PlayingOutOfPosition

Summary What happens when a player plays out of his "natural" position?

What are the effects of a player playing out of his "natural" position? For example, a right-fielder playing center?

There is a formula to this, which was developed thanks to some insightful input from none other than Knuckleball Lover, a CSFBL beta tester! (Who knows if he remembers...)

Positions are "ranked" in order of difficulty:

 SS-2B-CF-3B-LF/RF-1B

When a player plays out of his natural position, his Range and Glove ratings are adjusted depending on how many "jumps" to the right or left.

 1 step left:  -10%
 2 steps left: -19%
 3 steps left: -27%
 4 steps left: -34%
 5 steps left: -40% (maximum)

Examples A 1B playing SS (five steps left) would lose 40% of his Range and Glove ratings. A LF playing CF would lose 19% (two steps).

Moving to the right is a little different.

 1 step right:  -8%
 2 steps right: -6%
 3 steps right: -4%
 4 steps right: -2%
 5 steps right: 0% (maximum)

Examples A SS playing 1B has no drop in skill (5 steps to the right). A 2B playing LF has a 4% drop (three steps).

What about catchers?

Any player moving to catcher loses 34% of his Range and Glove. Catchers moving to other positions are considered one step to the right of 1B. So, a C moving to 3B (three steps left) would lose 27% of his defensive skills.

A player trying to become a catcher requires 80 games a season at catcher + 400 total games at catcher for the career in order to permanently change.

The changes are applied to a player's actual ratings after fatigue is factored in.

Permanently changing positions

A player's natural position will change if he plays 80 or more games in a position that is not his natural position. The actual position change will occur during the next season rollover.

At this point, a player's actual ratings will permanently change as if he was playing out of position (not a penalty because it's the same effect in the game anyway). A player's potential ratings will change also - if moving to a harder position, they change by the same percentage; if moving to an easier position, they will increase, depending on how much easier the new position is. As a result, a player moving to an easier position has the possibility to become a better player at that position over time.

The effect of multiple permanent position changes over the course of a career can hurt a player's overall fielding skill. (Players do better when they get to specialize.) The extent of the ratings changes is based on the extend of the position changes. A shortstop who flip-flops with second base will have a negligible drop; but a first baseman who flip-flops with shortstop will see a significant drop if he continues these bad habits!

Lefties playing 2B, SS, 3B, and C

In professional baseball, it's rare to see a lefty-throwing player at 2B, 3B, SS, or C. As a result, CSFBL will not create left-handed players at these positions. This does not preclude you from putting a lefty thrower at one of these positions; rather, the lineup manager will avoid using lefty throwers at these positions at all costs. It's still possible, but a lefty thrower will only be used if there are no eligible righty throwers on the bench.

Defensive penalties will apply for all lefty-throwing players at 2B, 3B, and SS. The penalties will be: RANGE ~~20%, GLOVE~~ 10%, and ARM -40%.

A penalty to a catcher's Arm rating with respect to base-stealing will apply based on the throwing arm of the catcher and the batting hand of the hitter at the plate. The penalties are as follows: (RTC=Righty-throwing catcher, LTC=Lefty-throwing catcher, RHB=Right-handed batter, LHB=Left-handed batter, TO2=runner trying to steal second base, TO3=runner trying to steal third base)

 Stealing Second Base:
     RTC + RHB + TO2: No penalty
     RTC + LHB + TO2: -10% 
     LTC + RHB + TO2: -15% 
     LTC + LHB + TO2: -5% 
 Stealing Third Base: 
     RTC + RHB + TO3: -5% 
     RTC + LHB + TO3: No penalty 
     LTC + RHB + TO3: -40% 
     LTC + LHB + TO3: -50%