Hey everyone, I’m new to HBD and I think from now on I will frequently be asking some questions in the forums. I think the biggest part of this game is player evaluations. I think I have a solid grasp on hitting evaluation but I need help evaluating pitchers. What’re big league average ratings for pitchers? Would you rather a pitcher have average ratings all around or really high pitchers and below average for other ratings? I see a lot of guys with great ratings but a low velocity rating, does that automatically mean they won’t be effective? Thanks!

For me I'm pretty focused on 3 pitcher ratings - vR, Control and Pitch 1.

There are others that can be useful (a high GB for pitchers is nice, it's useful to have a couple of guys with strong vLs, Pitches 2-5 are useful but not as effective as Pitch 1) but if you concentrate on those 3 ratings you'll be ahead.

I've never really paid any attention to velocity myself.

Posted by dw172300 on 9/12/2018 2:08:00 PM (view original):
For me I'm pretty focused on 3 pitcher ratings - vR, Control and Pitch 1.

There are others that can be useful (a high GB for pitchers is nice, it's useful to have a couple of guys with strong vLs, Pitches 2-5 are useful but not as effective as Pitch 1) but if you concentrate on those 3 ratings you'll be ahead.

I've never really paid any attention to velocity myself.

Ok makes sense. What’s big league average ratings for those 3 ratings and what’s all star level ratings?

I value P1 less than most, and view VsL, and even GB/FB, as roughly as important as P1. But in any case:

A pitcher with all 70s in control, VsL, VsR, P1, P2, and GB/FB is a legitimate but below average major leaguer, should probably not make your playoff roster.
A pitcher with all 75s in control, VsL, VsR, P1, P2, and GB/FB is a slightly above average major leaguer.
A pitcher with all 80s in control, VsL, VsR, P1, P2, and GB/FB is a very solid pitcher, can pitch important innings.
A pitcher with all 85s in control, VsL, VsR, P1, P2, and GB/FB is a perennial all-star.

You have to take a weighted average to get a feel for the whole pitcher; 60 is a bad rating, but a guy with 95 control can be a very good pitcher even with VsL, VsR in the low 60s.

I value Control, GB/FB, and vR the most. As far as individual pitches, it somewhat depends on your catcher's PC rating. If you have a catcher with an average PC rating (50s or 60s), then yes P1 is much more important than the other pitches. But if your catcher has a high PC rating (above 80), then all pitches make a difference. I've even noticed that pitchers with P2 and P3 ratings higher than P1 will have much better success if they throw to a catcher with a high PC rating.