This is by far the most exciting preseason in the league's short history and what better way to keep the chatter going than to have a simulated season to see how it should go if you strictly trust in numbers. Do you remember playing sports video games on quick game mode? Typically each team has it's strengths and weaknesses characterized by an attributes graphic. If you wished that we had that...wish no longer. The idea was first toyed with by Brandon Corbett of Wiffle in Southeast Michigan and I figured it was time to try it for myself. So I got out my calculator and started from the top. First I needed to assess each team's performance. I immediately ran into inconsistencies. First of all, regular season teams played at least 20 games while fall ball teams played no more than 11. An easy remedy for that problem was just to double the stats for fall ball teams and when I did so the numbers were not outrageous so they are realistic. I followed Corbett's lead with the categories used in the attribute graphic and divided up stats accordingly to help judge which teams were good offensively and defensively. I looked at team batting averages and hits to determine their CON (contact) worth; HRs for PWR (power); ERA, Ks, and BBs for PIT (pitching); Hits Allowed and Earned Runs for DEF (defense); all of that was averaged to get the OVR (overall) score. I did not really know what Corbett used for the point value scale so I went with a college grading scale approach. 0-50 means were were terrible, 50-60 was poor, 60-70 below average, 70-80 average, 80-90 above average/good, and 90-100 excellent. I occasionally awarded an extra point or two to teams that were showing dramatic improvement in a category at the close of the season.
The average team had an overall score of 76, which is just one point above the middle of the 'average' zone on the attribute ratings scale. So not too bad. Here's a breakdown of where teams fall overall: 2 were ranked excellent, 2 above average/good, 5 average, 2 below average, and 1 poor. So with that kind of curve it is safe to say that the attribute system is so far so good. I based this off of 12 teams in the league but only 7 of them are definitely returning for the 2014 season while the rest are either likely or unlikely but it is still early. It looks like we'll have at least 8 teams this year so it's quite possible we'll have 12 and thus why we divided everything by 12 to find out what the numbers are for a team average in this league:
Batting AVG: .509 | Hits: 308 | Home Runs: 43 | ERA: 6.05 | Ks: 60 | Hits Allowed: 157 | Earned Runs: 106
There are some teams out there like the Breaking Balls from the Charleston Wiffle League (which has since fizzled out) fall ball season that are wild cards and I don't quite know what to expect from them. And it is a stretch to assume that the fall ball teams would be as good or bad throughout a full season by just doubling their overall numbers. And sure there are some teams that can probably wipe the floor with some teams but that's providing they maintain a strong roster and other teams do not. Teams are quickly mobilizing to fill their rosters. Also, switching to the yellow bats should slow down some of those offensive powerhouses enough to give other teams a fighting chance. Home runs will still be plenty for good hitters but you can say so long to those hitters who get lucky effortlessly knocking them out of the park. We'll see a rise in strategy and small ball win games. Good defense and smart pitching rotations could be the difference between winning and losing. So big overall scores can only be so impressive with the changes being made for the 2014 season. But one thing is for sure...this will at the very least serve as a wake up call to some teams to get better and the better teams to stay that way.
TEAM
|
CONTACT
|
POWER
|
PITCHING
|
DEFENSE
|
OVERALL
|
Maroon
$quad*
|
89
|
93
|
92
|
93
|
92
|
Holy
Balls
|
92
|
89
|
90
|
91
|
90
|
Bag Tag*
|
86
|
85
|
84
|
86
|
85
|
Wiffle
Ballers*
|
81
|
83
|
86
|
87
|
84
|
Master
Batters
|
64
|
77
|
94
|
80
|
79
|
Honey
Badgers*
|
68
|
71
|
88
|
73
|
75
|
Breaking
Balls*
|
81
|
72
|
75
|
75
|
75
|
Pitch
Slappers*
|
75
|
84
|
65
|
68
|
73
|
Pink
Penguins
|
69
|
76
|
68
|
80
|
73
|
Green
Bears*
|
65
|
60
|
69
|
75
|
68
|
Go
Jackie Go
|
61
|
70
|
63
|
68
|
66
|
Welfare
Warriors
|
56
|
52
|
51
|
55
|
54
|
AVERAGES
|
74
|
76
|
77
|
78
|
76
|
* - Definitely participating in the 2014 season
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