New player attributes that you'd like to see

[WaitTilNextYear]

As a huge stats/ratings nerd, I'm constantly interested in what the best way is to accurately represent players and their skills in this game. For people who enjoy sim-style baseball and accumulating stats that are almost indistinguishable from real life, it can be really satisfying when you get it right. A lot of the mainstays like contact and power have been around forever and are fairly cut-and-dried to model with IRL stats and convert them into ratings.

I am interested in brainstorming about new player attributes that could possibly be incorporated into the game. There are so many varieties of stats and data being collected (fielding has only begun to be addressed, imo) that there are endless possibilities for customizing a player to behave in a certain way. If some attributes are mentioned over and over again and if SCEA agrees it's a good idea to include additional attribute programming in the future, this type of brainstorming could help add another layer (or several layers) of customization/personalization to the game.


1. For starters, I would like to see an attribute for aggressiveness at bat. We already have DISC for BBs and VIS for Ks, but can we further discriminate by who swings at the 1st pitch most often? Who sees the most pitches per PA? Which players go up there to sit dead red on 0-0 counts? At the attribute level, if done properly, this could add even more strategy to the pitcher-batter duel. This data is also very easy to come by in order to rate players.

2. It's becoming more and more common to talk about "framing" in the context of catchers with quiet gloves or not. Imagine a "framing" attribute that can interact with the umpiring "close calls" logic...you'd potentially get more borderline strikes using a catcher with a higher "framing" rating.

3. We already have contact and power divided into splits, why not go a bit further and separate vision and discipline by split. For example, Jason Heyward strikes out at a 18.5% clip and walks at a 10.8% clip throughout his career overall. But against RHPs, he Ks at a 16.5% rate and walks at an 11.6% rate. Against LHPs, he Ks at a much higher 23.1% rate and walks only 9% of the time.

4. This is a weirder request, but the clutch rating should probably be removed. The most detailed research on the subject indicates that if there is a "clutch" skill, then you'd need several thousand (6000-7000) plate appearances for each player to know if they have it (like baseball midi-chlorians so to speak) or not. Almost no MLB players have that many PAs and most that do show fluctuations from year to year that are larger than the actual clutch effect itself. I know I've looked at WPA/LI and related stats and there is frustratingly little correlation from year to year.


These are only a few ideas and there's a lot more that could be done with catchers, infielder actions, pitchers as contact managers, batted ball authority, etc etc.. I'm sure nobody wants 500 attributes per player so there is a risk of overdoing it, but I am curious as to what other ideas are out there.

[TheWarmWind]

To be honest, I don't think new attributes can be added, mostly due to year to year saves. And while I would like some more attributes, I love year to year saves (best thing to ever happen in a sports game) so I can deal.

Just for fun though, here are some of my ideas:

Durability needs to be split into 2 categories. One dealing with energy and the other dealing with susceptibility to injury. Those are two different things.

I think that there should be an effective range attribute for defense, but instead of a bar it's displayed as a heat map. There could even be multiple heat maps if the player has multiple positions.

Speaking of multiple positions, utility should be a stat. A player with a low utility stat can pretty much only play their assigned position, whereas a player with high utility can play pretty much anywhere. Basically a 99 utility would remove the debuff for secondary positions and lower it for unlisted ones. Also a player with higher utility is more likely to adapt to a new position (please make changing positions an in game feature).

Lastly and most importantly, I think there should be an accuracy stat for prospects, similar to what's been in the NHL games (I haven't played the newest one). It's a wonderfully robust system that still allows for fairly accurate scouting while allowing a few top prospects to completely fail and a few bottom rated prospects to surprise.

[Aensland]

Pull, straightaway, or opposite field hitting. I remember High Heat had that attribute.

[Scott]

BFA - Bat Flipping Ability...just kidding
Framing needs to be in there, along with Aggressiveness AB IMO...

[dran1984]

1. Pitch Framing
2. Durability/Fatigue

[Jolly Roger]

I don't really have any new attributes I'd like to see, but I would love it if we could see an on-screen calibration of what statistics a player is likely to have (over a simmed season, perhaps) given his attribute settings.

So, for example, if you're increasing Contact against lefties, you'll see a representation of likely batting average against lefties that increases as you increase the lefty contact attribute. If you're increasing discipline, BB/AB% will go up. If you're increasing K rating for a pitcher, K/9 will go up. Of course, many attributes are interrelated, but I'm sure this could still be represented.

I'd love this because I have a hard time figuring out what ratings I should edit to make a player more accurate. You can do testing by simming seasons, but that's quite time consuming.

[Houston]

Bunt Contact:

Bunt Success:

Batter's Eye Frequency:

Pitch Break Influence:

Pitcher Composure Influence:

Pitch Success: CPU

Infield Run Speed:

Pickoff Success:

Catcher Arm Strength:

Catcher Arm Accuracy:

RUNNING: (CPU)

Base Runner Speed:

Hit N Run Tendency:

Sacrifice Bunt Tendency:

Squeeze Tendency:

Base Running Aggression:

Steal Aggression:

[WarningTrackPower]

Off the top of my head..

Pitching:

Groundball frequency: The rate at which a pitcher induces groundballs.

Flyball frequency: The rate at which a pitcher induces flyballs.

A little too black and white? Perhaps. I guess a weak contact slider could work too. Some pitchers are good at missing barrels.

Batting:

Pull Power: Ability to pull with power.

Opposite Field Power: Ability to go the other way with power.

I've been burnt on opposite field homers quite a few times by hitters who rarely hit dingers the other way. Jose Bautista comes to mind. I haven't checked any stats but I'm pretty sure most of his homeruns go left/left-center. A guy like Giancarlo Stanton on the other hand, is a nightmare and has power from pole to pole.

Fielding:

Aggressiveness: Ability to take calculated risks.

-Fielders who take chances and are able to make great plays. Think of guys like Kevin Kiermaier, Jackie Bradley Jr., Kevin Pillar; They go and get it and make plays on balls that are most likely hits. They also have a lack of fear around the wall. Take for example, a guy like Bobby Abreau. Not even on the same level as the previous fielders I mentioned. One foot on the warning track and he becomes allergic to the wall. There would obviously have to be some animations that go along with this attribute but it would help to differentiate some fielders better and capture their style of play.
--Note-- I described outfielders but you can be aggressive in the infield as well. Think charging vs staying back on groundballs. Play the in-between hop or stay back and take the easier hop... that sort of thing.

Range Back: Ability to run back on a ball.

Range In: Ability to run in on a ball.

- Primarily for outfielders, but not entirely. Most fielders can range in, but the really good ones are good at ranging back on balls hit over their head. Some outfielders will tell you that when a ball is hit over their head that they "turn and run" to where they think the ball may land. Certainly not something you'd teach a fielder but the ones who are good can pick the ball back up after turning their back on it. Basically they will turn their head from the ball in order to make up ground with the hope of picking the ball up after. It's hard to look up and run as fast as you can. I think I heard Kevin Pillar talking about his ability to find the ball after turning his back on it.
--Note-- This could also tie in with an attribute for a fielders depth. A guy like Coco Crisp plays a much deeper center field than a guy like Kevin Pillar.


That's all for now. Again, they were off the top of my head. Maybe I'll be back with some baserunning ones later.

Also, I hope StatCast starts bringing this game alive a little more. Things like a Pop-Time attribute for a catcher would be cool.