zone and wait to pull that for the fences.

The best thing about waiting for inside pitches is that it's a lot easier to take defensive swings on outside pitches because you can be quite late and still slap one foul. In some defensive situations I move the left stick with the pitch just hoping to get any form of solid contact on the ball. In other defensive situations I'll still hold the left stick to pull, but if something comes along and it's not inside, I'll let go of the left stick before I swing and just hope for contact.

There's no fool proof method though, I'm a big sucker for fastballs in on my hands. I see that 4 seamer zipping inside and I swing only to watch it land in the catcher's glove way outside the strike zone.

Of course, I do have a few contact hitters with hot zones outside, and I'll push the left stick to the outside hoping to line one down the opposite field, and sit on outside pitches, but I don't have many players like that. Alfredo Amezaga comes to mind.

[mike360]

When it comes to hitting in MVP 05, I break it down in 2 basic swings - power and contact. The power swing is done by holding the left analog stick in the upper left direction for right handed batters and vice versa for left handed batters. Then, with 1 or 2 strikes, I'll use a contact swing, which is just a swing without using the left analog stick.

The power swing yeilds more pop flies and HRs but has also yielded standard base hits, grounders, etc. The contact swing yeilds more base hits and grounders, but has also yeilded HRs, pop flies, etc.

[tyger]

I recently switched from hitters eye to no hitters eye. With hitters Eye I would look for a curveball or changeup in early in the count and use left analog stick to pull it going up and towards the hitter (right for a lefty left for a righty) with two strikes I would just look to put the ball in play without using the stick. This yeilded about a 450 avg with as many homers on my team as the rest of the league combined. I then switched to get rid of hitters eye. Now I tend to hit mostly without the stick. However there are times that I will try to put the ball in a certain spot, guy on third less then two outs I'll put the analog stick up, guy on second less then two outs i'll move the stick right. If i'm getting dominated by a power pitcher i'll try to go the other way with the ball.

[furball]

bigpapifan: I, too, was horrible at basestealing 'til I read this hint in another thread: slide headfirst into second towards the outfield side of second base (at default, that's the right joystick pushed up and to the right.) I'm now well above 50% successful when stealing with good runners.

As for hitting, I have terrible hand-eye coordination, so I do very poorly when trying to use the left joystick when hitting. If the opposing starter is beginning to tire in or past the 5th inning and I notice his breaking balls are starting to flatten out, I will occasionally try to swing up if I'm ahead in the count with a power hitter. For the most part, though, I just try to watch as many pitches as I can for the first couple of innings to get a feel for what the pitches look like, then try to time my swing without using the joystick.

I've given up trying to bunt. I know not to bunt at high breaking balls, but any hints people have would be appreciated.

[XxFightingIrish]

with my power hitters I just look for a fastball to pull or an offspeed pitch to pull, and I use the hit stick to help, and then with other hitters I try to line it back up the middle

[scheckelkn14]

I like to react to the pitch... I use hitters eye but no strike zone... my favorite pitch is the change up low and away to go oppo and hit the ball in the gap... right now I'm doing a dynasty where I created all my friends in AA, and we are the #1 rated team in AA, when I move us all up to AAA, we are rated the worst team, so I don't have a bunch of super heroes...

[Mathew]

- I play on the MVP level, with my own custom sliders. It's great, really realistic.

Have you released them by any chance? I've been looking for a realistic slider set lately for my cubbies dynasty.

[jollydodger]

If it's a guy with decent power, I'll hold the left analog high and inside. I look for anything inside to pull. I do this until I have 2 strikes, then I just direct it where the ball is pitched.

Basically it's hit for power up to 2 strikes, then just try to get on base.

[Saga76]

Generally speaking, with a power guy I will take pitches until it's strike one (unless it's a fat pitch). Then I will look for something inside and pull (left stick up and in). Once I get to 2 strikes, I will try to make contact (no left stick) or draw a walk.

With a speedster with no pop, I will take pitches until it's strike one (even if it's a fatty). Then I will try to hit a grounder (left stick down) or draw a walk.

Then I will do things differently depending on the situation.

If the score is tied and I have a speedster (power or not) on with nobody out, I will keep taking pitches until I get to 2 strikes as long as I am ahead on the count (2-1,3-1). Then I will try to hit a grounder (left stick = down) or draw a walk. If the man gets on, I will bunt him to 2nd. If the man at the plate can't bunt, I will try to have the man on steal 2nd (if his speed rating is favorable to the catcher's throw rating).

I never bunt when I am ahead.

If there's a man at 2nd and/or 3rd, no one at 1st and less than 2 outs, with a power guy I will try to pull on the first inside pitch (a good one that is). If it's a guy with no pop, I will approach it the usual way (see above). (I don't swing early if there's a guy at 1st and he can't steal 2nd, in order to avoid DP)

As for stealing, I will take a ball and a strike before I steal. Reason being, with a ball the pitcher is less likely to pitch out, and the man at the plate is less likely to walk if there's a strike. The man on base must also have favorable speed rating or I won't steal. I will generally not steal when there are 2 outs, unless I really need that run or I know I can make it for sure (such as having tim wakefield on the mound).