It's well known that defense is valuable, but why? How do you decide what to look for at each position? How does defense compare to offense? A year of research broken down into one all encompassing video on defense.
if you are correct about your theories...While Shortstop Is very importan. it goes against the physics of the actual sport to say they are most important. Number 1. Catcher is the most important position on the baseball field. it has the most "reach" by far because catcher defense effects the Entire Pitching staff. Done. That said, you want a C who can both handle the staff and throw. Cutting down would be base stealers, turning scoring position baserunners into outs will amount to full swing, game changing plays. If you have a C who can't throw out runners, then every decent base runner is already in scoring position. You may have heard the famous saying "oh those bases on balls" you have a bad catcher, you risk the staff giving up walks. base runners add up. That all said... Awesome show. Good stuff. It's good to see someone put thought and effort.
Agree with SS and C - I've also found that SS Range provides increasing returns (many more runs saved by getting high range SS), while C is diminishing returns (many more runs saved by avoiding poor ability). But having both high will only go you good. I have 2B over 3B- range important, arm not at all. 3B is the reverse: range moderately important, arm more so. And CF range, yes- huge. Thanks for sharing. We've likely got different methodologies, but it seems the outcomes are similar.
I think something worth thinking about with the defensive value of a 2nd baseman is that against left handed batters, he essentially becomes your shortstop. This is something that the numbers alone will not really reflect but it cannot be overstated how valuable a shortstop is. Another thing to be considered but won't necessarily reflect numerically is the value of being able to turn a double play on any ground ball up the middle. Only a defensive 2nd baseman will consistently afford you that and these runs "saved" by this are enormous runs earned! I would dare to say that I think 2nd base is slightly more valuable for its defense than 3rd base for such considerations.
Awesome stuff. I think a video of strong trades you can make day 1 in live starts would be really interesting, I always try to get kevin keirmaier and manuel margot (and wander franco if possible) at the beginning of a save because the rays are happy to get rid of keirmaier's contract, and they're incredibly valuable!
I can't get too precise (except for LF and RF for unplayable), but I can give you estimates. 50 range for LF, 55 for RF, 45 for 3B, and 60 for 2B are the minimums I'll generally be looking at running. 65 for LF, 65/70 for RF and 3B, and 75 for 2B are what I'd consider elite.
In my Rockies sim, my best season (117 Ws) was with a 75 C Ability, 75 CF Range, and 70 SS Range. I had Tatis at 3B who actually was decent (65 Overall). I 100% agree with your analysis.
What if your pitching staff is mostly control and movement pitchers? I play every game in 3D mode and find high stuff / low control pitchers tire around inning 6 while high movement /decent to high control pitchers can go longer. With this pitching staff config, do you feel a high catcher ability is as crucial?
So, is there any need for a player to “learn” a position by playing there and thus increasing their rating at that position or can the player just play the position (assuming he has the requisite individual ratings)? I had always assumed that I had to get the player’s rating at the position increased during spring training or in the minors for him to adequately play it.
Yes, there is a learning curve. However, the long term benefits of having a player at the right position outweigh the short term costs of not having them trained
