Baseball Newbies Campus

[BradZ]

Ummm, thanks Bradz, it means that in some cases you have to choose between a good batter or a good defender... Damn

Yes, it's a common issue with baseball roster building. There are spots on the defensive side where teams often "hide" less stellar defensive players (1B being the most often used). Your most important defensive positions are typically "up the middle" C, SS, 2B and CF.

[Sharkn20]

Yes, it's a common issue with baseball roster building. There are spots on the defensive side where teams often "hide" less stellar defensive players (1B being the most often used). Your most important defensive positions are typically "up the middle" C, SS, 2B and CF.

Cool! Just grading the pitchers of my SP now and see how my team reacts. Next week's (SIM) games will grade the batters

[Sharkn20]

When we grade the pitchers... A big number of Stuff is positive or negative?? Is better movement of the pitch or control?? Or obviusly a good combination of all??

Ratings of the pitchers change every game??

How is possible that my better graded Overall pitcher has an era of 32.85?? He is throwing right in the bat of the batters!! He shouldnīt be the best pitcher in my team, when others are performing a lot better than him... Or just the ratings are false??

[Lintyfresh85]

Ok.

There's 3 ratings

Control
Movement
Stuff

Control = amount of walks a pitcher usually gives = higher rating = less walks
Movement = how many hits a pitcher usually gives up = higher ratings = less hits/Home Runs, lower ratings = higher BABIP (somewhat can be controlled by better fielders... but mostly a pitcher rating)
Stuff = how many strikeouts a pitcher usually gets = higher ratings = more strikeouts

Also, ratings are color coded.

Red = worst
Orange = 2nd worst
Yellow = average
Green = good
Blue = great

[Matt]

Ratings can change on your scout. OSA and your scout will sometimes be very different.

If you are playing SP sim a few seasons and at the end of the year see who produced and who didn't.

From the manual:

Stuff

Stuff is a measure of the quality of a pitcher's pitch repertoire. Think of it as essentially how a pitcher "puts it all together." Stuff directly affects the number of strikeouts a pitcher throws. Stuff is calculated based on a combination of his individual pitch ratings and the velocity with which he throws.

Relief pitchers receive a small bonus to stuff, to reflect the fact that batters get fewer looks at their pitches and have less of a chance to adjust to them. OOTP displays that bonus in the form of increased Stuff ratings. This bonus is heavily tied into the strength of a reliever's top two pitches, since relievers have much less incentive to mix in their weaker offerings. This means that a pitcher with a strong fastball, a strong slider, and a weak changeup might make for an average starting pitcher but a great reliever. You get to decide how he provides the most useful fit for your team. You can see the change in a pitcher's Stuff rating if you change the player's position from SP to MR and back.

Movement

Movement is a measure of the movement on a pitcher's pitches. It is harder for batters to make good contact with pitches that have good movement. As a result, pitchers with high Movement ratings tend to give up fewer home runs. Movement is calculated based on factors including ground ball %.

Control

Control is a measure of a pitcher's accuracy. Pitchers with good Control ratings tend to walk fewer batters.

Velocity

Velocity is a measure of how fast a pitcher throws. Velocity is not measured according to the standard rating system, but rather is measured in miles per hour. Velocity can change over time, with younger players typically gaining velocity as they fill out, and losing velocity due to age or injury. Velocity is important for certain pitches that are heavily dependent upon velocity. For example, a fastball relies heavily upon velocity, while a knuckleball does not. Velocity is factored into the overall Stuff rating, as well as the ratings of individual pitches.

Stamina

Stamina is a measure of how many pitches a pitcher can throw before tiring. Tired pitchers are more likely to walk hitters or give up hits. Pitchers with high Stamina ratings tend to be used as starting pitchers, while pitchers with low Stamina ratings tend to be used as relief pitchers. The bare minimum endurance (now called Stamina) needed in order to start is 25 on a 1-100 scale, but most starters should have at least a 50.

Hold Runners

Hold Runners is a measure of a pitcher's ability to hold runners on base. It is harder for runners on base to steal against pitchers who have high Hold Runners ratings. A combination of a pitcher with a good Hold Runners rating and a catcher with a good arm can significantly reduce the chances of opponents attempting stolen bases.

Ground Ball %

Ground Ball % is a measure of how many balls hit off this pitcher are ground balls as compared to fly balls. Pitchers with high Ground Ball % ratings tend to get more ground outs and double plays. Pitchers with low Ground Ball % ratings tend to have a lower BABIP (batting average on balls in play), because fly balls are generally more likely to turn into outs than ground balls. The presence of a curveball or sinker correlates to a higher groundball percentage. Ground ball % is factored into the overall Movement rating.

Batter Ratings
Contact

Contact is a measure of how good a player is at getting his bat on the ball. Contact directly affects a player's batting average. Players with high Contact ratings are more likely to put the ball in play and get more hits, with a higher batting average. Contact, however, has no direct effect on what the result of a hit will be.

Gap Power

Gap Power is a measure of how much power a player has to the gaps - the places in the outfield between the left fielder and center fielder, and between the center fielder and right fielder. Gap Power directly affects the number of doubles and triples a player hits. Gap Power, however, has no direct effect on home runs, or on the likelihood that a player will make contact.

Home Run Power

Home Run Power directly affects the number of home runs a player hits. Home Run Power, however, has no direct effect on the likelihood that a player will make contact.

Eye

Eye/Discipline is a measure of how well a player assesses incoming pitches and determines whether they will be balls or strikes. Eye/Discipline directly affects the number of times a player walks. However, Eye/Discipline has no direct effect on the likelihood that a player will make contact, or strike out.

Avoid K's

Avoid K's is a measure of how well a player avoids striking out. Avoid K's directly affects the number of times a player strikes out. For example, players with high Avoid K's ratings are more likely to foul off pitches with two strikes than to go down swinging.

[Carlos]

How many games did this starter throw? To have a 32 ERA, I'm going to guess it's been one or two games at most.

There are going to be poor performances from guys. I've always felt baseball is easier to evaluate over the course of a season. It's not like football or basketball where one game can most usually give you an idea the talent of a player.

Your best hitter could go 0-4 in three straight games while your worst could be 2-4 in those same three games. Over time you'll see the averages even out and players perform to what you expect.

That is assuming they aren't declining in talent.

sent from my mobile device

[Ryan]

Isn't there a manual or something that will explain a lot of this?

[Carlos]

Isn't there a manual or something that will explain a lot of this?

I don't think the OOTP manual explains baseball. But maybe it does.

sent from my mobile device

[Sharkn20]

I don't think the OOTP manual explains baseball. But maybe it does.

sent from my mobile device

It explains a lot things, is really useful but I would like to dig in asking the BLB's experts! :)

Do the ratings change after every game or week?? Or when are they tired?? Cause I can see the ratings of my pitchers going up and down every SIM...

[Carlos]

It explains a lot things, is really useful but I would like to dig in asking the BLB's experts! :)

Do the ratings change after every game or week?? Or when are they tired?? Cause I can see the ratings of my pitchers going up and down every SIM...

What rating system are you using? Sounds like you're going with a 100 point scale. Or you're in commissioner mode.

Are you using scouts?

sent from my mobile device

[Sharkn20]

What rating system are you using? Sounds like you're going with a 100 point scale. Or you're in commissioner mode.

Are you using scouts?

sent from my mobile device

Exactly I am using 100 point system and using the scout of my team... I have to say that is a DSL league with young players between 18 and 23 years most of them...

[Sharkn20]

All right, just realize that the ratings changes in the pitchers when I change them between SP, MR and CL, but until after the next game doesnīt be reflected!

Doubt solved! Enjoying starting to win games so far, 4-6 during the first 10 games, AI does everything but I make the substitutions at the moment, donīt allow the AI to blown more games!

Looking forward for the next set of questions, this time batters / defenders...

What do you think is more efective?? To have batters with great Strength but low contact, or opposite way? Do we prefer to hit less balls but with more strength? Or more balls without strength?? Cause itīs very hard for me to score runs!

[funclown]

All right, just realize that the ratings changes in the pitchers when I change them between SP, MR and CL, but until after the next game doesnīt be reflected!

Doubt solved! Enjoying starting to win games so far, 4-6 during the first 10 games, AI does everything but I make the substitutions at the moment, donīt allow the AI to blown more games!

Looking forward for the next set of questions, this time batters / defenders...

What do you think is more efective?? To have batters with great Strength but low contact, or opposite way? Do we prefer to hit less balls but with more strength? Or more balls without strength?? Cause itīs very hard for me to score runs!

You also need guys who get on base by drawing walks (the eye rating). For me they serve 2 fold. 1) Your power or high gap hitter have someone on base to drive in runs and 2). Forces the opposing pitcher to throw pitches and wear them down (pitchers stamina rating)

Your using a 1-100 rating system so best guess is no matter how high the kids power rating is probably should never start a hitter was a contact rating lower then 35.

[Sharkn20]

You also need guys who get on base by drawing walks (the eye rating). For me they serve 2 fold. 1) Your power or high gap hitter have someone on base to drive in runs and 2). Forces the opposing pitcher to throw pitches and wear them down (pitchers stamina rating)

Your using a 1-100 rating system so best guess is no matter how high the kids power rating is probably should never start a hitter was a contact rating lower then 35.

Great!! Thanks! ! Let's try this one and see how it goes! [emoji1]

[Guest]

Shark, 10 games isn't nearly enough time to evaluate people. Baseball seasons are looooooong and it takes about 200 at bats to get a good feel for a player.

This isn't FOF where you have 16 games to judge by.

By all means pay attention to hot and cold streaks, but don't go nuts and make too many changes because it becomes much harder to figure out if what you did had any effect, positive or negative. What you may take to be bad play may simply be a cold streak. Or the opposing team is on a hot streak. Or too many away games in a row. Or it could be a string of night games with the wind blowing 7 mph from the southwest while the moon was waxing gibbous.

Tldr: Don't micromanage too much when starting out.

(Also, turn off ratings. Play stats only. )