How will a B-/A- thirdbaseman play in CF? Will it be something similar to a C+/B+ OF?

significantly worse than C+/B+

elaborating, because you're moving him to the right on the defensive spectrum, you get a much bigger penalty on fielding percentage and range. you could play him at LF or RF and he'd be fine, but in CF he will make a lot of errors for an outfielder and will make a ton of - range plays.

The SIM treats all OF the same though, IIRC. Meaning all are treated as COF. So even if you play a 3B in CF, he'd just be treated as a COF, which means he's not actually moving the wrong way on the spectrum.

I don't know if this was ever confirmed, but it seemed to be the general consensus a while back.

hmm, I didn't know that. i've never attempted playing anyone out of position in CF because it seemed like a horrible idea. if jtpsops is right then you might be able to get away with it.

While I cannot be certain, I am almost positive that WIS makes no distinction between the OF positions.

1.) All players who are rated in the OF receive 1 overall rating. If they made a distinction, I would expect that players who appeared at multiple OF spots would get separate ratings for each position, exactly as they do in the infield.
2.) If they did consider CF a distinct position on the defensive spectrum, compared to LF/RF, then I would expect they would at least tell you which OF slot was considered a player's baseline. Otherwise you would not know that moving that player to CF would incur a penatly.
3.) In performance history stats, WIS does not differentiate between LF/RF and CF; everything is shown as OF.
4.) Has anyone looked at players who were LF/RF in real life to see if their fielding/range performance is different when they are used in CF? I would be shocked if it were.

And if all of the above are true, the only way that shifting a non-OF to CF would be different than shifting him to LF/RF would be if they have a programmed 2 distinct defensive spectrums. One for non-OF, and a separate one for OF. I would again be very surprised if that were the case.

CF will get more chances than the corner spots, so his poor play will be more noticeable. Perhaps not awful, but nowhere near your initial estimate. I'm guessing a 10-20% reduction in range, worse if he becomes fatigued.

I thought there was just a minor penalty for moving to a less demanding defensive position.

it's definitely true that outfielders are just rated at OF but it's certainly been my experience that more range is required in CF for comparable performance. a guy with a B outfield range rating will get you a decent amount of + plays in the corner OF but will hardly get you any at CF.

2% out of position penalty, and an additional 4% for each move in a harder direction for FLD
10% out of position penalty, and an additional 15% for each move in a harder direction for RRF

If you're looking at 1972, a B- FLD at 3B is .953-.954 range, so a 2% hit would make the FLD .934, or about a C- for 1972.
A- Range for same season is 3.30-3.40, so a 10% hit would be 2.97-3.06, or a C-C- range for same season.

Since going 3B to OF on WIS spectrum isn't increasing difficulty, you're not taking the additional movement penalties.

For that season, you'd be looking at a B-/A- 3B playing like a C-/C- OF.

Is that pretty typical? One letter in fielding and two in range?

Posted by Trentonjoe on 3/21/2022 4:32:00 PM (view original):
Is that pretty typical? One letter in fielding and two in range?

With the larger penalty on range, I'd say yes, but it also depends somewhat on the underlying starting points for each, as well as the season for your player in particular.

I had a stretch years ago when I played I believe a B/B+ 3B full time in RF with acceptable results. Obviously only 1 sample but he played 150+ games like a C/C+ type OF. It can work and is a realistic option, especially if the alternative is a poor fielding real OF.

My 'Twinned Twins' team was going nowhere so after 40 games I moved the 1975 3B Eric Soderholm (A FLD .969 A- Range 3.35) to CF.
So far through 25 games here are his results:

Pos	GP	GS	Inn	E	Throw E	PO	A	DP	Good Plays	Poor Plays	F. Pct
CF	25	25	202	0	0	54	0	0	1	1	1

I think I'll play him 50 games in CF then the next 50 in LF (if I can keep his fatigue at 100%) and see what the results are