Quote:
Originally Posted by robc
Even if the steps are not logical, it doesn't mean the results won't be believable or meaningful. Even if it decides after the fact that a good fielder stole a hit or a bad fielder turned an out to a hit, it is better than nothing and a players range will probably become more meaningful (I hope).
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I think the results will be, on the whole, believable. The game has historically put a premium on realistic stats output, so this probably won't be any different.
My main beef is that the engine has, up to this point, used the whole defensive setup to determine outcomes of balls in play. This does not allow the player to take advantage of roster strategies such as concentrating on a great defensive outfield for a flyball staff or great infield defense for a groundball-leaning staff. Other nuanced details such as assigning a "Spray" righty or "Pull" lefty to hit #2 behind the high OBP leadoff hitter are rendered irrelevant because the field location results of the balls in play don't actually factor in to the play's outcome. Whether assigning zones to balls after the engine has decided whether it's a hit or out based on the entire defensive alignment is "meaningful" is up to the individual player. I suspect that the fielding stats won't add a huge amount of information to what we can get in fielding ratings, since the results are based off the ratings and not unique batting events. This aids the player who plays with large scouting error or no ratings, but not the player who has relatively accurate scouting or scouts off. I should add that the new stats won't be completely devoid of value (we will get an indication of the value of fielding relative to hitting), but the system could be revamped and result in a more realistic simulation.