Checking The Batters

1B Rocky Mitchell -- Vegas Centurion
.325/.404/.636, 22 HR, 4 SB, 47 R, 49 RBI, 3.6 WAR
1x SBLM Player of the Week
1x SBLM Batter of the Month
1x SBLM All-Star

If we are talking about batters, we have to start with the one with the highest WAR -- Rocky Mitchell. Going by strictly WAR, Rocky was another another tier compared to every other batters as he was the only one to have 3+ WAR by All-Stars. He's also the batter to have almost an .100 slugging advantage over the other and the only one to have a crazy 1.040 OPS. The place was merely .906.

In short, Rocky Mithcell was more than just a slugger, he's a man who aren't stubborn pursuing the home run(even though he was the only one with 20+ at 22 as of now), but he could hit for contact if necessary just to get runners in when going against a great pitcher.

The man played a crucial role in this recent run that put Vegas Centurions over all other teams. Granted, part of that was Pioneers' not doing as hot now, but this man was important in every Vegas victory. Oh, you might think he's a defensive liability but this man currently has a positive zone rating in 1B so he's not either. Just a well-rounded player with the scariest bat in the first half of this year's SBLM.



Gustav was the kind of prototype speedster that one expect from a lead-off batter. The man has the patience and baseball sense to work the pitch count and it's not about smashing the ball senselessly but taking a good swing on an easy pitch or accepting the easy fourth ball to go to first base.

With an OBP of .401, he was bound to get up at least once every game and really pressure the pitcher and catcher with his speed. The man currently led the GRSL stolen base list and has a RC/27 far higher than most players. He had 8.33 for that and the only one above him was Rocky Mitchell with 9.78. He might not be the most impressive raw batter, but his OBP and baserunning ability was one of the biggest threats of Pioneers.


CF Sora Mekajika -- Sherbrooke Mohawks
.311/.347/.457, 10 HR, 0 SB, 36 R, 39 RBI, 2.0 WAR
1x 5-Hit Game
1x SBLM All-Star

Sora Mekajika was the prime example of a contact batter. He did not have impressive OBP and SLG but his .311 batting average was more than enough to help a team out immensely. Another specialty of Sora was how hard it is to get him out with a K. The man was very good with protecting the plate and swinging at every 50:50 pitch when the strike count goes 2. He can sometime work a walk but more than likely he would just eventually connect with one pitch if the pitcher ever slipped up a little.

In this sabermetrical world, people might not value AVG as much as OBP but I can tell you that AVG is very important. A team need several high AVG dudes to convert runners into runs more efficiently and easily or they are not super effective. Imagine this scenario, say you have a low AVG high OBP team, you get a lot of free bases with balls -- sounds good. However, until you actually load the base, you cannot score with OBP. You need to hit to score in a not base loaded situation so we shouldn't look down on the importance of high AVG batter. Also, on a hit, more things can happen, especially with some great runners in your team. Fielders can always make a mistake or a bad throw, so it's a lot of opportunities compared to just OBP.


Prezzy was what you get when you put a great batter on an extremely pitcher's park. So was Carlos Delgado. What you get with that was inconsistency and lower performance from these players. Prezzy's home result was .291/.310/.345 and only 1 HR, a big difference from his .383/.440/.617 and 8 HRs away -- I see you asked about your HR in the Discord recently and here's your answer.

Still, one shouldn't discredit Prezzy as he would likely have Rocky Mitchell-like number in another team. And this also showed how important ballpark is to a player. Unlike some other sports, home court advantage is not just "you play better at home" but how you can take advantage of your homepark is super important in OOTP. If you care about min-maxing, you definitely want to research the factor of every park and when you are in the majors, perhaps go to a park that helps you out is a good factor as well for selecting a team.