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pitchers vs batters

Posted By DaveF

I admit the Nickle situation was unusual, but I brought it up to make a point (which I failed to make).

PB treats limited use batters by not using actual stats unless they meet a minimum number of plate appearances. It also treats batters who faced a limited % or number of at bats vs a particular type of pitcher (LH or RH) by making that player a platoon player.

For pitchers, however, the ACTUAL stats are used no matter how few batters the pitcher has faced. This allows instances such as the Nickle situation which was extreme, and yet to some extent is very common. Lots of limited use pitchers with good stats get used and even overused. I'm just suggesting that a minimum IP be used before the pitchers actual stats are used and that a "platoon" type situation be in place for pitchers who face limited RH or LH batters...treat pitchers with limited use like batters with limited use.

I still feel that with each statistic (e.g. HR hit by LH in a stadium) there is an error in that measurement (ie. To some extent it isn't a real difference, just random variation that occurs. Just how DID Bucky Dent hit that HR?). It seems to me that if you put enough different statistics into your formula to predict behaviour, the errors associated with the measurements make the play results less and less likely to be reflective of a real difference between players performances and more and more just part of the errors in the predictive measurements.

In addition, it makes it very difficult for managers to evaluate players for their real expected PB performance, because the formulas for all the adjustments on how that performance will be adjusted are not available. So when we have an underperforming player, (Vladimir Guerrero hitting .265 in 476 AB with 19HR for Western in 98RT1 for instance); that could be random chance for small sample size, or it could be an accurate representation of how PB has adjusted his performance after adding in for all the "adjustments".

For PB, which is more important to a pitchers' performance:
1) His OPS & ERA & WHIP
2) His GB/FB ratio and the quality of his infield defense

I suspect the latter. I really think the former is what most of us expect in a SIM though.

ALL OF THIS SAID...I do like trying to have many factors involved and I appreciate the effort to create a game that does have so many factors. Just don't lose sight of the MAIN factor, the players actual stats.