Quote:
Originally Posted by Thalion
What I'm surmising is that most people seem to be building elite hitting by acquiring power hitting players. After all, "chicks dig the long ball". I haven't figured out how to completely take elite hitting out of the game, but I'm going to minimize the effect of power by getting pitchers with high movement and control. (That and the fact that I've adjusted my HR factors). I attempt to reduce the overall effect of elite hitting by using elite defenders.
|
100% this.
The strategy seems to hold its own just fine, at least for me so far. I've gone the same route (elite defense, stuff<movement<control for every SP and most relievers, generally elite bullpen, lots of contact hitters with no power, etc.) and won my last league's WS against playoff teams that all had Mike Trout and a raft of other power hitters.
The power hitting game works pretty well over the course of a season, but against the right pitchers and defense it's inconsistent enough in a short series to be extremely problematic. And, usually, clumsy power hitters will make at least an error or two in the field (Trout excepted, because he's Trout and somehow does both), which is all a fast, smallball team needs to win games.
You're completely correct though that the strategy needs to be committed to 100% for it to work. There can't be any holes in your defense, and all your pitchers and park factors need to support leaning into that defense hard. Then, the offense has to be carefully bolstered without sacrificing defense (boost gap power modifiers, and wreak havoc with relatively cheap contact/gap power guys that still have good defense - Paul Blair is an excellent CF when 2B/3B ratios are at 1.5, for example... Put up 7.6 WAR for me, and is much cheaper than Trout).