Playing 4's

This topic more than likely has been discussed but.....

I was wondering what the consencus is on playing 2b4 (such as Danial Murphy) and there are a few others. Also a 4 in a corner of position, like say Holiday in LF. Does the players offensive ability have to overly exceptional to rationalize a "4" in the field especially at 2b, or a corner IF?

Thanks,

Dale

If I'm going to play a 4, I usually prefer it to be at 1b or 3b. I currently have a Colorado team with a 4 in RF, but there I'm just trying to hit 300 or more HR's

Most vets will say you can't play a 4 at second base, although I'm sure it's been done (at least in platoons). I think Uggla was a 4 last year and people used him vR. I don't know about a full time 4 at 2B, though. I'd be curious to see if anyone had success that way.

I play 4's at the corner IF and OF spots. In RF, though, I always use a (-1) or better arm.

It depends on the run differential you expect--though with the 2012 set I see no 4 worth it.

The difference is 10.8 ob+slugging chances per rating at 2b. (a two guy has a 1-2 of 20 chance of a single on a roll of 7, that is .6 ob + .6 slugging = 1.2. 1.2 x 9 = 10.8 (nine guys come to the plate in the field for every one offensive at bat assuming he bats around 5th in lineup--if he leads off you can tweak the 1.2 x 9 to 1.2 x 8 at most)

A 4 2b will give up 21.6 more obpct+slugging chances than a 2 2b (this doesn't count errors)---that doesn't count lost dp possibilities either, so your 4 guy must be around 25 ob.pct + slugging chances better to be a general wash run deferential wise than the 2 guy. Only about 12 better than a 3 and closer to 40 better than a 1 due to the extra DPs 1 guys turn.

Errors can make a big difference too--I did the math one time but my rule of thumb is 2/3 of the error added to the total just to compare between the two players you are considering.

FWIW, I'm learning that defense is far more important than I thought it was.