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Defensive Alignment

PostPosted: Fri Dec 29, 2023 6:04 pm
by Hamilton17
I have Al Simmons (LF/CF) and Hugh Duffy (CF/LF) on my roster in a 200M league. I'm planning to use them in LF and CF.

Option A:

LF - Simmons 1(-4)e3
CF - Duffy 2(-2)e11

Option B

LF - Duffy 2(-2)e11
CF - Simmons 2(-4)e3

I know that the range from 2 to 1 in LF matters with Option A; but will the potential error savings in CF (with more fielding chances) offset that? Or am I overthinking it?

Re: Defensive Alignment

PostPosted: Fri Dec 29, 2023 7:30 pm
by Mattw0909
I’d lean towards Simmons in center. The -4 arm is a bigger advantage there

Re: Defensive Alignment

PostPosted: Fri Dec 29, 2023 7:55 pm
by Hamilton17
Mattw0909 wrote:I’d lean towards Simmons in center. The -4 arm is a bigger advantage there


That's an excellent point. Thank you

Re: Defensive Alignment

PostPosted: Fri Dec 29, 2023 9:18 pm
by coyote303
I'd go with Simmons the 1 in left field. The errors are static; it doesn't matter whether a fielder plays left or center, you can expect the same number of errors over 162 games. If you look at the chart linked below, you'll see the error chances are higher when playing left or right compared to center to make up for the less chance of having to check for an error. (You roll 3 dice and add them together to check for an error.) So don't let the error ratings decide; if both players played all 162 games, on average they would commit 14 errors between them.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496 ... errors.jpg

Mattw0909 makes a good point about wanting to have the better arm in center; however, I'm more interested in preventing hits.

Re: Defensive Alignment

PostPosted: Fri Dec 29, 2023 10:16 pm
by Hamilton17
That also makes sense.

So the errors don't matter. It's the extra hits allowed with a 2 in LF vs. a 1 against the extra bases and potential outfield assists with a -4 vs. -2 arm in CF. Interesting

Re: Defensive Alignment

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2023 9:43 pm
by MaxPower
Simmons in left, take the 1. Duffy's e11 produces the same amount of errors in LF or CF. Therefore he is equally valuable in each spot (more or less). Simmons is more valuable in left.

Re: Defensive Alignment

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2023 12:17 am
by lpezzeme
Using New Estimated Runs Produced (NERP) as calculated in Offense vs. Defense in Strat-O-Matic by Dean Carrano

https://fliphtml5.com/zboo/vmaz/Offense ... o_-_mfooz/

Defensive Runs Allowed for the two options are given below. The calculations do not include arm strength

Option A:

LF - Simmons 1(-4)e3: -0.7
CF - Duffy 2(-2)e11: 3.3
Total Defensive NERP: 2.6

Option B

LF - Duffy 2(-2)e11: 2.9
CF - Simmons 2(-4)e3: 1.2
Total Defensive NERP: 4.1

So, according to NERP, option A is preferred.

Re: Defensive Alignment

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2023 10:35 am
by Hamilton17
Thank you all! I'm using Simmons in LF and Duffy in CF.

Started season 1-5. The defense isn't going to matter at a 200m cap of I can't score more than 3 runs in a game. Lol

Re: Defensive Alignment

PostPosted: Mon Jan 22, 2024 2:58 pm
by andycummings65
Defensive Gurus, here's a similar, but different grouping of defenders:

Currently have
Scenario A
LF 4.60m Bob Johnson 3(-3)e10
CF 5.29m Terry Moore 1(0)e2
RF 9.84m Al Simmons 1(-1)e3

I'm kicking around an offensive upgrade to Simmons 11.05m, necessitating the following alignment:
Scenario B
LF 4.60m Bob Johnson 3(-3)e10
CF 11.05m Al Simmons 2(-4)e3
RF 5.29m Terry Moore 1(0)e2

Is Scenario B a downgrade in my OF defense, or does the arm upgrade make the difference, as opposed to having 1's in CF and RF in Scenario A?

Re: Defensive Alignment

PostPosted: Mon Jan 22, 2024 4:52 pm
by Hamilton17
andycummings65 wrote:Defensive Gurus, here's a similar, but different grouping of defenders:

Currently have
Scenario A
LF 4.60m Bob Johnson 3(-3)e10
CF 5.29m Terry Moore 1(0)e2
RF 9.84m Al Simmons 1(-1)e3

I'm kicking around an offensive upgrade to Simmons 11.05m, necessitating the following alignment:
Scenario B
LF 4.60m Bob Johnson 3(-3)e10
CF 11.05m Al Simmons 2(-4)e3
RF 5.29m Terry Moore 1(0)e2

Is Scenario B a downgrade in my OF defense, or does the arm upgrade make the difference, as opposed to having 1's in CF and RF in Scenario A?


I think that the downgrade from 1 to 2 will lead to singles on about 10% of CFx chances in a season. That's roughly 100 chances a season, 10% of that will be 10 extra hits for the opposition over the full 162.

I have no idea how much the OF arm will cut down on extra bases or generate extra outs over the course of a season. Could be it eliminates 5 attempts. Could be it generates 10 outs above average and nets back to a full zero.

However, on the offensive side, I'm willing to wager that the 11.05 Al Simmons will produce more than 10 extra hits in a season vs. the 9.84M Simmons. So ... I would probably pursue the upgrade.

Good luck!