How do you handle 2-way players?

[Fronzizzle]

Hello all,

During the draft, I frequently search out some "hidden gems" and often find players listed as P that have pretty decent potential batting ratings. At least 2-3 times a year, I draft these guys late and make them 2-way players.

My question is, how do you handle them going forward? How long do you leave them as 2-way? What I'm finding is that they typically don't get enough at-bats or pitch enough innings to develop either way.

The highest I've had one of these players reach so far is AA, by that point they are typically buried on the the depth chart. I'm not sure if I should stop trying to make them 2-way players and just turn them into IF or OF or what.

[redranger]

Me personally am not a fan of two way players. Seems in real life they are few and far between. Pitchers do convert to everyday position players and position players to pitchers often

I also look at the ratings and try and find these guys to. But if I do find a pitcher that seemingly has average ratings at pitching but good potential as a hitter I will draft and make the decision to convert them over and try and build them up from there

I actually turn off two way players in the settings of my running league


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[Sweed]

Originally Posted by redranger

I actually turn off two way players in the settings of my running league


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This.

[AlpineSK]

I turn the feature off as well.

[1991Twins]

100% agree about turning it off. I think mainly this feature was for Ohtani. Most other guys eventually just converted to a different position Ankiel, Kieschnick, etc. and never did both in the MLB at the same time.

[chuy1530]

I just move them to a position and forget about them as pitchers unless they have a ton of potential as a pitcher, which in my experience has been vanishingly rare.

[CBeisbol]

Decide early

[endgame]

Off.

[jimmysthebestcop]

+1 for turning off

[truebatman]

Throw in another one that turns off the feature as well

[BusterKing]

I leave it on because of Ohtani who is great as a 2 way player in OOTP.

I play with the Blue Jays and so far I have not see any of my players worth to keep it on so I turn each one off for my team.

[wallewalls]

I would turn it off if it wasn't for Ohtani. He usually does really well in my saves, and I think it's cool to see an 11 WAR player like Ohtani just dominating the league on both sides of the ball.

But yes, this feature that was brought into the game for one reason is not well thought out. There are too many two way players and they never develop well. There's zero reason to have a two way player as I've only ever seen one other one, Triston Casas in OOTP 20, have any kind of major success (and in that case, Casas was a one season wonder).

I would just manually force all my "two-way" players to not be used that way, but there some minor league managers who do not let me force strategy, so I cannot do it that way, and I don't have much interest in searching for 8 minor league managers, just based on how broken that system is in the game as well.

[Hoiles]

I haven't really played a 2020 season yet but I'd keep two-way on just for Ohtani. However, for historicals I found that there are rare, but still too often, cases where good hitting pitchers are inserted into lineups as position players. Some people will like that though, so it's a matter of taste.

[Fronzizzle]

Sweet. Turning it off. Thanks for all the replies!

[CBeisbol]

Originally Posted by wallewalls

I would turn it off if it wasn't for Ohtani. He usually does really well in my saves, and I think it's cool to see an 11 WAR player like Ohtani just dominating the league on both sides of the ball.

But yes, this feature that was brought into the game for one reason is not well thought out. There are too many two way players and they never develop well. There's zero reason to have a two way player as I've only ever seen one other one, Triston Casas in OOTP 20, have any kind of major success (and in that case, Casas was a one season wonder).

This is an interesting comment. Pretty much cuts to the quick.

Starts off saying that there's only one player IRL who is good enough to be a two-way MLB player

Then says there are too many two-way players.

Then says they never develop.

Then says only one has ever developed which loops back to the original statement of there only being one player good enough to do it at the MLB level.

In high school and college lots of players hit and pitch. But many are drafted with some intrigue as to whether they will be used as a hitter or pitcher. Alex Verdugo is a recent example.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...2nd-round-pick

It's rare that ANY prospect develop. So, of course, it's much more rare that a player can develop as both a pitcher and hitter.

There's also Michael Lorenzen. He's had a 94 ERA- and 103 FIP- in 410 major league innings so far. He's also been a 84 wRC+ hitter (.235/.279/.432) in 145 major league at bats and has played 90 innings in the OF with 6 starts in CF.


So, there are two-way players in MLB. They are, obviously, rare

[RchW]

This guy does well in a v19 league of mine. The game produces too many and to do it properly you have to be meticulous in setting lineups. If I had more than one it would be time consuming.

Edit:
Added second screen shot as pitcher.

[Cryomaniac]

Badly.

[Obechkinsbuddy]

I had to turn it off as well after having a closer post a 1.35 era with 42 saves and also hit 33 homers and 105 rbis despite hitting .210. Was taking a starting DH position away from good young players ready to play everyday. Remained a stud closer for me for years.

[wallewalls]

Originally Posted by CBeisbol

This is an interesting comment. Pretty much cuts to the quick.

Starts off saying that there's only one player IRL who is good enough to be a two-way MLB player

Then says there are too many two-way players.

Then says they never develop.

Then says only one has ever developed which loops back to the original statement of there only being one player good enough to do it at the MLB level.

In high school and college lots of players hit and pitch. But many are drafted with some intrigue as to whether they will be used as a hitter or pitcher. Alex Verdugo is a recent example.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/...2nd-round-pick

It's rare that ANY prospect develop. So, of course, it's much more rare that a player can develop as both a pitcher and hitter.

There's also Michael Lorenzen. He's had a 94 ERA- and 103 FIP- in 410 major league innings so far. He's also been a 84 wRC+ hitter (.235/.279/.432) in 145 major league at bats and has played 90 innings in the OF with 6 starts in CF.


So, there are two-way players in MLB. They are, obviously, rare

To be frank, I am not sure that Ohtani can even do it. He hasn't done both in the Majors for more than a couple of months, and I have doubts that he would be able to do both well over the course of a whole season. In OOTP though, he always seems to be good. It's something that's so cool, although maybe unrealistic, that I want to see how his simulated career ends up, so I'm okay with it in this one scenario.

For created players, there seems to be too many players that are classified as two-way that really don't have the potential to be two-way, either because their batting potential isn't good enough or their pitching potential isn't good enough. Ohtani is the rarest case of baseball player in that he has ace like potential and also elite hitter potential. That's why he's been given the chance. In my example in Triston Casas, I don't know why he would be listed as a two-way player because he hasn't thrown a single professional inning and was not drafted to be a two-way player. In my O's save, top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez is considered a two-way player as well, even though he has a grand total of zero MiLB PA. I'm sure this is affecting his development, but I'd have to hire completely new minor league managers to get him to not be a two-way player and spend too much time going through the game's coaching system that doesn't make any sense to get it. all for one player. yay, i love this feature.

Yeah, Michael Lorenzen. His .208/.283/.313 slash line from a season ago doesn't make him a two-way player in my book. He was good in 34 PA in 2018 so the Reds decided to try him out. It didn't work.

[Reed]

The only time I use 2 way players is playing historical in the very early years when teams might have 20 or fewer players.