Normally I’m not a hard critic of the game early on in the cycle before they work out the kinks, but the last RS I played holy $&@! was it infuriating. I had the 99 Kluber pitching and he was dominating as per usual, but come around the six the inning my opponent who had struck out eight times already turned into a foul ball and check swing machine. I couldn’t strike him out and he got four brutal hits that inning including one that was very early on a cutter in the left hand batters box that I don’t know how he physically made contact with. Then as soon as Kluber starts to lose confidence my pitches start floating. Slurve to Gallo down in with perfect input ends being an absolute floater that gets destroyed for a three run bomb. I wasn’t happy but I knew I got Degrom out of the game and I was only down one, so it could be overcome. Then a weak grounder up the middle that was very early on a cutter away and then the cutter in the other batters box that he pulls to left for a single and here comes Giambi. I decided to leave Kluber in (not my best decision) because he was coming up the next inning. My opponent precedes to foul off four pitches after getting him to two strikes and then a perfect input high and away sinker ends up over the middle and in the stands, at which point I decided I’d had enough of the show for one day.

Sorry for the rant, but I needed to vent after that disgrace. And yes I do know the foul balls aren’t as bad as last year and that many other things in this game need fixing (pitching), but this wasn’t right.

@CapnBob78 said in Yea I know I’m a complainer:

@AllStar2653 said in Yea I know I’m a complainer:

@CapnBob78 said in Yea I know I’m a complainer:

@skepple15 said in Yea I know I’m a complainer:

According to Major League Baseball the batting average on barrelled balls is .800...

Also per MLB only 5% of all plate appearances are barreled up and goes up slightly to 7% for all balls that end in play. The very best hitters are around 10%. 150 at bats leads to 15 barrels .... the hardest thing to do in any sport is hit a round ball with a round bat square.

A lot of balls that are smoked go right to someone... it evens out when you get those Texas leaguers that bloop into no mans land

The point that people are trying to make is that when you square it up in game, you should get rewarded because MLB players get rewarded pretty often when they do. They don't get rewarded all the time, but have an .800 average. If they don't want the game to be an arcade, then it's the pitching that needs addressing. If the pitching gets changed, then it'll make it harder to square up a ball, and therefore make it more realistic.

I agree that the pitching needs to be fixed... my comments were to someone saying in the real world MLB players have a .800 avg on barreled balls.... no one, real or video game should be hitting .800 overall, lol.

No one would be hitting .800 if they made it significantly harder to square balls up. Even the best of the best wouldn’t be able to do it nearly as consistently especially if they were playing on legend.

@SMASHED_THAT said in Seriously showdown:

@ejwik13 said in Seriously showdown:

@SMASHED_THAT said in Seriously showdown:

@ejwik13 said in Seriously showdown:

Oh my goodness. If one more terrible fielder makes a gold glove play in showdown that’s gonna be it. I swear. Players with less than 70 fielding consistently make driving plays to get me out. It’s so annoying. Like SDS you made them bad at fielding for a reason

And its consistently on the lower difficulties too

Idk what your point is. I’m hitting it good squared up each time and still getting out

My point is these cpu fielders are making remarkable plays that they definitely shouldnt be and it seems like it happens more on the lower difficulties i just played 2 play vs cpu 9 inning games on hall of fame and not once did the cpu attempt a diving catch on plays it probably would've on the lower difficulties

Comparatively it is far easier to put the ball in play in showdown because it's on an easier difficulty, so you're more likely to see more spectacular plays. I understand the frustration, but showdown is all about wearing the pitcher down and looking for your pitch.

@CapnBob78 said in Yea I know I’m a complainer:

@skepple15 said in Yea I know I’m a complainer:

According to Major League Baseball the batting average on barrelled balls is .800...

Also per MLB only 5% of all plate appearances are barreled up and goes up slightly to 7% for all balls that end in play. The very best hitters are around 10%. 150 at bats leads to 15 barrels .... the hardest thing to do in any sport is hit a round ball with a round bat square.

A lot of balls that are smoked go right to someone... it evens out when you get those Texas leaguers that bloop into no mans land

The point that people are trying to make is that when you square it up in game, you should get rewarded because MLB players get rewarded pretty often when they do. They don't get rewarded all the time, but have an .800 average. If they don't want the game to be an arcade, then it's the pitching that needs addressing. If the pitching gets changed, then it'll make it harder to square up a ball, and therefore make it more realistic.

You shouldn’t assume anything from a person’s lineup. Honestly, I have seen players with all gold teams that are far better than the players with stacked teams that pay money. Now those teams can have an advantage because they are so good but it doesn’t affect the player’s skill level.

The best tip I can offer is look for one pitch until you get to two strikes. I personally sit on inside fastballs a lot and don’t swing unless I get one or I think I got one. It helps me to lay-off pitches even ones in the zone that I can’t consistently hit. The more pitches you see the more you can see what pitches the opponent relies upon and then sit on those pitches. It’s all about understanding your opponent. As far as timing goes I watched mcgunskis video about timing the pitcher and it was very helpful. He can explain it far better than I can tho so I’d say watch that.

@SMASHED_THAT said in Holy %2amp;@!:

@AllStar2653 said in Holy %2amp;@!:

@Kid_Cutr said in Holy %2amp;@!:

If you’re throwing high sinkers then I have no sympathy for you lol.

You may not like them, but they sure are effective. I try not to spam them, but if you mix them in here and there it almost always catches an opponent off guard.

I have no problem with them this year it was last years 99 kershaw that drove me bonkers

I remember this time last year no one could touch Kershaw because of the sinker. It made him the best pitcher in the game all year.

Since the last update, I’ve noticed that this happens with a higher frequency. Players will stop and try and run back to a base whether it’s stealing or on a throw from the outfield and the fielder just sits there stuck at the bag waiting for a runner that never comes.

Idk if you played the game the first few days, but hitting hasn't felt that good since 17. When you made solid contact you were rewarded and that's the way it should be. The pitching was the issue because it was hard to locate and no borderline pitches were called strikes. Now, the pitching still sucks, but you don't get rewarded nearly as much for squaring up a ball. The timing window also feels off, but that could just be me.

Do showdown. It's the fastest way to get them because if you win you get 20 points towards any team in that division. Showdown really depends on skill level though. If you aren't a decent hitter, you will struggle in the mode. You can try to complete all the missions before the final boss to get as many runs as possible, but that is extremely time consuming. For me, the most effective showdown method is to complete up until the second boss and then skip ahead, but I would consider myself to be an above average hitter, so take that as you like. If showdown is a struggle, there are two other ways to do it. The first is to complete the exchange under missions, but this costs a lot of stubs. Second, you can fill a lineup with a bunch of players from said team and grind out games against the CPU to get points through the innings mission, but this is extremely time consuming. Most people have these cards from doing showdown a bunch or spending a significant amount of stubs,

I’m going to reach Gold 1 tomorrow and I’m really unsure who to take.

My lineup currently is:
2B: Sandberg
LF: Eddie
3B: Bohm
1B: Olson
SS: Correa
CF: Kelenic
RF: Robert
CAP

I wanted to take Larkin and move Correa to third but Bohm took over that spot. I thought about Posey but I haven’t heard enough good things about him to validate taking out my CAP and Minoso just won’t fit in my lineup all of the positions he fills are taken by guys I’m not sure he can replace. I guess I could take Reggie to fill in Eddie’s spot, but I hate bad outfield defense so idk. Anyone have any thoughts?

I got a 97 Wade Davis near the end of 17, but since then I don’t think I’ve gotten a gold.

@Dudeman22_ said in Why AllStar:

I guess I get the difficulty change, but it’s frustrating to go from word series last season to losing to scrubs the next because the games on Alastair difficult and there’s virtually no skill gap

You know it only brings World Series down to 700 now not 650 like it used to be so you usually play on HOF.

@GuardiansPrime said in Why are some programs capped out?:

Was trying to earn rewards for the April program and got 5 stars over what was needed but wasnt given tge points and the jackie robinson program doesnt have enough stars to get diamond Jackie.... Just was curious as to why?

You’re only looking at Stage 1 for Jackie if you use R1 you can see stage 2 that has all the missions to finish the program. Whether or not that card is worth it is a different question.

Last year, you could definitely get away with playing on game mode on a TV, but a monitor was still better. I went from CS to WS last year when I made the switch. This year I could not imagine playing on a TV. On HOF on a monitor you have to sit dead red to hit fastballs and still you’ll be late sometimes. On a TV you must have to swing as the pitcher is releasing the ball to make up for the input delay.

Since the last update, I’ve noticed that this happens with a higher frequency. Players will stop and try and run back to a base whether it’s stealing or on a throw from the outfield and the fielder just sits there stuck at the bag waiting for a runner that never comes.

The best tip I can offer is look for one pitch until you get to two strikes. I personally sit on inside fastballs a lot and don’t swing unless I get one or I think I got one. It helps me to lay-off pitches even ones in the zone that I can’t consistently hit. The more pitches you see the more you can see what pitches the opponent relies upon and then sit on those pitches. It’s all about understanding your opponent. As far as timing goes I watched mcgunskis video about timing the pitcher and it was very helpful. He can explain it far better than I can tho so I’d say watch that.

You shouldn’t assume anything from a person’s lineup. Honestly, I have seen players with all gold teams that are far better than the players with stacked teams that pay money. Now those teams can have an advantage because they are so good but it doesn’t affect the player’s skill level.

@SchnauzerFace said in Hot Take:

Where’s the hot take

I thought people were very defensive about 20 and it being better, but guess not.

19 was better.

Now hear me out on this. 20 has the potential to be better, but where it stands right now it is absolutely not(it’s not at 18 level yet). The hitting for the first week or so was amazing in 20. When you squared balls up, you were rewarded. It may have been a little bit over the top, but it felt like a couple of small adjustments (especially to pitching) could make the game great. However, the next patch ruined the game in my opinion. Now, even when you square the ball up you get a lot of good okays and only some good goods or good squares. You essentially need to get perfect perfects to score and the game seems to just hand those at random. Somehow SDS ruined the timing window with this patch and now hitting on HOF is brutal. It feels like legend last year and that was not a good experience. Every game seems to 2-1 or 1-0 because everyone and their mother uses Kluber or Newhouser and they are ridiculous on HOF. You have to sit dead red even with a monitor with a good response time to hit the fastball and adjusting to the off speed is just not an option. Pitching on the other hand is an issue and not an issue at the same time. It is an issue because it feels exceptionally hard to locate on the corners of the plate, but it’s not an issue because well look at what I said about hitting, even when you square one up it’s not going to reward you. Lastly, the fielding is an absolute issue. I like the edition of the faster throw meter and the perfect throw line, but the glitches and straight up misses from good fielders is ridiculous. I understand not everyone is Willie Mays, but goddamn almost all MLB players can field at a decent enough level.

In 19, hitting was obviously better than 18, but there were issues. Obviously, the check swings and the foul balls were major issues that never got solved. There was also the infuriating bloop hits that happened quite a bit and of course the line outs. The line outs last year were pretty brutal. Some games you just knew it wasn’t your game when you’d hit everything hard, but get nothing to land and your opponent would string together a couple of bloops and you lose by one. However, for the most part the game acknowledged when a ball was squared up and you were rewardedish for it. I personally loved the pitch speeds last year. All star was a [censored] show, but once you made it to HOF it felt perfect. On legend, it was a bit difficult, but I didn’t play too many games on legend because I’m not a god like the mcgunski’s of the world. The pitching last year felt very good. I know high sinkers were spammed, which still happens, but you could locate pitches. I was never an amazing pitcher, but there were certain pitches that I knew I could always go to and they wouldn’t be hung. The fielding in 19 was pretty solid for the most part. Urgency was still an issue, but that hasn’t been fixed (for the fourth year in a row). The animations were relatively clean besides Griffey. (Also can they bring back the black strike zone and not the stupid white one from this year)

Overall, 19 played a lot cleaner than 20 does rn and unless it changes I don’t know if I will stick with this game the whole year like I did last year.