Power vs Hitting

Oakland Rivercats

I have 2 catchers. Both 4 Stars. What value do you place on power or hitting?

AJ Perzisomething - L 8 4 2.
Sal Perez - R 5 8 2.

Who do you run with?

Obiwansanobi

Hitting. Power is great and all but hits are more reliable.

gocubsgo0128

I agree 100% I have had so many players that are in the 4-5 range with lost of power they always seem to bat in the 100 or 200 and the only thing they do is hit homers. It might be ok to have 1 of those guys in your lineup but that batting average will kill you

tbatti

AJ....................end thread.

astrosbaseball2016

AJ all day every day. 8 hitting, plus being a left means he will hit for a **** good average. If I played both of them on my team, AJ would hit around .360 with a homer every 25/abs.... Sal would hit .220 with a homer every 14 ABs.

Only way I would start Perez is if the entire rest of your team hits over 300 without a lot of power.

ndx

agree with everyone, which is why my team cant get a streak.. I don't have many hitters with over 7 in hitting, but have a ton of 9 power guys. I win games but cant get streaks.

Superapids135

I had a similar prob

AJ 8.4 vs Miguel montero 5.9

I took 8.4 due to high OBP

Cooz19

I can't say I'm an expert, but just based on my experience (probably around 1,500 games), hitting>power in 100 percent of cases. As someone said earlier, maybe one guy with 3-9 works (at or around the semi-pro level) because at least he's there to drive in the guys you have (again at the semi-proish level) with 6-7 Hit. Those guys tend to get on base, not just get hits, so you're looking at OBP of .350 or higher. The power guy only hits home runs, so every few games he can drive in 3-4.

But overall, their BA and OBP will be terrible over 200 ABs. The guy who can hit creates more runs over a stretch of time.

Also, and I'm not sure whether this has been discussed or not, don't take stars into account for any decision. It's a useless measurement that grossly favors unbalanced and slanted players (i.e. a 3-2-8 guy will be a 3-star even though he's completely useless as an everyday player).

I can't say I know the exact formula but it's clear your hitters have to be at a certain hit rating to do anything the higher up you get. If they don't have that, their power doesn't matter as much, and I'm not sure speed matters in any way at all. That could be more of a gameplay choice, but guys get doubles when they should get doubles, regardless of their speed. Over the long term, I'm not sure how much of an advantage you get in a risk/reward perspective of sending a guy from second to third on a hit in the gap, but I don't see enough of one to justify playing a guy who has good speed therefore a higher star rating over someone who doesn't run well but can hit.

For example, the second player offered in the Fan Rewards is always a 4-9-x guy. He's completely useless over a stretch of games. I got Dozier earlier, .111 over 100ish ABs. Today, Schwarber is the token 4-9-x guy, and Glu will automatically insert him into my lineup because he had four stars. He's useless.

gocubsgo0128

One thing I have to disagree on is the speed rating... If they have over a 5 they are typically a "base stealer" and will be successful about 75% -90%of the time stealing second and/or taking the extra base when offered. The higher the rating the higher the chance of success (this is assuming your base running and the opponents arm upgrades are about equal). I have Mookie Betts that steal a TON of bases for me. So basically 75% of his hits end up as doubles. Then I can move him over or drive him in with the next few guys. I would say 90% of the time I get him on with a leadoff hit or walk he scores.

Cooz19

gocubsgo0128 wrote: »

One thing I have to disagree on is the speed rating... If they have over a 5 they are typically a "base stealer" and will be successful about 75% -90%of the time stealing second and/or taking the extra base when offered. The higher the rating the higher the chance of success (this is assuming your base running and the opponents arm upgrades are about equal). I have Mookie Betts that steal a TON of bases for me. So basically 75% of his hits end up as doubles. Then I can move him over or drive him in with the next few guys. I would say 90% of the time I get him on with a leadoff hit or walk he scores.

Yes, but 10-25 percent of the time you take a baserunner out by your own choice. Like I said, the risk/reward isn't there for me. I also said this is probably a gameplay decision and preference that depends on how you want to play the game. I'm not gonna bench a guy for having speed, or play one because he can't run, but the first number in their attributes line is far more important. Because all three attributes seem to have an equal effect on their star rating, I don't really evaluate that.

ScottyCameron

I'd take hitting over power all day long.

If they have less than 9 speed I don't bother much in even trying to steal! All my 10 speed guys are almost automatic. 93-95%.. 9 speed guys are in the 85% range.. Can't say I even try to steal 3rd anymore. My bench has Prime Ichiro, Kemp and Crawford just mainly for their speed and base running. Tie game in 9th or extras.. Almost a sure shot if they get on base. If not all have 10 bunting and can move runners over