Quote:
Originally Posted by Orcin
Doesn't league normalization affect contact hitters in the same way?
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it does, and i think that's the problem. if i understand the basics of how this all works (and i may not), power determines what percentage of eligible in-play outcomes are homeruns. however, low contact (babip, hidden) and low avoid ks both work to reduce the number of homerun opportunities the player has, as does a high eye rating.
in other words, power has an effective maximum which is gated by a combination of in-play out rate (the inverse of babip), walk rate, and strikeout rate. of these, the contact stat on a player's card would be the strongest obvious indicator of how high that ceiling is-- even though it is indirect.
as you move through the levels, pitchers' stuff ratings and batters' contact ratings both inflate-- and squeeze out homerun opportunities from those who get left behind. the homeruns are still coming, they're just going to players like joe dimaggio... in the meantime, less well-rounded players see their babip plummet and k's soar when their skills are normalized against history's greatest hitters and they are batting against hall of famer pitchers every day... because just like the homeruns-- a full season's worth of strikeouts and lazy fly balls have to go somewhere.