Has anyone ever taken a player and switched him from a hitter to pitcher or pitcher to hitter successfully, or even semisuccessfully?  I was looking at a players ratings the other day and noticed he had 80+ durability, a 95 rated fastball and better pitching number vR 33 and 34 vL than he did his batting, but his control was only 14.  I check on the roster management and you could do it, so I was wondering if anybody ever had?

Not that I am aware of.

it is also nearly impossible to make good hitting catchers into COF/CIF, a much more common move among MLB teams.

Of course, I've also never had a stud rookie SP get the yips and need to get send back down to A-ball.... so what the hell do I know.

Posted by harrybalsana on 10/28/2010 11:52:00 PM (view original):
Has anyone ever taken a player and switched him from a hitter to pitcher or pitcher to hitter successfully, or even semisuccessfully?  I was looking at a players ratings the other day and noticed he had 80+ durability, a 95 rated fastball and better pitching number vR 33 and 34 vL than he did his batting, but his control was only 14.  I check on the roster management and you could do it, so I was wondering if anybody ever had?

I've done it a lot for roster requirements and i have noticed late round draft picks being better P than Hitters in places, but i've never done it above HiA.

If memory serves, switching hitters to pitchers and vice versa causes their fatigue to plummet for some reason. Not sure why this is the case but if you have a pitcher hit in a few games you'll see his fatigue sink like a rock.

I can confirm prez's point. The DUR rating isn't the same rating for pitchers and hitters.  I've played around with switching guys in the low minors, and they will always be at 0 fatigue almost immediately

If you actually switch their position they play quite awhile. If the sim puts them there its a different story. I guess Im saying either I've had better luck with it or you guys are wrong. Anyways try it and find out.

Posted by 98greenc5 on 10/29/2010 10:17:00 AM (view original):
I can confirm prez's point. The DUR rating isn't the same rating for pitchers and hitters.  I've played around with switching guys in the low minors, and they will always be at 0 fatigue almost immediately

That's the experience I've had.

I noticed a crappy RP in my low minors was slightly less crappy as a backup C, so I changed his position designation and let him go. He played infrequently, since I let AI run my lineups and his ratings weren't very good, but his DUR wasn't horrible. Something like 60-70. He'd fatigue pretty heavily playing a couple times a week, getting one or two AB per appearance, and stay fatigued for a while.

I left his position at C through about three seasons, I think, and he showed some improvement in his player ratings, but his fatigue issues never improved. I finally released him or he retired, one or the other.

You basically CAN'T.. oh sure you can put a pitcher into a positional role but he'll suck there and NEVER be really better than Rookie or Low A ....   Fatigue is the biggest problem, a pitcher's ratings just don't allow for them to play a lot..Also their offensive and defensive rating are crappy to begin with and will NOT get good enough to get past low A.   

So why even bother?? Waste of material and roster spot. Because a pitcher in a positional role will NEVER be good enough for AA let alone Major League level.  

Also note.. Wakefield type scenerio is not possible either (Positional guy turned into a ML Calibre Pitcher)

Both of these (pitcher to hitter, and vice versa) should be rare, but they should be doable, with some success.  Besides Ankiel and Wakefield, you've got:

Bobby Darwin was  Dodger pitching prospect in the 1960's who turned into a 20-HR, starting OF for Minnesota for a few years in the 1970's.

Willie Smith was a good Tigers pitching prospect in the early 1960's...came up as a pitcher in 1963; got traded to the Angels who used him as BOTH a pitcher and an OF in 1964.  After that he was an OF....mostly a backup and PH, but he had a ten-year career in that role.

Bill Kelso was a minor league catcher for the Angels, who converted to pitcher.  Made it to the majors in 1967 with the Angels, traded to the Reds in 1968 where he joined Jim Maloney, Billy McCool, Wayne Simpson, Gary Nolan, Don Gullett, Mel Queen as pitchers who blew out their arms in Cincinnati.  (Never studied it, but I think there must have been something in how they trained...or failed to train...their pitchers there in the 60's, early 70's.)  And speaking of Mel Queen...

Mel Queen was an OF who made it to the majors in that role and converted to pitcher at the major league level.  Had one good season as a starter, hurt his arm, did nothing for a couple of years, went to the Angels and had a couple of decent years as a reliever.

More recently...like a couple of weeks ago...the Phillies sent pitcher Joe Savery, their 2007 #1 draft pick as a pitcher, to the Florida Instructional League to learn to play 1b. 

I really wish Mike Hampton would have signed with Kansas City a few seasons back when they were going to let him DH in between his starts. That would have been something to see in this age. I think he would have been adequate at DH, or better than what they've gotten from their DH's since that time.

First (maybe more importantly) do you really want WIS spending it's time on what is really a very rare occurrence in today's game of baseball??  The examples mentioned above are from 30+ years ago. In today's MLB it's doesn't happen often, not often enough to waste time adding it to HBD. Espiecially when there are FAR more important improvements/changes they could make.

Second, at the present time in HBD a catcher as 3 options..Catcher, 1B or DH; that's it.  Making a catcher into a ML calibre of any other position just isn't possible in HBD.  So no Biggio type thing is possible...  The reverse is true as well.. trying (for example) making a 2b into a Catcher isn't possible (improving his PC rating to a point he'd be useful as a C).  Yet this kind of thing happens far more often in baseball than the Pitcher/Positional thing does, even in todays game. BUT again is does it happen enough to make it worth the time and effort ($$$ to WIS) to add it to the game?  Again there far more pressing and important thing that need to be addressed than this..

Posted by aginor on 10/30/2010 5:34:00 PM (view original):
First (maybe more importantly) do you really want WIS spending it's time on what is really a very rare occurrence in today's game of baseball??  The examples mentioned above are from 30+ years ago. In today's MLB it's doesn't happen often, not often enough to waste time adding it to HBD. Espiecially when there are FAR more important improvements/changes they could make.

Second, at the present time in HBD a catcher as 3 options..Catcher, 1B or DH; that's it.  Making a catcher into a ML calibre of any other position just isn't possible in HBD.  So no Biggio type thing is possible...  The reverse is true as well.. trying (for example) making a 2b into a Catcher isn't possible (improving his PC rating to a point he'd be useful as a C).  Yet this kind of thing happens far more often in baseball than the Pitcher/Positional thing does, even in todays game. BUT again is does it happen enough to make it worth the time and effort ($$$ to WIS) to add it to the game?  Again there far more pressing and important thing that need to be addressed than this..

It's not like it's impossible in HBD. I've let Yorvit Ortiz act as my 3rd string catcher. It's true that you rarely see guys who are that versatile, but it's just as rare in real life.