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11
HITTING COACH
Anyone can press
A
to swing the bat, but great hitters learn
pitch recognition, bat control, and how to make solid contact.
PICKING A PITCH TO SWING AT
The first rule of hitting is, “
Don’t swing unless it’s a strike
.”
Curves, sliders, and splitters that look like strikes at first will
usually end up out of the strike zone, or may look like balls
(especially if they’re coming in high) and end up strikes.
ASK NOMAR
Any tips on guessing what the pitcher’s gonna throw?
If you’re ahead in the count, you’ll probably get
something over the plate; if you’re behind, hope
for something hittable. Another
tactic is to wait for a
particular pitch. If you’re
looking for a fastball and
see junk, you might let the
breaking ball go and look
for heat on the next pitch. All
pitchers have a best pitch (the
button with a star next to it)—
expect it whenever the pitcher
is in a jam.
PRECISION BATTING
To try to pull the ball, hit the other
way, or slap one through the infield,
press the D-pad to adjust the bat
position as you press
A
to swing.
BUNTING
“Sacrifice” to advance base runners
or try to bunt for a base hit by
pressing and holding
Y
.
NOMAR’S BATTING TIPS
Moving in the Batter’s Box:
Before each pitch, press
the D-pad to move the hitter within the batter’s box.
Hitting for Power:
Press
b
to take a big cut. Your
odds of popping up and striking out are higher,
but, hey, what’s more satisfying than crushing the
long ball?
Situational Hitting:
Sacrifice flys/bunts, hit & runs,
opposite field hitting, and so on, are referred to as
situational hitting
. Develop these skills using the
Create/Train Player feature in the Situational Hitting
Training Track.
Exploiting Pitcher Fatigue:
Keep an eye on the
Pitcher Stamina Bar: if it’s
yellow, the pitcher is getting
tired; if it’s red, the pitcher is throwing meatballs.
PINCH-HITTING
A pinch hitter comes off the bench to replace another player
in the batting order. Most commonly, pinch hitters are used
to bat for weak-hitting pitchers (if the DH Rule is not in effect)
when it’s more important to try to generate some offense than
keep the current pitcher in the game. Pinch hitters are also
used to create favorable matchups, such as a left-handed hitter
against a right-handed pitcher, or a power hitter against a
power pitcher.
To use a pinch hitter
1. When the player you want to pinch-hit for is next in the
lineup, press START.
2. From the Pause Menu, select (Your Team’s) Lineup.
3. From the Lineup screen, select a player to pinch-hit, and
then press
A
. The pinch hitter takes the previous player’s
place both in the batting order
and
in the field. For this
reason, after pinch-hitting for a pitcher, you’ll need to
replace the pinch hitter with a relief pitcher.
