MLB The Show: How can I make myself not suck?

[Only_Mostly_Dead]

I like the game (playing the 07 iteration because it was cheap used, but any year will do). It’s pretty, and appears to be a good, deep simulation.

But I am really really bad at it. Especially batting. Under me, a player batting .200 with five homers in a season is an all-star slugger. There’s just something (well, many things) I don’t get.

I seem to be miserable at the pre-pitch guesswork. I have a general understanding of pitching strategy in real life baseball. I see how the game suggests I pitch, try to apply that to when I’m batting. Try to see trends once a pitcher’s been going a few innings. And I’m wrong. A lot. Particularly on the placement guessing, which is the really crucial one. This should be a one in four shot, and I’m lucky to guess one in ten correctly. I’d be better off not trying to figure it out, and just doing the stupid-kid-on-scantron-test strategy of choosing “C” every answer.

Once I’ve made my guess, the pitch is being thrown, and I’m revealed to have not guessed the placement correctly… I flail. Embarassingly. The announcers mock me tirelessly. Sometimes it’s easy to see that a pitch is going to be a ball, sometimes it’s just common sense to lay off. Rarely, I can see it’s a bad pitch once I’ve started a swing and check. But mostly I just swing at way too much junk. I can’t discern that a bad pitch is a bad pitch until I’ve committed to a swing and it won’t let me check.

If I do connect, it’s far more often very soft infield grounders and routine fly balls than anything with power (on regular or power swings). I hit about one home run every five games or so, and that feels like dumb luck that I guessed a pitch perfectly that ends up being dead center of the plate with my best batters.

I want to enjoy the game. Defense is quite fun, but offense is infuriating, and that should be the real joy. Please, give me tips, hints, cheats, whatever so that I can just play.

How can I guess pitches more accurately?
Is there something more to swinging at only the good pitches than just twitch decision-making (please)? If I want twitch reflex gameplay, and I rarely do, I’ll put in an FPS.
When I do connect, how do I hit well and make solid connection?

[Asimovian]

I apologize if these questions are stupid to you, but:

1) Are you playing on Rookie mode, or something harder?

2) When using the “Guess Pitch” option, do you guess the same pitch every time, or are you trying to actually guess which type of pitch the pitcher will throw?

To elaborate (I know some hard core players consider this cheating, so forgive me), I always ALWAYS guess the four-seam fastball. What this allows me to do is study what other pitches a particular pitcher uses. If he throws a fastball, well, you’re set. If not, he’s usually got three or four other pitches at his disposal that you can focus on.

A lot of times, I find that a pitcher’s other pitches are similar in nature. For instance, other than a fastball, a pitcher might have a slider, curve and change-up. You know that all three of those pitches have good movement on them, so once the fastball has been eliminated (because you guessed the “wrong” pitch), you can guess where the pitch might end up based on where the pitcher releases it.

For example, in that scenario, and with a righty pitching to a righty, if the pitch starts off on the inside of the plate and just above the strike zone when it’s released, then it’s (almost certainly) going to end up somewhere in the zone by the time it reaches the plate (mid-level outer half for the slider, low outer-half for the curve, low inner-half for the change). If the pitch takes off to the batter’s right or down immediately when released, you know it’s not going to end up in the strike zone. I’m simplifying, I know, but this is the general idea. And it leads me to my third question.

3) Do you have the batters’ hot zones turned on?

Once you get the points in #2 down and you’re accustomed to reading pitches better, you have to make sure you understand where each batters strengths are. If the batter has a cold zone (blue squares) for pitches high and inside, you’re most likely going to make poor contact with pitches in that area no matter how well you time your swing. Focus on where your hitter’s strengths are and try not to swing at pitches (assuming you have less than two strikes) other than those that look like they’re going to end up in your hot zones. Be selective.

I’m worried that I’m rambling at this point, so I’ll stop. If I’ve been the least bit helpful to you, I’m happy to try to offer more. Good luck.

[Only_Mostly_Dead]

@Asimovian

I apologize if these questions are stupid to you, but:

1) Are you playing on Rookie mode, or something harder?

I’ve been trying on veteran (the second easiest of the four difficulties). Playing the easiest setting (especially when, at least in 07, all you need to properly guess is the pitch, and it will tell you the location in Rookie) really feels like cheating. I don’t have to do it in any other sports games, so I’ve been stubborn here.

2) When using the “Guess Pitch” option, do you guess the same pitch every time, or are you trying to actually guess which type of pitch the pitcher will throw?…For example, in that scenario, and with a righty pitching to a righty, if the pitch starts off on the inside of the plate and just above the strike zone when it’s released, then it’s (almost certainly) going to end up somewhere in the zone by the time it reaches the plate (mid-level outer half for the slider, low outer-half for the curve, low inner-half for the change). If the pitch takes off to the batter’s right or down immediately when released, you know it’s not going to end up in the strike zone. I’m simplifying, I know, but this is the general idea. And it leads me to my third question.

I’ve been trying to guess different pitches. Primarily the 4-seam, always on the first pitch. But otherwise, trying to look at their relative strengths on the various pitches. Watching that first fraction of a second when the ball is released is still a little twitchy, but a hell of a lot better than waiting until the pitch is halfway there like I have been.

3) Do you have the batters’ hot zones turned on?

Once you get the points in #2 down and you’re accustomed to reading pitches better, you have to make sure you understand where each batters strengths are. If the batter has a cold zone (blue squares) for pitches high and inside, you’re most likely going to make poor contact with pitches in that area no matter how well you time your swing. Focus on where your hitter’s strengths are and try not to swing at pitches (assuming you have less than two strikes) other than those that look like they’re going to end up in your hot zones. Be selective.

I’ve had the hot zones turned on, but have been swinging at anything that might be in the strike zone. When I’m always down in the count, I feel like I need to swing at anything in the zone.

Thanks for the very informative reply!