< back

Playing Out Of Position & Position Changes

@@warningbox: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:

@@infobox: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.

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

@@successbox: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.

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

@@infobox:Stealing Second Base:
RTC + RHB + TO2: No penalty
RTC + LHB + TO2: -10%
LTC + RHB + TO2: -15%
LTC + LHB + TO2: -5% @@

@@infobox:Stealing Third Base:
RTC + RHB + TO3: -5%
RTC + LHB + TO3: No penalty
LTC + RHB + TO3: -40%
LTC + LHB + TO3: -50% @@