The Effects of Pitch/Pitcher Confidence

So a couple of years ago i made a thread about how i thought pitcher confidence had too much of an effect on the outcomes of hits. It was midely popular but didnt really catch any tracking in the community. But recently I found a thread on Reddit that has gotten a lot of trackion with the communtiy and with this years addition of showdowns I think we can all say its 100% easier to hit when a pitcher has low confidence and almost impossible to hit when a pitcher has a high confidence level. I believe that pitch/pitcher confidence should have 0 effect on the result of plays because it just adds an unnecessary amount of RNG to outcomes that are already out of our control and it adds an unrealistic aspect to the game. For example if I give up 2 hits in the first 3 batters that basically renders my pitcher useless for the rest of the inning and often leads to multiple runs being score because of his low pitcher confidence. IRL we often see pitchers give up 3/4 runs in an inning but they are still able to go 6 innings without getting light up. IMO in mlb 20 that is impossible; The minute i see my pitcher give up back to back hits or even HRs it's basicallly game over for that pitcher because his confidence is too far gone to be able to locate and he often just ends up throwing meat balls over the centre of the plate. Sure pitchers get rattled IRL but those pitchers often dont last a long time in the majors because they can't perform at a high level consistently. As for the competitive aspect of gameplay it just makes user skill take a backseat to a stat that is out of everyones control since it's already very random with what is rewarded with a hit and whats not rewarded with a hit in MLB 20. It also doesn't reward players for picking up on another players tendencies because, sometimes it takes 3/4 inning to learn another players tendencies and by then a pitcher could have full confidence. So even if you are squaring up pitches at a high rate its often not being rewarded enough to make a difference.

Here is the Reddit thread for those interested
https://www.reddit.com/r/MLBTheShow/comments/gdd8oz/pitcher_confidence_is_the_reason_hitting_feels_so/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x

Tons of edits because I really hate the format of trying to edit a thread/comment on this forum

Thanks for the post. I feel making pitcher confidence affect hitting outcomes is one of the poorer decisions they've made in the last couple of years.

Pitcher confidence should impact the ability to locate pitches and possibly throw 1-2 mph harder or more break on an off-speed pitch. It should have nothing to do with hitting outcomes. Also, line drive outs should be lowering pitch confidence.

This is why everyone is bringing in starters as relievers now. A reliever gives up a single, their confidence is shot and now you gotta pray you can get through 2 more batters before the game gets away. With starters, their confidence moves slowly, so they can give up a few hits and be just fine.

If you don’t factor individual pitch confidence and overall confidence when you’re pitching, then you’re only playing half a game. Seriously.

@t8nts_Windchill said in The Effects of Pitch/Pitcher Confidence:

Pitcher confidence should impact the ability to locate pitches and possibly throw 1-2 mph harder or more break on an off-speed pitch. It should have nothing to do with hitting outcomes. Also, line drive outs should be lowering pitch confidence.

I agree, confidence should give them a location boost or whatever. But if he throws a pitch down the middle, it's down the middle and if you crush it it should get crushed not weak fly out just because the pitcher is confident. Why not put in hitter confidence and just go all RNG?

i wanna meet the SDS scientist who believes pitcher confidence is able to spit in the face of physics and exit velocity.