Difficulty Relief Pitching in All-Star Mode

[MaddiesDaddy]

Just wanted to see if anyone is having trouble pitching well with their bullpen while playing in All-Star mode.

Three of the last four games, Yanks-Sox, alternating home and away, I have had competative games (3-2, 4-2, etc) with the computer until the 7th or 8th inning. As soon as I take out my starter, I cannot for the life of me get out of an inning without giving up a run?!?!?!?

Any suggestions for help? I am thinking about trying Pro for a while, but my All-Star sliders are coming around to be just right for me...with respect to my skill level at the different aspects of the game, good and bad, while giving the game a "real" feel....in short I feel I may be close to being set with my sliders....with the exception of being able to hold a lead or stop a rally before it gets too big.

I'd prefer to play in All-Star...but if the game is just programmed to make it very, very difficult to hold a lead, etc. while in All-Star mode...I guess I'll go to Pro and work from there.

Help! And Thanks!

[NYM]

yea i have some trouble (then again i have the mets bullpen)......what i did is traded dead weight (jason phillips etc) for relief pitching prospects.......they do get hits but there off my bad relivers (felix heredia, heath bell, jay seo, and strickland) i dont think its my playing i just think my relivers suck.....my 2 best relivers are SU man Mike DeJean and CP Braden Looper...there lights out for me....

dont quit playing all star....just get a good pitcher.....the think i seem to notice is that they hit off slower pitchers ( heredia, bell, seo) i suggest pickng up a reliver that can go over 95 MPH....i know it might be hard to find but if u find one you will most likely have success.

[MaddiesDaddy]

Thanks for the advice....but I don't think that is it....

Hell I gave up three dingers with Mariano! Only one was a "mistake pitch" where the red circle appears in the strike zone.

It's like in Madden when you play All-Pro or Madden level...and no lead is safe...no matter if you are winning 42-7 or 10-3.

[LetsGoOakland]

It's all about locating pitches and the shift of your defense. Playing on MVP is down right impossible for me but with All-Star, I use breaking/sinking pitches to induce groundballs. Simple baseball strategy. Yeah, occassionally you will give up a run here and there but that's baseball. Plus, once you get better at hitting on All-Star (if you move down to Pro, you will only hurt your abilities) you won't be in 4-3 games as much. You will eventually have a good offensive output here and there.

[NYM]

It's all about locating pitches and the shift of your defense. Playing on MVP is down right impossible for me but with All-Star, I use breaking/sinking pitches to induce groundballs. Simple baseball strategy. Yeah, occassionally you will give up a run here and there but that's baseball. Plus, once you get better at hitting on All-Star (if you move down to Pro, you will only hurt your abilities) you won't be in 4-3 games as much. You will eventually have a good offensive output here and there.

yea i mostly use breaking pitches.....i rarely use a fastball and that where most of my success comes from.....i only throw a fastball at an unsuspecting time ex 0-2, 1-2 and i NEVER NEVER NEVER THROW IT INSIDE!!!!!!!!!!! even if its a cold zone DO NO DO NOT DO NOT THROW INSIDE!!!!!!!! let the guy go the oppsite way for a less damaging hit (most of the time)

[MaddiesDaddy]

yea i mostly use breaking pitches.....i rarely use a fastball and that where most of my success comes from.....i only throw a fastball at an unsuspecting time ex 0-2, 1-2 and i NEVER NEVER NEVER THROW IT INSIDE!!!!!!!!!!! even if its a cold zone DO NO DO NOT DO NOT THROW INSIDE!!!!!!!! let the guy go the oppsite way for a less damaging hit (most of the time)

Thanks for the tips guys. I do know a bit about baseball strategy and trust me I am always making sure I am mixing up pitches...with both starters an relievers. I also watch to see if the CPU hitters move in the box and I do move the defense around a bit. And I try not to start a batter off with the same pitch as I did in his previous at-bat, within reason of course. I mean you can over do it...paralysis by analysis if you know what I mean.

With Mariano, in real life he basically throws his cutter and that's it. So I in my MVP games I like to try and stick with that philosophy....makes it seem like I am really pitching like him. But I guess the AI in the game is not programmed with this much detail. But in general with my other relievers I definitely mix it up.

I am going to give it another whirl. The Yankess have a pretty good bullpen already so I shouldn't need to go out and trade for someone. Plus I would like to start my Dynasty with the same roster as in real life and then as the season goes I will make trades on my own if need be.

My hitting is coming around. Like I said I am pretty much satisfied with every aspect of the way my games are going. The slider settings for fielding, throwing, baserunning are set to make the overall flow of the game feel good to me. At times I get bang-bang plays at first for both me and the CPU....the CPU tries to take an extra base sometimes...CPU tags from third more often than when I first started...we both get errors sometimes....also the ball gets bobbled sometimes or riccochets off the pitchers leg....you get the picture....the game is as real as I am thinking I can get it.

My hitting is getting better as I am getting more extra base hits. So to me it's just about having my skills get better and possibly making minor tweaks along the way as that happens. I mean as much as I would like...I don't want to have scoring 10 runs a game be the norm.

Anyhow...thanks a lot for the help. Good luck to you.