OOTP 14 - Definition Help Pls

[JudgeDredd]

There's a Mid Reliever prospect come up on my game from another team...and I don't get baseball, though I know some things to look for...but one thing I noticed was his Groundball % was 52%

So I googled it and I got the definition for a groundball for a mid reliever - but a video was also there showing an infielder collection a ground ball. Now, as this guy is a Mid Reliever I'm guessing it was to do with the kind of balls he pitches as to his collection rate as an infielder...so first off, is that assumption correct?

Secondly -
a) Is groundball a good thing? I presume if it's an infielder stat, then a high number is a good thing (presumably the percentage of ground balls he collects and throws back)...right?
b) If it's related to his pitching, are ground balls a good thing and if so what percentage of groundball would I like to see in a good pitcher?

I'm going with
a) Grounbball in relation to a pitchers stats is the number of balls he pitches which result in a ground ball being hit instead of a air ball
b) Given you can't get a home run on a ground ball, then I'm going with it's a good thing for a pitcher and a higher number is a good number

[JudgeDredd]

And another question....these are his batting stats (pretty empty)

But I'm not sure of all the abbreviations (one thing I asked the devs to put in back in 2010!)



G = games> That number is 0 for a lot, so I'm "guessing" it's the number of games he was on the roster but given AB are so low, I'm guessing he never got to bat?
AB = At bats - why so low given the G(ames?) - or am I right above?
R = runs
H = hits
2B = times got to second base?
3B = same as above
HR = Home runs
RBI = Runs batted in - the number of hits where the hit has resulted in a run?
BB = bunts batted?
K = strikeouts?
SB = stolen bases?
CS = ?
AVG = Hits to At Bats?
OBP = On base Percentage? Number of times a hit has resulted in a run
SLG = Slugger? No idea what this
OPS = ?
OPS+ = ?

I can look them up - but the definitions I've tried to find out seems to be well, more for the professional than the casual baseball fan.

[Bison]

A ground ball pitcher is great for producing easy outs and double plays.  A ground ball is basically any ball hit in the infield that touches or rolls on the ground before being fielded.

[JudgeDredd]

So from a pitchers perspective, a higher percentage of ground balls is good

[Faffi2429]

Okay, to the first question as I read it, groundball % (GB%) is a pitcher's statistic, and does indeed relate to how many of the batted balls are groundballs vs. flyballs. Generally speaking, a higher percentage is a good thing, as you noted, because you cannot hit a groundball over the fence. That said, a flyball pitcher can be very effective in bigger parks where the fences are farther out, so it's going to depend a little on what team you are managing.

For the batting stats, it would be a little easier to understand them if you were to look at a position player. A middle reliever is a pitcher, and they don't often come up to bat - never if playing for an American League team (due to the DH rule), and very rarely when playing for a National League team. That said, the abbreviations are as follows:
G - games played in
AB - at bats (which is different from Plate Appearances [PA], in that certain outcomes do not count as a time at bat)
R - runs (times the player reached home plate either through their own actions or those of another player)
H - all hits, including singles, doubles, etc.
2B - doubles (hit where player reaches second base directly as a result of the hit itself, not as a result of throwing errors on the part of the opposing team)
3B - triples (ditto)
HR - yeah, home runs
RBI - runs batted in (player's action resulted in a run scored by another on his team, either through a hit, a sacrifice, or occasionally a walk)
BB - base on balls (ie. a walk; batter drew total of four balls thrown by the pitcher resulting in a free base - note that this outcome does not get counted as an At Bat)
K - times struck out
SB - stolen base
CS - times caught stealing
AVG - batting average (H/AB)
OBP - on base percentage (a bit more useful than batting average because it shows all the times the player reached base, whether by a hit, a walk, whatever; higher is better)
SLG - slugging percentage (a measure of the total bases the player has reached through their hits - someone who hits a lot of doubles and home runs will have a higher number)
OPS - on base plus slugging (exactly as it sounds, it sums the OBP and SLG values; again, higher is better)
OPS+ - a bit more complicated, but a very useful stat, this is a normalized stat that takes a player's OPS and adjusts it for a variety of factors that might otherwise impact those values (mainly park size); this allows you to compare players across the league; 100 is league average

Hope that helps!

[Bison]

And another question....these are his batting stats (pretty empty)
I can look them up - but the definitions I've tried to find out seems to be well, more for the professional than the casual baseball fan.

Try this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_statistics pretty straight forward explanation of stats.

[Bison]

So from a pitchers perspective, a higher percentage of ground balls is good

Yes.

[JudgeDredd]

Thank you both. very helpful

I wish OOTP devs would include these as popups when hovering over abbreviations. I guess the data is in the manual.

I love manuals, but I'm a HUGE fan (literally and metaphorically) of including tooltips in games

[Nefaro]

Pretty much all the stat abbreviations are in the in-game Manual's Glossary. 

The game manual is actually quite large and exhaustive, but for the same reason you could be digging through the thing a lot more than you should.  To add to the burden of finding what you're looking for, I've experienced major problems with the page-specific F1 "help" key not actually sending me to the approriate info for the page I'm viewing (as it should), and whenver I attempt to select 'Open Manual in Browser Window" it regularly pops up a Page Not Found error or something of that sort. 

All these issues could be solved if they would just create a PDF version of their damn manual.  Evidentally they stopped doing that around OOTP9 and just went with an in-game and online HTML file.  While that is passable for straight-up reading, it's not been very efficient at searching for key words and finding anything specific usually takes digging through the multiple dropdown categories in the Index and then panning through the appropriate chapter to find the section header you're looking for.  Most notably, being able to open the whole manual in a separate window, and keep it open while playing, would be wonderful.  Once again.. the online web browser one just doesn't want to display for me so I'm forced to use the in-game one and have to open & close it every time, starting anew.

[JudgeDredd]

Ok - so the draft is kicking off.

What are my goals in the draft? Obviously looking for potential talent, the cheaper the better right? Am I using the draft to replace players on my active/40 man roster or do they go into the minors?

Also - I'm 19th in the draft....so all 18 ahead of me get to put offers in before me? Am I allowed to offer when another team ahead of me has made an offer or when the player is made an offer are they removed from the draft during the consideration?

I am going to look it up - and I'm sure I'll get the full technical deal regarding the draft - but what I'm looking for here from you lot is "in a nutshell"...I don't need to know all the inner workings - which is what I'll get from the manual or from Wiki...just the bare essentials in layman's terms

[PanzersEast]

Ok - so the draft is kicking off.

What are my goals in the draft? Obviously looking for potential talent, the cheaper the better right? Am I using the draft to replace players on my active/40 man roster or do they go into the minors?

Also - I'm 19th in the draft....so all 18 ahead of me get to put offers in before me? Am I allowed to offer when another team ahead of me has made an offer or when the player is made an offer are they removed from the draft during the consideration?

I am going to look it up - and I'm sure I'll get the full technical deal regarding the draft - but what I'm looking for here from you lot is "in a nutshell"...I don't need to know all the inner workings - which is what I'll get from the manual or from Wiki...just the bare essentials in layman's terms

Once a player is drafted the team owns the rights to that player.  You can trade for the rights of the player, however cannot offer him directly.


Drafting a player is the role of the dice, and if you have scouting turned on it all depends and is more of a gamble.  I tend to look for great STARTING pitchers first as they are harder to find and worth more down the road.... then I work my way down on talent.  I try to find the player that does not require too much development... for example I feel a player who is 18 is a major risk (unless his current ratings (not potential) are already pretty good) as opposed to a player who has somewhat already developed talent in certain areas and could possible see the Majors in 2~5 years. 

There is not right an wrong in drafting players, but I have come to realize that potential does not equal success.


PE

[Nefaro]

Ok - so the draft is kicking off.

What are my goals in the draft? Obviously looking for potential talent, the cheaper the better right? Am I using the draft to replace players on my active/40 man roster or do they go into the minors?

Also - I'm 19th in the draft....so all 18 ahead of me get to put offers in before me? Am I allowed to offer when another team ahead of me has made an offer or when the player is made an offer are they removed from the draft during the consideration?

I am going to look it up - and I'm sure I'll get the full technical deal regarding the draft - but what I'm looking for here from you lot is "in a nutshell"...I don't need to know all the inner workings - which is what I'll get from the manual or from Wiki...just the bare essentials in layman's terms

You're basically taking turns picking a single prospective player, to claim rights on them for a number of years ahead.  This allows a somewhat even spread new talent between all the teams, weighted more towards the teams with the worst records the previous season (they get earlier pick position in each 'round'). 

So, say you pick slot #18 in the first round.  There will be 17 other teams choosing from the player pool before you.  When it comes to your turn, you dig through the prospect list then drag & drop the player you want into the bottom left window.  From there you can click the Draft button, and you will later have a month (or is it two?)  to negotiate a signing bonus with that player.  Some players will want more money, while some only ask for a "Slot Bonus" which is a set amount for the specific pick position being drafted.  For the earlier draft picks that garner higher Slot Bonuses, there is also a button that gives you the option to automatically 'Draft And Offer Slot' which will just sends the plaer a Slot bonus offer at the same time.

If you can't negotiate a signing bonus agreement with the players you drafted, who are eligible for slot bonuses (something like the first eight or so draftees), and they refuse your offers, then they will go back into next year's draft pool and you will be reimbursed that draft slot for next year. 

Some players are real greedy when it comes to their draft bonus, so keep an eye on how much available cash you have to seal the deals at the end of the draft.  While some players may look like they'll be super-tastic in the future, you're still gambling with the young talent as their abilities may or may not pan out.   

After your players are drafted, and accept your signing bonus offer, they will go into your Rookie League teams (with no-fuss Minor League Contracts) and generally work their way up your farm system as they improve.  Hopefully they can reach major league caliber while you still own the rights to the player because during that time you'll only have to pay them League minimum and not have to negotiate contracts every year with that player.  Just keep in mind that once they are over 5 years of playing time in the 'pros' (aka minor league) then they are Rule 5 Draft eligible and they are eligible to be taken by other teams in the Rule 5 Draft every year if they're not on your 40-Man roster (having a Major League contract).  This is to ensure that teams aren't hoarding experienced players in their farm system who could be on a Majors roster for other teams. 

Also keep in mind that after a player has earned 3 years (or a bit more, depending on when they were drafted) of Major League playing time, they will be eligible for Arbitration at the end of that year.  This means that you'll have sole rights on negotiating their Major League contract and if you can't come to a mutual agreement, a third party (League commission?) will 'arbitrate' and set what they believe to be a reasonable salary for the contract.  If the negotiations end up going to arbitration, the player generally gets pissed off.  That can lead to some bad behavior from them.  I just had an unhappy player throw some F-Bombs at the press during an interview and he got suspended for a few games, for example.  I don't recall just how long you have arbitration rights to a player, at the moment.  I'm sure someone remembers, sorry.  After you run out of arbitration rights, many years after initially drafting the player, they go to Free Agency where all teams can bid on them during the Free Agency period of the year.

All these details are in the in-game manual, of course, but this should give you an idea how the progression works.  While it's a lot of gambling on how your draftees turn out years down the road, you can potentially get some great players for bargain prices at a stretch so picking well in the drafts can really pay off in performance terms for even the poorest teams.  The Draft and subsequent contract management is some of the most fun parts of these sports management games.  I was extremely sad to find out that Football Manager 2013's Classic Mode didn't have the MLS Draft modelled, as I always look forward to draft day, and it's just not quite as fun playing all the other league & nation teams in that game because there is no draft.

[undercovergeek]

So from a pitchers perspective, a higher percentage of ground balls is good

Yes.

do not listen to this man - ive never hit a baseball in my life and hes only just retaken the lead between him and i in the fantasy league

just sayin'  :P

[Nefaro]

So from a pitchers perspective, a higher percentage of ground balls is good

Yes.

do not listen to this man - ive never hit a baseball in my life and hes only just retaken the lead between him and i in the fantasy league

just sayin'  :P

LOL.

Well.. maybe his Infielders aren't very good at making Double Plays off his high Groundball percentage throwers?  ;D

[Bison]

So from a pitchers perspective, a higher percentage of ground balls is good

Yes.

do not listen to this man - ive never hit a baseball in my life and hes only just retaken the lead between him and i in the fantasy league

just sayin'  :P

Whatev'a!  I gots betta stuffs to do...