Evaluating Pitchers

[pwhitsel]

I'm a new Strat-O-Fan in my rookie season and looking for tips on evaluatin pitching. Hitters seem pretty straightforward, but waht are some things to look for on the cards besides ERA and WHIP?

Thanks!

[BRADSANDBOTHE]

Part of what you should be looking for is determined by what sort of park you will be playing in.

If in a Hitter's park (high homeruns), you will be looking for pitchers that don't have alot of BP #'s (Ball Park home runs). If they have a lot of #'s on their cards and you are in a homer park (US.Cell), you will get hammered.

If you are in a Pitcher's park, the # don't matter as much because they will turn into outs.

I am sure someone can explain it better than I, but that is one that is very important when choosing pitchers for your park.

[geekor]

Welcome to strat!

First have fun, 2nd learn. Very few people win with their first team, this game does have a learning curve. Go to the strategy forum and check out the Newbie Advice Guide, it has a lot of helpful info in there.

Even hitters aren't as strightfoward as they seem. Just because a hitter hit .300 in the regular season, doesn't mean the card he was given by SOM will equal that.

Basically the game engine rolls a 1 6sided dice (1d6) to dertermine if it comes off the hitters or pitchers card (i forget what is what 1-3 hitters, 4-6 pitchers, or vice versa). Then 2d6 are rolled to get a number 2-12. When you look at the card that is the result then. So there are 108 chances for each hitter and pitcher vs L and 108 vs R (as the chances of rolling a 2 are 1, chances of rolling a 3 are 2, chances of rolling a 4 are 3, etc ,etc with chances for a rolling a 7 the highest with 6, makes 36 chances per column and 108 total per side).

The pricing is pretty acurate for neutral parks. The main thing to looke for then at the beginning is the ballpark effects. The BP HR's are notified by the # symbol. Any roll that lands on that, you ignore what is written after it. Just roll a 1d20 verses the ballpark rating, to get either a HR or a flyout. The max BP HR's on any side is 8. W powered hitter have none, and if they get a BP HR off of a pitchers card it ends up being a single.

So as Bodie said, if you're playing in the Cell, those are very very important, as your hitters need those BP HR's, and your pitchers should have as few as possible. In Shea, who cares if your pitchers have them, but your hitters don't want ot be loaded with them, as they will go to waste. the pricing model takes into account how many the hitters have, and you are paying for them.

Pitchers though, I usually take WHIP before ERA. Just remember the pricing is pretty accurate, and try put more $$ into hitting then pitching, don't slouch on the Defense either, no 4's or higher up the middle.

[durantjerry]

In general, ERA and WHIP is pretty good. I always used to sort the pitchers that way. A few exceptions don't jump out, but most of the bargains people covet will be fairly obvious. If you see a high ERA with a low WHIP, you can usually expect a high #HR factor and visa versa. What you want is a low ERA and a low WHIP(Duh), which is usually tough to find and expensive. Failing that, you want an edge. One I'm trying is using J Beckett on my low #HR park teams with a great defense behind him, hoping to minimize men on base when he ultimately gives up the long ball on the road. You basically want to minimize the weakness of some of the cheaper offerings by placing them in a position where they can be effective, giving you more bang for your buck.

[BRIANSIELSKI]

Here's a question.

You draft a team in a Band Box ... and you make sure your pitchers have low BP HRs.

Then after the draft ... you don't get the pitchers ... and the scrubs that are left on waivers all have high BPs.

Hitters Park and pitchers with high BP HR numbers.

What do you do next?

Doc

[BRADSANDBOTHE]

A-Try to minimize the Damage with what pitching is left
B- Get good/great middle relief and set starters to quick hook
C- Load up on Hitting to offset the damage
D. Get great defense up middle to also lessen the damage


E. Cross your fingers.



As far as evaluating pitching, I also do something a bit different.

I look for pitchers who have given up less hits per inning pitched.
I know this is almost the same as whip, but I just look at innings pitched and #of Hits.....not walks. This just gives me a basic judge of if this guy is hittable then I do further research to see if he fits my park.

If the guy pitches 200 innings and gives up 250 hits and only has 8 walks, this is deceiving, he will get battered all over the place.

That may be contrary to alot of other people, but it has been a good barometer for me in the past.

[HUDAMAN]

Unpaid endorsement here....

Getting the ratings disk and rating book is well worth the investment. It's invaluable in putting together teams, and with the disk, it's pretty easy to change the numbers to reflect how a player will do in the park you're looking at. Saves a ton of research time, and it quickly reveals players whose cards don't reflect their real world performance. Great investment.

[palacekillers]

How much is the disk/guide and where do I get it?

Can someone give some more game play details as to how the ball park effect works and how you can rate your ball park versus your pitchers? I have Fenway park with B-Webb, King Felix, Harang, Pettitte, and AJ Burnett. I'm wondering if the bloated ERA posted by Pettitte and Burnett are caused by the BP effect.