MLB 2K6: Payoff Pitching

IGN: Do you aim a big looping curve like Zito's more than a more subtle curve, even if you use less power?

Wondra: That's part of the beauty of our Payoff Pitching mechanic-- each pitcher plays a little differently because not ever pitcher can be as effective as another. In the case you mentioned about Barry Zito, his curveball is so wicked that if you wanted to put maximum effort behind this pitch, you'd have to set your cursor (your breakpoint) somewhere near the top of the strike zone, knowing that it's going to break so much that it'll drop down through the bottom of the strike zone. Obviously for a pitcher you just brought up from AAA who doesn't possess such a potent curveball, you can attempt to repeat the same thing you did with Zito, but because this rookie's curveball isn't nearly as effective, his curveball will only break a little, so instead of it taking the dive like Zito's curve, the rookie's curveball is left hanging right near the heart of the plate. And, like I mentioned earlier, if you wanted to better pinpoint your curveball placement, you can by putting minimal effort behind a pitch, but it's not going to bend or break at all. At that point it's pretty much a BP fastball you just threw.

IGN: What are the keys to successfully aiming your pitches? How important is it to know the styles of individual pitchers?

Wondra: I think the real key to successfully aim your pitches is to get a better understanding as to the properties of each pitch...how it breaks, how it moves. We have "pitch break" arrows a user can access anytime they are on the mound by pulling in the R-Trigger to help novice users better understand what direction each pitch breaks as you put more effort behind a pitch. This year it's much more important to know the styles of individual pitchers because like I mentioned in the example above, not all pitchers throw each pitch as effectively as another. We really challenge the user to think like a pitcher this year and reward people for having a better understanding about their pitching staff.

IGN: In what way do you teach people how to throw a, say, screwball? (I remember seeing a system of arrows…)

Wondra: We do several things to help a user better understand the properties (pitch break directions) of each pitch. First, as just mentioned, a user can pull the R-Trigger at any point while on the mound for quick reference arrows as to how each pitch will break. As a helpful reminder, at the start of each inning we display these pitch break arrows for a brief moment to consistently help them along. Second, when actually starting up a pitch (holding down the pitch button), a user will begin to see an arrow revolving around their pitch cursor to show the spin being applied on the ball as you juice up your pitch. The rate of the spinning and the direction of the spinning arrow around this cursor is an indication of how much "effort" is being applied on a pitch as well as the direction the pitch will break.

IGN: Define when the "payoff pitch" ratings boost/drop situations occur? Every time there are two strikes? Full count? Runners in scoring position? One-run game? Does this happen with every batter? How many times a game does it occur?

Wondra: In baseball terms, a "Payoff Pitch" is referred to as a pitch made with the count at 3 balls and 2 strikes. We use the term more loosely than that. In our game, a "Payoff Pitch" is any pitch you make in which your individual pitch rating (say your curveball rating) can go up or down. Payoff pitches can't be completed at just any point in the game. The circumstances have to be right. Basically, Payoff Pitches can be made in "pressure" types of situations. When a batter has two strikes against him, when the pitcher is in a "pitching jam," when the opposing batter is having a "clutch at-bat," when there is a late inning, or when there is a "Showdown" between pitcher and batter, makes a Payoff Pitch an option for the user. We alert a user whenever a "Payoff Pitch" situation comes up by notifying them in our topline (where the score and game info is displayed). That way, they'll know when their pitcher is in a jam, for example, and why Payoff Pitching is now available to them. When a Payoff Pitch situation comes about, the user can then manually move their catcher to a location they desire using the right thumbstick. A user will see a zone light up that they are now challenged to hit. Basically, making a Payoff Pitch is a sort of confidence pitch. You're essentially saying to your catcher, "Put your target there and I'm gonna hit you right there." Payoff Pitch situations do not occur with every batter. It all depends on how the game is being played, but I'd say a pretty reasonable guess is that a user has the opportunity to make 15 - 20 Payoff Pitches in a game. A user is never forced to make a Payoff Pitch (missing their target can cause their pitch rating to go down), but the opportunities seem about right.

IGN: If pitches are rated on a 100-point scale, what is the range of boost or drop that comes with a successful or missed payoff pitch, respectively? One point? 10 points? How does this feature represent real baseball?

Wondra: This feature was actually inspired from a game I was watching between the Brewers and Braves last year. Ben Sheets struck out some 18 batters that game and toward the end of it, his curveball was absolutely unhittable. It got BETTER throughout the course of the game. You could see the confidence he had in his curveball growing as the game went on and near the end, his catcher would be setting his target near the bottom of the zone knowing Sheet's was going to drop a wicked curveball right into his mitt. This feature is meant to represent those times when a pitcher either has a pitch working for him or working against him on a given day. Some days pitchers have it with a given pitch, some days they don't.

Pitches are rated on a 100 point scale but we actually allow pitches to go above that number if a user is able to really nail his targets with a specific pitch time and time again. The range of pitch rating boosts or drops is dependant on several factors. The first factor is how much effort you put on a pitch. It's fairly easy to hit the catcher's target with a minimal effort pitch so your pitch rating in that case would only go up 1 point. It's much more challenging to hit the catcher's target with a max effort Barry Zito curveball, so if you can do that, you'll get a bonus of +3. The second factor is the difficulty of the pitch type itself. Fastballs and changeups are easier to hit your marks with than curveballs or knuckleballs (oh those random knuckleballs!), so the higher difficulty the pitch type, the better bonus you'll get. The last factor is if you used the catcher's suggested pitch type. When you have the Inside Edge on a batter, your catcher will suggest pitches to make against a batter based on his real life tendencies and weaknesses. You get an additional pitch-rating boost if you used the catcher's suggested pitch. I'd say that the highest a pitch rating would ever go up on a given Payoff Pitch given all the perfect scenarios would be a +5. Although I have yet to see a +5 myself the typical ratings boost is in the +2 to +3 neighborhood.

IGN: If you hit the catcher's spot, especially with Inside Edge, what are the chances that the hitter gets wood on the ball? Is a perfect pitch a guaranteed K? What if you don't have the inside edge?

Wondra: I think people are really going to be pleased with how Inside Edge has been implemented into our game this year. Inside Edge is meant to reflect real-life tendencies and it does just that. Yes, the catcher will spot pitches where he thinks the hitter will swing and miss, or where he thinks the batter will hit weakly, but it's not guaranteed the results will be positive. In playtesting this feature, following the catcher's suggestions does tilt the odds in your favor but the results are not guaranteed to be positive. Like in real baseball, there are times when a guy will hit it well anyway or times where he'll get that bloop single off of the pitcher, even though they hit their catcher's target perfectly. There is definitely no guaranteed K's or "patterns" to figure out versus hitters in our game. Inside Edge reflects tendencies and not truths.

The whole idea behind Inside Edge is that when playing previous baseball video games, I never knew what I was supposed to throw against a guy because I didn't know what those players actually knew about each other. I had no guidance, no reference as to how to be successful against them. I was basically just picking pitches at random because I didn't know how to approach a hitter. Having the Inside Edge is meant to remedy that problem and give users actual, useful information about how to attack a hitter to increase their odds of success. If you don't have the Inside Edge you can still be successful, but your odds are not as good because you won't know how to go about exploiting their weaknesses. You might make a pitch that a hitter is strong against in a zone they're strong against, but you won't know this because you won't have that information.

IGN: When is it a good idea to do a payoff pitch? When is it a good time to decline the payoff pitch attempt?

Wondra: Obviously, different people are going to play the game differently, so really, I think it's all a matter of personal opinion. Basically, I think it's a good idea to make a payoff pitch if you feel confident enough in your ability to hit the catcher's target. When you know how your pitches are going to break and how much, you probably stand a decent chance of hitting your mark. If you're not confident in your ability to hit the catcher's target, I'd probably advise against it. However, the whole "game within a game" is so much fun that some people might prefer to attempt it all the time!

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