Okay, so I’ve been sinking a lot of hours into MLB The Show lately, like, really getting into managing my team, especially the bullpen. One thing kept bugging me – seeing that ‘Hold’ stat (H) pop up for relief pitchers sometimes, but not always. I wanted to figure out, you know, how do you actually get credited with a hold in this game? It wasn’t super obvious just from playing casually.
My First Tries and Head Scratching
Alright, so my first thought was, maybe you just bring a guy in when you’re winning? So I tried that. Brought in my middle reliever when we were up by like, 8 runs in the 6th inning. He pitched okay, got some outs. Looked at the box score later… no hold. Hmm.
Then I thought, okay, maybe it’s gotta be later in the game? Tried bringing a guy in the 8th, still with a big lead. Pitched a clean inning. Still no hold credited. Clearly, just winning wasn’t enough.
I messed around bringing guys in during tied games, or when we were losing, just to see what happened. Yeah, definitely no holds there, which kinda makes sense. A hold implies you’re, well, holding a lead for the next guy.
Focusing on Closer Situations (Almost)
This got me thinking about saves. A save situation is usually a close game, late innings. So I started bringing relievers into those spots. Like, bottom of the 7th, up by two runs. I bring in my setup guy. He gets through the inning, maybe gets one out in the 8th before I pull him for my closer.
That’s when I started seeing it! The hold stat started appearing next to that setup pitcher’s name in the game summary. So, the key seemed to be:
- You gotta bring in a relief pitcher (obviously not the starter).
- Your team has to be winning when they come into the game.
- It needs to be a relatively close game. Not necessarily a “save situation” by the strict definition for that pitcher, but close enough that the lead isn’t massive. Like, maybe three runs or fewer seemed to be the sweet spot I noticed.
- The pitcher has to get at least one out. Can’t just bring a guy in, walk someone, and yank him immediately.
- Super important: They can’t finish the game if it’s still a save situation for the team. Someone else needs to come in after them and secure the final outs (usually the closer getting the save). Or, the score changes so it’s no longer a save situation when they leave.
- They have to leave the game with the team still in the lead. If they give up the lead, no hold, obviously.
Putting it Together – The Bullpen Strategy
So, I started actually managing my bullpen with this in mind. Let’s say I’m up 4-2 in the 7th inning. Starter’s tired. I bring in Reliever A. He pitches a scoreless 7th. Then, maybe he gets one out in the 8th. The score is still 4-2. Now I bring in my closer, Reliever B, to get the last five outs.
What happens? Reliever A gets the hold because he came in with the lead, kept the lead, got outs, and left the game before the end, handing it over to the next guy while still ahead. Reliever B gets the save because he finished the game preserving that lead under save conditions.
It kinda clicked then. The hold is really for that bridge guy, the setup man who successfully passes the baton to the closer (or another reliever) without dropping it.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, figuring this out wasn’t some complex code-breaking thing. It was just playing the game, paying attention to when that ‘H’ showed up, and trying different scenarios. It makes managing the bullpen way more interesting now, thinking about who earns the hold versus who gets the save. It’s just one of those little details that adds a layer to the game once you get the hang of it. Took some trial and error, but feels good to know how it works now.
