How important is pitch calling? I've been starting http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=4751425

I'm thinking about promoting this guy http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=4750178

to give me more bat in the lineup. I'm still trying to understand this game, and get my team out of the basement. I hope those links work
2/12/2013 4:27 PM
Opinions vary, and part of the fun of the game is to kick the tires on various approaches and choose the ones you like. I went the high-PC route for a while, then stuck it in the trunk and moved on.

FWIW, the first guy, Abraham Johnson, imo, is a good back-up catcher, but at $2m he'd be too expensive. The PC of the second guy, Bart Weston, doesn't bother me, but his arm does (57/54), and I'm not sure his offense would be good enough to make up for it. Depending on your team's prospects, this might be a chance to use both and "kick the tires."

2/12/2013 5:55 PM
If I remember correctly, MikeT23 estimates for every 10 difference in PC is equivalent to about .10 in terms of ERA. So a guy with 50 PC and a guy with 70 PC would have about a difference of .2 ERA, or about 22 runs over a 1000 ip.
2/12/2013 5:59 PM
Yeah, that was done based on 20 seasons but it was my first 20 seasons so it may have changed a little.   I ran it on my teams last year and it was still pretty close with the occassional outlier.

Like I said back then, the difference between 60 and 70 wasn't much.   The difference between 80 and 40 is quite a bit.
2/12/2013 6:24 PM
Even though a lot of people don't agree with me, I use Dick Cameron and think he's worth every bit of his salary.  81 games into this season, I have a team ERA of 3.20.  And despite having an anemic offense, I have the best record in the league.   
2/12/2013 6:37 PM
Thanks for the info guys. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but I feel like I have a lot more info to come to a decision now. 
2/12/2013 6:41 PM
I've seen low-PC catchers work for a lot of other teams, but if you go that route, the guy should be a monster...a Victor Martinez type.  Average offense isn't good enough for a defensively-deficient catcher.  In my opinion Weston's bat isn't good enough to make up for his glove.  Johnson's ok, though in the best of all possible worlds, I would hope for a average+ arm (75/75 or better).
2/12/2013 6:43 PM
The number 1 thing effecting TEAM ERA is the pitchers themselves.  2 is the ballpark.  3 is the defenders behind him.  4 is the catcher's PC. 

You can gather all these together to your advantage and have a great team.  You can have a monster masher at C with a lower PC (50-70, IMO never go below 50 or you are shooting yourself in the foot).  Or you can get the C with the 90/90/90 block and be just fine. 

I have tried both, and have settled somewhere around having a good hitting C with PC of 60-70, with a pure defensive guy on the bench, who usually comes in about the 8th inning and pumps up the pen with his 90+ PC.  A good mix.

2/12/2013 6:57 PM
I'm not fond of "never" because is 49 PC that much worse than 50?
2/12/2013 7:01 PM
I agree Mike. I ran with a C that had a 38 PC. He had a 68/68 arm and was a good hitter. While he was my C I made it to the playoffs every season, including 2 trips to the WS. My pitching staff was always one of the top 5 in the league. I had good pitchers and good defense. His lower PC definately didn't shoot me in the foot. While I do generally prefer a higher PC, every team and every situation is different. That's why I'm also not fond of 'never' or 'always.'
2/13/2013 2:13 AM
I just don't think it is worth it.  At 38 PC the guy is not a catcher and I try not to play guys out of position.  I would put him at DH if he can hit well enough, and if I was in the NL, and he can hit well enough, I think the smarter move is to dangle him to a team that does use a DH and get a player that can help your team.
2/13/2013 1:07 PM
It's all about what you can tolerate(and if it works).   I'd use 9 DH, commit 427 negative plays with 654 errors if I could win 100 games by simply scoring 18 every game.    Same with low PC catcher.   If I'll play 80/80/80/80/80 hitting with 50 PC, I damn sure won't refuse to play a 90/90/90/90/90 hitting with 49 PC because he's below my threshold of 50.
2/13/2013 1:26 PM
Posted by MikeT23 on 2/13/2013 1:26:00 PM (view original):
It's all about what you can tolerate(and if it works).   I'd use 9 DH, commit 427 negative plays with 654 errors if I could win 100 games by simply scoring 18 every game.    Same with low PC catcher.   If I'll play 80/80/80/80/80 hitting with 50 PC, I damn sure won't refuse to play a 90/90/90/90/90 hitting with 49 PC because he's below my threshold of 50.
This.
2/13/2013 2:11 PM
Here's 3 catchers. Both have had a significant amount of innings with similar-quality staffs. I'm sure PC has an effect (and I have studied it as well and found an effect, although not as strong as what MikeT has found) but it's too random for me. If I know that a guy with Tarasco's hitting ratings will put up an OPS in the .800 range almost every single year. It's a lot harder for me to nail down the PC effect. My team ERA in the 3 seasons prior to Tarasco: 4.24, 3.59, 3.67, and in the 3 years primarily using him: 3.76, 3.83, 4.12. I would rate my pitching staff as basically comparable over the two years. So while I'm sure Tarasco is costing me some amount of runs with having a low PC, I know that he produced 20 more runs (just basing off runs created) than the average batter. So I'll stick with the effect I can see over the effect that I can't. 

 Hardball Dynasty – Fantasy Baseball Sim Games - Player Profile: Aurelio Tarasco
 Hardball Dynasty – Fantasy Baseball Sim Games - Player Profile: Alan Rossy
 Hardball Dynasty – Fantasy Baseball Sim Games - Player Profile: Garry Pride
2/13/2013 4:05 PM
The team ERA when the catcher is catching the staff is listed under the player card under fielding statistics. You can see the difference between two catchers fairly easily, unless I'm misunderstanding this ERA comments.
2/13/2013 7:09 PM
123 Next ▸

Search Criteria

Terms of Use Customer Support Privacy Statement

© 1999-2024 WhatIfSports.com, Inc. All rights reserved. WhatIfSports is a trademark of WhatIfSports.com, Inc. SimLeague, SimMatchup and iSimNow are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts, Inc. Used under license. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.