Dee-fense, Dee-fense… Part II

Part I

4/11/19; edited 2/22/2025

Dee-fense, Dee-fense…

Part II

Okay, so you’ve read Part I, and you’re now convinced that defense matters. Yours isn’t very good, and you want to improve it. Your options being limited, you’re going to have to make some hard choices. Where do you start?

I say, focus on two things: defense up the middle and range.

Up the middle defense is crucial. If you have to have a poor defender in your lineup, put him at first, third, left field, or right field. Don’t put iffy defenders at short, second, center field, or catcher, unless you have no other choice.

Range is the most important defensive tool. Error rating, Arm rating and Turn DP rating are important at certain positions, but Range is vitally important everywhere except first base and third base (and it’s helpful at those positions too, though not crucial).

So, what makes a good shortstop? What makes a good center fielder?

The following are the minimum requirements for a “good” defender at each position, in my opinion:

SHORTSTOP

  • Range: 70 and above
  • Error: 60 and above
  • Arm: 65 and above
  • Turn DP: 60 and above

SECOND BASE

  • Range: 60 and above
  • Error: 60 and above
  • Arm: 40 and above
  • Turn DP: 65 and above

CENTER FIELD

  • Range: 70 and above
  • Error: 60 and above
  • Arm: 50 and above

THIRD BASE

  • Range: 45 and above
  • Error: 50 and above
  • Arm: 65 and above
  • Turn DP: 35 and above

RIGHT FIELD

  • Range: 60 and above
  • Error: 50 and above
  • Arm: 60 and above

LEFT FIELD

  • Range: 55 and above
  • Error: 50 and above
  • Arm: 50 and above

FIRST BASE

  • Range: 40 and above
  • Error: 50 and above
  • Arm: 35 and above
  • Turn DP: 35 and above

The above ratings are what I consider “good”; while it’s only an opinion, it’s an informed opinion. Having played OOTP for a number of years, and having paid very close attention to the defensive statistics of my teams and the others in the leagues I have played in, I’ve seen what ratings you need to produce good fielding statistics. (What are good fielding statistics? See Part III.)

I’m not saying you can’t win if you have a few sub-par defenders in the lineup. What I am saying is, there’s a cost to having bad defensive players in the field. You can have a sub-par pitcher in your rotation and still win, but it makes it harder, doesn’t it? You can have bad hitters in your lineup, but it makes it harder to win. It’s harder to win when you’re playing bad fielders. If you’re doing any of the following four things, you’re asking for trouble:

THE “BIG FOUR” OF FIELDING NO-NO’s

  • SS with Range < 65 and Arm and/or Turn DP < 55
  • CF with Range < 65
  • 2B with Range and/or Turn DP < 55
  • 3B with Arm < 55

Looking at some teams’ lineups, it looks to me like the thought process goes something like this:

“I need to find a player for each position, and it doesn’t matter if he’s any good there, as long as he can hit.”

That’s not baseball, that’s rotisserie league. There hasn’t been a manager in all of baseball history who thought defense wasn’t worth paying attention to. Have there been managers who are more “offense first” managers? Of course there have. Have there been managers who were willing to sacrifice some defense in order to get an extra bat in the lineup? Absolutely. But there’s never been a manager who said, “I’m not going to worry about whether my shortstop can actually play shortstop, or whether my center fielder can actually play center field,” and the reason that’s never happened is because you can’t win if you do that. Some managers are better than others, but they all care about winning.

Part III

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