Basic question on "velocity" of offspeed pitches

[MillerTyme]

in RTTS (or when creating players), how does the velocity meter work for pitches like curveball or changeup. It is pretty self explanatory for fb/slider etc... but does maxing out the meter make your change faster or slower?
it would seem to me to be beneficial to keep the change as slow as possible


thanks

[Double Deuce]

Oddly, it works differently for changeups than it does for curves.

Changeups get SLOWER the higher you make the speed rating.
Curveballs get FASTER the higher you make the speed rating.

Hope that helps.

[MillerTyme]

interesting, thanks
do you find it makes the curveball a better pitch with increased velocity? i could see for like a power curve or something (is there a power curve in this game?) but for a 12-6 throwing it 65mph would seem to be a much better compliment to a 95mph FB than throwing it 90mph

[Double Deuce]

Well, first off I'm fairly sure it's impossible to make the curve go 90. Maxing it out I think still only puts it in the low 80s, though I'd have to check on that.

But I would say it depends on your other pitches as well. If you have only a FB and 12-6 curve, for instance, you'd probably want as big of a speed differential as possible between the two. But if you have a FB, 12-6 and a changeup that goes 70, you might want a faster curve so the speeds of the curve and change aren't too similar to one another.

Also, a faster curve with a big break can be pretty effective, as it drops off the table suddenly and doesn't give time to react. If it is slower, there is more time to adjust to the break.

[MillerTyme]

thanks again.....trying to decide best use of my RTTS training points

[kilmar1]

I haven't made an 09 pitcher yet, but in 08 I dominated with a 98 4sfb, max slider, max chg, and a filthy curve that shoulda been outlawed.

[swaldo]

Instead of thinking in terms of speed - consider that max meter = most effective but less accurate for each pitch (and increased fatigue). So for a fastball this would mean max meter = max speed. For a changeup the most effective / max meter would = less speed.

Today I ringed up a KL (caught one looking) with a maxed out curve (slow speed, big bend.) Looking at the replay the ball was practically dropping straight down and just caught a piece of the knees.

Of course the optimal time to use max meter is when you are ahead of the counts. However, it's fun to gamble and pull this off on a 2-0 count sometimes. Gary Sheffield is a sucker for it, I love hearing the big whiff from his bat when I have him fooled. I think I have struck him out 50% of the time.