Maximize saves by one pitcher? High inning pitcher such as Silver King finishing every game.. Not the most efficient strategy to win max games but the best way to get one guy with a ton of Saves. Just like you can maximize Wins by using a very high IP as your only long reliever and don't let your starters go 5 innings. A bad strategy but it accomplishes the stated goal.

I've been inspired by the success of some low cap teams that I want to try this again. Exactly the plan rbow923 mentioned, but with the 495ip Ed Walsh. That allows for at least 4ip over 110 appearances, which help keep us under the IP/g degradation for a SP in relief, and fatigue limit in total games. I can also just drop him right in top of a 60mm cap team for an Open League. The question is how to maximize his appearances - I will play around with all of the prior suggestions.

My top question for you guys is - "save situation" - is any 3+ inning appearance with a lead a "save situation" to Sparky? It counts as a save but I don't know if that's layered into the logic.

495ip might be overkill. The sweet spot might be like the 329mm Joss set to save situations in the 6th or later.

no if you set him as Closer, sparky will rarely bring him in before the eighth inning. your best bet would be to set it up such that he's the first guy out of the bullpen.

since you need to be winning at the time the super closer comes in, i think you'd be better off with a lot fewer innings than 495. how often will you be ahead in the 6th or 7th inning with a $60M team in an Open League? i'd say less than half the games, then you'd need Walsh to hold the lead which won't always happen.

Ok here's where I'm at - 329ip Joss at Long A set to come in 5th inning or later. The rest of my pen Long B set to 6th inning. Maybe one of them earlier and a low pitch count, in case a starter gets shelled (or maybe a couple mop ups set to only losing for this purpose). I'm pretty confident my starters will go at least 5-6 but very rarely 7 (~80 pitches). That way Joss comes in between the 5th and 7th just about every time, with enough pitches to finish it out. It's a Petco speed/defense team so hopefully they grab enough leads in those first 5-6 innings.

I don't love the all-closer plan because Support can't confirm if a Closer A will be called early enough in the game, if it's not a small lead. I want to rack up 3+ inning saves regardless of lead size.

What would you guys change about this?

6th inning or later he can't get a save if he comes in then

You're right. I need the others to get through at least 5.to qualify for the W. Maybe I go Long A 6th inning and the rest of my non mop ups are Long B Any 10/10 ? That way the starters and Long Bs fill any gap through 5, and with a lead someone will get the win, but they are unlikely to get through the 6th (preserving the 3+ inning save). Any pitcher that comes in during the 5th and capped at 10 pitches probably won't go more than 1.1 innings.

one more work-around for the 5 inning qualifier - I am going to use tandems with an opener, so the tandem B will be eligible for a win even if they don't go the full 5. we're getting somewhere!

good luck tpistolas!

it's an interesting question how much to spend on the super closer, obviously the more innings the closer can pitch the more save opportunities he will have, but if he's eating up too much of the budget that will reduce the number of save chances since the rest of the team won't be good enough to get him enough leads.

i'm probably too busy but if i start having more time i might try something with 2016 Clayton Kershaw as the super closer, can't pitch as many innings obviously but the rest of the team can still be pretty strong.

I've begun testing different bullpen heirarchies with a super-long Closer (329ip Joss, set to Any and 120/120) and behind a elite tandem that goes 70/70 (almost always 5-6 innings). The first problem I've run into - an entire bullpen of one Closer A and the rest Closer Bs - the Closer A never comes in before the 7th, regardless of situation. Even with a one run lead it will defer to a Closer B and work backwards. Likewise, it would prioritize any Long or Setup above the Closer A before the 7th. This tells me that the 3+ inning save is NOT built into the Closer logic. So I have now moved to one Long A and the rest Long B. That gets Joss in the game first every time the game is relatively close, but not necessarily with a lead. Mop Ups cover the big deficits. If the team wins 100+ and my tandems are terrific, that could mean 70+ save opps (ANY lead after 5/6). I think this is the best course, but I'm also going to attempt combos of Setup A/Long Bs and Long A/Setup Bs. I think "Setup" is reserved for late-and-close situations, which I'm guessing also means 7th or later. How that works vs a Long A or B, I don't know. I'll report back as I learn more.