Anatomy of a Closer

Closers can easily be the most frustrating players on your roster. Nothing hurts worse than blowing a lead in the ninth inning.

Fortunately for me, I have a great closer in Ebenezer Wilkins. Or do I? Let's take a look at what makes a "great" closer.

First things first - there is no "clutch" element in HBD. A player with poor patience or temper has no impact on his ability to perform late in games.

Stamina
To be an effective closer, he should have a stamina of at least 25, preferably 30. If he puts a couple of runners on, he needs to have enough gas left in the tank to finish the inning. Remember, a pitcher's effectiveness decreases with every pitch. As for my guy, Wilkins? His stamina is 20. Definitely less than ideal.

Control
I like my closers to have a control rating of at least 80. Why? Simple. The goal of any closer is to keep runners off the basepaths. However, after looking at the statistical save leaders this season, there doesn't seem to that much of a correlation between walks and blown saves. I might need to do some more detailed statistical analysis to find out why this is the case.

Splits
To me, the most important rating for a closer is his vsR split. Using a closer with less than 80 vsR is a recipe for disaster. vsR split is probably THE most important rating in the game. If you can't get right handed hitters out, you are doomed. The stats support this - the closers with < 80 vsR clearly blow saves at a much higher rate. I would not use a left hander as a closer unless he had > 80 vsL and vsR. Even then, I'd probably use the lefty as a setup guy.

Velocity
Higher velocity = more strikeouts. You want your closer to miss bats with his pitches. However, with a closer pitching a limited amount of innings, I'm not convinced that velocity is very important for a closer. See the next section as an example. Also, power pitching versus power batting can lead to giving up more home runs.

GB/FB
In my opinion, closers (generally) do not pitch enough innings in a given season to get rid of the randomness of home runs. I have seen closers with high GB/FB ratings give up twice as many homers in a season as a closer with a low GB/FB. Obviously, an above average defensive outfield can also help counter the effect of a poor GB/FB rating, and vice versa.

Pitches
It is imperative for a closer to have an excellent (>85) 1st pitch, and very helpful to have a 2nd pitch of at least 65-70. The combination of poor pitches and a low PC rated catcher can lead to disaster. For example, Wilkins' 2nd pitch is rated 49. In 2 of the 3 leads that Wilkins blew in the ninth inning, my 51 PC rated catcher was in the game.

In summary, I believe the most important factors that make a closer great are:
1. High vsR rating
2. High PC rated catcher behind the plate
3. A defense optimized for your park and your pitcher's style (GB/FB)
4. Luck

How to maintain a minor league pitching staff

One big discussion over the last several seasons has been minor league pitching. There has been repeat offenders (no names, no blame) since the inception of MiLB.

Why is this such an important issue? Well, for starters it inflates the statistics for minor league hitters. It's very hard to gauge talent when all of your AAA hitters carry a .920 OPS despite not having any ratings out of the 50's. It's also simply not fair to those that do take every facet of the game seriously. Your minors should be run like your majors...with seriousness.

Now, we all know that not everyone sees the game of HBD in that way. The minor leagues are either a stepping stone or a non-factor. That ratings are the only thing that matters, so who cares if non-talented hitters look like Matt Kemp and Prince Fielder?

I understand both schools of thought. But regardless, the world has made a decision. Keep your minor league pitchers from going 0(0). Otherwise known as "arm falling off disease". So, what's the remedy???

• Approach minor league staffs like major league staffs. Who cares if the pitcher is absolute crap? As long as he can eat innings and stay out of that 0(0) zone you won't catch any flack.

• Starters should have 20-30 CURRENT durability, 70-90 health, and Stamina at least over 65. Have at least 5 starters, or sometimes 6.
• Carry two or three long relievers. Maybe not quite as durable, healthy, or good stamina but serviceable. (I'm not a fan of mop up guys, but it can't hurt)
• Carry four to five relievers.
• And here is the biggest trick...put several pitchers on your INACTIVE list for each team.
• Once all that is done go into the "management console" check "manage pitching staff" for all your minor leagues (don't check majors!) as well as "manage disabled list". 
• If you really want the most from your entire minor league team, and don't care that much about it, click "Recs" for each minor league team to ensure the best are being put in position.

If you follow those easy steps you will NEVER have a poor minor league pitching staff. You can check on it once a week just to be sure, but I've never had a problem with 0(0) pitchers unless I play a 19 inning game and everyone gets used.

Note: You can also pick up pitchers from the free agent list and choose "minors" and "pitchers". You can grab AAA, AA type pitchers from here for about $54k. Also, "gm office" > "contracts" > "tryout camp". This is a good place for A ball/rookie league players.

Hope this helps. If you have any feedback or want something added, just Trade Chat me.