Position Ratings

[Mennogreg]

I have two rookies that I'm trying to play outside the positions they were brought up on. One is a SS (player #1 - 20 yrs old) and the other is a RF (player #2 - 19 yrs old), which I'm trying to change to a 2B and CF, respectively. Both players have been designated to their new positions. Player #1 had an initial 2B value of 5 (his SS value was over 85). About 45 games into the season, playing almost every day has gotten his 2B rating to 23.

Player #2 has poorer defensive skills to begin with (though adequate range), so his familiarity at his new CF position is increasing at a slower rate (he had a 0 at CF to start). Though he has played less than player #1, about 28 games, his CF rating increased only to 7 at this point. It's very difficult grooming these guys for these positions as they're making lots of errors, so I have two questions to see if it's worth it.

1) How much more can it increase? If the player is adept defensively, albeit not at his drafted position, is the sky the limit? Does age play a role, or is there an age limit to learning positions effectively?

2) Does taking a player out of the game late for a defensive replacement affect his learning ability at that position? In other words, is the game engine going to credit him for playing that position (for reasons of calculating defensive improvement) if I take him out in the 9th inning?

[Disco Dog 13]

I had Trout who had amazing outfield ratings (arm & range etc) but 0 for LF.
Played him there for 2 seasons and he was eventually at 100 for LF
Not the best example as he has 100 for RF and CF but it shows it works
I would say the better suited the player to the new role - the quicker their ratings will increase for the new position

[magicspeedo]

Originally Posted by Mennogreg

1) How much more can it increase? If the player is adept defensively, albeit not at his drafted position, is the sky the limit? Does age play a role, or is there an age limit to learning positions effectively?

players will improve to the best of their ability at a position. Their ability is determined by their defensive attributes. As players age, they lose some from their attributes, most notably their range. It's just a matter of experience in the position. If you need a break down on what's required for a position, I'll post it, but I'm lazy, so if you don't need it, I don't want to type it.

Originally Posted by Mennogreg

2) Does taking a player out of the game late for a defensive replacement affect his learning ability at that position? In other words, is the game engine going to credit him for playing that position (for reasons of calculating defensive improvement) if I take him out in the 9th inning?

I think it will give him credit for the time spent in the position. Obviously the more time the quicker it will improve, so taking him out in the 9th is going to slow it a bit, which might be good considering he's making a lot of errors at the moment anyway.