So I tried to acquire a couple of pitchers this last pre-season. Both had pretty solid ratings with below league average results based on 330(2 complete seasons) and 1200 innings. Naturally, their owners wanted compensation based on ratings. I looked at the results and said "Yeah, no thanks."

How does the general HBD world view this sort of thing?

FWIW, I might view the 330 IP guy a little differently, not sure that's enough to say "This is who he is", except the two seasons were practically identical.

I look at both. Also, the stadium he plays in.

I check the ratings to see what might be causing the results. Good splits but poor pitches, only three pitches for SPs, bad P2... find what the "problem" rating might be. Then what wylie said, stadium and what the previous owner did, was the team crap on defense, things like that.

I'd usually stay away from a good ratings/bad results pitcher. I've seen enough pitchers who the sim just kinda doesn't like them. Having said that I play in extreme pitcher parks in two of my worlds. I'm more likely to take a flier with those teams.

Obviously one looks for warts and naturally defense/stadium play a part. I guess I'm not sure what sort of response I was seeking but I think both of you pointed out the obvious.

For the most part, if they're on my team, I'd move the 1200 IP for less and hold onto the 330 IP guy in hopes of better results. But, to acquire them, I'm looking at what they've accomplished. If it's below what I'd expect from all the factors listed, I'd assume there's something in the ratings I don't quite understand. Both pitchers looked like above average pitchers, using all circumstances, but they weren't putting it out on the fake field.

Your response to sjpoker in the other thread cleared out the basics-- make sure the pitch counts aren't too high; check the defense, and the catcher's PC, and the park; remember that it's a lot harder to face DHs than pitchers. This usually resolves most cases.

Next step is to look for special circumstances. Does he have a very low GB/FB in a park that gives up a lot of homers? Does his owner have a .420 record over 100 seasons?

But if I can't resolve it, around 700-800 IP is where I assume I'm just not reading his ratings right.

Couldn't check pitch counts. Pre-season.

IP/start is not a terrible proxy for pitch counts.

No, it's not but it might not tell the story either. I'm using Johnny Lowstam at 100/110 for the first 25 starts and he's getting assblasted. I drop him back to 65/70 for his next 10 and he pitches to his ratings. It will average out around 90 per game for the season but that's pretty inaccurate.

I feel like I've tried to use statistics vs ratings to justify a trade that I made in my league that was a little more in my favour (going to go off topic for a sec) to be fair, I asked the owner 'what do you want for ________?' He made back an offer which was very much in my favour. What am I supposed to do in that instance? Say 'I should give you more for fear of vetoing'. Seems kinda silly. Anyways, I think the reason why the pervious owner was trying to get rid of the pitcher was because he had a lifetime ERA over 4.5 playing mostly in Boise. Some owners were cool with me using Stats as a justifier, some were angry I was using them to justify 'trade rape'.

Everyone has the same info. No one should be surprised an ERA in Boise is different than an ERA in Wichita. It sounds like the owner you were dealing with didn't understand this. I'd have vetoed your deal if it's as bad as you say and said "You know that Boise ERA is inflated. Do you think this is my first day?"

Makeup plays into under/over performing correct?

Coaching, even at the ML level only affects development right, and not directly on a players' game performance (except BC when manager is ejected)? Seems top ML coaching is only good for really young teams or really old teams (save FI coach and prospect development during ST), otherwise having very little effect.

Now I'm really curious about this. In one of my leagues I'm trying to beef up my bullpen so I'm trading for

https://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerRatings.aspx?pid=5097644

and

https://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerStats.aspx?pid=5312679

Am I missing something with their ratings or should both of these guys lifetime ERA be at least half a point lower?

The very low stamina hurts them; they're often pitching with in-game fatigue. Because of that, I would downgrade my expectations such that they're both about 0.2 of ERA worse than I'd expect, which is well within range of random error over the small number of innings they've thrown in their careers.

Posted by brianplath on 5/12/2016 6:56:00 PM (view original):
Makeup plays into under/over performing correct?

Coaching, even at the ML level only affects development right, and not directly on a players' game performance (except BC when manager is ejected)? Seems top ML coaching is only good for really young teams or really old teams (save FI coach and prospect development during ST), otherwise having very little effect.

1-No. It plays into how close a player gets to projections and how quickly he declines. The help manual describes makeup as "similar to work ethic." It might also affect severity and likelihood of demotion penalties.
2-Yes.