E.R.A. Inflation?

[brewcrew23]

I am a new OOTP player.

I'm in my 3rd season, just before the All-Star Break, with a standard league on default totals and settings for the Modern Era.. The AL E.R.A. leader is sporting a 3.79, while the NL has three sub 3.00 starters (not bad).

My main concern is that I have a number of decent-to-good 3 & 4 star starters with E.R.A.'s in the 5's & 6's. My relievers seem a bit out-of-whack too-- lots of high E.R.A's, few low ones, no truly dominant closers emerging. I'm enjoying the game a great deal, tons of fun, just wondering what the best methods might be for getting the pitchers on more even ground without overcorrecting . . . many staffs have 2 or 3 or 4 starters with 5.00+ and 6.00+ e.r.a's.

The previous season wasn't quite as inflated, but have noticed a pronounced jump this year. Also have a ton of .350 plus batting averages. Power numbers seem about right. Any suggestions, or should I just chill and see how things develop? Thanks for any input,

brewcrew23

[Goody]

One easy method of getting the results you like is to go around to online leagues in people's signatures and look at their html reports and Cato databases. Find one you like, download their file, and grab the ERA settings.

[gmo]

I don't mess with this much, but you can adjust the offense (which should change the pitching results) by altering the league totals under setup. You raise a totals number to decrease the number you end up getting, and vice versa.

I'm guessing you are playing an MLB-type league with a created roster. Nothing but praise for the roster makers and their work, but I think it is more likely to have such a league where the player ratings were all adjusted manually fail to precisely meet the expectations for the offense levels set by the league totals.

You can run test sims also to see what kind of results you'll get. Plus there's just the issue of luck and random year-to-year variability.

[originalgamer]

I agree its hard to keep era's realistic, and will be bumping the hitting down before my next season.

[HolyCow98]

Here is what I get when using a MLB set up using default league totals for the modern era but use fictional players

2003
AL ERA: 4.35
NL ERA: 4.13
AL Top 10 ERA range 2.70-3.59 (only one sub 3.00)
NL Top 10 ERA range 2.51-3.330 (5 pitchers below 3.00)

2004
AL ERA 4.27
NL ERA 4.16
AL Top 10 ERA range 2.70-2.99 (all ten sub 3.00)
NL Top 10 ERA range 2.49-3.38 (4 pitchers sub 3.00)

2005
AL ERA 4.36
NL ERA 4.45
AL Top 10 ERA range 2.30-3.34 (2 sub 3.00)
NL Top 10 ERA range 2.86-3.44 (2 sub 3.00)

2006
AL ERA 4.12
NL ERA 4.26
AL Top 10 ERA range 2.36-3.26 (5 sub 3.00)
NL Top 10 ERA range 1.68-3.28 (4 sub 3.00)

2007 104 games played of 162 so far.
AL ERA 4.20
NL ERA 4.31
AL Top 10 ERA range 2.08-2.77 (all 10 sub 3.00)
NL Top 10 ERA range 1.54-2.91 (all 10 sub 3.00)

As far as guys with big ERA's...thru 104 games in 2007 there are 13 guys who have enough innings to qualify to be ranked in ERA who have 5.00+ ERA. 3 guys with a 6.00+ and 1 guy in the league with a 7.14 ERA.

Of the 13 guys there are three players who are 3.5-4.0 gold star rated (not that I ever put much stock in the star ratings). The highest star rated guy is actually one of the players who has a 6.08 ERA. Last season he was 16-5 3.19. Looking at what he's doing differently.

2006 H/9 8.0 2007 H/9: 9.5
2006 BB/9 2.5 2007 BB/9 2.9
2006 HR/9 0.5 2007 HR/9 1.1

In his case I think he is just having a bad season so far.

I are you using a roster set or fictional players? My guess is roster set.

[brewcrew23]

Thanks for these responses. I'm using fictional players, btw.


brewcrew23

[Bobbuttons]

In my one fictional league I have really gotten ticked off and have gotten so I don't even play that league anymore. Which sucks because I like teams and players I have in there. The problem is with a big offensive explosion over the course of 20 years. Everything was fine for the first 30+ years of the league. Averages and ERAs were good as were the home run totals (I never touched the league totals or era settings at all). Then all of the sudden averages jumped along with power and ERA numbers. The league ERA went from around 4.40 in 2037 to over 7.00 in 2049. The leader in home runs went from 60 to 95 or something like that. Why is this the case if everything is default? What would cause such a drastic shift or lack of quality pitching?

[HolyCow98]

Wow, I've never seen the default modern totals produce a league ERA of 5.00 (unless I was using nothing but hitter parks).

I've certainly have never seen that drastic of a spike in offensive production....

Wish I could be more help....but at the moment....you got me baffled.

[Dargone]

I've never seen anything like that either...