Broken Bat - Help: Run Differential

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Post ID	Date & Time	Game Date	Function

#6224	01/25/2014 10:37:05 am
newtman Joined: 11/02/2013 Posts: 3343 Inactive	My team has had a habit of winning by no more than 3 runs, but losing by 4 to 14 runs. As such despite being a game above .500 I have a -61 run differential. Is there anything I can do to improve my play in the losses, and maybe win by 5 or more for a second time this season? Or is it a by-product of my re-building ongoing?

#6234	01/25/2014 3:24:53 pm
Geech Joined: 01/12/2014 Posts: 545 San Luis Obispo Turtles IV.8	If you're losing a lot of blowouts, you might try and look specifically at what factors are causing those. Do you have some really weak bullpen pitchers? Are a couple of starters just awful? If you have some weak links in your staff, it could be what's costing you those big losses.

#6235	01/25/2014 3:35:57 pm
newtman Joined: 11/02/2013 Posts: 3343 Inactive	Yes and no, my problem is it seems like in some games everyone falls apart at once. Most of the time the majority of my staff does ok, but these outlier games just happen too often for my liking (probably every 10 games or so every pitcher that goes in gives up multiple runs). I know blowouts happen, but I have only blown out the opponents once this year to them blowing me out at least 8-10 times (blowout in this case meaning 8+ run differential).

#6240	01/25/2014 4:09:26 pm
Geech Joined: 01/12/2014 Posts: 545 San Luis Obispo Turtles IV.8	Yes, I see what you're saying. While I don't think you're getting blown out all that often, it does look like multiple player collapse every time. You might check your pitching management settings. Do you need to put your relievers on a lower hook? A lower hook means they come out sooner. Also, you could consider hiring a new manager. Your current guy has a patience of 5, which means he's going to tend to leave pitchers in a long time. It seems he's leaving them in too long for your taste.

#6244	01/25/2014 4:43:57 pm
newtman Joined: 11/02/2013 Posts: 3343 Inactive	I have recently lower the hook and pitch count on several pitchers, and haven't had any blowouts since then. I have only had a small sample size since then though, so I was still concerned. Thanks! I was considering the manager patience, but I decided I would rather my best pitchers lose me a game than go to my thin bullpen too early and often. Maybe after the pitchers at double and triple A are ready and the under 25 pitchers currently in the majors are closer to their potential...

#6247	01/25/2014 5:13:19 pm
Crunchtime Joined: 05/23/2013 Posts: 141 Inactive	I've been playing around with the notion that the default hooks for pitchers was too high. I'm seeing (seemingly) a lot of meltdowns in the 6th and 7th when the pitcher gets tired. Changing the hook is a good idea. I'm just wary of getting into situations where my primo starters ate getting yanked in the 2nd because they gave up 4 runs with plenty left in the tank. Reducing the pitch count on the other hand will let them work out of situations early in the game with a decent hook. However they may get pulled earlier than you would like and put more strain on the bullpen. If you have a few good arms in the pen though, should be fine.

#6252	01/26/2014 10:41:16 am
admin Joined: 01/27/2010 Posts: 4985 Administrator	Who is pitching in these blowouts? Maybe not your best arms? Steve

#6258	01/26/2014 11:53:19 am
newtman Joined: 11/02/2013 Posts: 3343 Inactive	True, I think only once was one of the blowouts actually when my "ace" was pitching. Avila does have a losing record though which is not encouraging for a No. 1 starter. The problem is a lack of current options. I have quite a few prospects with good or very good potential, but they are no where near ready. With the exception of my current No. 5 starter all the 22-24 yo pitchers I'm rotating through the majors actually suggest double or triple A as their recommended level. This is sort of an ad hoc situation til a few of them are actually really ready for the majors. Edit: Spoke too soon, collective team fail that included my ace: http://brokenbat.org/game/1155230 Updated Sunday, January 26 2014 @ 2:41:31 pm PST

#6403	02/05/2014 3:41:05 pm
newtman Joined: 11/02/2013 Posts: 3343 Inactive	This is ridiculous... teams are coming into series against me losing their last 5 or 6 series and then winning against my guys. Meanwhile my guys can pick up a win against the top team in the league the game following a 19 game winning streak was broken. Absolutely zero consistency by my team, sometimes they play well, other times it feels like they all fail. Now at -74 on the season and 4 games under .500. This series has me at 5th in the west, in line for relegation. If I were in the East I would be in 3rd... Updated Wednesday, February 5 2014 @ 3:43:17 pm PST

#6405	02/05/2014 5:01:40 pm
Crunchtime Joined: 05/23/2013 Posts: 141 Inactive	Not quite sure what the problem is here. If a team is losing 5 of their last 6 it does not carry over to your games. There is no momentum, they don't get depressed. Your team can't score and give up an average amount of runs. The team you played in the blowout can score and doesn't give up very many runs. You should get beat, on average. Being 4 games under .500 seems pretty consistent to me. You lose slightly more than you win. Your Ace is on pace for an average year for him. The difference in the Win column for your Ace is that the teams in 2012 and 2014 score more than they gave up. Your Ace isn't sucking any more than normal. He'll have good games and bad. None of this is affected by win or loss streaks. Your relief core, as you mentioned, is not so good. Score more runs - get a better bullpen - be more consistent at winning - win more games.

#6412	02/06/2014 5:06:26 am
Randy Bobandy Joined: 05/23/2013 Posts: 40 Inactive	pretty much just be better

#6467	02/14/2014 3:45:03 am
newtman Joined: 11/02/2013 Posts: 3343 Inactive	Yeah, consistently inconsistent. My last 12 games were a 6 game winning streak that moved me from 5th to 2nd place followed by a 6 game losing streak that moved me from 2nd to 5th place. The bullpen isn't bad, it is young, and not training as fast as needed. What annoys me the most are the losses to teams with owners that are running their franchises into the ground.

#6475	02/14/2014 3:51:52 pm
Geech Joined: 01/12/2014 Posts: 545 San Luis Obispo Turtles IV.8	This week I lost three out of four to the worst team in the league, then I turned around and took three out of four from the best team in the league. That's just baseball. If you get too caught up in the short-run trends, the noise and variation inherent in the game can cause you to make some rash decisions.

#6491	02/15/2014 4:32:41 pm
newtman Joined: 11/02/2013 Posts: 3343 Inactive	Thus my problem, a large portion of my roster has a relatively small sample size because they are fairly young and inexperienced. The trick here is trying to use my roster I plan to build into the future with while avoiding relegation. Not sure it can be done.