Is it just me or is plate vision incredibly overrated?

[jonnydaman_PSN]

I know people say that plate vision is crucial on higher difficulties but in my experience, it really doesn't matter and could in fact be a negative in some scenarios. Obviously high plate vision makes it easier to hit the ball, but my feeling is that unless you need to get a runner in from third or just want to extend the AB with foul balls, it just doesn't matter than much especially with how power focused this game is.

Maybe this is a function of the type of hitter I am (power and patience), but outside of those scenarios I mentioned above, I would rather swing and miss than make weak contact early in the count, and based on my experience, I'm hurt just as much if not more by hitting the ball weakly early in the count than I am by failing to put the ball in play on a tough pitch when I really need to just hit the ball.

Obviously, plate vision often goes along with contact so it's hard to separate the two, but I look at a hitter like Trout with high contact and power but a relatively low plate vision rating, and he is year in and year out one of my best hitters. This year, Trout is clearly my best hitter even though I've had great hitters like Mantle, Sheffield, Reggie Jackson, and a CAP for just as long as Trout, all of whom have better attributes if you just look at power and contact. I don't remember my stats from previous years, but I've usually been just as good if not better with Trout as I am with other high end players. I've also used all of those other guys other than the CAP of course in BR so they have inflated stats, while I don't think I've ever used Trout in BR this year.

Now I don't want to claim that one person's anecdotal evidence is enough to say that plate vision is useless or even is harmful, but I did want to provide it as context to see if other people don't think it is important.

TL/DR Plate vision might be overrated since it helps you avoid Ks, but the trade off is that it might make you more likely to make weak contact early in the AB

[the_dragon1912_PSN]

It is quite overrated. The only part of the PCI that actually matters is affected by contract ratings and pitchers per 9s

[pbake12_PSN]

I almost thing lower is better this year!! I would rather swing and miss then pop out, which seems to happen more with high vision players.

[halfbutt_PSN]

I think it’s hard to say what matters when the game is coded to randomize the result of your good swing.

[JediOfArgonath]

It’s not overrated, It’s just misunderstood. Where vision comes in is when you’re contact swinging. Example - I use Juan Pierre off the bench. When I bring him in people automatically go to a bunt defense. When they do that I just contact swing with him and due to his lack of power the ball goes right over their heads for a perfect single. I never strike out when contact swinging with high vision guys.

This is all new this year. It used to be the whole pci but now it’s the outer circle you see in the feedback.

[VeganMeatbawls]

it also affects their timing window...but yes i do agree especially on all-star or lower it can be a bad thing because you put balls in play that you would normally foul off or even miss on hof/leg respectively...

[olivegarden2_PSN]

That is why 97 Belli is great. Decent contact with great power, speed, defense. Only thing he doesn’t have is vision which doesn’t matter so that makes him one of the best cards in the game (in my opinion)

[PotatoOG-27_PSN]

I believe vision only affects the outer circle of your pci and contact the inner circle. You’ll see more foul balls with high vision and more strikeouts with low vision... I could also be wrong here. Would be nice for SDS to lay out how each attribute is determined. Unless they already have?

[saintsfan_1029]

Vision is completely useless this year imo. Sometime I even swing and miss with the ball all the way in the outer vision circle with good timing. Makes no sense