Here are some detailed instructions on how to use the Manager Prefs, for both Regular and Advanced Mode.
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This tells the manager how much patience to have with struggling pitchers. Internally, it sets how many runs or hits a pitcher can allow before Abe pulls him for another pitcher. Your choices here are Lots, Some, or Little. Lots means keep the pitcher in the game unless he is really struggling badly. Little means pull the pitcher rather quickly when he begins to struggle. Some is the middle area. These controls are also used when a pitcher comes to bat. If he would be pulled in the next inning because he is struggling, Abe will pinch hit for him.
This tells the manager how much patience to have with pitchers when they begin to tire. Internally, it sets how many runs, hits, or baserunners a pitcher can have before he is pulled for another pitcher. Your choices here are Lots, Some, or Little. Lots means keep the pitcher in the game until he really starts to give up a lot or runs or hits. Little means to pull the pitcher rather quickly when he is tired. Some is the middle area. These controls are also used when a pitcher comes to bat. If he would be pulled in the next inning because he is tired, Abe will pinch hit for him.
This tells Abe how to use your starting pitchers in the rotation. There are three choices - Skip Starters, Only Skip 5th Starter, or Never Skip Starters.
This strategy will always use the lowest ranked starter who is fully rested, regardless of who pitched the last game. This is the original strategy that was used for all starting pitchers before the Manager Preferences options were added to Sim Dynasty. Basically, it will look at all pitchers who are fully rested and start the lower ranked of those pitchers. So if your 3rd and 5th starters are both fully rested, the 3rd starter will make the start.
Using this strategy, your team will always go 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th starters - never skipping a starter. If a starter is unable to pitch when his turn comes up, that may cause your rotation to be juggled somewhat. So if its the 2nd starters turn and he is not rested for whatever reason, Abe will then move on to the 3rd starter. The 4th and 5th starters would pitch the following 2 games.
This strategy will cause your rotation to be used as 1st,2nd,3rd,4th - 1st,2nd,3rd,4th. Your 5th Starter will only pitch if one of the 1st through 4th starters is not fully rested. So you may see your starters used like this to start the season if you use this strategy: 1-2-3-4-5-1-2-3-4-1-5-2-3-4-1-2-3-5-4-1-2-3-4
This lets Abe know which relievers to use more frequently. There are two options, Save the Closer and Setup men mostly for key situations, or Use Long and Middle Relievers More Sparingly.
This strategy will set up your bullpen so that the Closer, Setup/Closer, and Setup relief pitchers are used more often when the game is close. Long and Middle relievers will be used more often using this strategy, but your Closer and Setup men should be generally more rested when you really need them.
This strategy sets your bullpen up so that the Closer and Setup men are the workhorses of the bullpen. They will be used in more situations, causing the Long and Middle relievers to be used less frequently. The benefit of this strategy is that you will get more innings out of your better relief pitchers. The drawback is that these pitchers may be tired when you really need to use them.
This tells Abe how aggressive your baserunners should be on the basepaths, based on Speed and situation. The choices are Ultra Aggressive, Aggressive, Moderate, Conservative, and Ultra Conservative. Ultra Aggressive will mean more stolen base attempts, Ultra Conservative will mean less stolen base attempts. But be warned, the more aggressive you are the more likely you are to be thrown out stealing or picked off. Conversly, the less aggressive you are the less likely you are to be caught stealing or picked off.
This indicates which inning to consider pinch hitting for pitchers. Relief pitchers will automatically be pinch hit for in this inning or later, starting pitchers will be pinch hit for in most situations.
This indicates which inning to start looking to pinch hit for position players off the bench.
This gives you some choices on how much better the pinch hitter should be verses the guy currently batting. Note that the 3rd through 5th players in your lineup will never be pinch hit for in Regular Mode. The choices for this are Much Better, Moderately Better, Somewhat Better, or At All Better. Abe will look at all the players on the bench and compare them to the player currently batting. Abe will specifically look at their skills verses left or right handed pitchers, depending on which one the current pitcher is. If you choose Much Better, Abe will pull the trigger on the pinch hitter only if the pinch hitter is significantly better than the batter currently at the plate. If you choose At All Better, Abe will use a pinch hitter if the pinch hitter is simply better than the guy at the plate.
These settings dictate specifically when to remove pitchers based on Effectiveness, Stamina, or for Pinch Hitting purposes.
This section tells Abe when to remove pitchers if they are struggling or ineffective. It allows you to define what a struggling pitcher is.
The first drop down lets you decide whether or not Starting Pitchers should be used out of the bullpen if the current pitcher is struggling. If you choose Never use a SP out of the pen if the pitcher is ineffective, then Abe will never use a SP out of the bullpen when the current pitcher is struggling. If you choose Use a SP out of the pen if necessary when the pitcher is struggling, then Abe will put a SP in for a RP if all other Relief Pitchers have been used and the current Relief Pitcher is struggling.
This area gives you 6 sets of rules you can enter for when to remove ineffective or struggling pitchers. The first dropdown indicates whether you want the rule applied to a Starting Pitcher or a Relief Pitcher (SP or RP). The next four inputs lets you indicate how many Earned Runs or ER+Hits+Walks+HBP the pitcher can allow before he is yanked. The last dropdown is through how many innings pitched this rule should be applied. For example for SP if you have your IP dropdown set to through 4 IP and that is the lowest IP, then the rule will be applied in innings 1 through 4. So if you have it set to 6 Earned Runs through 4IP, and the starter gets blasted for 6 Earned Runs in the first inning, he will be yanked.
The last part of this area has inputs that state Except if my team is Winning by ____ or more Runs, or losing by ____ or more Runs. Basically, this allows you to turn off all the rules in the Pitcher Effectiveness section if the game is a blowout, thereby conserving your bullpen for the next game. Many owners turn this option off, particularly in the playoffs, by changing these numbers to something really high.
This section lets Abe know when to remove pitchers that are tired. Once a pitcher is tired, these rules will be examined (as well as the Pitcher Effectiveness rules) to see if a pitcher should be pulled.
The first drop down lets you decide whether or not Starting Pitchers should be used out of the bullpen if the current pitcher is tired. If you choose Never use a SP out of the pen if the pitcher is tired, then Abe will never use a SP out of the bullpen when the current pitcher is tired. This could cause your reliever to give up a ton of runs since his skills will be deteriorating. If you choose Use a SP out of the pen if necessary when the pitcher is tired, then Abe will put a SP in for a RP if all other Relief Pitchers have been used when the current pitcher is tired and one of the rules has been satisfied.
The next two dropdowns let you decide when to bring in a reliever if the SP or RP is tired. Your choices are Never, Only in certain circumstances, or the instant he begins to tire. If you choose Never, then a pitcher's stamina (or tiredness) will not be a factor in determining when to pull him. If you choose the instant he begins to tire, then the pitcher will be yanked the instant he begins to tire regardless of game situation. If you choose Only in certain circumstances, then you can specify under which circumstances the pitchers should be pulled (See Certain Circumstances below).
The next two dropdowns let you decide when to pinch hit for tired pitchers. Your choices are Always, Only in certain circumstances, or Never. If you choose Always, then the tired pitcher will be Pinch Hit for regardless of game situation. If you choose Never, then a pitcher's stamina (or tiredness) will not be a factor in determining whether to pinch hit for him. If you choose Only in certain circumstances, then you can specify under which circumstances the pitchers should be pinch hit for (See Certain Circumstances below).
This section allows you to specify the circumstances to use for tired pitchers in deciding whether to pull them or pinch hit for them. There are three lines to set rules for this, one line pertaining to SP, one to RP, and one that looks to see if the other team has runners on base. The third line has choices for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Never use this rule. If you choose Never use this rule, then Abe won't look at where runners are on the basepaths when deciding whether to bring in another pitcher.
The last part of this area has inputs that state Except if my team is Winning by ____ or more Runs, or losing by ____ or more Runs. Basically, this allows you to turn off all the rules in the Pitcher Stamina section if the game is a blowout, thereby conserving your bullpen for the next game. Many owners turn this option off, particularly in the playoffs, by setting these numbers to something really high.
This section lets you decide when the Pitcher should be PH for, purely by looking at the Offensive and game situation.
The first line allows you to specify a rule for when to pinch hit for a pitcher. This lets Abe know when it is important to PH for the pitcher for Offensive purposes. You can decide which inning to start looking for offensive pinch hitters, and whether the Tying, Winning, or Tying or Winning run should be In Scoring Position, On Base, At Bat, or On Deck. Note that if you select Tying run and the game is already tied, then Abe will not use this rule.
Using this rule, you can specify that Relievers should always be pinch hit for. That is assuming there is still a pinch hitter available on your bench.
There are two choices for this rule, PH only if there is another RP in the bullpen or Use SP if necessary out of the bullpen. If the first option is selected then Abe won't pinch hit for the pitcher unless there is a RP available to come into pitch. If the second option is selected, then Abe will pinch hit for the pitcher and bring in a Starting Pitcher if all other available relief pitchers have been used.
This tells Abe how to use your starting pitchers in the rotation. There are three choices - Skip Starters, Only Skip 5th Starter, or Never Skip Starters.
This strategy will always use the lowest ranked starter who is fully rested, regardless of who pitched the last game. This is the original strategy that was used for all starting pitchers before the Manager Preferences options were added to Sim Dynasty. Basically, it will look at all pitchers who are fully rested and start the lower ranked of those pitchers. So if your 3rd and 5th starters are both fully rested, the 3rd starter will make the start.
Using this strategy, your team will always go 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th starters - never skipping a starter. If a starter is unable to pitch when his turn comes up, that may cause your rotation to be juggled somewhat. So if its the 2nd starters turn and he is not rested for whatever reason, Abe will then move on to the 3rd starter. The 4th and 5th starters would pitch the following 2 games.
This strategy will cause your rotation to be used as 1st,2nd,3rd,4th - 1st,2nd,3rd,4th. Your 5th Starter will only pitch if one of the 1st through 4th starters is not fully rested. So you may see your starters used like this to start the season if you use this strategy: 1-2-3-4-5-1-2-3-4-1-5-2-3-4-1-2-3-5-4-1-2-3-4
These rules tell Abe how to use your pitchers out of the bullpen.
You have 4 choices for this dropdown, Always bring in the Closer, Bring in the closer unless the Starting Pitcher has a no hitter, Bring in the closer unless the Starting Pitcher has a shutout, or Use other rules to determine what to do. The last choice needs a little explanation, basically Abe won't try to necessarily bring in the closer. Abe will look at the rules specified on the Pitcher page to see when to bring in a pitcher and use the rules on the Bullpen page to see which reliever to bring in. Note that if your Closer is unavailable for that game, or has already appeared in the game, Abe will treat your Setup/Closer guy as the Closer. If the Setup/Closer guy is also unavailable, your Setup guy becomes the Closer.
This section lets you define what a blowout is, and lets you specify by inning the order in which you prefer to bring in relief pitchers. If your first choice has already been used or is unavailable, Abe will look at your second choice. The numbers that you input for "When my team is up by ____ runs or more, or down by ____ runs or more" are then used to indicate the ranges in the two sections below for the closer games.
This section lets you specify by inning the order in which you prefer to bring in relief pitchers. If your first choice has already been used or is unavailable, Abe will look at your second choice.
This section lets you specify by inning the order in which you prefer to bring in relief pitchers. If your first choice has already been used or is unavailable, Abe will look at your second choice.
This section tells Abe when to bring in pinch hitters.
This lets you specify what the score should be in order to bring in pinch hitters for position players. It is meant as a way to save your pinch hitters for the close games.
This is the inning in which Pinch Hitters should start being brought in.
This lets you exclude certain players from being pinch hit for. These players won't be pinch-hit for, unless it is a blowout (see Blow Out Pinch Hitters below). If you want to be able to pinch-hit for everyone, you can "turn off" this setting by entering an illogical pair of numbers, like "Don't consider batters in the 7th through 6th spots in the batting order."
This gives you some choices on how much better the pinch hitter should be verses the guy currently batting. The choices for this are Much Better, Moderately Better, Somewhat Better, or At All Better. Abe will look at all the players on the bench and compare them to the player currently batting. Abe will specifically look at their skills verses left or right handed pitchers, depending on which one the current pitcher is. If you choose Much Better, Abe will pull the trigger on the pinch hitter only if the pinch hitter is significantly better than the batter currently at the plate. If you choose At All Better, Abe will use a pinch hitter if the pinch hitter is simply better than the guy at the plate.
The next line lets you specify what sort of defensive replacement should be available on the bench. Your choices are Same position, High skill level, medium skill level, some skill level, and is Breathing. Same position will make it so that a pinch hitter isn't used unless there is a guy on the bench who can come in and play the same position. The next three choices will look at the defensive players ability in the field at that position (taking into account out-of-position penalties) and see if someone can play the position at either a high, medium, or some skill level. Is Breathing will pinch hit no matter what and then use the best available defensive player to play the field.
This lets you specify how many players should be saved on the bench to pinch hit for pitchers later in the game.
This is the scale that Abe will use to determine whether to pull the trigger on a pinch hitter. The player up to bat will be compared against all potential pinch hitters using the scale that you specify. Only the players skill against the current pitcher's arm will be used for Contact and Power.
The next two lines tell Abe not to pinch hit for a guy who has enjoyed some level of success already in the game. Whether it is Home Runs or Hits. This rule will also be applied to the Blow Out Pinch Hitters section.
This lets you specify when and how to use defensive replacements late in the game.
The range the score should be in to use defensive replacements. Defensive replacements can only be used when you are winning.
This is the level of skill the defensive replacement should have over the player currently in the lineup. Your choices are Much Better, Moderately Better, Somewhat Better, or At All Better. Note that if Abe determines that a player can play out of position and still play better than the guy currently in the lineup, he will make the switch.
The inning in which defensive replacements should start coming into the game.
This lets you specify how many players should be saved on the bench to pinch hit for pitchers later in the game.
This tells Abe when to play the kids. This will help your team get at bats for younger players so they can improve more in the OffSeason. Abe will try to pinch hit for a player when he finds someone that plays the same exact position as the guy currently in the lineup and he is at all younger than the current player.
What the score should be to start using blow out pinch hitters. If you don't want to use this rule at all, you can set these numbers to something really high.
The inning in which blow out pinch hitters should start coming into the game.
This page lets you indicate your preferences for stealing bases in certain circumstances. Note that we purposely did not give you complete control over this by adding a Don't Steal option since a manager really never has complete control over what the players do. The choices in each drop down are Ultra Aggressive, Aggressive, Moderate, Conservative, and Ultra Conservative.
There are 5 sections to this page, Situation, Speed, Inning, Score and Catcher Arm. Situation refers to the first set of preferences (Stealing 2nd, Stealing 2nd with Runner on Third, etc). Catcher arm will set your aggresiveness based on the strength of the opposing catcher's arm. The remaing 3 categories should be fairly self-explanatory.
On the bottom of the page, you can also set how much you want to weigh a certain section when ABE decides if a player should steal. For example, if you were mostly worried about how good the opposing catcher's arm was, you would weigh that factor at 40 and all the other factors at 15. This means that when ABE runs the calcuations, it will decide how aggresive your player is based mostly on your preferences in the catcher area (i.e. If you set the "Arm Rated "A" should be" to Conservative, and the opposing team had a catcher with an A arm, ABE would be more likely to set your runner's stance to Conservative, henceforth makeing it less likely he would attempt to steal).
Whenever a runner is on base, Abe will look at your settings for these 5 sections, factor in your weights, and calculate a probability that the runner will steal. So for example, if you have an A speed runner on 1st with no outs, where the game is tied in the 8th inning, and the opposing team's catcher has a "B" arm, Abe will take the Speed A, Catcher's Arm B, Inning 8, tied, and Stealing 2nd with 0 outs settings, multiply each section by it's respective weight and calculate a probability of trying to steal 2nd. Also, using the Ultra Conservative setting for any of the dropdowns will significantly lower the chances that a runner will go in that situation (But not rule it out of the realm of possibilites).
The overall aggressiveness of this situation also has a bearing on success. The more aggressive you are, the less success you will have with stealing. And vice versa. The reason is that you will be trying to steal bases in less than ideal situations so your success rate goes down.