Would it be more realistic, and better for prospects, if relievers had HIGHER stamina/durability when they are first drafted/signed as IFAs, and then have the ST/DU decline as they mature?

I'm thinking along the lines of real reliever prospects, many of who often are SPs when they are drafted. A guy might be a 125-IP pitcher at age 19, but when he's ready for the majors, he's being counted on to pitch 50 IP.

For HBD owners, this would also reduce the problem of fatigue, and the related activate/deactivate workload.

In other words, some pitchers would have SP-level DU/ST when they are drafted, but the projections would be for RP-level DU/ST. Others would continue to have RP-level DU/ST from the time they are drafted.

No.

It would be more realistic to have the ability to "transform" a pitcher from a SP and a RP, and vice-versa. Something that would take a little time as the player learns to make the transition from one role to the other.

Think of Joba Chamberlain as an example.

As it is now in HBD, an SP can seemlessly slip into an RP role, but an RP cannot become an SP.

That would work for me.

It just seems to go against the idea of development to have an RP prospect who ultimately will be able to throw 60-70 IP a season, but because he hasn't matured, is only going to get 30-40 IP in A-ball.

Quote: Originally posted by tecwrg on 12/16/2009It would be more realistic to have the ability to "transform" a pitcher from a SP and a RP, and vice-versa.  Something that would take a little time as the player learns to make the transition from one role to the other.Think of Joba Chamberlain as an example.As it is now in HBD, an SP can seemlessly slip into an RP role, but an RP cannot become an SP.

I would like to be able to transform them back and forth too, and I think I have a realistic algorithm to make it work. There are many more examples than Joba; I would venture to guess that at least half and likely more than half of today's real life closers were at one point starters either in the Majors or the minors. A few that come right to my mind are Mariano Rivera, Kerry Wood, Jonathan Papelbon, and Bobby Jenks. How about John Smoltz, who went from starter,to closer, and back to starter? I believe Adam Wainright was a closer his rookie season, and is now a starter.

One idea I had was that once per season, just like you get correspondence from fielding coach recommending position changes, you could get email from pitching coach saying he thinks he can make Player X better by converting him, either from RP to SP or SP to RP. You would click on a box and you could compare his old and new projections if you went through with it. You either click yes or no to change him. You can only change pitchers your pitching coach suggests, which could be 2-3 pitchers per level, per season.

As in real life, it would take anywhere from 2 months to a whole season for the changes to take effect.

It's more than just increasing/decreasing stamina and durability. In order to do this pitchers must add or subtract pitches from their repertoire as well. Velocity, control, and even splits may be affected as well.

Bottom line: The ability to make this transition in one form or another would be good for the game.

No, it really wouldn't be good for the game.

Has anyone actually tried pitching a 70 DUR 30 STA type guy for 100-120 pitches in a game on a regular basis to see if they cannot handle it?

Quote: Originally Posted By csherwood on 12/16/2009
Has anyone actually tried pitching a 70 DUR 30 STA type guy for 100-120 pitches in a game on a regular basis to see if they cannot handle it?

Wouldn't in-game fatigue make that guy unproductive as his pitch counts climb above 45 or 50, certainly by the 80s and 90s?