Rise in Ks devalues Defense

In a 12 team league...you can build rotation heavy on the K's ...I had a team that struck out over 1750 batters...which given the innings pitched meant 40% of the outs collected were Ks.....and 30% of the rolls resulted in K's....
as K's go up
about 1/3 of the rolls were ground balls.... and who knows how many of those (and of course the hits) came off the x charts....
the point is as Ks increase the value of the defense decreases as they aren't involved in as many plays...
I just wonder how significant that decline is.

Not sure I agree with this, as the X chances remain the same (sort of like the song)

I'd say if the x fielding chances remain the same over a full season, but, strikeouts replace other types of outs, then, the decline in "productive outs" means the same weak fielding that results in bad x fielding results would not be as much of a detriment over an entire season of play.

OK, I get it. I'll buy that.

By the same token a gb pitcher will get more double plays

I kind of see both points of view.

My take on pitchers with a lot of Ks (or hitters) is -- generally -- the lack of FlyB, or GB where the runner advances effects the game more than I expected--with a runner on third and less than two outs you want a high K pitcher in there, like Green--I haven't had Green very often, but amazing how many times he leaves those runners stranded with three straight Ks, as opposed to a pitcher with similar WHIP but with FLYB and GB all over his card.

While, this is, of course, true, there is no difference in this game between a K, a popout, lineout, foulout or FlyC.

These all have ZERO impact on the effect of the X-Chart on the game. As Steve points out, the X chances are fixed.

That said, it would be great if SOM gave us Fly B and GB B stats on the data download. Or, conversely, included the above results (which are exactly the same as a K) in the K numbers.

I'd say if the x fielding chances remain the same over a full season, but, strikeouts replace other types of outs, then, the decline in "productive outs" means the same weak fielding that results in bad x fielding results would not be as much of a detriment over an entire season of play.

exactly....the decline of productive outs encourages teams to counter with home runs which usually means more Ks it is a vicious cycle which imo contributes to the decline in the "real" game....