My Player Experiences

[MarkB]

Just a thread for others to post their experiences in the My Player mode.

I started as a 24 year old righty starter in the Yankees organisation. Being assigned to AA Trenton was good news, because, as anyone who knows me knows, they're a particular favourite of mine. I worked my way through the setup of the player and gave him a fastball, curveball and circle-change. I based the player on myself to start with, and will eventually add pitches that I throw. Being more of a finesse, hit-your-spots type of pitcher than a flamethrower, the control points were added first, and, once they were decent, the movement and velocity got some attention. I planned to intentionally ignore one of the call-up goals in order to stay in Trenton for the whole year, as a early trip to the majors wouldn't allow full enjoyment of the minor league aspect, so didn't increase my pitching against left-handed batters much.

Starting the season after being assigned, my player was thrown straight into the deep end - a save situation, bottom of the 9th, men on base. Well, let's just say it didn't go too well. A few runs were allowed as I was just getting used to the nuances of using a draft pick instead of a Major League veteran. Chalk the first appearance up as a blown save and forget about it.

A look at the state of the team wasn't too promising - second last in the E.L. North, a pitching staff mixed with ageing veterans and uncertain rookies and hitters who were struggling to stay above .250. The main area of concern was the lack of hitting.

Going through the season, my pitcher developed a feel for his pitches and got used to pitching against the hitters in AA, learning the weaknesses and strengths, and seeing a few veterans along the way. He also showed a penchant for hitting batters - one pitch inside, followed by the "offended batter gets himself together and points the bat at the pitcher" animation, which was usually followed by a fastball to the back. Not even in AA do you get away with that. Unfortunately, HBP stats aren't stored in the end of year stats, but let's just say there were a few.

At the end of the regular season, my pitcher made his last start 4 days before the season's conclusion, lining him up for a game 1 start in the post-season - if the team could make it that far. As a tense battle heated up for the division championship, the Rock Cats took 2 of 3 in the final series to finish the season atop the E.L. North with a 79-63 record, while the Thunder dropped to 77-65, 2 games back, and took the wild card.

Using some skill points, my pitcher then developed a new cutter and swapped his original "large" build in favour of a "small" build. Hey, gotta keep in shape, right?

So, first playoff appearance for our new friend, facing the E.L. North champions and having to deal with a new, slimmed-down physique and gain control of a new pitch. As ever, he took it in his stride, allowing some early offense to take over and limiting the Rock Cats to a few scattered hits.

After striking out the last batter on a circle-change and leaving him dusting off the seat of his pants, it was in the bag - first postseason win, 6-1 Thunder, 8 hits allowed, 12 strikeouts, 1 earned run. The glory was not to be, though, as the Thunder dropped the next 3 games 10-1, 5-2 and 10-7, eliminating them from the playoffs. Recently traded Yankee Edwar Ramirez was one of the main culprits for the final 2 defeats which put the nail in the coffin.

The Erie SeaWolves eventually went on to take the Eastern League title, defeating the Rock Cats 4-3.

My player finished the season at AA 13-2 with a 2.00 ERA, 168 strikeouts and a 1.00 WHIP over 134.2 innings, 18 starts. He allowed 5 walks, 130 hits, 1 HR, and had a .250 BAA. The 33.60 K/BB and 11.23 K/9 rates stood out due to the low walk totals. He also compiled 9 complete games, 4 shutouts and the 1 blown save from his debut.

Overall, he rose to number 8 on the Yankees organisations starting pitcher depth chart with an overall rating of 69.

For what it's worth, my catcher, James Peters, finished the season .256 with 23 homers and 82 RBI and a .354 OBP, .480 SLG and .835 OPS. I grew to like him. I hope he makes the move to Scranton with me, although I'm happy my shortstop, Jemile Cedeno, is getting some time in Scranton in the playoffs. He had his average up to .290 at one point, but is sunk down again, although he made some standout plays for me.

As for the majors - the Yankees made the post-season, but were defeated 3-2 by the Twins, who went on to face, and be defeated by, the eventual winners and ALDS Red Sox conquerors, the Angels, who beat the Phillies 4-2 in the Fall Classic.

One of the things I enjoyed most about My Player mode is watching as your team-mates seem to improve with you. For example, at the start of the season, a lot of balls were skipping past the infielders and there weren't many star plays in the field. However, as the season progressed, it seemed to me that the fielding aspect improved, with the middle infielders making some diving plays, the third baseman snagging line drives that would have went for doubles, and the outfielders giving some extra hustle to get to shallow flies that would drop in for hits were they not caught. Also, on the pitching side, the catcher seemed to become accustomed to catching my player, and as opposed to having to choose my own pitches to throw at the start of the season, by September, it seemed more and more that he was calling the same type of pitches that I was thinking of throwing in the same situations. That, to me, is great, and really represents how a catcher and pitcher get used to each other, although in reality they'd hopefully do it a lot sooner.

I can't say I've found any real negatives with My Player so far, other than the already-discussed-elsewhere issues of managers leaving pitchers in for far too long. If I had one complaint, it would be more of a game issue - batters don't seem to take into account previous pitches in either earlier ABs or the current AB. In MVP, if you threw 2 straight fastballs to the same location, you could almost guarantee some solid contact on the second pitch, and unless your pitcher was top-class, he'd struggle to get that same pitch past a batter 4 times per game. That doesn't seem to happen in 2K10, and you can keep pounding away at a batter's weak spot all game.

EDIT - Actually, one weakness is that you can't seem to view your team at bat if you're a pitcher. You can only watch the results of the AB's, with the graphic showing men on base and outs etc. It sort of kills the "in game" feel.

So there. On to Scranton for me. What are your experiences?

[StormsWarning]

mark man that was epic, of the batter falling down on his pants lol, i haven't even started mp yet, i know its addicting, but i wanna try and wait for the patch, with the negs the game does have compared to 2k9, i think the patch will iron them out, i think when it comes to PC, we have a gem on our hands definitely and in time i can see some good franchises jumping off with this series. but with the batter falling on his butt the way he did, it does show how 2k tried to pay attention to detail no question.

[JustinMorneau]

I was a little disappointed with the My Player mode in that it didn't seem to be very challenging (not necessarily gameplay wise, but the experience as a whole). As soon as you start the game you get to choose which team to play for. Although I'm sure many casual gamers would appreciate being allowed to play for any team, perhaps they should've considered offering a choice of being put in an actual draft so that any team can draft the player. Also, even before you play your first major league game, you can not only "request" a trade, but even choose a team to be traded to. Certainly you should be given the ability to request a trade, but I felt that the game would be much better and more realistic if the GM/manager used his discretion to decide whether to actually trade you and if so, which team to trade to, rather than obeying your orders. Atheltes have grown a culture where there is total disregard for contracts and view being traded at will as a right, so maybe this is to reflect that .

I'm still on my first season but from what i've read around the net there doesn't seem to be a sophisticated free agency system either. If anyone's had any experiences maybe they could share them?

And I'm not sure if this is just me but during the game, presentation seems to be bare minimal (other than the commentating) in this mode, I still haven't even seen any replays.

[MarkB]

mark man that was epic, of the batter falling down on his pants lol, i haven't even started mp yet, i know its addicting, but i wanna try and wait for the patch, with the negs the game does have compared to 2k9, i think the patch will iron them out, i think when it comes to PC, we have a gem on our hands definitely and in time i can see some good franchises jumping off with this series. but with the batter falling on his butt the way he did, it does show how 2k tried to pay attention to detail no question.

Thanks man, glad you enjoyed it. I didn't see it until I checked the replay.

I was a little disappointed with the My Player mode in that it didn't seem to be very challenging (not necessarily gameplay wise, but the experience as a whole). As soon as you start the game you get to choose which team to play for. Although I'm sure many casual gamers would appreciate being allowed to play for any team, perhaps they should've considered offering a choice of being put in an actual draft so that any team can draft the player. Also, even before you play your first major league game, you can not only "request" a trade, but even choose a team to be traded to. Certainly you should be given the ability to request a trade, but I felt that the game would be much better and more realistic if the GM/manager used his discretion to decide whether to actually trade you and if so, which team to trade to, rather than obeying your orders. Atheltes have grown a culture where there is total disregard for contracts and view being traded at will as a right, so maybe this is to reflect that .

I'm still on my first season but from what i've read around the net there doesn't seem to be a sophisticated free agency system either. If anyone's had any experiences maybe they could share them?

And I'm not sure if this is just me but during the game, presentation seems to be bare minimal (other than the commentating) in this mode, I still haven't even seen any replays.

You are definitely correct there, the "Request trade" thing struck me as odd too. Request, yes, automatically get traded, no. You're probably more likely to be released as a minor leaguer if you walk up to the G.M and ask to be traded.

As for selecting a team, I didn't personally check, but I think I saw someone post that you can select a random team. If there's not an actual option for it, well, I guess you could hold the right button, close your eyes, count to 10, then let go and open your eyes to see who you got. :lol:

[Norag]

After seeing your post, I had to try it. Well, so far so good. I agree with just about everything you said, already seeing the fielders get balls in the hole that they wouldn't have before and the catcher is starting to call a much better game (although he still gets "stuck" at times, just calling for the same pitch over and over). Right now I'm 4-1 (1 no decision), with a 1.38 ERA, and 44 K's. Playing the crafty LH type, throw a Change, 12-6 Curve, Screwball, and Forkball (and of course the default Fastball that everyone gets if you have less than 5 pitches). I'll have to post a nice pic of him when I get a chance.

A few things I've noticed that have annoyed me:

1). My manager will not take me out. I've finished two games that were in save situations, and been knocked out of two (one the loss, the other the ND). Seriously, are you gonna leave the guy in when he's loaded the bases in the bottom of 9 with no out (apparently my manager is willing to do that until I give up yet another hit that scores two) This resulted in a ND after pitching 8 innings of stellar ball.

2). The comps A.I. in the field can be horribly suspect. In one situation, the ground ball goes by the second baseman and somehow by the RF too for a triple. Into medium depth outfield no less. Not really sure what kinda shift that is, but my manager needs to stop using it.

3). The second baseman is covering second in case of a steal and lets an easy ground ball through for a hit. What's wrong with this picture? Only the fact that the base runner in question has a steal rating of 0. So apparently my 2B is the one guy on the field that doesn't know this cat ain't doing anything but hangin' out at 1st.

4). Similar to no. 1. My pitcher comes to the plate (besides the fact that pitchers don't hit in the minors, at least not in any minor league games I've been to which were A & AAA) in the top of the 9th with one out. The lead stands at 2-0. No question you PH for the guy and pat him on the back for 8 strong, right? Oh on, not my manager. Not only does he let me hit, but he let's me pitch long enough to ruin my eight great shutout innings and result in a ND for me (see above for more detail). Needless to say, stamina is no. 1 on the priority list.

Overall, though, I'm having a blast. I just wish my manager would pull his head out of his @#% and learn to manage the game. Of course, maybe that's why he's managing AA ball. Or it could be an artificial way to make it more difficult (which I despise, such as the 2K9 method of slowing your fielder down so that he can't get to the ball to make otherwise routine outs into hits). A few tweaks here and there, and this mode would be perfect. Plan on playing out my first year at Carolina, then it's on to Louisville. After that, the five starters up in Cincinnati better watch out. Somebody's gonna end up traded or taking a pay cut.

[MarkB]

Haha, nice post Norag. I agree, most of the issues are A.I. or manager related. One good patch and they should be fixed, especially the pitcher being left in too long issue. I'd like to see other's experiences to see how they're doing.

I've also seen balls go through the infield then past the outfielders on occasion, although, thankfully, it's not too often. Maybe 4 or 5 in the period I pitched.

As for the stealing, I actually had a guy with a rating in the mid-teens steal on me, and make it safely to second. I switched off and didn't pay attention to him at all. He was off on the second pitch and slid in safely. I was very surprised because I checked his rating and switched off after seeing it was so low, but he took advantage of it well. Another thing I like is that if you don't pay attention to the runners, taking appropriate time to watch the runners and delay your pitch, they will notice and they will take advantage of it. In that scenario, the A.I. seems to be excellent.

I got a Spring Training invite and am working my way through Spring Training. I've been placed fifth in the depth chart, taking over the 5th starter role from Joba and Hughes, who have both been thrown into the bullpen. Lost the opener to the Marlins after 6 strong, then 1 bad inning involving a 2-run, then solo, homer. The Yankees didn't resign Brett Gardner, which surprised me, choosing instead to go with Granderson, Winn, Golson and Gary Sheffield. I'm looking forward to Opening Day to see if I, rightfully, get assigned to Scranton, or if the game keeps me in the Majors.

[Norag]

As promised, some shots of my player:

Throwing that nasty Forkball!

Giving him the Screwgie!

That's a knee-buckler, folks. Couldn't pull the trigger, gone looking!

On top of that, just had my best overall game. Gave up 1 through 9 with 7 SO. Also went 3-4 with 2 singles, a double, and a run scored. Added a real fastball to round out my repertoire, so my learning of pitches is complete.

[MarkB]

The total package - a pitcher who can hit! Looks like you'll be having a long career in the majors. :)

[Norag]

In the latest installment of my player's career, he came up to bat in a game the Mudcats were trailing 1-0,

The opposing pitcher tries a get-ahead fastball

But Martz is ready to pull the trigger!

Wow, he made great contact with that one!

That one's gone to straight away centerfield! That must hurt, giving one up to the pitcher. Martz hits his first professional HR!

Unfortunately, the rest of the game would not be so kind. While Martz went 2-3 with a dinger, he would suffer his second loss to drop his record to 10-2. However, he was able to pass the milestone of recording his 100th career strikeout. Better luck next time in the win column.

[MarkB]

I just missed my first career homer last night - 2 men on, 2 outs, and since trying for a base hit hadn't been to successful on the recent road trip to some non-DH parks, I thought I might as well swing for the fences. Missed a slider down and in, then smacked a fastball down the left field line, only for it to be caught around 320 by the left fielder. The wall sign said 325, so I mist just have missed it.

There's a little something extra special about seeing a pitcher get good wood on a ball.

[philthepat]

I love the MP on this game. Most importantly it gives me something to do while I wait for someone to make a roster update with all the minor leaguers and prospects, so that I can start a franchise.

[hackman2007]

After seeing your post, I had to try it. Well, so far so good. I agree with just about everything you said, already seeing the fielders get balls in the hole that they wouldn't have before and the catcher is starting to call a much better game (although he still gets "stuck" at times, just calling for the same pitch over and over). Right now I'm 4-1 (1 no decision), with a 1.38 ERA, and 44 K's. Playing the crafty LH type, throw a Change, 12-6 Curve, Screwball, and Forkball (and of course the default Fastball that everyone gets if you have less than 5 pitches). I'll have to post a nice pic of him when I get a chance.

A few things I've noticed that have annoyed me:

1). My manager will not take me out. I've finished two games that were in save situations, and been knocked out of two (one the loss, the other the ND). Seriously, are you gonna leave the guy in when he's loaded the bases in the bottom of 9 with no out (apparently my manager is willing to do that until I give up yet another hit that scores two) This resulted in a ND after pitching 8 innings of stellar ball.

2). The comps A.I. in the field can be horribly suspect. In one situation, the ground ball goes by the second baseman and somehow by the RF too for a triple. Into medium depth outfield no less. Not really sure what kinda shift that is, but my manager needs to stop using it.

3). The second baseman is covering second in case of a steal and lets an easy ground ball through for a hit. What's wrong with this picture? Only the fact that the base runner in question has a steal rating of 0. So apparently my 2B is the one guy on the field that doesn't know this cat ain't doing anything but hangin' out at 1st.

4). Similar to no. 1. My pitcher comes to the plate (besides the fact that pitchers don't hit in the minors, at least not in any minor league games I've been to which were A & AAA) in the top of the 9th with one out. The lead stands at 2-0. No question you PH for the guy and pat him on the back for 8 strong, right? Oh on, not my manager. Not only does he let me hit, but he let's me pitch long enough to ruin my eight great shutout innings and result in a ND for me (see above for more detail). Needless to say, stamina is no. 1 on the priority list.

Overall, though, I'm having a blast. I just wish my manager would pull his head out of his @#% and learn to manage the game. Of course, maybe that's why he's managing AA ball. Or it could be an artificial way to make it more difficult (which I despise, such as the 2K9 method of slowing your fielder down so that he can't get to the ball to make otherwise routine outs into hits). A few tweaks here and there, and this mode would be perfect. Plan on playing out my first year at Carolina, then it's on to Louisville. After that, the five starters up in Cincinnati better watch out. Somebody's gonna end up traded or taking a pay cut.

I agree. I've gone up to 10 innings and the manager still refused to take me out with slightly over 100 pitches. Obviously you get hammered at this point. Not sure what they were thinking. If I were them I would make it so there would be a significant decrease in performance after 90 pitches. Maybe even slightly less.

Number 2 gets on my nerves as well. Tonight I had runners on first and third with one out. I get a groundball to my second baseman, I thought "yay double play", but instead they throw home and the runner dodges my catcher to score.

[redsoxxfan]

i'm really liking how MyPlayer mode plays, i'm a pitcher in the Angels Organization (i didn't choose the Red Sox because the competition there is tough. In my first 5 starts, i had it rough. Averaging 4.90ERA in 6inning average.. i love the difficulty, it's only set at PRO but pitching is really tough, i rarely paint the corners which is good and i really cherish every strikeout i get.

EDIT: and by the way, i know this is a bit off the topic but, MarkB how did you get that video?? did you used another program for that?? thanks ;)

[MarkB]

I used Fraps, you can get it from here.

[redsoxxfan]

I used Fraps, you can get it from here.

thanks man! ;)

[MarkB]

No problem at all.

[Norag]

Well, against my wishes, my player got called to the bigs at the conclusion of his season with Carolina. I guess it was because they didn't make the playoffs. I still had the composure under the needed rating, so that's a little frustrating. But, if my 1st performance is any indication, I won't have to worry about it. While I recorded my first big league strikeout and hit, I really bombed in the 6th. Gave up seven hits in a row and four runs w/o retiring a single batter. That led to me being yanked, and gave me a nice 9.00 ERA. Oh well, at least maybe that'll give me a chance to play my AAA season (of course, it is kinda fitting with the Reds. If I remember correctly they called up Cueto after he pitched a while in Chattanooga on their old AA team. Never did touch Louisville). Guess we'll see what happens.

[MarkB]

You've probably been a September call-up, and you'll be assigned to AAA next season after Spring Training. I was assigned to Scranton after Spring Training, and, given that my pitching against LHB's is still at 59, I'm hoping to avoid a call-up. Starting to get used to how AAA plays, though, and starting to see the defensive improvement now mid-way through June. Jesus Montero hasn't quite "clicked" yet, but, then again, I can't blame him - I'm still trying to get a grip on AAA hitters, and have added a 2-seamer and improved my cutter a lot recently, so I'm not surprised he's taking a bit longer. Definitely impressed with the realism regarding player progression through the season. With this in mind, it would be nice if one of the drills allowed you are your catcher to get on the same page faster - for example, if you can throw a strike 4 times out of 5 with the pitch that he signals, you get a better rapport with him and he picks up your style faster.

By the way, the Yankees didn't let Gardner go as I posted earlier - I couldn't view the rosters at that time. He's been in Scranton since opening day. Reid Gorecki and Greg Golson are also in Scranton.

[Norag]

Yeah, guess we'll see. I did raise my stats, though, not thinking about it only being temporary. But I'm 1-2 after my last start. By the way, I now know why Dusty Baker has a reputation for ruining arms...

I lost this game after pitching 13 1/3. Gave up a single and they finally pulled me and put Coco in. True to form, he forgets how to pitch if its not a save situation. He let my baserunner plus two more score, giving me a 13 inning 124 pitch loss. Talk about rubber-arming it!

[MarkB]

Ouch, that's a tough loss. Enjoy the year off after your Tommy John surgery. :lol: