Understanding Game Mechanics; Why is My Harper Batting .187

Alcuin · 02-14-2019, 10:42 AM

Hey guys:

I'm wanting to understand the game mechanics so as to set my lineups appropriately. Here's a question:

Why is my Bryce Harper batting .187 over 40 games?

Is the game purely stat driven?

Is Harper 'unhappy' that he's batting in the last third of the lineup and if I moved him up he would preform better? Does the game do that?

What tweaks gets a card that's under-preforming by 50 to 75 points (in real life) to match a real life average?

zrog2000 · 02-14-2019, 10:47 AM

What league level are you at? Keep in mind that Bryce Harper does not face Hall of Fame pitchers for every plate appearance IRL.

Alcuin · 02-14-2019, 10:55 AM

I'm brand new. First season.

Ichiro (69 rating) is batting .300. Harper (86) is batting .184

CrazyWR · 02-14-2019, 10:57 AM

what kind of park do you have? Is it normal or did you edit it?

Also, I'm pretty sure that 86 overally Harper has a 50 for contact (on 20-80) which means you can expect somewhere between .210 and .230 typically. .184 is bad but not outside the realm of possible.

Alcuin · 02-14-2019, 10:58 AM

Stock Ball Park. I'd love to edit it. Didn't see how to.

zrog2000 · 02-14-2019, 11:10 AM

The main thing to know is to run away from Bryce Harper and everyone else without at least a 70 contact rating. (maybe there could be a few exceptions like if their defense is great)

chazzycat · 02-14-2019, 11:22 AM

Contact is not Harpers strength? Check his OBP and power numbers. His eye rating is insane. So he can still be valuable with a low BA.

Also, small sample.

Alcuin · 02-14-2019, 11:40 AM

Okay...

BUT, are there any other issues in game that are calculated besides pure stats? Besides the obvious who he might bat behind, does the game consider 'morale'? Does benching him change anything? Moving him in the order? Etc.

Kushiel · 02-14-2019, 11:46 AM

As has been said, be very careful with how you use low contact guys. They will just struggle much more as you work up the leagues.

captainbuttercream · 02-14-2019, 11:49 AM

Basically the only card I've seen consistently perform as you would expect is Perfect Mike Trout. He's almost alway at the top of every leaderboard, even pulling in tons of gold gloves in center. I've seen Bonds, Williams, Ruth, Mays etc cards with career OPS in the low to mid .800s. The variance in the game can be puzzling at times.

I know people say 'avoid K' doesn't really matter, but I have had terrible luck with players with an avoid K lower than 40, and if a contact rate is lower than about 65 it's really hard for me to reliably expect production with the bat.

BoofBonser26 · 02-14-2019, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alcuin

Besides the obvious who he might bat behind, does the game consider 'morale'?

Regular OOTP has morale, which can optionally be turned off. When the PT mode was created, morale (and some other features like injuries) was hard-wired to be off.

Maddox · 02-14-2019, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by captainbuttercream

Basically the only card I've seen consistently perform as you would expect is Perfect Mike Trout. He's almost alway at the top of every leaderboard, even pulling in tons of gold gloves in center. I've seen Bonds, Williams, Ruth, Mays etc cards with career OPS in the low to mid .800s. The variance in the game can be puzzling at times.

I know people say 'avoid K' doesn't really matter, but I have had terrible luck with players with an avoid K lower than 40, and if a contact rate is lower than about 65 it's really hard for me to reliably expect production with the bat.

My perfect Mike Trout has a tendency to start the season out really, really slowly. In the last few seasons at least he will be hitting in the low .200 range for the first day or two.

It is not necessarily a flaw with the game in my opinion but having an expensive diamond card perform like a bronze when they get to higher level leagues is a bit frustrating. I understand the logic behind it but it makes it no less painful as a player.

<Pion> · 02-14-2019, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maddox

My perfect Mike Trout has a tendency to start the season out really, really slowly. In the last few seasons at least he will be hitting in the low .200 range for the first day or two.

It is not necessarily a flaw with the game in my opinion but having an expensive diamond card perform like a bronze when they get to higher level leagues is a bit frustrating. I understand the logic behind it but it makes it no less painful as a player.

My Trout is the same way. I can't ever recall seeing him start off a season hot. Forces me to have a lot of patience or else I miss out on the part of the season he heats up. In the end, he finishes within the realm of expectations.

ripitback · 02-14-2019, 02:20 PM

Do players get tagged at the beginning of the year with a ratings boost or decrease? This might create some variance. I’m not saying the card as a whole is tagged, but maybe at the start of each season players are randomly given ratings bumps or decreases to create some variance. I have tried JD Martinez a couple times and he struggles to hit 200 for me and that is platooning against lefties.

<Pion> · 02-14-2019, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by captainbuttercream

I know people say 'avoid K' doesn't really matter, but I have had terrible luck with players with an avoid K lower than 40

I thought I would try to see if the numbers actually support one idea or the other, so I first used player's stats that are only from Diamond and Perfect level. Using Ray's Calculated wOBA formula (expected results based on ratings) and comparing it to the actual wOBA the player got (real stats), I then broke the players into Under 40, 40 to 70, and 70 plus. The results are as follows.

For all players I had 4.7 million Plate Appearances of statistics. Their calculated wOBA was .310 and the actual wOBA was .323 for a difference of .013 (Actually .0124 when taken out to another decimal place)

Under 40: 2.5 Million PA, .311 Calc, .323 Actual, .012 difference
40 to 70: 1.6 Million PA, .311 Calc, .325 Actual, .014 Difference
Over 70: 571K PA, .305 Calc, .317 Actual, .012 Difference

A very small edge to the middle group, but the Over 70 K ratings performed no better in exceeding expectations than the Under 40 and in reality performed worse (.317 to .323) due to not being as good a ball player (.305 to .311 Calculated Expected).

That being said, it would be interesting to do some more studies using the Simulation module with identical players and varying Avoid K ratings.

chazzycat · 02-14-2019, 02:35 PM

For what it's worth, I have a team of pure sluggers like Harper (high POW & EYE) and terrible contact/avoid K ratings. That is my third team I started as an experiment.

They have made the playoffs every single year (five straight) been promoted twice and leading the division again right now in gold.

I couldn't tell you what anyone's batting average is, because I don't look at it. It's just not an important stat for that type of team construction.

02-14-2019, 10:42 AM	#1
Alcuin Bat Boy Join Date: Feb 2019 Posts: 6	Understanding Game Mechanics; Why is My Harper Batting .187 Hey guys: I'm wanting to understand the game mechanics so as to set my lineups appropriately. Here's a question: Why is my Bryce Harper batting .187 over 40 games? Is the game purely stat driven? Is Harper 'unhappy' that he's batting in the last third of the lineup and if I moved him up he would preform better? Does the game do that? What tweaks gets a card that's under-preforming by 50 to 75 points (in real life) to match a real life average?

02-14-2019, 11:46 AM	#9
Kushiel All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Deep in the Heart of Texas Posts: 1,810	As has been said, be very careful with how you use low contact guys. They will just struggle much more as you work up the leagues. __________________ *Favente Deo supero* Last edited by Kushiel; 02-14-2019 at 11:50 AM.

02-14-2019, 02:35 PM	#16
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	For what it's worth, I have a team of pure sluggers like Harper (high POW & EYE) and terrible contact/avoid K ratings. That is my third team I started as an experiment. They have made the playoffs every single year (five straight) been promoted twice and leading the division again right now in gold. I couldn't tell you what anyone's batting average is, because I don't look at it. It's just not an important stat for that type of team construction. Last edited by chazzycat; 02-14-2019 at 02:41 PM.

02-14-2019, 10:47 AM	#2
zrog2000 All Star Starter Join Date: Nov 2018 Posts: 1,335	What league level are you at? Keep in mind that Bryce Harper does not face Hall of Fame pitchers for every plate appearance IRL.

02-14-2019, 10:55 AM	#3
Alcuin Bat Boy Join Date: Feb 2019 Posts: 6	I'm brand new. First season. Ichiro (69 rating) is batting .300. Harper (86) is batting .184

02-14-2019, 10:57 AM	#4
CrazyWR All Star Reserve Join Date: Nov 2018 Posts: 549	what kind of park do you have? Is it normal or did you edit it? Also, I'm pretty sure that 86 overally Harper has a 50 for contact (on 20-80) which means you can expect somewhere between .210 and .230 typically. .184 is bad but not outside the realm of possible.

02-14-2019, 10:58 AM	#5
Alcuin Bat Boy Join Date: Feb 2019 Posts: 6	Stock Ball Park. I'd love to edit it. Didn't see how to.

02-14-2019, 11:10 AM	#6
zrog2000 All Star Starter Join Date: Nov 2018 Posts: 1,335	The main thing to know is to run away from Bryce Harper and everyone else without at least a 70 contact rating. (maybe there could be a few exceptions like if their defense is great)

02-14-2019, 11:22 AM	#7
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	Contact is not Harpers strength? Check his OBP and power numbers. His eye rating is insane. So he can still be valuable with a low BA. Also, small sample.

02-14-2019, 11:40 AM	#8
Alcuin Bat Boy Join Date: Feb 2019 Posts: 6	Okay... BUT, are there any other issues in game that are calculated besides pure stats? Besides the obvious who he might bat behind, does the game consider 'morale'? Does benching him change anything? Moving him in the order? Etc.

02-14-2019, 11:49 AM	#10
captainbuttercream Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2018 Location: Indiana Posts: 109	Basically the only card I've seen consistently perform as you would expect is Perfect Mike Trout. He's almost alway at the top of every leaderboard, even pulling in tons of gold gloves in center. I've seen Bonds, Williams, Ruth, Mays etc cards with career OPS in the low to mid .800s. The variance in the game can be puzzling at times. I know people say 'avoid K' doesn't really matter, but I have had terrible luck with players with an avoid K lower than 40, and if a contact rate is lower than about 65 it's really hard for me to reliably expect production with the bat.

02-14-2019, 02:20 PM	#14
ripitback Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 123	Do players get tagged at the beginning of the year with a ratings boost or decrease? This might create some variance. I’m not saying the card as a whole is tagged, but maybe at the start of each season players are randomly given ratings bumps or decreases to create some variance. I have tried JD Martinez a couple times and he struggles to hit 200 for me and that is platooning against lefties.