Strategy Help

[chazzycat]

Originally Posted by micpringle

Thanks again. So is it acceptable to make a tradeoff here–lower attributes in favour of versatility? If I only have one backup OF player, I guess they should be competent at RF/CF, CF/LF, or even all three?

In my league (it changed on Monday) I'm struggling to find decent players in a couple of positions, as those in the current AH tend to have either good DEF ratings, or good batting attributes (in the areas I need) but rarely both. As I've managed to put together a decent squad so far, would they be able to carry a player or two who doesn't quite fit the mould? i.e. I can pickup Mike LaValliere for < 500PP, but his baserunning and stealing attributes are awful! However he's stellar defensively, and has solid batting ratings. Would it work if I just lower his aggressiveness in those areas, and then make sure he appears later in the batting lineup when the bases are (hopefully!) already loaded? And if the team can carry a couple of outliers, what positions make the most sense?

Yeah, it makes sense to trade off sometimes. Catchers are hard to fit to this mold, because almost all of them are super-slow. LaValliere is an extremely popular option for his contact & defense at low price. You can't go wrong there. But yes, definitely move his baserunning sliders over to the left. Eventually, you'll want Smokey Burgess.

[micpringle]

My Small Ball team are progressing well in their respective league, now leading the way in Runs Scored, Batting AVG, On-Base PCT, Stolen Bases, and Base Running.

However, defense is still an issue and they're currently 15th in Defensive Effort, and 11th for both Zone Rating and Errors.

What fielding statistics do I need to be looking at in order to isolate those responsible, and should those stats be high or low with regards how they are interpreted for success and failure?

[CrazyWR]

FYI the stat is Defensive Efficiency, what it means is basically the % of balls put in play that are turned into outs. That is typically a team % whereas Zone Rating is the individual stat you want to look at. All that being said, Zone Rating varies from league to league, if you are in a league with all excellent CFers and yours is merely above average, the zone rating will be worse bc on average he isnt as good, but if everyone else has merely an average CF and yours is above avg, his ZR will be much higher. So just because someone has a low ZR doesnt mean they are bad, it is possible the other people at his position in the league are also outstanding, so its better to take a more long-term view over a few seasons there to get a better feel.

You want Def. Eff. to be above .700 and above .720 is really outstanding.

Zone Rating, negative obviously is bad. The important defensive positions of SS/2B/CF need to be higher than the corner positions of 1b/3b/LF/RF. Zero is average, so if they are really good on offense and play a corner position, you can get away with it, but 0 at an up the middle position is poor.

High range and high error help, range means how many balls a player can get to, and error will help them complete the play once they get there. Arm is more important for 3b/ss than 2b/1b and also RF/CF than LF. Turn DP never really factors into my decision making but is most useful for 2b/ss.

[chazzycat]

The park effects have a huge (negative) affect on your defense. This will generally hurt your "defensive efficiency" stat quite noticeably, so don't expect to lead the league in that.

However "zone rating" is a much better statistic that is based on each individual play and how many runs your fielders save. ZR isn't easily fooled by park factors in that way. It's absolutely possible to lead the league in ZR with your park. That should be the long term goal.

So you can ignore efficiency and focus on ZR. It's a simple stat telling you how many runs above average each player is saving with their glove. Negative numbers are bad, positive numbers are good.

[micpringle]

Based on the above, I can definitely see those in the lineup who need replacing. Shame though, I like Matty Alou.

[Argonaut]

Matty Alou is a nice card for a Bronze, but can only play corner outfield. I would slide him over to RF, dump Pete Fox, and pick up a new CF. Peanuts Lowrey is a cheap option that can play CF. Or play Curt Flood full time if that's the Silver card I'm thinking of.

[micpringle]

Thanks, I'll give that a shot. I've picked up Lowrey and will rotate with Flood, and moved Alou over to RF.

[micpringle]

After my team collapsed in August and threw away any chance of making the playoffs...



...they finished the season 2nd in Runs Scored (815), Batting Avg (.283), On-Base PCT (.345), 1st in Stolen Bases (206), and 5th in Base Running (+25.5). They still sucked though in ERA (4.45, 4.08), Defensive Eff. (.672), and Zone Rating (-1.5).

As a quick aside, for the Strikeouts rating, is that the number for or against me? If it's the former, then I guess the bigger the number the better?

So I've invested as best I can–the AH has been a bit hit 'n miss lately–especially in pitching, and this is the lineup I'll be putting into the upcoming season...

Pitchers



Catchers



Infield



Outfield



Note: I use the 20-80 ratings scale

I've set each player's individual baserunning and stealing aggressiveness, and I'm platooning LaValliere and Roseboro, as the former's baserunning and stealing attributes are awful. Appreciate this would be better if one of them were a righty, but I gotta work with what I have. Same goes for Rizzuto and Groat at SS.

Hoping these chaps can hold their own as I'm away on vacation until Friday and won't have any access to PT to check on their progress.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[Catchthedamnball]

One thing that might help your pitching is if you carried 7 or even 8 relievers instead of six. Chazzycat mentioned earlier in this thread that you can keep just a backup IF, OF, C, and an extra PH/DH if you like. I probably wouldn't go with just three backups unless I had a player like Javy Baez on my bench, but even if you were to simply remove your 5th OF in favor of a 7th reliever you would spread the relief workload out and give some of the other guys extra rest if they need it.

My bullpen usually consists of a long reliever, three middle relievers, a 7th inning guy, an 8th inning guy, and my closer. Depending on the situation (park factors, league opponents), I might prioritize a lefty specialist over a second setup man. Also consider adjusting when your manager hooks your pitchers, if you haven't already.

[CrazyWR]

Adding to what he said, typically one of my 3 middle relievers is a 2nd long guy, so he'll be set to MR with a secondary of LR. This helps take some more stamina on when people on tired as well.

[comedian2019]

What has worked for me is to find the cheap hitters. 69-79 rated with high contact rating. Suzuki, Gywnn, Rose, Carew... even Henderson.,.. Rickey hits .230 as a backup player and leads the league in SB.

I build offenses that way. I always lead in batting average and OBP and SB.

That leaves more money to spend on pitching. Which is really hard as even players rated 97 or 100 get shelled.

I also sometimes have two closers, one LHP and one RHP. Same with set up.

Another team Larry Dierker had done great as a SP. Winning the Cy a couple of times. But then once he got promoted to a higher league he has struggled. Since I had 5 other better starters I moved him to the pen as long relief and emergency start. He is rocking in that position.

Also on your speedy hitters, go in and make so they are more aggressive stealing and running the bases.

I also set my line up by looking how the teams are doing against a certain handed pitcher. I change it around ever couple of days. I also move the HOT hitters up in the lineup.

Last season in 19 I had all three teams make the playoffs. Funny, no one made it past the 1st round. But playoffs are a 'any given Sunday".

Two seasons ago I had a team win the WC card with a 81-81 record and go all the way and win the WS. That was cool.

[micpringle]

Would someone be so kind as to go into the Universe, click .275 and post the link it opens in here so I can see how the Piranha are doing?

[micpringle]

The new team have performed really well in my absence this week...





Really happy with the improvement in defensive stats. To go from -20.1 to +42.1 in Zone Rating is some going. The investment in pitching has helped too as the ERA is much more palatable than it was.

I'll definitely look to increase numbers in the bullpen now as suggested, but how do you know who makes a good long reliever, middle reliever, or a 7th or 8th inning guy? Is it purely stamina?

[comedian2019]

To me the STUFF rating seems to be the most important

[Catchthedamnball]

Originally Posted by micpringle

I'll definitely look to increase numbers in the bullpen now as suggested, but how do you know who makes a good long reliever, middle reliever, or a 7th or 8th inning guy? Is it purely stamina?

Whoever performs best for you in those roles. Good long men should have higher stamina, but fiddle around with your configurations and see what produces results.

[Lemandria]

And don't forget your pitchers are part of your defense. Right up the middle, a rather important part.

Arm matters most, obviously.

[comedian2019]

And bad defense makes your pitchers look better... lower ERAs because of unearned runs.

[micpringle]

What would cause a negative Zone Rating for a pitcher?

[Catchthedamnball]

Originally Posted by micpringle

What would cause a negative Zone Rating for a pitcher?

A low position rating as a pitcher.

[chazzycat]

pitcher defense is not really something to worry about too much IMO. Their impact on defense is fairly miniscule, probably no more than 1-2 runs over the course of a season.