Are Pitcher's GB/FB Tendencies Accurate Enough?

kq76 · 03-29-2020, 07:20 AM

As the title asks, are pitcher's GB/FB tendencies accurate enough?

I ask because I've seen some pitchers who are mentioned as notable groundball pitchers, like David Price, Rick Porcello, Jon Lester, Luis Castillo, Dan Quisenberry, but they're listed as neutral in OOTP.

And then there are some players who, depending on their card type, can be listed with different tendencies. For example,

Tim Hudson
groundballer (OOTPXX Special Edition)
neutral (OOTPXX Hardware Heroes)

Derek Lowe
groundballer (OOTPXX Special Edition)
neutral (OOTPXX historical all-star)

Similarly, there's notable flyball pitchers that are listed as neutral, like Trent Thornton, Andrew Heaney, Jeff Hoffman.

The good news is I haven't seen anybody who was listed as one type, but was mentioned online as the opposite type. It's just a lot of neutrals. Is there a groundball % cutoff that determines the listing? FWIW, fangraphs lists the average GB% for last year as 42.7%.

Sorry, I'm more asking about OOTP21 now, but I have more experience with players from OOTPXX and it's easier to find them.

Now maybe the sites I'm looking at are counting some players as GB or FB pitchers when they're close enough to neutral that OOTP counts them as neutral, but I don't get the players who are different depending on their cards. Did their GB rates significantly change over their careers?

03-29-2020, 07:20 AM	#1
kq76 Global Moderator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 10,693	Are Pitcher's GB/FB Tendencies Accurate Enough? As the title asks, are pitcher's GB/FB tendencies accurate enough? I ask because I've seen some pitchers who are mentioned as notable groundball pitchers, like David Price, Rick Porcello, Jon Lester, Luis Castillo, Dan Quisenberry, but they're listed as neutral in OOTP. And then there are some players who, depending on their card type, can be listed with different tendencies. For example, Tim Hudson groundballer (OOTPXX Special Edition) neutral (OOTPXX Hardware Heroes) Derek Lowe groundballer (OOTPXX Special Edition) neutral (OOTPXX historical all-star) Similarly, there's notable flyball pitchers that are listed as neutral, like Trent Thornton, Andrew Heaney, Jeff Hoffman. The good news is I haven't seen anybody who was listed as one type, but was mentioned online as the opposite type. It's just a lot of neutrals. Is there a groundball % cutoff that determines the listing? FWIW, fangraphs lists the average GB% for last year as 42.7%. Sorry, I'm more asking about OOTP21 now, but I have more experience with players from OOTPXX and it's easier to find them. Now maybe the sites I'm looking at are counting some players as GB or FB pitchers when they're close enough to neutral that OOTP counts them as neutral, but I don't get the players who are different depending on their cards. Did their GB rates significantly change over their careers? __________________ My OOTP Wishlist Your Recommended Team Nicknames, By City (A Crowdsourced Project)