I've noticed that there are some team owners out there that are very faithful to the game but they are not having too much success.   Every league needs faithful owners.  Guys that come back season after season to give it another go.   This thread is meant to help some of those faithful who haven't been winning.   We do not want to see anyone leave because they are giving up.   I hope any info I share might help even just one team owner become more competitive and stick around in a league that much longer to enjoy some success.

So..  the problem for many teams that I see...  they have horrible ERAs and seemingly don't know why (maybe don't care?)   If you want to win, you gotta know what's wrong with your team in order to fix the problem.   So let's assume an owner cares that his ERA is outta control and pitchers don't seem to perform no matter who he pays to throw the damn ball.

Try this :  Goto  :

<world>
<stats/awards>
<team stats>

Change "category" to <pitching> and then sort by ERA.   Is your team in the bottom 5?  Ok, maybe a rebuild season..  everyone has a bad season.    But then do this same check for the last 5 PREVIOUS seasons...  Is your team still showing up in the bottom 5?  If yes...  you have a big problem that needs to be fixed.   

Next try this :  Goto  :

<world>
<stats/awards>
<team stats>

Change "category" to <fielding>, change "split" to <extended> and sort by " - " (negative fielding plays)

Is your squad also in the top 5 for negative fielding plays?    Try the last 5 previous seasons.   If You had a top 5 worst ERA and top 5 worst in negative fielding plays...   you now see the problem.   It's not your pitchers.  It's your fielders.

Let's see who the culprits are... Goto  :

<world>
<stats/awards>
<player stats>

Change "category" to <fielding>, change "split" to <totals> and sort by " - " (negative plays)

Any player with more than 3+  negative plays is a liability in my opinion.   7+?    it means the player has NO business playing the position you have him in.   It means he is probably costing your team base runners and runs.  It means he is contributing to your top 5 worst ERA. It means...   you have found a major problem.  Now do something about it !    A crappy 2b who can hit is not a 2b at all  He is probably a LF you are playing out of position.   You already have a LF?   Then get rid of this dead weight.  Trade him for a prospective defensive 2b.   Ain't hard to do.    You need a 2b who can catch the damn ball.   Work from defensive prowess first at the big defensive positions : SS, CF, 2b.  Get these positions right defensively and your ERA will come back to earth.

There are always exceptions to the rule. For example.. the idea of playing a crappy defensive RF who can hit.    RF is not a good example of affecting ERAs dramatically.   SS, CF, 2B ?   Oh hell yea.   Get those positions right defensively and your pitching staff will thank you.
 

True story... in my second season I was waiting on a very young CF in my minors to be ready for a call up.  Because I hadn't quite figured out the value of range, I plugged in a decent fielding 2B in CF.  Late in the season a friendly owner pointed out to me that the player was in the process of setting a new record for lowest range factor CF.  The guy was essentially a pylon.  Lesson learned.

Posted by damag on 2/11/2016 10:33:00 AM (view original):
True story... in my second season I was waiting on a very young CF in my minors to be ready for a call up.  Because I hadn't quite figured out the value of range, I plugged in a decent fielding 2B in CF.  Late in the season a friendly owner pointed out to me that the player was in the process of setting a new record for lowest range factor CF.  The guy was essentially a pylon.  Lesson learned.

My first season I thought that a higher range player in LF and RF would offset a 'below average' range player in CF. Logically it made sense. It was not the case.

Back then I had no idea what I was looking for or how bad - plays and errors were. Thankfully an owner told me what was going on. (And how angry some of the other owners were)

Nice tip siberiansoul.  You are going to greatly help a few players.

Posted by dakar on 2/11/2016 7:19:00 PM (view original):
Nice tip siberiansoul.  You are going to greatly help a few players.

I took a really long route to basically suggest that owners need to be aware of recommended defensive ratings at SS, CF, and 2b.    But  I think seeing one's team at the bottom of some important rankings is a good way to shock someone into action.   

Posted by siberiansoul on 2/11/2016 8:52:00 PM (view original):

Posted by dakar on 2/11/2016 7:19:00 PM (view original):
Nice tip siberiansoul.  You are going to greatly help a few players.

I took a really long route to basically suggest that owners need to be aware of recommended defensive ratings at SS, CF, and 2b.    But  I think seeing one's team at the bottom of some important rankings is a good way to shock someone into action.   

Exactly what did it for me. You get wrapped up in "need better hitting, need better pitching." You need the state to realize your D ain't cutting it.

Doesn't matter how good your defense is, if your pitchers give up dingers the ball will never have a chance to reach a defender.

But the converse is true as well.

Doesn't matter how good your pitchers are, if your SS, CF, & 2B have crappy range and consistently boot routine grounders then you'll have horrible ERAs.

Posted by bigham23 on 2/12/2016 8:58:00 AM (view original):
But the converse is true as well.

Doesn't matter how good your pitchers are, if your SS, CF, & 2B have crappy range and consistently boot routine grounders then you'll have horrible ERAs.

If they have crappy range, they're not booting anything.

That's the whole point of being a pylon.  Your position players do absolutely nothing for your pitching staff if they're just standing there.

siberiansoul's original post was meant, I believe, as a notification to owners who just don't know any better.  You likely start off this game trying to get the best hitters you can into the lineup, and what does it matter if you shave a few points on defensive ratings?  It does matter.

Exactly.  Defense if often underrated, particularly by new owners, but even by many veteran owners.

Posted by tecwrg on 2/12/2016 9:16:00 AM (view original):
Exactly.  Defense if often underrated, particularly by new owners, but even by many veteran owners.

There either tanking or stupid.

Posted by tecwrg on 2/12/2016 9:16:00 AM (view original):
Exactly.  Defense if often underrated, particularly by new owners, but even by many veteran owners.

From a tip you had given me, I had learned that if you took on a team that was low on talent, and wanted to be competitive, oftentimes high glove/low bat guys are the way to go over decent bat/medocre glove guys.

The high glove/low bat men can be cheap, and while they won't throw up an .800 OPS, they will contribute quite a bit by keeping scores down, and your pitchers on the mound - even if those pitchers are mediocre.

It certainly helped my Clemente team last season.

There are several ways to win in HBD.   Blowing off defense in favor of offense isn't necessarily wrong.   The object of the game is to score more than the other guy.   That could be 2-1 or 17-16.   Both are wins.