Posted by cwillis802 on 11/18/2015 9:31:00 PM (view original):
One thing I've also noticed is that you need to check how many errors the player actually made. Not all A fielders are created equal. In fact, some C fielders may have committed less errors in real life than an A fielder. The range factor seems to hold true more than the fielding...because the fielding grade of a player in different eras can greatly differ. For instance a C rated Larry Bowa at SS may have only committed 20 errors in a particular season and he will most likely commit close to the number of errors he made that season where as an A rated George Davis might have committed 55 errors. More than likely the C rated Bowa is the superior fielder who will commit less errors for you.
The fact that the pitcher helps determine what your fielders will do is news to me. It would seem to me the reason would indeed be the number of strikeouts vs balls put into play for causing more errors. I did have Erick Aybar in an OL commit like 35 errors for me when in real life he only made 15. That's more than twice as many. He didn't have twice as many chances. I was using dead ball pitchers. So that seems to indicate that the pitcher may indeed have the affect on their fielders stated above. I don't doubt it.
One of the last updates Sim got — 5 years ago, maybe? — included major changes in fielding. Deadball position players' ratings were adjusted to reflect their skill relative to each season, rather than the overall data base; instead of most deadballers being D or D- glove, they were changed so whoever the best fielders were in a given season, their ratings would reflect that they were the best of the era rather than comparing them with modern players. As part of that change, each team's overall defense became affected by the pitcher's season and overall MLB defense in that season. Pitchers from the early days of no or poor gloves would effectively shift all eight fielders' defensive ratings downward, and modern pitchers shifted their teams' defense upward. A C SS would become a D SS behind Addie Joss and a B SS behind Greg Maddux. (Can't recall for sure whether the change affected Range also). The same defense will commit more errors behind a deadballer and fewer behind a pitcher from the modern era, regardless of strikeout rates.
With that update, 1908 Honus Wagner went from something like D- to C, for one example. In a progressive, post-update with 1908 pitchers, he still fielded like a D-player. In a game behind a 1955 pitcher, he'd have fielded like C, and behind a 2013 pitcher would be more like B. One goal of that change was to offset deadballers' ability to supress HR by increasing errors.