Is a Pitching Battery an Implemented Feature?

[Velocifaptor]

I mostly have experience in 16 but I'm wondering if in OOTP 18 there is any correlation between the pitcher and the catcher and the success of striking out the batter. Often times, through testing, it feels like a lot of the positions on the field are just spots that are filled by the best batter you can find, but maybe I'm playing on a subpar level. I mainly let the ai manage roster line-ups, the bullpen, and the play by play as well as most drafting and roster changes. Though I do enjoy the inaugural draft in fantasy league a whole lot because it feels like that's the time when I have most control to try out strategies. Admittedly I know very little about baseball. I mostly just watch baseball anime, which glorify a lot of things about the game, the relationship between a catcher and pitcher probably sounds a lot more romantic as a story than the reality that they're professional players and they probably don't really care who they're paired up with.

[Déjà Bru]

Well, to be honest, and to the best of my knowledge, the pairing of pitcher and favorite catcher is not replicated in the game. What it does have is something called Catcher Ability which is supposed to simulate savvy at this position in things like calling pitches and pitch framing. Catchers with high ratings in Catcher Ability supposedly have a beneficial effect on pitcher results, but that's with all pitchers, not specific buddies.

[Velocifaptor]

Oh well that's still cool. I assumed that Catcher Ability was only a defensive stat for like, not letting balls slip by and catching pop flies and stuff. Does the Pitcher Position rating have anything to do with Pitcher savvy too? In messing around with commissioner mode I know that the positional Pitcher Rating is just a derived stat from infield arm, infield error, infield range, and turn double, but that turn double has very little effect on the rating compared to having moderate abilities in the other three.

I've been curious about if you had a pitcher with like 435 pitcher rating, from like 125 in arm, error, and range, and 200 experience with the pitching role, how much would that actually make in the defensive capabilities of the pitcher compared to having more Stuff, or more Movement/Control.

I mostly have fun just tweaking stats and seeing how they affect the performance of players. I rarely ever actually manage anymore.

[Déjà Bru]

A pitcher's Position Rating is how well he defends his position - Infield Range, Error, and Arm. Experience makes for an even better Position Rating, given his Range, Error, and Arm.

A pitcher's Stuff depends on how many pitches he throws well. Movement and Control are set separately. Taken together, Stuff, Movement, and Control, along with other things like Stamina and Holding Runners, determine how well a pitcher pitches.

He also has separate batting ratings, which are usually low except in old-time leagues.

[Number4]

Pitcher's defense rating is basically irrelevant. It is nice to have, but I'd guess literally 99% are either balls not hit to the pitcher, balls hit to the pitcher where even the wrost fielding pitcher can make a routine putout, or balls even the best fielding pitcher won't convert to an out. Practically, a pitcher's defense is his stuff, his movement and his control.