Monday, March 17, 2008

Tips for New Owners

LinkI think it might be helpful for new owners to get some tips from more seasoned players before they start making decisions on their ball clubs. I know it would have helped me in my first league, and it might prevent the new owners from getting their faced ripped off in trades (see any trade made by hartjh to sublimefargo in season 2). So, I am going to start adding tips on the blog, and if you feel like adding anything or correcting what I write, feel free.

Evaluating pitchers-
Do not overestimate the value of velocity. It does not seem to matter in a pitcher's performance. In fact, two of the best pitchers in the league (Carlos Maranon and Edwin Patterson) have velocity ratings lower than 43.

Do not pay attention to overall ratings too much. These ratings tend to be overinflated by stamina and durability ratings. I tend to look at a pitcher's splits rating(vsL and vsR), control rating, and pitch quality rating the most when evaluating pitchers.

A pitcher with stamina over 70 can be used as a starter (over 60 if he is really good)

Player Positions-
You can switch a player's position at anytime in the edit rosters page. I try to meet the minimums at every position, and especially up the middle of the field (ss, 2b, and cf).

Player Ratings-
A high overall rating does not necessarily make a player better than one with a lower rating. Example - A catcher with a 70 overall rating could be an exceptional hitter and very good behind the plate. But a pitcher with a 75 overall rating could have bad control, low splits, and make it up with high stamina and durability. The pitcher in this example would be useless at the major league level, but the catcher would be very valuable. Just keep this in mind.

This is a start for new owners. If anyone wants to add, please do so.


3 comments:

mytitan said...

Good stuff Trev. One of the most over utilized measures is the overall rating. Thanks for the info!

COsborn said...

Spot on suggestions. I got really hung up on the OVR in my first two seasons of HDB, and neither season went very well (not that I do that well anyway). To amplify a bit on Trev's great suggestions about pitcers, I try and use pitchers with control of 70+, splits of at least 60/60, but I ALWAYS try for a bit higher (70+) for splits vs. righties, pitch quality - #1 80+ & #2 70+. #rd anf 4th pitches are bonuses, and if you get a real stud starter, they will almost always have a third pitch at 60+ to go along with at least two other good pitches (70+). I settled on these numbers after studying top pitching teams across several worlds. These were the AVERAGE ratings in these areas for top teams, which means SOME of their pitchers exceed these numbers.

AZNJ70 said...

Nice work here Trev. I weigh heavy on control and splits(mostly R/splits of 70+) if a guy has a high R/split I will overlook a L/split in the high 50's. I got hung up as I believe most do in the first few seasons with overall ratings. Them pitchers with with 100 stamina and 35 durability with splits in the 30's are useless.