Optimal Player Progress

[Mackrel829]

I'm wondering if anyone has any insight with regards to where young players progress the best - MLB, AAA or AA. Is there a one size fits all approach, or does it depend on player age, overall, etc?

I've noticed that some players will be in AAA without a top prospect symbol. Then, when they're moved down into AA, they gain the top prospect symbol. Does this mean that they are best suited to be in AA at that time and will progress more optimally as a result? Or are they just considered a top prospect in AA because the overall quality of player there is lower?

I'm currently early in my first season of an Oakland As franchise, and I'm wondering how to handle Robert Puason and Logan Davidson. They are each listed on the actual top prospects board and look like they could be fixtures of my middle infield in the future. I want to make sure I handle their development optimally. Elvis Andrus and, to a lesser extent, Jed Lowrie are underwhelming and not part of my long term plans, so I'd like to get Puason and Davidson up into the majors asap. I'm not sure if calling them up early will stunt their development, however. Or will they even progress faster because of the higher level of competition?

Any help or advice would be appreciated!

[canes21]

Progression is unfortunately very simple and based on two things, age and stats. You can leave a young kid in AA for however long you want and let him rake and he'll continue to progress towards his ceiling at an optimal rate. The game doesn't take into account the level of competition, so if you want to cheat the system you can just leave the kid in AA for 3 years, let him progress to an MLB ready overall and then call him up bypassing AAA completely.

There's not really any strategy involved with needing to get him X amount of AB's at the AA level then the AAA level and let him play X, Y, and Z positions to get better at them.

The progression system is one of the biggest weaknesses in the game.

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[Mackrel829]

Quote: Originally Posted by canes21

Progression is unfortunately very simple and based on two things, age and stats. You can leave a young kid in AA for however long you want and let him rake and he'll continue to progress towards his ceiling at an optimal rate. The game doesn't take into account the level of competition, so if you want to cheat the system you can just leave the kid in AA for 3 years, let him progress to an MLB ready overall and then call him up bypassing AAA completely. There's not really any strategy involved with needing to get him X amount of AB's at the AA level then the AAA level and let him play X, Y, and Z positions to get better at them. The progression system is one of the biggest weaknesses in the game. Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

This is helpful. Thank you!

You mention that there is no difference between AA and AAA progress but does the same apply to MLB? Same rate if progression as AA and AAA?

Also, do you know if play time affects progression? If a guy is an every day starter in AAA but I only play him rotationally in MLB, will he progress more slowly?

Finally, SDS have said that progress is dynamic and player performance contributes to development. Do we know if this is actually true and actually has a tangible effect on growth/decline? It's something that's kind of hard to prove and we just have to take their word that these things are working under the hood.

[Unlucky 13]

Its certainly been my experience that guys need to get playing time in order to progress. So if you have a 21 year old who's a 75 OVR player and he's starting every day at AAA, then he's very likely to progress a lot more than if he's getting a handful of at bats in MLB as a bench player. My strategy has long been to only bring high end prospects to the majors if they're going to be starters. I use veteran players and guys who have maxed out their potential as reserves.

Not to send the conversation sideways, but does anyone know if the game takes the "quality" of an out into consideration with regards to progression? For example, if a player hits 100 balls right on the screws and they end up as warning track fly balls, is he given more credit than if he hits 100 dribblers back to the pitcher?

[canes21]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mackrel829

This is helpful. Thank you! You mention that there is no difference between AA and AAA progress but does the same apply to MLB? Same rate if progression as AA and AAA? Also, do you know if play time affects progression? If a guy is an every day starter in AAA but I only play him rotationally in MLB, will he progress more slowly? Finally, SDS have said that progress is dynamic and player performance contributes to development. Do we know if this is actually true and actually has a tangible effect on growth/decline? It's something that's kind of hard to prove and we just have to take their word that these things are working under the hood.

No difference at the MLB level. Playing time does matter, as well as stats. All the game looks at is what is their age, their stats, and their potential. It doesn't look at what level the stats are being accumulated at.

The progression is dynamic, but not incredibly dynamic. You'll notice in franchise mode each month you'll get the message detailing who is hot and who is not. If a player is hot for extended time like 2 or 3 months, then his potential will increase a random number more than likely. The opposite is true as well, if a guy is cold for an extended period of time his potential decreases in a similar manner.

These are also indicators of how much a player is progressing and regressing. A guy who is hot and batted .340 for an entire month is going to be progressing as a hitter more often than not unless they're 35+ and the game has decided they are going to fall off of a cliff. On the flip side, if you get an email showing that a player batted .186 vs lefties all month then you can likely go into his player card and see his batting attributes vs lefties will be regressing.

They aren't wrong when they say progression is dynamic, but in the long run it typically doesn't change significantly enough to where each franchise is a completely different experience progression-wise.

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[canes21]

Quote: Originally Posted by Unlucky 13

Its certainly been my experience that guys need to get playing time in order to progress. So if you have a 21 year old who's a 75 OVR player and he's starting every day at AAA, then he's very likely to progress a lot more than if he's getting a handful of at bats in MLB as a bench player. My strategy has long been to only bring high end prospects to the majors if they're going to be starters. I use veteran players and guys who have maxed out their potential as reserves. Not to send the conversation sideways, but does anyone know if the game takes the "quality" of an out into consideration with regards to progression? For example, if a player hits 100 balls right on the screws and they end up as warning track fly balls, is he given more credit than if he hits 100 dribblers back to the pitcher?

The game doesn't care how you got to 0-100. It only sees the 0-100.

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[Mackrel829]

Awesome. A bunch of good information here. Thank you both!

[Unlucky 13]

Quote: Originally Posted by canes21

The game doesn't care how you got to 0-100. It only sees the 0-100. Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

That's what I figured, but given that the game knows how hard and how often you hit the ball well, I thought there was a chance it would take that into account.