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Bullpen Logic

The basics:Basics: Toast, Fatigue, and thresholdsThresholds.

The first thing to understand about CSFBL's bullpen logic is that there are two key components: Toast and FatigueFatigue.. BothYou arecan adjustableadjust basedhow aggressive or conservative your manager is with toast and fatigue by adjusting your manager's tendencies on thresholdsthe youManager's set from your team's Manager page. Page.

Toast reflects a pitcher's performanceperformance, (oror lack thereof).thereof. A pitcher who is performing well has no reason to be concerned about toast. A pitcher who's getting hit hard may be toast toast.

Fatigue reflects a pitcher's wear-and-tear. As a pitcher's pitch count grows, he will start to fatigue. If a pitcher's fatigue gets below a certain threshold, he'llhe will be pulled

You can adjust how aggressive or conservative your manager is with toast and fatigue by adjusting your manager's tendencies. You set the toast and fatigue thresholds for starting pitchers and relief pitchers separately.pulled. Toast ratings range from 0 ("leave them in") to 10 ("pull them early"), with 5 being average. Fatigue thresholds range from -50% ("heavy fatigue") to 50% ("slight fatigue"), with 0% being average.

    @@successbox:Starting pitcher toast:        6
    Relief pitcher toast:        7
    Starting Pitcher Fatigue Threshold:       0% (Moderate Fatigue)
    Relief Pitcher Fatigue Threshold:       -50% (Heavy Fatigue)@@
    These are adjustable in the Manager's Page.

  • Note: that it's

    It's a good idea to start in the middle and work your way up or down. Setting either of these tendencies to the highest or lowest values can yield results much greater than you may expect!




Deciding when a pitcher is toast

toast.

CSFBL decides a pitcher is toast when his toast value is above a certain threshold. The toast value is based on:

  • The number of runs given up up.
  • The number of players reaching base, with extra-base hits having a greater impactimpact.
  • The number of runners in scoring positionposition.

Each of thosethese factors combine to create the toast value;value. theThe higher the value, the greater chance the pitcher will be toast.

A pitcher's toast value is compared to his toast threshold, which is based on a fixed value plus the manager's toast setting. (Relief pitchers also consider the current inning.) If the toast value is greater than the toast threshold, the manager makes a call to the bullpen.

Beyond the toast value system are some other parameters which can cause a pitcher to be considered toast, or could override the manager's decision and keep the pitcher in the game. Among these are:

If

  • the starting pitcher is pitching a shutout and the game is not close, or he is pitching a shutout and the game is close but there is no threat from runners on base, he will not be pulled due to toast. (This is rare.) If the current pitcher is the closer, and the game is in a save situation,situation and the closer has pitched less than two innings, he will not be pulled due to toast. If
  • It is the 9th inning or later and it is a save situation. The current pitcher is not the closer,closer thereyou is a save situation, it is the 9th inning or later, and the team hashave the "Always use closer in save situations" manager's setting set, the pitcher is automatically toast.pulled.


As a result, the control you have over a pitcher being pulled due to toast is directly related to your manager's tendencies.

Deciding when a pitcher is fatigued

fatigued.

Pulling a pitcher due to fatigue is a simpler process. Fatigue values are largely based on a pitcher's Endurance (EN) rating. Each pitch reduces some of a pitcher's EnduranceEndurance, (at the rate of about 2 Endurance points lost per three pitches thrown). As a pitcher's Endurance goes down, his Fatigue goes up. When the Fatigue value falls below the manager's threshold, the pitcher is considered fatigued, and he will be pulled.

There areStarting somepitchers restrictionsdo onnot whenget fatigue checks areuntil made:after three innings.

There are some hard caps on fatigue thresholds in the early innings to avoid a starting pitcher from being pulled earlier than necessary. (This rarely impacts the game, because pitchers who go so far in early innings usually get pulled due to toast first.) Fatigue checks for starting pitchers are only made at the start of the inning, except in the following circumstances:

  • When it is the 7th inning or later and the game is tied,tied.
  • or theThe pitching team is winning by a nominal marginmargin, (with consideration of runners on base).

    Starting pitchers do not get fatigue checks until after three innings.

Deciding when to use setup men and closers

closers.

In close games, starting from the 7th inning, there are a number of situations which can cause the manager to put in a call to the bullpen to bring in a setup man or the closer. These checks are made after checks for toast and fatigue,fatigue are made, so a pitcher may not be toast and may not be fatigued, but he still may be pulled to bring in your end-game relievers.

Generally, theThe decision to bring in a setup man or closer is based on game situation:

  • howHow many runs the pitching team is leading by,by.
  • theThe number of runners on base,base.
  • theThe effectiveness of the current pitcher,pitcher.
  • and theThe inning.

The manager setting to Always"Always use closer in save situationsituation" will bring in the closer in all circumstances wherewhen it is the 9th inning or later and it is a save situation,situation. exceptThe only exception is when the closer's fatigue is below the Relief PitcherPitchers Fatigue Threshold manager's setting.




Who gets the call from the bullpen?

Now that we decided to make a call to the bullpen, what pitcher do we call? This decision is based largely on the inning and game situation.

Each game situation has a preferred order of pitchers to bring in,in based on their rolerole: (longlong relief, middle relief, setup, and closer).closer. In each situation, the first available pitcher gets the call. (AvailableAvailable pitchers are those whose fatigue is above the Relief Pitcher Fatigue Threshold manager's setting.)setting.

The preferred order taken is based on the first successful match to the criteria below:

  • 9th inning or later and save situation: CL-SU-MR-LR
  • 7th inning or later, game is close (+/- about 3 runs, considering runners on base): SU-CL-MR-LR
  • 5th inning or later: MR-LR-SU-CL
  • All other situations: LR-MR-SU-CL
  • Expect closers and setup men to come in during close games, with middle and long relievers getting the early-inning and mop-up work.

For the dual-slot roles (MR(MR1/2 and SU),SU1/2), the decision on which pitcher to bring in is based on twothe following criteria: the batter/pitcher matchup and random chance.

  • Consideration of the batter/pitcherbatter's righty/leftyR/L matchup,matchup.
  • theThe overall skill of the pitcher,pitcher.
  • and theThe pitcher's R/L ratingrating. are used to determine the optimal pitcher to bring in.

As a result, the dual-slot roles are good places to combine a leftyleft and rightyright handed pitcher. Tags: bullpen, fatigue, toast