Jack Taylor

[motherscratcher]

Asked for Randy Johnson. Got the new Jack Taylor 1902 instead.

I'm intrigued. Great ERA/Whip. Very low K's but also low walks. Hardly any HRs.

Where is this guy used best?

Will he only be effective with a stellar defense behind him because there will be more balls in play? Would you only use him in a big HR park because he doesn't give up many HRs? How does he play in small ball?

What do you think?

[rburgh]

Defense has exactly the same effect on every pitcher, in this game (except, of course, for his own fielding rating).

Obviously, he's a good commodity in a bomber park - low WHIP, no ballpark HR's.

There are probably better, cheaper cards for parks like Forbes, or the 0/0 Griffiths, etc.

He's probably not your best remaining choice in a huge lefty park, either.

Nobody has used him for a full season yet, so nobody has any experience with him in this environment.

Johnson would have been better, unless you are playing in Minute Maid or someplace where you wouldn't normally use him. He's probably a little worse than the cheap Joss card - slightly more TB, 0.7-1 more on-base chance, and a better hold, but a worse fielder.

I'd guess he'll put up little Joss / Chesbro type numbers, and since both those guys are cheaper, I'd make a move if possible.

Taylor, Joss, and Chesbro would be a boring but probably effective rotation in most higher cap leagues. You'd want a stud in front of them in a $200M or draft league, but otherwise they'd be OK.

[motherscratcher]

Thanks rburgh. I didn't know that defense was the same for all pitchers. What I thought was that a pitcher like Taylor, who has very few strikouts, would therefore have more groundball/flyball outs, which would then give more chances to the defense. If you have a great defense this would be a benefit. If you have a poor defense it would obviously work against you because it would give your poor defense more chances to make errors.

Anyway, that's what I thought.

I feel like I'm starting to get an inkling of a clue as to how to construct a hitting lineup. A very preliminary inkling.

But, I still feel helpless when looking at pitchers as to who would be good in what situations and parks and why. I basically go with salary. If you cost more, you're better. Other than that, it's all guesswork.