Posted by frazzman80 on 3/6/2013 2:52:00 PM (view original):
I think it would have more impact on the fielding side than the range end with your C- vs B- example at the most important postions (SS/2B/CF) because the number of chances will be higher for these positions over the course of a season. So, a C- fielder (say .955 fielding percentage) is going to make many more errors than a B- fielder (.970 fielding percentage) due to the number of chances in the field. Your other positions would have fewer chances and thus fewer errors as whole.
While the C- fielder will make more "-" plays than the B- fielder at these positions, niether will have enough range to make any "+" plays and from my experience your are looking at a small difference in "-" plays between the 2 (say around 10-15 for the C- guy and 6-8 for the B- guy depending on the position). Thus, for range I wouldn't be concerned between the two as I would for errors.
This is all dependent upon position of course...as your 1B can get away with C- for either fielding or range and probably perform as well as the B- guy over the course of a season.
Here's my question: I often find that I rely on ERC+ and ERC# when drafting players and use this search stat on an equal level as OAV+/#, BB/9+/# and HR/9+/#, but I still have no idea if this stat is used in the engine's log5 formula or what would this number translate to (XBH allowed?). Is ERC+/# a worthwhile stat to use when selecting players and why or why not?
I see this question in two parts. First, I’ll answer the question: Is ERC used to determine the result of a PA? The short answer is no, the primary stats used to determine the outcome of a PA are bb/pa, h/ab, hr/h. In all cases both the raw stat and the pitcher's league average is used. Earned Runs Created (ERC) is definitely not used at any significant level and is likely not used at all in any outcome calculations. As someone else noted, other than HRs, pitchers have little influence on the hit type in the sim.
The second question is more direct: Is ERC+/# a worthwhile stat to use when selecting players and why or why not? ERC# is a good general estimator for a pitcher's ability to avoid (or allow) runs, but I would only use it as a rough tool to sort out potential pitchers. The reason is, that ERC# is a composite stat and will be blind to your strategy, ball park or league. You are far better off focusing on the three stats: (BB/9#, oav# and HR/9#) that most directly correlate to what your pitcher can control.