Hey all!
As I mentioned, I have now completed 30 games using a slider set that increases contact while lowering power in an effort to better balance the hit type percentages based on actual MLB counterparts, as well as attempt to better balance HOW runs are scored. My thoughts were that far too many runs were scored via homeruns instead of RBI singles, doubles, triples, walks, sac flies...My other main goal was to find ways to have sustained rally innings, to actually string together a series of hits for more crooked scoring innings.
After 30 games I am feeling pretty good about the changes! As luck would have it, the timing for comparison is perfect because the actual Red Sox played their 60th game today, so in many instances I can double my current output to see how far off I am with the real deal! I can also take my original 60 games with my old sliders and compare straight across as well. Lets take a look! I have attached a spreadsheet that compares the MLB Red Sox to my original slider set (5 contact, 5 power, 5 timing, 3 solid hits) to my new slider set (7 contact, 4 power, 5 timing, 3 solid hits), and the positive or negative impact between the two. t
Interpretation:
While not the best format for data display, here are my main findings:
Avg - My new set has me nearly on par (-.008) behind the MLB Red Sox and a full three ticks higher than the old set
Runs - At 60 games, the new set is projected to net me 49 more runs than the old
Hits - I am projected to acculumate 66 more hits at the 60 game mark
Hit Variety
Singles - New set has me hitting 2.8% and 2.4% higher than old set and MLB Red Sox respectively. We'll see if this tapers off into a bit more power over the coming games.
Doubles While still hitting 4% less than MLB Sox, new set is 1.3% more doubles than old
Triples - Those MLB Red Sox are stroking the ball at a 2.9% clip. I am about a full percent behind that, but above my old pace by .07%
Home Runs- The big payoff. The new set has managed to shave 4.4% off of the old set as well as 2.1% off of the MLB team. I am still hitting the ball a BIT hard, but that 4.4% has been redistributed elsewhere, which was one of my main goals.
The Rest
The remaining categories will point out that either one of these sets will trail the MLB Red Sox at this point, but what are you going to do when they are absolutely tearing the cover off of the ball this season? However, you will see that the more contact/less power set has shown an increase in RBI, SLG, and OBP over the previous set, while steals and walks are still fairly neglible and I am having a few less errors and a better fielding percentage by decreasing infield errors.
Beyond the stats
While the data has shown a reasonable ability (so far) to distribute the hit type percentages more accurately, what I was really hoping for was some additional variety in scoring mentioned at the beginning of this post, and so far it is looking really good. Lots of RBI singles, doubles, sac fly, and most importantly, SUSTAINED RALLIES. I now actually feel that I can either jump on the opponent, or if I fall behind a few runs early, then I still feel that I will have a chance to get back in to the game. These games have been really, REALLY entertaining.
I will do my next calculation at forty games to see how things continue to distribute, but am looking forward to hearing some of your results.
I am going to edit post #1 with my full slider set. Please let me know if you have any questions!
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