An Experiment of 3 Teams - Page 5

Charlatan · 04-16-2019, 06:58 AM

I'm trying this strategy in a Diamond league, but my team is not loaded so it's off to a rough start.

I've been looking at the relative distribution of groundball outs to fly outs for the pitchers, since that's reported in the box scores. Even though my staff is 85% GB pitchers, it doesn't appear that they produce more GB outs. Granted that's just an anecdote, as I didn't do any real research into it, but the results did puzzle me a bit.

chazzycat · 04-17-2019, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlatan

I'm trying this strategy in a Diamond league, but my team is not loaded so it's off to a rough start.

I've been looking at the relative distribution of groundball outs to fly outs for the pitchers, since that's reported in the box scores. Even though my staff is 85% GB pitchers, it doesn't appear that they produce more GB outs. Granted that's just an anecdote, as I didn't do any real research into it, but the results did puzzle me a bit.

I'd recommend adding "GB" and "FB" to whatever view you use for your pitching staff. Those are just raw number of grounder & flyball given up by the pitcher. Seeing all the data together in one screen like that instead of just looking at individiual box scores really helps understand what's going on.

Also, the "tiers" of groundball vs. flyball pitchers are actually a mirage. Each pitcher has an expected groundball percent, which is then translated to the classification (extreme GB, etc.). So depending exactly where the cutoff thresholds are, you could for example have an "Extreme GB" and "Regular GB" guys putting almost identical results. So the distinction is not always important.

Luckily the filter ability in the player search screen works on the percentage. I have mine set up somwhere in the middle of the "GB" range. So all "extreme GB" guys are included, as well as the upper half percentage-wise of the regular "GB" guys. But not the lower half of the GB guys, they are not extreme enough for me.

Charlatan · 04-17-2019, 04:59 PM

Those are great tips, thanks.

Your tip on the filter was great. In looking at my staff, I see a predisposition for GB over FB, but of course it varies by pitcher. The worst percentages are in my starters (as expected, since I'm using two diamond guys who are neutral).

As for the player search tip - I fiddled around with adding a filter to select a good GB/FB ratio. That's the filter you referenced, right? Can you see that ratio anywhere or are you simply able to filter for it? Also, there's no way to get that information from the Auction screen, is there?

You were saying you set your ratio to be high. I tried fiddling around with a few values and found a GB/FB ratio of 66% kept many pitchers around but setting it to 74% only left a few guys.That range is so narrow.

Thanks again for the tips.

chazzycat · 04-17-2019, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlatan

As for the player search tip - I fiddled around with adding a filter to select a good GB/FB ratio. That's the filter you referenced, right? Can you see that ratio anywhere or are you simply able to filter for it? Also, there's no way to get that information from the Auction screen, is there?

You can see the percentage in the main game, via the player editor, but yeah in PT it's completely hidden.

chazzycat · 04-17-2019, 08:39 PM

So, I left the teams completely alone these last three days. I just checked and it seems we finally have some separation between the teams. The SmallBallers and Balancers are still playing great in silver. Run differentials over +100, and playoff bound (even with a whale in the SB'ers division). They also racked up over 10,000 PP each in 3 days! However, the SaberCats have seemed to drop off a bit. They do lead their division currently, but it's mostly smoke & mirrors, with a run differential of just +10. Again it's mostly the offense struggling...the pitching strategy is holding up (3rd in runs allowed but 27th in runs).

chazzycat · 04-18-2019, 01:17 PM

Made a bunch more moves this morning. Focused mainly on the SaberCats trying to get things back on track.

My main goal was to improve the offense. First I quicksold Conforto for 4k, moved Stanton to LF, and acquired Mark McGuire to replace him as DH. This should be a massive improvement offensively, with only a small dropoff in LF defense, which should be alright thanks to my pitching staff not really giving up many flyballs. I also pulled the trigger on selling Matt Chapman. This was a tough decision, but when I looked at his defensive stats they were actually still negative for his 3 seasons overall. Defense was supposedly his strength so that kind of annoyed me, and then I saw an Eddie Matthews card on the AH at a reasonable price. Matthews is a perfect fit offensively for this team, a full 20-point improvement in eye rating over Chapman, with better contact & power too. His defense is not great, but I'm hoping it will work out that it's OK to sacrifice that at third base. Anyways, Matthews was 5k cheaper than Chapman which just seemed too good of a deal to pass up. Now I've got a historical card locked in at 3B, and don't have to worry about Chapman dipping back to diamond next week. I've still got about 7k PP left to spend, and considering upgrading Max Muncy to Paul Goldschmidt (similar power/eye but 15 points better contact).

I'm not ignoring the other teams either. The SmallBallers have added a front-line SP Turk Ferrell, Jim Gilliam for 2B, and Richie Ashburn is replacing Michael Brantley in LF. Brantley was very good - but too balanced of a player. I wanted a more extreme skillset tilted towards outfield range & contact to keep in line with the experiment.

For the Balancers I also added a front-line starter (Whitey Ford) and have finally finished transforming the pitching staff and fulfilling my top 2 goals: removal of all "yellow" ratings, and making 100% of the staff "Neutral" in GB/FB ratio. How's this for a balanced pitching staff:

As all things should be.

neugey · 04-18-2019, 05:36 PM

If you acquire the Reality gem, those Thanos Balancers will be unstoppable!

Charlatan · 04-19-2019, 08:57 AM

I've got a question on park factors for the SaberCats - did you max the HR ratings and also set the other ratings to the minimums? I maxed HRs but did not adjust any other park factors, which I believe is one of my errors. My pitching staff is terrible in Diamond - and I believe part of it is due to the park factors not being set up properly.

Given the pitcher ratings and the level of competition, I would expect my staff to be below average but as of right now we are hovering at 29th or 30th in most pitching categories, even with the staff consisting of 85% groundballers.

I'm hoping I will get relegated back to Gold so I can have a chance to work out this strategy, but it appears I may just escape relegation, which is sort of sad news, since being a doormat in this league is severly hampering my PP earning potential. On the other hand, I have two 90 OVRs I am seriously thinking of auto-selling for the 8k PP (Carpenter, who's platooning at 3B and Carlos Correa who's playing SS). I believe both of them will get bumped down to gold next Monday.

chazzycat · 04-19-2019, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlatan

I've got a question on park factors for the SaberCats - did you max the HR ratings and also set the other ratings to the minimums? I maxed HRs but did not adjust any other park factors, which I believe is one of my errors. My pitching staff is terrible in Diamond - and I believe part of it is due to the park factors not being set up properly.

Yep - I definitely set everything other than HR to the minimum. I think that is extremely important. If singles & doubles are harder to come by, that increases the relative value of walks & home runs significantly. So if you're building your team around the Power & Eye ratings, it should have a strong beneficial effect on your run differential (decreasing the runs you allow by a lot, but not reducing your runs scored nearly as much).

One other thing you might want to look at is your defense at SS & 2B. With groundballers you really want your infield defense to be elite. I don't think Correa is good enough TBH...my 3 middle infield defenders are all rated over 100.

Charlatan · 04-19-2019, 10:52 AM

Yeah, I was hoping to get by with green position ratings up the center but I guess that was a bad idea. And as it turns out I have Mark Belanger on the reserve roster so I moved him into the lineup since as I mentioned I'm thinking of selling Correa for the PP.

You said "three middle infielders" - I assume you mean 3B, SS, and 2B.... I know we discussed the idea behind living with a worse fielding 1B (but concentrating on E rating). I guess I have my work cut out for me before next season starts.

atabakin · 04-19-2019, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlatan

Yeah, I was hoping to get by with green position ratings up the center but I guess that was a bad idea. And as it turns out I have Mark Belanger on the reserve roster so I moved him into the lineup since as I mentioned I'm thinking of selling Correa for the PP.

You said "three middle infielders" - I assume you mean 3B, SS, and 2B.... I know we discussed the idea behind living with a worse fielding 1B (but concentrating on E rating). I guess I have my work cut out for me before next season starts.

I'm assuming he means 2B, SS, and a backup.

chazzycat · 04-19-2019, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atabakin

I'm assuming he means 2B, SS, and a backup.

that's correct. I have Pee Wee Reese & Lonny Frey as starters, and Tulo as backup. Frey is weak against LHP, and Tulo vs. RHP. Against lefties, Reese slides over to 2B and Tulo plays SS. So both positions are always manned by +100 defenders (or will be shortly once Reese is finished training up).

Initially I had planned for elite 3B defense as well with Chapman. But it didn't work out that way at all, he had wayyyy too many errors and negative ZR over 3 seasons. So I went another direction with bat-first Eddie Matthews. Will keep him there for at least a couple seasons to see how it works out.

Charlatan · 04-19-2019, 11:17 AM

I stand corrected. I'm a bit torn with trying to get Frey... he's the top rated 2B I'm trying to acquire for another team I run that is built around elite defenders.... but maybe I can convince that manager to let the existing guys stay there a few seasons more.

chazzycat · 04-21-2019, 02:11 AM

All three teams made the playoffs again in silver. Oddly enough, the worst of the three won their division (the 89 win SaberCats) while the 104-win SmallBallers and 99-win Balancers both will be playing wild card games. The Balancers choked down the stretch, getting swept in the final series to force a tie in the division. They had one last chance in game 163, but couldn't figure out Aaron Nola, and that was that. The SmallBallers just had a whale in their division.

chazzycat · 04-21-2019, 11:05 AM

Both teams lost the wild card game, and will be staying in silver another week. Two more fantastic seasons with nothing to show for it...baseball can be so brutal. Now I am kind of hoping the SaberCats lose as well so they can stay in the same level.

<Pion> · 04-21-2019, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chazzycat

Both teams lost the wild card game, and will be staying in silver another week. Two more fantastic seasons with nothing to show for it...baseball can be so brutal. Now I am kind of hoping the SaberCats lose as well so they can stay in the same level.

They won’t get in based on record?

chazzycat · 04-21-2019, 11:39 AM

For some reason silver is the most limited level this week...there are only 6 promotion slots.

<Pion> · 04-21-2019, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chazzycat

For some reason silver is the most limited level this week...there are only 6 promotion slots.

Thought it was best record of those not in the LDCS for the last two spots. I lost in the first round last year but got promoted on record I think.

atabakin · 04-21-2019, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by <Pion>

Thought it was best record of those not in the LDCS for the last two spots. I lost in the first round last year but got promoted on record I think.

He only had 89 wins, which probably wouldn't be enough to be one of the two losing teams that gets promoted.

<Pion> · 04-21-2019, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atabakin

He only had 89 wins, which probably wouldn't be enough to be one of the two losing teams that gets promoted.

He said the two teams who lost in the wildcard and had the best records would stay in silver, wasn’t referring to 89 win team. Not sure about the 104 win team staying in silver.

04-18-2019, 05:36 PM	#87
neugey All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 805 Blog Entries: 39	If you acquire the Reality gem, those Thanos Balancers will be unstoppable! __________________ Online OOTP League Play: PBA - Cincinnati Reds MLM - Baltimore Orioles

04-19-2019, 08:57 AM	#88
Charlatan All Star Starter Join Date: May 2006 Location: Leesburg, VA Posts: 1,491	I've got a question on park factors for the SaberCats - did you max the HR ratings and also set the other ratings to the minimums? I maxed HRs but did not adjust any other park factors, which I believe is one of my errors. My pitching staff is terrible in Diamond - and I believe part of it is due to the park factors not being set up properly. Given the pitcher ratings and the level of competition, I would expect my staff to be below average but as of right now we are hovering at 29th or 30th in most pitching categories, even with the staff consisting of 85% groundballers. I'm hoping I will get relegated back to Gold so I can have a chance to work out this strategy, but it appears I may just escape relegation, which is sort of sad news, since being a doormat in this league is severly hampering my PP earning potential. On the other hand, I have two 90 OVRs I am seriously thinking of auto-selling for the 8k PP (Carpenter, who's platooning at 3B and Carlos Correa who's playing SS). I believe both of them will get bumped down to gold next Monday. Last edited by Charlatan; 04-19-2019 at 09:02 AM.

04-16-2019, 06:58 AM	#81
Charlatan All Star Starter Join Date: May 2006 Location: Leesburg, VA Posts: 1,491	I'm trying this strategy in a Diamond league, but my team is not loaded so it's off to a rough start. I've been looking at the relative distribution of groundball outs to fly outs for the pitchers, since that's reported in the box scores. Even though my staff is 85% GB pitchers, it doesn't appear that they produce more GB outs. Granted that's just an anecdote, as I didn't do any real research into it, but the results did puzzle me a bit.

04-17-2019, 04:59 PM	#83
Charlatan All Star Starter Join Date: May 2006 Location: Leesburg, VA Posts: 1,491	Those are great tips, thanks. Your tip on the filter was great. In looking at my staff, I see a predisposition for GB over FB, but of course it varies by pitcher. The worst percentages are in my starters (as expected, since I'm using two diamond guys who are neutral). As for the player search tip - I fiddled around with adding a filter to select a good GB/FB ratio. That's the filter you referenced, right? Can you see that ratio anywhere or are you simply able to filter for it? Also, there's no way to get that information from the Auction screen, is there? You were saying you set your ratio to be high. I tried fiddling around with a few values and found a GB/FB ratio of 66% kept many pitchers around but setting it to 74% only left a few guys.That range is so narrow. Thanks again for the tips.

04-17-2019, 08:39 PM	#85
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	So, I left the teams completely alone these last three days. I just checked and it seems we finally have some separation between the teams. The SmallBallers and Balancers are still playing great in silver. Run differentials over +100, and playoff bound (even with a whale in the SB'ers division). They also racked up over 10,000 PP each in 3 days! However, the SaberCats have seemed to drop off a bit. They do lead their division currently, but it's mostly smoke & mirrors, with a run differential of just +10. Again it's mostly the offense struggling...the pitching strategy is holding up (3rd in runs allowed but 27th in runs).

04-18-2019, 01:17 PM	#86
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	Made a bunch more moves this morning. Focused mainly on the SaberCats trying to get things back on track. My main goal was to improve the offense. First I quicksold Conforto for 4k, moved Stanton to LF, and acquired Mark McGuire to replace him as DH. This should be a massive improvement offensively, with only a small dropoff in LF defense, which should be alright thanks to my pitching staff not really giving up many flyballs. I also pulled the trigger on selling Matt Chapman. This was a tough decision, but when I looked at his defensive stats they were actually still negative for his 3 seasons overall. Defense was supposedly his strength so that kind of annoyed me, and then I saw an Eddie Matthews card on the AH at a reasonable price. Matthews is a perfect fit offensively for this team, a full 20-point improvement in eye rating over Chapman, with better contact & power too. His defense is not great, but I'm hoping it will work out that it's OK to sacrifice that at third base. Anyways, Matthews was 5k cheaper than Chapman which just seemed too good of a deal to pass up. Now I've got a historical card locked in at 3B, and don't have to worry about Chapman dipping back to diamond next week. I've still got about 7k PP left to spend, and considering upgrading Max Muncy to Paul Goldschmidt (similar power/eye but 15 points better contact). I'm not ignoring the other teams either. The SmallBallers have added a front-line SP Turk Ferrell, Jim Gilliam for 2B, and Richie Ashburn is replacing Michael Brantley in LF. Brantley was very good - but too balanced of a player. I wanted a more extreme skillset tilted towards outfield range & contact to keep in line with the experiment. For the Balancers I also added a front-line starter (Whitey Ford) and have finally finished transforming the pitching staff and fulfilling my top 2 goals: removal of all "yellow" ratings, and making 100% of the staff "Neutral" in GB/FB ratio. How's this for a balanced pitching staff: As all things should be.

04-19-2019, 10:52 AM	#90
Charlatan All Star Starter Join Date: May 2006 Location: Leesburg, VA Posts: 1,491	Yeah, I was hoping to get by with green position ratings up the center but I guess that was a bad idea. And as it turns out I have Mark Belanger on the reserve roster so I moved him into the lineup since as I mentioned I'm thinking of selling Correa for the PP. You said "three middle infielders" - I assume you mean 3B, SS, and 2B.... I know we discussed the idea behind living with a worse fielding 1B (but concentrating on E rating). I guess I have my work cut out for me before next season starts.

04-19-2019, 11:17 AM	#93
Charlatan All Star Starter Join Date: May 2006 Location: Leesburg, VA Posts: 1,491	I stand corrected. I'm a bit torn with trying to get Frey... he's the top rated 2B I'm trying to acquire for another team I run that is built around elite defenders.... but maybe I can convince that manager to let the existing guys stay there a few seasons more.

04-21-2019, 02:11 AM	#94
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	All three teams made the playoffs again in silver. Oddly enough, the worst of the three won their division (the 89 win SaberCats) while the 104-win SmallBallers and 99-win Balancers both will be playing wild card games. The Balancers choked down the stretch, getting swept in the final series to force a tie in the division. They had one last chance in game 163, but couldn't figure out Aaron Nola, and that was that. The SmallBallers just had a whale in their division.

04-21-2019, 11:05 AM	#95
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	Both teams lost the wild card game, and will be staying in silver another week. Two more fantastic seasons with nothing to show for it...baseball can be so brutal. Now I am kind of hoping the SaberCats lose as well so they can stay in the same level.

04-21-2019, 11:39 AM	#97
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	For some reason silver is the most limited level this week...there are only 6 promotion slots.