Broken Bat - Help: Backlog of 1B / DH types

Forum >> Help >> Backlog of 1B / DH types

Post ID	Date & Time	Game Date	Function

#44384	01/27/2017 8:47:30 am
BrianV Joined: 02/08/2016 Posts: 125 Inactive	I have a bit of a backlog of 1B / DH-type players, and I'd appreciate some feedback. Let me run you through the 4 I have right now: Alex Alvarado - Age 30 - is my perennial batting champion. He's a pure DH, and despite only having 12POT, he's done very well for me. He's lost 2 points of speed since his peak in 2028, and is putting together another tremendous season. Sean Welch - Age 30 - is a bench bat this year, but was my full-time 1B last season. He's always felt like my perennial 'should be better than this' player with his batting ratings. He walks often enough and hits the ball hard... but his hits seem to find gloves. Tevin Solomon - Age 23 - got his promotion last year. This season, he displaced Welch at 1B as I wanted to give him playing time to help him develop. However, with a 10 hitting currently, his contact rate has not been outstanding. Upside-wise, Solomon still has 10-18 SI left to gain, of which only 1 SI can still go into fielding and 2-5 into Power with his scouting message. The remaining 4-15 SI will be split between hitting, BC and PD. If he gets a few more bumps up to 13 hitting (the max for no scouting message), he still has the ability to be a decent 1B candidate, especially if he comes close to maxing out his 13POT. Carl Ledbetter - Age 25 - 14POT - Carl got his Age 25 recommendation, but was still in AA with ~800 ABs at that level. I moved him to AAA for this season to continue to develop him since I have Welch, Alvarado and Solomon in front of him. He's gained 4SI this season, and with 95SI and 14-POT, he's 25SI shy of hitting his absolute cap which could happen if he starts getting regular playing time in the majors. Future considerations I'm going to be repeating LL6 again next year. Alvarado and Welch are going to be going into decline soon. I wouldn't feel bad dumping 'Mr Consistently Disappointing' Welch, but Alvarado has been a franchise cornerstone and is still producing like a champ. I'm not sure that Solomon and LedBetter will be able to replace Alvarado / Welch in the short term... but I suspect they will be good to go with another season's development. However, I feel like I am consistently developing players but never in 'Win Now!' mode. I can't just shift one into LF as I have Michael Mason there, and I am counting on him holding that position for 5 seasons yet. I'd appreciate people's thoughts on how to manage these guys!

#44389	01/27/2017 12:50:48 pm
Rock777 Joined: 09/21/2014 Posts: 9595 Haverhill Halflings III.1	Well really, your team should always be building the next generation. But I know what you mean. Trying to get all my youth players sufficient experience in Legends is very painful. I really don't like defensive builds with high fielding and nothing else. They don't really fit well anywhere on the field. All that fielding is really wasted at 1B. Also worth considering that lefties have a small benefit over righties defensively when playing 1B. So 1B is a good place to stay lefties with low defensive ratings. Alvarado is a nice player. At LL-6 I would concentrate on youth, but nothing wrong with playing your good players if they aren't blocking an up and coming star. Welch has kind of low hitting, which is no doubt why he is disappointing. His GB/FB ratio is also a bit too high to use his power to the best effect. Also not great to have a righty playing at 1B. I wouldn't feel bad sitting him and letting young guys get reps. Solomon probably isn't going any higher in Hitting. Maybe one point if you are lucky, but he looks pretty flat in his Hitting development. He will gain more in the other batting ratings. Poor hitting and a tendency to chop at the ball will make him mediocre at best, but still probably better than Welch (and a lefty). Ledbetter is probably done with Hitting development (although we are seeing more players break the mold lately). He will waste a LOT of SI in fielding. His biggest issue is low bat control (and poor growth in BC). Still, he does a good job at hitting the ball up and as a result he is getting balls out of the park. His power should continue to grow, and he could be a nice clean-up hitter. Despite the low BC, he is probably your best option right now. I might leave him in AAA a bit longer though. Its good to try and get them a full year in AAA. If you can wait until after spring training next year before bringing him up to the main roster, he should be ready for the majors. I'd cut Welch at the end of the season, and just plan on bringing Ledbetter up after spring training. Updated Friday, January 27 2017 @ 12:56:49 pm PST

#44397	01/27/2017 3:27:56 pm
Seca Joined: 05/05/2014 Posts: 5199 Waterloo Dinosaurs Legends	I agree with what Rock777 wrote, though I feel "waste" isn't the right word for Ledbetter's fielding. Think it's better to view it as a bonus. If you were to replace him with a similar 13 pot that had 11-12 fielding, you basically just gave those fielding points away. Solomon has a limited ceiling offensively. Would be pretty optimistic about Ledbetter. More risk, but potentially more robust with the bat.