I've seen a lot of owners with way different opinions as to the importance of player categories. Some will say "contact" is one of the 2 or 3 most important batting cats while others seem to ignore it. Catcher's "pitch calling" is another cat I see a lot of owners tank on. Just read a thread that seemed to lean toward tanking on a player's "make-up", which I have always considered a critical cat. Splits are generally a given as being highly rated, especially the "right" split for both hitters and pitchers. I've been playing awhile and I know what's important to me when I look at a player but I just wanted some other opinions on how you guys stack the cats.

It’s one of the things I love about this game. There is no ‘perfect’ strategy and some stuff that works for some doesn’t work for others.

I’ll start with pitching first because it’s easiest

most important: VsR, pitch 1, pitch 2
secondary: control, VsL, pitch 3 (if applicable, actually when I draft, ranking guys by pitch 3 is a nice little hack to get late round talent)
Ratings I don’t look at: Velocity, GB/FB, pitch 4/5

fielding:

most important l: Range, glove
secondary: arm strength, arm accuracy
I don’t look at: pitch calling

hitting: (this one gets a little tough)
most important: VsR
I need a good combination of but some can be good some can be bad: contact, batting eye, VsL
i don’t look at: (power*, bunt, push pull)


power I want to make a note, power can be and is very important. Guys with 99 power can have 50’s in other categories and be elite hitters where are the same guy with 0 power wouldn’t make your AAA team. I play in the NL in pitchers parks so my strategy is slap singles, walks and stealing second. So while power is nice, I don’t focus on it. I find also in FA people vastly overpay for power.

last part, I don’t stack health, stamina, durability or most of the yellows very high. If a guy has skills I can find a spot for him. And I run 20 million medical so for the most part guys getting injured is a blessing

Speed and base running I look at for every player. IMO this are the two most under utilized skills in HBD that constantly get overlooked. If I can get a gold glove SS or CF with 80+ for speed and base running, they are making my team. Even if their hitting ratings are garbage. You can’t have a team full of these guys but you’ll be surprised how often you will have one of them pinch run in the 8th and then defensive sub in the 9th.

Interesting that you don't even look at GB/FB. I focus a lot on that, especially if I'm in a hitters park. I try to get high GB guys with high range infielders and the + plays usually pile up.

Posted by Jtpsops on 9/26/2022 9:33:00 AM (view original):
Interesting that you don't even look at GB/FB. I focus a lot on that, especially if I'm in a hitters park. I try to get high GB guys with high range infielders and the + plays usually pile up.

You make valid points (again, what I love about there being no right way to build a team)

ever since Jair Sánchez: https://www.whatifsports.com/hbd/Pages/Popups/PlayerRatings.aspx?pid=5662605

was pitching like an ace, it made me stop looking at GB/FB

I've had success with SP's that are otherwise very average, but with decent 4 & 5 pitches. I wouldn't necessarily look at that when drafting, but would with Rule 5 and FA's.

I don't prioritize any one rating over another. I try to look at each player as an aggregate of their ratings. Almost like imagining what the real life player would be like.

One or two bad ratings can be pulled up by other very good or great ratings. I've seen:
1/ HOF players with one bad rating, but all the others great.
2/ Hitters with only one great rating that pulls all the others up.
3/ Old pitchers whose Pitch ratings and Control decline, but they still have excellent splits so they continue to pitch well.

Also something hockey1984 touched on - you have 25 players on a roster, you're not going to use all of them everyday. Your 24th and 25th guys could be these weirdos who you use for very specific roles, platoons. They don't have to be great at everything.

Matter of fact, players who aren't great at anything are the ones who I avoid. Those are the early round draft picks who end up in Rule 5.

I used to be a huge proponent of stacking contact, eye, base running, and speed with hitters that were +40 in power and +60 in speed. I played in KC, which was an extra base hit dream. Routinely led my world in BA/OBP and one of the top 5 in runs scored. In recent seasons, that strategy has led to some pretty awful results. For pitchers, I've always placed a high priority on GB guys with a solid defense behind. Used to work great, and again, with terrible results as of late.

I'm completely formula based lol. I use one I found on the forums for OPS & ERA. It's not perfect, but I think its light years beyond my eye test. Most notably, I would have artificial benchmarks in my head (ex. 70 split) that if someone didn't hit I would dock. Or I'd focus on one rating too much over the other. Or honestly I'd get overwhelmed during Draft/FA. Having a number as a starting point helps me evaluate more players more efficiently. Every Rule 5, Draft, FA, etc I just drop everyone in a spreadsheet and go from there.

Spreadsheet here as well. I was out of town for a week and forgot to email myself my spreadsheet and the draft was a disaster.

Posted by Jtpsops on 9/26/2022 9:33:00 AM (view original):
Interesting that you don't even look at GB/FB. I focus a lot on that, especially if I'm in a hitters park. I try to get high GB guys with high range infielders and the + plays usually pile up.

Its also really hard to hit an extra base hit on the ground...