How to get value from your MLB bench players: OOTP 22 tutorial

[@franklinpham6600]

For a pitcher, which of the three attributes(Stuff, Movement, and Control) are the most important?

[@OOTPaddy]

It can depend on your team defense and stadium. I'm probably biased towards stuff, all things being equal. A shorthand explainer of each: stuff increases K's, movement reduces HR (really important if you're in a homer-prone park, and control reduces BB.

[@zacherygoldstein1810]

Wow wow wow.I finished my first season of ootp22 and Christian Vazquez was stabbed and retired due to injuries

[@OOTPaddy]

🤔🤔🤔

[@jeffreycabral4144]

Good stuff as always

[@OOTPaddy]

Appreciate it, Jeffrey

[@racingwithrob]

Hey love your vids... I recently started simming multiple games (i.e. 2 weeks at a time etc) and had some questions... If I have a backup set to play vs RHP every 4th game, but vs LHP "if starter tired" does that mean if I face a string like the following: RLLLLRRR, the batter wont get a rest until the 8th game of that sequence assuming the started does not get tired before then? Also if there is a sub for my cleanup guy with a lower caliber hitter, how does it determine where to place the substitute in the order? Is it an AI Manager judgement call at that point even if I'm on legacy mode setting my own lineups? Also, is there any way to exclude a batter from being used as a pinch hitter? My manager seems to like using this .150 all field SS as a pinch hitter and it drives me nuts... Really appreciate your guidance on this, as before I used to always manage individual games but with work and family I just like to power thru the seasons to the playoffs now...

[@OOTPaddy]

Sorry, I'm not entirely sure on much of this, Rob. But here are some best guesses... On the rest sequence, I don't think it's necessarily that formulaic/strict to where the guy wouldn't play until the 8th game. Good question on the lineup order, I'm not actually sure. You can exclude a guy for being pinch hit for, but I don't believe you can exclude a guy from being used as a pinch hitter. The OOTP reddit or forums are probably good places to get better answers on these.

[@escott1981]

I really value guys who can play the infield and corner outfield. If you are starting in the year 2021, I really like Chad Pinder. He can play every position and play it decently and has a decent bat. For catcher, I like Jason Castro a lot. He has a great catcher rating, a lot of power, and walks a lot. He does strike out a lot and hit for a low average but thats ok for a catcher. I agree with what you said about the CF defense being important. I sure do see a big difference between when I have Victor Robles, a very good CF starting vs a much lesser one. I rarely see a ball hit over Victor's head, but I've seen balls hit over the head of other guys' heads.

[@OOTPaddy]

Yeah, I love a guy who can play IF and OF positions, especially if one of them is SS or CF. But even if a guy can't play CF, if my IF prospects can play an adequate corner OF, I throw them out there at some point in the minors for that flexibility.

[@escott1981]

@@OOTPaddy Yes, I do that too. I traded for Evan White at the beginning of my 2020 season and he has decent to good fielding ability ratings everywhere, not just 1B, so I now have him experience at all positions except pitcher and catcher. He can now do it all.

[@therealDRMort]

Hi can you explain what the colours mean in the strengths section of the trading area? Thanks I know they show position strength, but Im not sure what colour means what. Thank you

[@OOTPaddy]

Yup, positions strength. S is for starters P is for prospects. scale is red, yellow, green, blue with red being a big need and blue being the team is strong at that position.

[@therealDRMort]

@@OOTPaddy Thank you. It makes sense now.

[@bradkay4794]

How can you consider putting Arcia at 3rd or 2nd with no position rating? It wouldn't even perform as a 20 player would he?

[@OOTPaddy]

Right, it would be rough at first so ideally you wouldn't want to do it in regular season games. But if you force start him there during spring training he'd get the experience needed to have a decent position rating.

[@bradkay4794]

@@OOTPaddy my experience is he won't develop much playing the position during the season and considering him as a viable backup with his current ratings is a terrible idea

[@OOTPaddy]

perhaps I didn’t convey my point on Arcia as intended in the video. But as I’ve clarified here, ideally you get players like this experience in spring training or, with prospects, in the minors. They won’t develop the experience as quickly in major league games and it’ll hurt your MLB team in the short term.

[@bradkay4794]

@@OOTPaddy yeah, in the video it sounded like you're going to put him at other infield positions with no rating based on that he had good range arm etc for infield

[@OOTPaddy]

@@bradkay4794 Yeah, fair point. I should have clarified that I more intended to say "this is how I'd manage the Brewers bench as it stands" relative to the more ideal bench I talked about before that. Arcia could be a good option at multiple positions once he gains the experience. But if I took over the Brewers for the start of OOTP 22, I'd definitely be looking to increase the flexibility of their bench, including getting more multi-positional players in the IF

[@FakeSportsDynasties]

10 out of 10 rating on your hat.

[@OOTPaddy]

Thanks! My brother gave it to me so I’ll let him know you like it.