Yes, you guessed it right – we’ve got yet another baseball-themed game to celebrate the recent kickoff of the 2017 MLB season. MLB Perfect Inning Live was recently released for iOS and Android devices by Gamevil, and it’s a game that comes with “perfect players and perfect innings.” You’ve got all 30 MLB teams included in the game, with realistic, real-life lineups and players, and a career mode where you can play as your favorite team across multiple seasons, completing missions and achievements for more goodies. There’s also season mode, where you can play through the course of one season in hopes of winning the World Series, and if you aren’t that hardcore a sports gamer, you can take part in PvP batting battles against real players – human players, that is, and not AI opponents!
For our MLB Perfect Inning Live strategy guide, we’re going to change things up, and we hope you saw what we did there. In previous baseball game strategy guides, we took the usual, general route, but this time, we’re going to be focusing on that one element in the game that arguably serves as the heart of your defense – pitching. Read on, as we offer some tips and tricks that can help you make the most out of your rotation and bullpen.
1. Know Your Pitch Types
MLB: Perfect Inning Live has seven types of pitches you can throw, and for the benefit of those who aren’t too familiar with the game (may it be this title or the sport of baseball in general), we shall explain how each of these pitches works. The general pitching mechanic is easy – use the selection wheel in the center to choose the pitch, and move the controller on the right of your screen to match the pitch placement before throwing it.
For starters, your four-seam fastball (4FB) is essentially the classic pitch in your arsenal – it may all depend on the pitcher, but in most cases, this represents the fastest and hardest pitch they throw. But since this is a hard throw, it’s similarly hard on your pitchers, so you wouldn’t want to overdo it when it comes to using 4FB in games.
The two-seam fastball (2FB) is a slower version of the four-seam fastball – it’s still pretty fast, but it moves in a similar way to a screwball. When throwing the 2FB, the ideal way to do so would be to make sure there is a slight break, allowing it to move down and veer away from the batter while in mid-air.
The cutter (CUT) is another take on the fastball, and it travels across a pitcher’s body as it laterally makes it way to the batter. While there is no break on the ball, this pitch is designed to confuse batters by merely allowing them to make very little contact with it, making for a rather weak hit.
The sinker (SNK) is yet another fastball-like pitch, and is distinguishable by its sharp downward trajectory. If batters come into contact with a sinker, this would ideally result in a ground ball, one which the infield can easily collect for the out.
Moving on to pitches that are completely different from the classic fastball, the curveball (CB) is just that – it curves while in mid-air, allowing for the hardest break. It is usually the slowest pitch, and is designed to throw off batters who may likely be expecting a fastball.
The slider (SL) is similar to the curveball, only with more velocity and less lateral movement. This trade-off still makes this a rather difficult pitch for batters to hit.
The change-up (CHU) looks like a fastball, but is considerably slower – this is one of those off-speed pitches designed to throw off batters by making them swing early, only for them to swing at the air.
2. Mix Up Your Pitches
If you keep throwing fastballs, opposing batters will have you figured out easy once you’ve gotten one or two of them out. The same applies if you’re extremely partial to sliders, curveballs, or whatnot. The key to effective pitching is to mix it up, especially in the first few innings of the game. But which pitches should you be favoring over others, depending on the situation?
Generally, you should be going with those pitches that break down and away, allowing for contact underneath the tip of, or at the small of the bat. This greatly reduces power, and also reduces the chances that the batter will make a successful hit. Also make sure you’re looking at where the batter is located in relation to your pitching arm; this is also important when choosing pitches.
3. How To Follow Through With The Rest Of Your Pitch
In the first tip, we told you how to choose a pitch and set it up. But you’ll also need to aim and throw it properly, which is what we’re going to be teaching you in this tip. When aiming, use the left controller – that’s located to the left of the selection wheel for your pitch type. Moving that controller around will make the white dot in the middle of the strike zone move around. Hold on to the pitch button once you’ve decided on the right aim, but when we say “hold,” we mean “hold,” and not just “tap.” The longer you hold, the harder you will throw, but once again, don’t overdo it with those high-velocity throws, so as not to wear your pitcher out too soon. But if your pitcher’s still got a lot left in his tank, you want to wait until you’re at the yellow zone before releasing. Speaking of things like that, though, we might as well talk about the other zones that aren’t quite “optimal.”
4. How To Conserve Your Pitcher’s Stamina
The yellow zone, as we mentioned, is the optimal zone for pitching. But there are a few other zones underneath it, including the “normal” zone, where pitches are weaker, yet less taxing on your pitcher. These could allow you to conserve your pitcher’s energy, especially if he’s the team’s ace – you want your best pitchers to last longer than usual, so don’t wear them out too much with those hard throws. It’s a good idea to alternate between “optimal” and “normal” pitches in the first couple innings or so.
5. Avoid These Pitching Zones At All Costs
On the other side of the fence, there are two zones which you want to absolutely avoid in as much as possible. The blue zone is the “overpitch” zone, and that’s where you’ll be letting loose with slightly wild throws, using too much energy in the process. That might not be much of a problem, especially if your pitcher isn’t gassed quite yet. But it’s the red zone that’s the real must-avoid zone – this is the “fail” zone, and while you may get lucky and throw a strike, you may also be wild to the point that you’ll end up serving a game-changing home run. So how do you avoid this red zone?
When it comes to avoiding the red zone, we would suggest releasing a bit too early, or in the upper portion of the normal zone, if you’re caught in a compromising spot. But avoiding the red zone is going to become progressively harder to do as your pitcher gets more and more winded; as your pitcher tires, the red zone grows and the yellow zone gets smaller.
6. When Should You Be Turning To Your Bullpen?
Your bullpen, for those unfamiliar with the term, is your stable of relief pitchers, pretty much. And since this isn’t the old days of baseball you’re playing in MLB Perfect Inning Live, you can’t expect your starters, even your aces, to last all nine innings all the time. (Complete games are, in fact, a comparative rarity in this day and age!) So with all that said, you’ll need to know when to sit your pitchers in this game.
More often than not, you should be yanking your pitchers when the red circle begins to flash around your release circle, or when the normal zone comprises less than half of the circle. It will all depend on the pitcher and on the situation, but there are some other considerations to keep in mind. For example, you may keep your slightly-winded pitcher on the mound if he’s really that good, if you, as the player, are really that good in timing your release, or if you’ve got a painfully thin bullpen.
There you have it! That’s all you need to succeed in MLB Perfect Inning Live. If you happen to know more tips and tricks for the game, feel free to drop us a line in the comment area below!