Owner Q & A #2 Responses

Hey guys,
Great job again on the responses. I read the answers on the podcast and now they are posted here.
Here were the questions again.

1. How do you construct your pitching staff?
-4,5, or 6 man rotation
-one closer or closer by comittee
-LH,RH specialists or standard setup a,b guys

2. How valuable is a catcher's playcalling rating to a pitcher's performance and team ERA?

3. How "hands-on" are you with managing your minors or do you let the auto-manager run the show?

One last fun one called "Who Would Win?"
Would you rather have a CF with a Contact/Power of:
a. 50/50
b. 70/30
c. 30/70

*all other ratings considered as league average

camaro31st - Scranton Nittany Lions

I like to go with the standard rotation of 5 starting pitchers, 1 mopup, 2 long relievers, 2 or 3 set up guys a mop up pitcher and a closer. This year I do not have many pitchers with high stamina so I am doing a 8 man tandem with 2-3 set up pitchers and a closer.

The catchers play calling does have an effect on the team ERA but if you can find a catcher that can flat out hit I will overlook his play calling because his bat will more than make up for it most of the time.

I like to be hands on with my minor league system but since I am running 5 teams at the moment I pretty much let the computer handle the rosters. I do check from time to time to make sure all my pitchers and position players are fresh and not a zero.

If I had my whole line up already set and I was just signing a CF I would more than likley go with the 50/50. This is a tough question to answer without more info. If he had some speed I would go with the guy with better contact. If he had no speed and a great glove I may go for the guy with more power.

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reigny - Santa Fe Firehawks

I used to play a 6 man rotation but I found that my pitchers weren't effective because of the long period between starts. I think that 4 man works the best, but you need great durability to do it.
One closer
Setup A/B
Long Relief A/B
Mopup
Closer

Catcher's playcalling hasn't been a big influence.

I used to let the sim run the minors, but now I try to be hands on. It seems that you have less retirements if you are hands on and moving players.

70/30 for the CF.
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dspahlinger - Honolulu Dolphins

1. I go with a 5 man rotation early in the season, shift to 4 man if chances of making playoffs look good. If I shift to 4 man rotation, I check fatigue levels frequently and adjust starts as necessary. I use one closer and standard set up guys.

2. I think catchers pitchcalling is fairly importanat to a teams ERA but I'm not willing to use a poor hitter eeven with an outstanding PC rating.

3. I manage AAA and AA actively to be sure the players I want are getting playing time. I let the AI manage the lower minors.

4. I would take 50/50-like a balance of power and hitting. Dislike the sluggers who have OBP less than .340

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jwendt - Sioux Falls Dakota

1 - 5 man rotation in the big leagues, in the low minors, rookie and low A, I'll go with the 4-man tandem
I almost always have 1 closer, but in 6 of 8 seasons that individual has changed during the year, mostly because I don't like paying for closers.
I never use specialist because they never pitch

2 - Pitchcalling seems to have the biggest impact on pitchers with really bad pitches (under 35). If they've got a teen for a 4th pitch, PC seems to help those guys the most. Otherwise, I'm satisfied with 50+

3 - I set the lineups and re-visit every week or two, especially later in the year with fatigue. I like to go with as many platoons as possible to spread ABs around. I check the minor league pitching staffs every 3 days or so to avoid the 0's.

Bonus - I'll take B, but it would really depend on the lineup needs. A 70 30 might be able to hit 1 or 2 if his other #'s support it whereas a 30 70 is probably a 6 or 7 guys at best as is the 50-50.

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kmueller - Monterrey Conquistadors

1. How do you construct your pitching staff?
-4,5, or 6 man rotation
I use a "3 man tandem" rotation. I decline to say why I use it, but I do feel that I am getting better results than expected (see the relative poor quality of my starters and compare that to the resulting stats.)

-one closer or closer by comittee
Depends on who is on the team during a given year.

-LH,RH specialists or standard setup a,b guys
No specialists - the game logic is not savvy enough yet for it.


2. How valuable is a catcher's playcalling rating to a pitcher's performance and team ERA?

I have not seen enough compelling data yet. I believe it's something you cannot be negligent of (PC below 50 may hurt), but I'm not convinced that a super high PC helps that much either.


3. How "hands-on" are you with managing your minors or do you let the auto-manager run the show?

Auto-manager doesn't play the right people in the lineup... so I'm having to manage. That said, I let it do rookie once it starts.

One last fun one called "Who Would Win?"
Would you rather have a CF with a Contact/Power of:
a. 50/50
b. 70/30
c. 30/70

*all other ratings considered as league average

All else being equal - it would depend on the makeup of my team and what the needs were.

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sriram12078 - Pawtucket Quahog Crush
1. Have experimented, currently trying tandems out ... i use one closer, and try not to specialize

2. I have not studied too much here

3. I let the auto manager do it mostly

4. 70/30, but it depends on my team construction

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dberube7 - Helena Hound Dogs

1. How do you construct your pitching staff?
-4,5, or 6 man rotation
-one closer or closer by comittee
-LH,RH specialists or standard setup a,b guys

I go with the 5-man rotation, with a set closer, and 2-3 setup guys. I like using the LH/RH if I have one of those 80 L/ 40 R split guys, but they aren’t too common. It also seems like the specialists don’t get used much.


2. How valuable is a catcher's playcalling rating to a pitcher's performance and team ERA?

In my mind, it is very important (although I think I may overate them). I have always gone with good defensive catchers with 75+ pitch-calling, even at the expense of great offensive numbers. I will get the offense somewhere else if I have to. I feel this especially helps the bullpen, cause a lot set up guys have a drastic drop off from their first pitch to second (maybe 85 to 60, for example). I don’t want a catcher with a 40-pitch calling rating out there in the 8th inning with that guy on the mound.

3. How "hands-on" are you with managing your minors or do you let the auto-manager run the show?

I check the minor league pitchers and rest guys at least once a day, if not more. Lineups get adjusted every week or so if guys are tiring. I manage the DL.

One last fun one called "Who Would Win?"
Would you rather have a CF with a Contact/Power of:
a. 50/50
b. 70/30
c. 30/70

C- If we are say he has 50 L/R and batting eye, I want the power. If he had higher splits and good speed, then the 70 contact guy could be a really good too. I’ve just seen power guys with poor splits (in the 40’s) go for 40+ homeruns. I just that with 30 power & average splits, the 70 contact guy will just be hitting a lot of singles.

Steve Scheffer on my Helena team is the closest I have to the 30/70 example. A part time player, his best season he hit .271 with 15 HR, 51 RBI in 370 AB’s. Solid for a backup. I could deal with that from a good defensive CF.

Dan

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mike1184 - Burlington Bulldogs
1. I try to go as much with a 4 man pitching staff as possible, but I don't adjust the pitch counts for those pitchers so I have to throw in a fifth starter every third time through the rotation or so. I usuaully have five decent starters, but I like to go with my four best anyways, and put the fifth in a long relief role until he is needed again.

I always go with one closer, and I usually lengthen their pitch counts to start in the 8th inning, with a max pitch count of 30, as they are usually my best reliever and I want to give them as many innings as possible.

I don't use LH and RH specialists as they don't get enough innings throughout the year to be valuable, so I mainly just use the Setup and Long Relief functions.

2. I believe that a catcher's pitch calling rating to a pitcher's performance and team ERA is extremely valuable. At the beginning of my HBD career I ignored this stat, and I was plagued with bloated ERAs and many pitchers not living up to their stats. As I became more knowledgeable about pitch calling I would put a defensive and an offensive catcher in a platoon, and I found that some years there was as much as a one run difference between the two catchers. Even though I have not done any kind of study to back up my views, I will always go with a high pitch call rating catcher from here on out.

3. In the minors pitcher fatigue is a big issue, so I try to stock each team with 10 position players and 15 pitchers, and I keep a very close eye on my injury situation. I make all of the decisions regarding my minor leagues, as I do not feel that the SIM does a good job with this and the minors are an important part of any organization. The only thing I let the SIM set for my minors is I set my line-ups according to recommendations, but with only one position player on the bench this is not as risky a move as it otherwise would be as the SIM doesn't do a great job of this either.

c. 30/70, power rules in this game.


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hcohenmb - Vancouver Jets
1. Rotation depends on stamina and quality of starters...would prefer 4 or 5 man rotation; would prefer 2 good long relievers and quality setup a, setup b and closer. Find LH and RH specialists face too many of the opposite hitter to be relied upon for more than a few batters.
2. Prefer catchers who call pitches well. Have no idea if ratings work out or not i.e. with CERA
3. Moderate hands on in minors
4. CF prefer contact and defense 50/50 would be contact/power choice

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Thanks again.
Darren