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Originally Posted by Reikazawa
Defense on the macro level works now in OOTP. I can collect elite defensive players for my team, and my team BABIP will follow accordingly. I just dont have any measure of how much on a player level. Also, I dont think the AI uses defense much in evaluation, so this is another area that handicaps it.
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I agree with this, especially that the player evaluation system undervalues defence.
Quote:
Originally Posted by satchel
More defensive stats would be nice. The inclusion of range factor is already a huge plus.
When you conceptualize the aspects of a defensive player's skills, it's really pretty simple: range, arm, and frequency of errors just about covers it. I don't think that OOTP needs to expand on that too much.
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There are two things I'd like to see (in addition to the defensive stats): The first would be much easier to apply to a fictional game than to a modern MLB or historical, and that is seperate error ratings for catching the ball and throwing it. I suppose most errors are on throws, so for most positions it wouldn't make much difference, but especially at first base, and to a lesser extent behind the plate, whether or not the fielder can corral bad throws is vitally important. I have no idea if that data is available for real players, but it should be easy enough to apply to fictionals.
Second, I think range factor may be being underutilized. In Strat-O-Matic each stadium has three foul zone values (down the right line, down the left line and behind the plate). I loved playing in Dodger Stadium because all three had the value 'huge', and every starter on my team had a range factor of '1', so I got a lot of free outs that other teams couldn't match.
This could be a very neat feature that would vary with eras. In the pre-Yankee Stadium period nearly every field had small to non-existant foul territories. From the '20s to the '80s there were several stadiums with enormous foul ground, sometimes biased to one side of the field or the other, and others with moderate to small areas. In the modern era foul ground is shrinking as the owners emphasize getting the spectators close to the field.