Does anyone know if position players work independently on defense. By this I mean.

If the CF has a range of 90, and his LF/RF have ranges of 10...is the CF bound to get more balls his way because he will be covering for the COFs..OR will the COFs just pick up more balls off of the ground because they can not get to them and the CF only tracks down balls in the CF range?

Same thing on the infield. If you have a 1B with 65 range, which is high for a 1B, would this allow you to play a sub par (68) range 2B and not take as much as a hit because the 1B is covering some of the 2B territory? OR would a 68 range 2B perform the exact same if the 1Bs range were only an average 1Bs rating of 45 range?

My gut tells me in the outfield the CF would pick up more of the LCF, RCF balls so his range factor would go up. However in the infield I believe they work independent, as there is no listing in the game notes saying batter A hits the ball to the 3B/SS area....

Thoughts, has anyone done a study like MikeTs great RF study?

My understanding is that high range defenders don't make up for lower range defenders next to them on the field.  It's all independent.

I read in one of the help tabs that the fielders do not play as a unit and all of the positions are independent

You'd think that a great 1B would save errors and it would show up as + plays.   I've seen no evidence of this.   It appears that all + plays are 1B are created by the 1B alone.

Even the negative plays created by a 1B seems to come from his inability to get to a struck ball and not his inability to catch throws.

That's certainly not how it works in SLB.

Posted by MikeT23 on 7/26/2012 11:17:00 AM (view original):
Even the negative plays created by a 1B seems to come from his inability to get to a struck ball and not his inability to catch throws.

Wouldn't inability to catch throws be reflected as errors, not as negative plays?

I guess I should have been more specific.   Errant throws.  He doesn't seem to create negative plays for himself or his teammates by his inability to catch errant throws.

A SS with high range will make more plays when playing next to a 3B with low range. Independent of ballpark, GB/FB and L/R pitcher differentials, you can see this in zone rating. I confirmed this with a ticket to tech support. For what that's worth.

What/where is zone rating?

Sorry, I meant range factor. Look at the league leaders in range factor by position (best for a complete season to maximize sample size). Yes, I know there will be fluctuations because of the aforementioned reasons, but the guy who plays beside the player also makes a difference.

Posted by cbriese on 7/28/2012 10:35:00 AM (view original):
Sorry, I meant range factor. Look at the league leaders in range factor by position (best for a complete season to maximize sample size). Yes, I know there will be fluctuations because of the aforementioned reasons, but the guy who plays beside the player also makes a difference.

I would send your ticket again. This is untrue based on literally EVERYTHING support had ever said on the subject.

Posted by tropicana on 7/28/2012 11:28:00 PM (view original):

Posted by cbriese on 7/28/2012 10:35:00 AM (view original):
Sorry, I meant range factor. Look at the league leaders in range factor by position (best for a complete season to maximize sample size). Yes, I know there will be fluctuations because of the aforementioned reasons, but the guy who plays beside the player also makes a difference.

I would send your ticket again. This is untrue based on literally EVERYTHING support had ever said on the subject.

Agreed.

Yeah, I get the feeling that one of three things happened:

1.  CS misunderstood the question and gave a bad answer.
2.  cbriese misunderstood the response and now believes the wrong thing.
3.  CS just gave an answer that contradicted everything they've stated before.