For the New Owners and Old

Spring Training is time to get the rust off the Vets and give some ML experience for the minor league players that have a ML future. This is some of the do's and don'ts.

Starting Pitchers, set their TPC and MPC so they pitch no more than 3 or 4 innings max. You really want their IP total some where near 10. The same can be said for the pen, but here you want about 8 IPs'. Also you don't want your starters pitching in the last two Spring Training games if you can help it, especially opening day and day 2 starters. When Spring Training ends there are no off days where pitchers can rest before the start of the season, even for the minors.

Starting Positions, play them about 25 AB's, catchers about 20 AB's or 4 to 5 starts.

The reason, if you over extend them in Spring Training, you risk injury and becoming fatigued more easily in regular season games. Other than getting the rust off and getting experience, Spring Training actually has little bearing on how a player will actually perform during the regular season. I have seen players that hit .350 in Spring Training and barely hit .250 in the regular season.

For those that don't know, fatigue is not based on AB's but PA's. A PA report can be gotten through the Player's Statistics using the extended function. This formula: (730 * .Durability = approximate PA's during the season) It is pretty close to accurate. Normally about mid season is when players may go into fatigue status if they do not have any regular game days off. BTW, Spring Training Games count. Normally those with a durability with 85 and above are not that prone to go into fatigue status unless they hit in slot 1 thru 5, because these lineup slots receive the most PA's. Those with durability below 80 is the ones that you must worry about the most and need the most game days off.

For those that need help setting a lineup, I have found this the most convenient way of doing it.

Slot 1 - Your best OBP guy that is not a power hitter. Speed is a plus but not necessary.
Slot 2 - I put in the guy on the roster that has the best walk to strike out ratio that is not a true power hitter.
Slot 3 - Can vary a little, you can either put in your best AVG hitter (second best if you used him for slot 1) or your best power hitter.
Slot 4, 5, 6 or (3 thru 6) - Needs to have your best power hitters.
Slot 7, 8, (9) - The remaining. I would suggest Contact over Eye then adjust after the first 20 games for best fit.

The object is to get runners on so the power hitters get them home with the long ball otherwise you get a lot of solo shots.

Minor league pitching fatigue happens but we frown on constant dead pitching. The best way to combat it is to have five starters and 4 long relievers that could be starters and maybe 1 inactive. It doesn't matter how good they are as long as they can chew up innings when needed. Also you can have spare pitchers inactive just in case, I usually carry a couple ugly spares. If you try and run a bunch of short relievers, they will get chewed up quick.