- Posts: 523
- Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2012 1:35 pm
Thu Jun 13, 2013 4:13 pm
Hey guys,
One of the ratings in Baseball Online that some users can be confused about are the stealing ratings. When looking through player ratings, the letter grade Steal Rating shown is a general classification of their stealing abilities based on their number of stolen bases. AAA-rated players are the best stealers, followed by AA, A, B, C, D, and E. E-rated players mostly are guys with 0 or 1 stolen bases while the rare AAA-rated runner may have 100+ steals.
Although these basic ratings give a general idea of their stolen base ability; it's the secondary super-advanced rating located on the top of the player card when clicking on a player that gives you their exact stolen base chances in Baseball Online. This rating is located directly next to the letter rating when clicking on a players name. It's broken into two separate parts; the frequency a player will obtain a 'good lead' and his success rate.
Good lead frequency (following the A-E rating) -- The first number is the dice-roll (2-12) probability that the runner will get a good lead; the second number is the roll he would be caught stealing automatically. Numbers not listed are the numbers he doesn't get a good lead. Better base stealers have no automatic outs and there will be a hyphen there instead.
Safe chances (in parentheses at the end of the steal rating) -- If the runner gets a good lead, the first number (plus/minus the catcher's arm and pitcher's hold ratings, minus an additional 2 if he is held on base) is the possibility he will be safe stealing, between 1-20. The second number (again plus/minus the catcher's arm and pitcher's hold ratings minus an additional 4 if he is held on base) is the possibility if he doesn't get a good lead. A high first number indicates an accurate basestealer - if he gets a good lead, he usually makes it. A high second number means he is a true speed demon, able to steal even if he doesn't get a good lead. The second number is always used during an attempted steal of 3rd base.
Let's use Andrew McCutchen's 2012 card as an example: *2-7/- (15-13).
This means when the computer attempts to steal with McCutchen it will first 'roll' two dice to see if he achieves a good lead. If the 'roll' is between 2 and 7 he does and will attempt to steal 2nd base with a safe chance of 15 +/- the catcher's arm and pitcher's hold ratings and then minus 2 for being held on base. If the 'roll' is not between 2 and 7, the computer re-evaluates whether or not to attempt a steal with a safe chance of 13 +/- the catcher's arm and pitcher's hold ratings and then minus 4 for being held on base.
As this can be confusing, the letter rating is shown but sometimes players with high letter grade ratings may have a worse super advanced rating than another player, especially 19th century players. Using Joe Kelley's 1894 ATG card as an example, although he is a AA-rated stealer his super-advanced ratings [*4-6/11 (15-11)] includes an automatic out and a lower than expected safe rating.
Compare this rating to a player who does not steal often but when he does is very successful such as Eddie Murray's 1984 card. Although he is a B-rated stealer, his super advanced rating of *3/- (19-6) means although he won't steal often he will more than take advantage of the opportunity and successfully steal the base.
Hopefully this helps clarify some questions about steal ratings. I hope these examples help illustrate the importance of both the success ratings and good lead frequency ratings! In other words, make sure to view the super-advanced ratings before setting a player to steal more often! Of course if anyone has any questions on this or future ideas for blogs please e-mail me at onlinegamesupport@strat-o-matic.com.
-John
One of the ratings in Baseball Online that some users can be confused about are the stealing ratings. When looking through player ratings, the letter grade Steal Rating shown is a general classification of their stealing abilities based on their number of stolen bases. AAA-rated players are the best stealers, followed by AA, A, B, C, D, and E. E-rated players mostly are guys with 0 or 1 stolen bases while the rare AAA-rated runner may have 100+ steals.
Although these basic ratings give a general idea of their stolen base ability; it's the secondary super-advanced rating located on the top of the player card when clicking on a player that gives you their exact stolen base chances in Baseball Online. This rating is located directly next to the letter rating when clicking on a players name. It's broken into two separate parts; the frequency a player will obtain a 'good lead' and his success rate.
Good lead frequency (following the A-E rating) -- The first number is the dice-roll (2-12) probability that the runner will get a good lead; the second number is the roll he would be caught stealing automatically. Numbers not listed are the numbers he doesn't get a good lead. Better base stealers have no automatic outs and there will be a hyphen there instead.
Safe chances (in parentheses at the end of the steal rating) -- If the runner gets a good lead, the first number (plus/minus the catcher's arm and pitcher's hold ratings, minus an additional 2 if he is held on base) is the possibility he will be safe stealing, between 1-20. The second number (again plus/minus the catcher's arm and pitcher's hold ratings minus an additional 4 if he is held on base) is the possibility if he doesn't get a good lead. A high first number indicates an accurate basestealer - if he gets a good lead, he usually makes it. A high second number means he is a true speed demon, able to steal even if he doesn't get a good lead. The second number is always used during an attempted steal of 3rd base.
Let's use Andrew McCutchen's 2012 card as an example: *2-7/- (15-13).
This means when the computer attempts to steal with McCutchen it will first 'roll' two dice to see if he achieves a good lead. If the 'roll' is between 2 and 7 he does and will attempt to steal 2nd base with a safe chance of 15 +/- the catcher's arm and pitcher's hold ratings and then minus 2 for being held on base. If the 'roll' is not between 2 and 7, the computer re-evaluates whether or not to attempt a steal with a safe chance of 13 +/- the catcher's arm and pitcher's hold ratings and then minus 4 for being held on base.
As this can be confusing, the letter rating is shown but sometimes players with high letter grade ratings may have a worse super advanced rating than another player, especially 19th century players. Using Joe Kelley's 1894 ATG card as an example, although he is a AA-rated stealer his super-advanced ratings [*4-6/11 (15-11)] includes an automatic out and a lower than expected safe rating.
Compare this rating to a player who does not steal often but when he does is very successful such as Eddie Murray's 1984 card. Although he is a B-rated stealer, his super advanced rating of *3/- (19-6) means although he won't steal often he will more than take advantage of the opportunity and successfully steal the base.
Hopefully this helps clarify some questions about steal ratings. I hope these examples help illustrate the importance of both the success ratings and good lead frequency ratings! In other words, make sure to view the super-advanced ratings before setting a player to steal more often! Of course if anyone has any questions on this or future ideas for blogs please e-mail me at onlinegamesupport@strat-o-matic.com.
-John