Rust

[henry296]

Does the game in anyway simulate a rust factor if players don't play for a long period of time? I don't even know if it exists, but one thing I've noticed in all baseball sims, is that there doesn't seem to be a downside of keeping the same lineup day after day. Most current teams will use over 100 different lineup combinations in a season and I never see that in baseball sims. While perhaps it doesn't really exist, I think a rust factor might encourage giving backups more playing time.

[olivertheorem]

Only during the offseason and during long (14+ days) injuries.

Though I think rust should accrue if a guy doesn't play much during the season as well.

[Ambermonk]

Originally Posted by henry296

Does the game in anyway simulate a rust factor if players don't play for a long period of time? I don't even know if it exists, but one thing I've noticed in all baseball sims, is that there doesn't seem to be a downside of keeping the same lineup day after day.

All of the things you are concerned about are true.

If a player plays 2 or 3 positions, if you don't use him at those positions then his ratings for those positions will deteriorate over time. Play them at all their positions if you don't want them to get rusty (and have their ratings go down).

If you overplay a player, his performance will eventually drop, his health will probably suffer as well. One season I had a catcher in my Triple-A league and I didn't notice that he was the only catcher on the team. About 2/3 through the season I finally noticed that he was totally exhausted. I brought in another catcher to take over the load, but my original catcher didn't recover for the rest of the season. Not only that, he never did completely recover his original form either - and I finally ended up having to trade him. Lesson learned!

[steelerz]

Originally Posted by Ambermonk

If a player plays 2 or 3 positions, if you don't use him at those positions then his ratings for those positions will deteriorate over time. Play them at all their positions if you don't want them to get rusty (and have their ratings go down).

Does this work the other way like if i want a catcher to learn 1st base but he has a 0 rating at first... if i play him at first will he eventually learn that position?

[megamanmatt]

Originally Posted by steelerz

Does this work the other way like if i want a catcher to learn 1st base but he has a 0 rating at first... if i play him at first will he eventually learn that position?

Yes. I'm pretty sure players are more likely to improve at a position if you play them there during Spring Training also but that will need to be verified by someone else before I'd stand behind it.

[Ambermonk]

Originally Posted by steelerz

Does this work the other way like if i want a catcher to learn 1st base but he has a 0 rating at first... if i play him at first will he eventually learn that position?

For this situation there is both good news and bad news...

The good news is that you can do this. In fact I did exactly what you describe because my Single-A can't-miss phenom had a terrible catcher throwing arm. In about 12-15 games he has risen to a level 3 first baseman.

The bad news is that the success of a position change depends on a lot of disparate elements...

1. Do his fielding attributes support the new position (1st base is the easiest)?
2. If he is not a hard worker this will delay the process considerably.
3. Low intelligence will also delay the process.
4. The improvement will take a lot of time. For my player, I've already penciled-in the entire next season for him to get up to speed (and even that may not be enough - but hopefully he can get himself out of the Single-A).

[steelerz]

Cool.. thanks for your guys' input

[Simmo13]

Originally Posted by megamanmatt

Yes. I'm pretty sure players are more likely to improve at a position if you play them there during Spring Training also but that will need to be verified by someone else before I'd stand behind it.

I'm sure Markus has said this in the past.....I've certainly had success (albeit modest) with players improving at new positions.