Losing games is the worst not fun there is.

That's correct.   But most people who lose that 13-11 game say "Jeez, how could my pitching give up 5 homers?" while ignoring the 2 errors and 2 negative plays that put 4 of those runs on the board. 

What I eventually realized from looking at my box scores is how many times things would be going along fine but I'd get killed by one inning here or there.

If you can just get that third out before anything really bad happens, then it never happens.

Defense is cumulative.  You don't even notice it most of the time, but bad things gradually happen less.

On top of everything Mike said, you are also playing in a hitter's park, which always places more stress on your pitching staff. I prefer pitcher's parks. Go here to see which ballparks are available for each division. http://www.whatifsports.com/forums/Posts.aspx?TopicID=421442&Page=1

If your world allows moving teams, then you might want to consider that for next season.

Thanks guys especially you mike. Obviously I did not realize how much fielding factors in to this game. I knew Hayes was bad but he is my best bat. Thanks for the info anything you offer is appreciated.

Also could I use my shortstops at third base some?

I missed Hardball Dynasty – Fantasy Baseball Sim Games - Player Profile: Renyel Mijares earlier.   He's not really a SS.    He'd be fine anywhere else.   2B or 3B.    Maybe bounce him back and forth between those while giving McEwing/Gonzalez days off.     Defensively, Gonzalez 2B, Mijares 3B is best.   But you have to sacrifice offense to do that.

I guess I'm asking would it be better to play defense and platoon my big bats or get as many of my bats in as I can.

I can definitely swing Bagwell lanigan and Hayes at dh and 1st and a little in right if need be. I've got a couple guys in the minors like joey mann and clay ton sweeney who I'm really ready to bring up but don't have a place for them until next season.

Posted by colewharton on 4/21/2015 3:58:00 PM (view original):
I guess I'm asking would it be better to play defense and platoon my big bats or get as many of my bats in as I can.

I identify the defense appropriate player available for the position, and then play the best bat. For example: just because I have 2 2B with bats better than SS, I am not going to force one of them on the field sacrificing SS fielding. Or as highlighted in your case, I would not play a defensive deficient 3B who should be playing RF just because I want that bat. That is a simple version. Mike has written about his Positive Plays formula that calculates how many runs a bad defense costs you compared to how many Runs Created (I probably got that wrong).

The entire game is a plus/minus question.    I started a thread a few days ago titled "Shortstop".    It's because I "never" skimp D at SS but I've got a situation where it might be the best thing to do. 

In your case, I think your D is making your pitching worse than it is.   You don't have to go overkill by doing a 180 wrt O/D but you did need Leskanic out of CF and/or Hayes from LF/Ewing from 3B.   I wouldn't think you'd need all three to make your D "reasonable".    IMO, Mijares at 2B might be better than Gonzalez because of the offense he'd give you.   But, if you wanted to work Ewing into LF/RF/1B some(he'd be average/above average at all three), you could use Mijares/Gonzalez 3B/2B.

Posted by headpirate on 4/21/2015 4:27:00 PM (view original):

Posted by colewharton on 4/21/2015 3:58:00 PM (view original):
I guess I'm asking would it be better to play defense and platoon my big bats or get as many of my bats in as I can.

I identify the defense appropriate player available for the position, and then play the best bat. For example: just because I have 2 2B with bats better than SS, I am not going to force one of them on the field sacrificing SS fielding. Or as highlighted in your case, I would not play a defensive deficient 3B who should be playing RF just because I want that bat. That is a simple version. Mike has written about his Positive Plays formula that calculates how many runs a bad defense costs you compared to how many Runs Created (I probably got that wrong).

You don't have it wrong.   There's just some dispute as to how accurate the formula projects "missed outs" and how many runs those outs cost.    We can use the RC that WifS produces to find out how many runs are created. 

For the sake of comparison against my recently completed MGraham team:

		inn	po	A	e	Plus	neg	Total	PPPS
Dummy Ellis	LF	1313	285	3	0	7	0	0.225	327.6
Wilbur Hayes	LF	531.2	111	4	4	0	2	0.205	299.2
Randy Williams Jr.	CF	1286	318	8	2	10	0	0.260	378.7
Rudy Leskanic	CF	533.2	132	4	8	0	9	0.223	325.4
Alfredo Perry	3B	1309	151	348	7	8	0	0.267	388.7
Joba Ewing	3B	338.2	32	84	5	0	4	0.222	323.3

28 plays in LF, 53 plays in CF, 65 plays at 3B.   That's a lot of missed outs. 

Oops.  That was S33.   This is the most recent season:

		inn	po	A	e	Plus	neg	Total	PPPS
Dummy Ellis	LF	939.2	199	4	1	1	0	0.216	315.1
Wilbur Hayes	LF	531.2	111	4	4	0	2	0.205	299.2
Randy Williams Jr.	CF	1447	374	5	14	0	0	0.252	367.7
Rudy Leskanic	CF	533.2	132	4	8	0	9	0.223	325.4
Alfredo Perry	3B	933.1	108	248	6	2	0	0.261	381.3
Joba Ewing	3B	338.2	32	84	5	0	4	0.222	323.3

All the same players but with declining skills.    Only Williams played more because I was a little more liberal with defensive replacements for the other 2.