Does a player who actually fielded a position rate better than a player who never did even though his rating is D- ?

To put it another way, if a guy is D- / D- in the OF & I play him at 1st, where he has no rating, will he actually field the position worse than David Ortiz, who sometimes played at 1b?

If I understand you, yes, David Ortiz (D/D-) would be better at first than a D-/D- OFer

Looking at perfromance history, D-/D- OFers not rated at first general field at ~.974.  Ortiz in most years is a D fielder and fields ~.993.

Don't think I've ben clear.

Player A = D- / D- rating at 1b.

Player B = no rating for 1b; rated D- / D- in OF.

Will B field as well as A if he plays 1b or is there an unwritten sub-D- category for such players when out of position?

Posted by doubletruck on 1/27/2013 5:12:00 AM (view original):
Don't think I've ben clear.

Player A = D- / D- rating at 1b.

Player B = no rating for 1b; rated D- / D- in OF.

Will B field as well as A if he plays 1b or is there an unwritten sub-D- category for such players when out of position?

I believe the latter.  The D- OFer maps to D- at first and then takes a penalty.

The problem is that not all D-/D- are created equal. A D- fielder might be JUST below the threshold to be a D, or he might be the worst fielder in the history of the game - you can't tell by the letters alone. You have to look at the actual fielding percentages.

D-, like A+, covers a wide area.  D- goes all the way down to 0%, so there is no ranking below D-; just some D- are worse than others.

So the guys who have no defense rating for any position (e.g. the DH players of the recent past)...how might they perform if they played a position? I would guess they would play the "best" at 1B, C, or RF. Any thoughts? Any anecdotes?

Posted by rodawg9 on 5/3/2013 6:52:00 PM (view original):
So the guys who have no defense rating for any position (e.g. the DH players of the recent past)...how might they perform if they played a position? I would guess they would play the "best" at 1B, C, or RF. Any thoughts? Any anecdotes?

They are utterly abysmal anywhere. Least painful at 1B, but don't do this unless you have no other options.

Depends...you didn't specify a rating. A guy who's A/A at SS could probably field decently anywhere but catcher. There is a penalty hierarchy based on position. If you put an A/A 1B at SS, he'll be terrible, but if you put a A/A SS at 1B, even with penalties, he'll probably be a B/B or C/C fielder at 1B

Posted by rodawg9 on 5/3/2013 6:52:00 PM (view original):
So the guys who have no defense rating for any position (e.g. the DH players of the recent past)...how might they perform if they played a position? I would guess they would play the "best" at 1B, C, or RF. Any thoughts? Any anecdotes?

Disaster waiting (briefly) to happen at catcher. Probably 6+ passed balls per game if you get very lucky They won't kill you at 1B or RF.