I'm relatively new to HBD (5 seasons) so I don't know if this has been discussed or not, but I'm starting to believe that there are hidden ratings. For instance, I have a guy who always has a ton of HBPs. What rating would cause that? Also, I've had pitchers who are terrible in a long relief role, but as soon as I start them they do great. I've had relievers with excellent ratings that don't seem to be able to handle the pressure of the closer position. I've signed good ML relievers, 1.20 WHIP, 3.00 ERA, very good core ratings, that have basically imploded in 1-2 years and are now out of baseball. What would cause this if their core ratings are still good? What about the hitter with 75+ core ratings that just can't get it done at the ML level? I've also had minor league SPs with marginal ratings that have put up Koufax-like numbers in AA. Anyone else buy into this theory or am I just losing my mind?

Temper rating affects HBP.

Ignore minor league stats.   They're largely useless.

I'm guessing most of the reliever stuff is randomness within small sample size.  Another possibility for poor pitching performances would be if you put a bad defense behind them.

I'd need to see a specific example for the hitter. 

That must be it !!!! Thanks. LOL.

Uh, Mike....did you overpay for Butch, or did you inherit that silly contract? 

1.  It's Mike's contract.  And Butch is a 5-6 win player (or was before this season), so it's an OK contract (not special).
2. Just to clarify, you were OK with Butch before this season, right?  Because he was right on target with my expectations.

Wow, that dude is like Milton Bradley.

Butch helped me to the LCS last season.  I overpaid a bit but I've been pretty happy with his production.   Until this year.   Now he can eat a dick.   He's killing me.

Keep in mind he's playing in Memphis, a pretty strong pitcher's park.   But not so strong he should be hitting .200 ever.

Posted by ukula on 9/6/2012 12:37:00 PM (view original):
I'm relatively new to HBD (5 seasons) so I don't know if this has been discussed or not, but I'm starting to believe that there are hidden ratings. For instance, I have a guy who always has a ton of HBPs. What rating would cause that? Also, I've had pitchers who are terrible in a long relief role, but as soon as I start them they do great. I've had relievers with excellent ratings that don't seem to be able to handle the pressure of the closer position. I've signed good ML relievers, 1.20 WHIP, 3.00 ERA, very good core ratings, that have basically imploded in 1-2 years and are now out of baseball. What would cause this if their core ratings are still good? What about the hitter with 75+ core ratings that just can't get it done at the ML level? I've also had minor league SPs with marginal ratings that have put up Koufax-like numbers in AA. Anyone else buy into this theory or am I just losing my mind?

Pretty sharp, ukula. It took me a lot longer to figure this out. Call them ratings or whatever, there is an 800-pound gorilla behind the scenes that we have no control over, and the player ratings are like a feather duster, trying to force him to do your will. lol! I figure the player ratings are about 2-5 percent of the game, if that.

Back when WIS still had employees, even they admitted they had no idea how things worked. (And if you've ever seen their HBD teams, you'd know they weren't kidding.)

The question then becomes, why the hell do so many of us stay with a game we have virtually no control over!??!

If you really believed that, I think you're too smart to keep playing.

So, are you bullshitting or am I overestimating your intelligence?

Ukula, everything is a small sample size. So do you best to understand how all the ratings might relate to one another and adapt as you go.

Noone knows for sure how a batter's push/pull rating interacts with a pitchers velocity to affect where the ball is hit or the outcome of the play for example. Or how much does a hitters height affect his base on balls (it does according to a not so recent dev chat/interview)? Sometimes it pays to be patient, sometimes it doesn't.

I would have Rose at .283-.343-.500.  He's a career .271-.335-.501.  Fields well at 3B

He's a very nice piece.  I wasn't trying to say he was lousy.  But I'm not sure (in my ragged book) that an .840 guy is worth $16M a year, unless he's a GG SS or CF or 2B..  And rose needs playing-time help with his  73 Durability.

This guy, D.Mercedes , on the same team, with about the same contract is probably worth it.  Plays every game, mashes, and plays a very nice 2B or CF

Ukula, Mike is right with the 2nd post from the top, btw.

It's all relative to the world you're in.

9	newarkwilder	ML	65-97	.401	3rd	No	No
10	newarkwilder	ML	86-76	.531	2nd	No	No
11	newarkwilder	ML	72-90	.444	4th	No	No
12	newarkwilder	ML	69-93	.426	3rd	No	No
13	newarkwilder	ML	77-85	.475	2nd	No	No
14	mayottek	ML	78-84	.481	3rd	No	No
15	MikeT23	ML	91-71	.562	2nd	Yes	No	no	no	no
16	MikeT23	ML	89-73	.549	1st	No	Yes	yes	no	no
17	MikeT23	ML	61-55	.526	-	-	-	-	-	-

I needed hitters or I was going to be where the team already was.