Kyle Schwarber the Catcher?

[rakosnik]

In OOTP 17 Kyle Schwarber doesn't have a rating at catcher at all. He has a Catcher arm rated at 41 and Cather ability of 26. In real life at all levels of baseball he has played 93 games at catcher (more than any other position) and 759.2 innings (more than any other position). Before he was injured this season the Cubs planned on Schwarber being the personal catcher of Jason Hamel. With all of that he should have some kind of a rating at the catching position and perhaps his ratings for catching ability and catcher arm should be higher.

I'm going to edit Schwarber's catcher ratings. What would be fair ratings for his rating at catcher, catching ability and catcher arm?

[Lukas Berger]

Originally Posted by rakosnik

In OOTP 17 Kyle Schwarber doesn't have a rating at catcher at all. He has a Catcher arm rated at 41 and Cather ability of 26. In real life at all levels of baseball he has played 93 games at catcher (more than any other position) and 759.2 innings (more than any other position). Before he was injured this season the Cubs planned on Schwarber being the personal catcher of Jason Hamel. With all of that he should have some kind of a rating at the catching position and perhaps his ratings for catching ability and catcher arm should be higher.

I'm going to edit Schwarber's catcher ratings. What would be fair ratings for his rating at catcher, catching ability and catcher arm?

The media floated that idea, but it was by no means supported by the Cubs actions. Most scouts and others in the know think Schwarber can't catch at the MLB level at all, whatever he did in MiLB or college.

The 50 and 80 he gets in the roster set are actually fairly accurate. You could just add some more experience if you wanted to and he'll then have a rating at C in game..

If you're being objective, there's no way to break it down other than that he's a major liability at catcher though, so I wouldn't over do it.

Still, it's your game, so play it your way!

[rakosnik]

Originally Posted by lukasberger

The media floated that idea, but it was by no means supported by the Cubs actions.

This article, Joe Maddon Pleased with Jason Hammel Kyle Schwarber Battery, says otherwise and includes quotes from both Cubs manager Joe Maddon as well as Cubs GM Jed Hoyer. So its not just the media floating the idea. I could find many other links, but I hope this is enough to prove my point. There was a high chance that the Cubs were going to play Schwarber at catcher a fair amount of time this season.

Originally Posted by lukasberger

Most scouts and others in the know think Schwarber can't catch at the MLB level at all.... If you're being objective, there's no way to break it down other than that he's a major liability at catcher though, so I wouldn't over do it.

I agree with you that Kyle Schwarber is not a great defensive catcher. My point is not that he is a great defensive catcher. My point is that his ratings at catcher are too low even for him. He has a lot of experience at catcher in the minors, some experience at catcher in the majors and it was planned for him to play some at catcher this season.

Ian Desmond has crazy high defensive ratings as an outfielder for someone who had only played 8.1 innings as an outfielder coming into this season. Yes outfield is an easier position to pickup than catcher. But if we us Desmond as an example OOTP has showed that a team's plan to use a player at a position in the upcoming season has an influence on that player's defensive rating. OOTP did that for Desmond. They didn't do that for Schwarber.

Also the Cubs have always thought more of Kyle Schwaber as a catcher than the rest of baseball. Maybe they are wrong or maybe they end up with the next Mike Piazza. The rest of baseball also thought that the Cubs drafted him too early in armature draft. Then he hit all of those home runs in the post season. But the Cubs are being smart about him. They aren't fully committed to Schwarber as their catcher of the future. The Cubs also have Wilson Contreras, the #1 ranked caching prospect in baseball, at AAA Iowa. The plan was for Schwarber to split time at catcher this season with Miguel Montero and David Ross. The plan for next year is for Schwarber to split time with both Montero and Contreras. Hopefully by the end of 2017 the Cubs will have figured out if Schwarber is a catcher or not. If he doesn't work out behind the plate, they will use him as a left fielder.

Originally Posted by lukasberger

You could just add some more experience if you wanted to and he'll then have a rating at C in game.... Still, it's your game, so play it your way!

That's my plan. Since I can edit his ratings I am going to add some more experience to give him some kind of rating at catcher. I'm trying to figure out how much is about right and perhaps if I should increase his ratings for catcher ability and catcher arm too.

[Lukas Berger]

Originally Posted by rakosnik

That's my plan. Since I can edit his ratings I am going to add some more experience to give him some kind of rating at catcher. I'm trying to figure out how much is about right and perhaps if I should increase his ratings for catcher ability and catcher arm too.

Your comments are reasonable and I can't disagree, but my take is still that you could certainly increase his experience, basically by as much as you want, since he does have a good deal of experience at catcher in MiLB and college. What I wouldn't suggest increasing his base ratings of 50 ability and 80 arm, as I think those are pretty accurate.