Do Catcher's defensive attributes matter?

[DarthRambo]

One thing I never really felt much of a difference was the defensive attributes between Catcher's. The animations for pitches in the dirt, wild pitches etc are so canned that seemingly the reaction rating doesn't matter.

The Catcher is so vital inside a baseball game for some many reasons yet this game they feel like the least important player on the field. I never feel I need to worry about their defense when setting my lineups. Them specifically need attributes such as blocking. Framing. IQ (Ability to call a game if using API). Also IQ could be used to make a quick visit to the pitcher to raise confidence without you even saying to.

Anyway, has anyone ever tested in practice a really bad defensive Catcher and see if there was any difference? I could be totally wrong but at least when comparing your two Catchers you have in the majors there is no visible difference or feeling when using the lesser defender.

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[JPvdV]

In MLB 20 I played a lot of minor league games and some catchers had terrible definsive ratings. That mostly resulted in passed balls, dropping strikes. So there is definitely a noticeable difference.

That said, it would be better if we could somehow see more of it. Like moving slowly behind the plate, bad transfers on throws, etc. An attribute for framing and calling pitches would be cool too, and would add another dimension to choosing your catcher instead of just looking for the ones with a cannon for an arm.

[scutaro]

I agree in principal. It would be sweet if ratings really mattered a lot, or if there was a gameplay choice where it was all that mattered. Now maybe that's already true if you sim CPU vs CPU but there is no fun in that.

And you know what else? In this connected world, how hard would JIT retrieval of contact and power ratings for hitters, and increase/decrease of pitcher attributes be? 2 outs, bases loaded and the game retrieves the current batters rating changes based on his career, and updates the pitchers performance for the same situation. I keep thinking about how it would be exploited but can't really think of a way, and if a user doesn't want that happening then choose to turn the option off. I suppose a MLB The Show LIVE is a bit of a pipe dream, but that's what dreams are for

[tessl]

In manage my impression is all players have gotten a defensive upgrade. Outfielders cover more ground. Catchers throw out more base stealers.

In the past catcher defensive attributes did matter. The probably still do but I can't say that for sure at this point. They definitely throw out more base stealers than before regardless of arm strength.

I suspect our former forum member who was a slider guy and joined the development team may have done some tinkering.

[jcar0725]

They definitely matter. Over a decent amount of games you'll see poor throws, weak throws, off line throws, and wild pitches/balls in the dirt that get away from bad catchers quite often.

Catchers with great defensive ratings across the board will make a big difference, maybe not in one or two games, but definitely over the long haul of a season.

[KnightTemplar]

Quote: Originally Posted by jcar0725

They definitely matter. Over a decent amount of games you'll see poor throws, weak throws, off line throws, and wild pitches/balls in the dirt that get away from bad catchers quite often. Catchers with great defensive ratings across the board will make a big difference, maybe not in one or two games, but definitely over the long haul of a season.

The ratings matter. The differences may be subtle to the eye, but for example….put Nelson Cruz in RF. There isn’t a sickle he’s seen that he can’t turn into a double.

[DarthRambo]

Quote: Originally Posted by KnightTemplar

The ratings matter. The differences may be subtle to the eye, but for example….put Nelson Cruz in RF. There isn’t a sickle he’s seen that he can’t turn into a double.

Yes OF and IF I can easily tell the difference. The Catcher position I cannot really tell any difference though. Now I'm sure if I tried a 40 something Fielder and reaction ratings I would. But I'm more speaking of the difference between your starter and backup Catcher in the MLB.

I find it sorta similar to how Madden used to be with offensive lineman. Didn't matter who it was you couldn't tell a difference. It used to be so bad you could put your punter in as a OL and he would be formidable.

I know MLBTS isn't that bad lol. I was just curious though if anyone could point out some noticeable differences. They really need to improve how much the Catcher matters though. They are similar to the QB in football. A lot of managers are former Catchers for a reason as well.

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[jcar0725]

Quote: Originally Posted by IrishSalsa

Yes OF and IF I can easily tell the difference. The Catcher position I cannot really tell any difference though. Now I'm sure if I tried a 40 something Fielder and reaction ratings I would. But I'm more speaking of the difference between your starter and backup Catcher in the MLB. I find it sorta similar to how Madden used to be with offensive lineman. Didn't matter who it was you couldn't tell a difference. It used to be so bad you could put your punter in as a OL and he would be formidable. I know MLBTS isn't that bad lol. I was just curious though if anyone could point out some noticeable differences. They really need to improve how much the Catcher matters though. They are similar to the QB in football. A lot of managers are former Catchers for a reason as well. Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

Catcher's don't really have a rating in this game for how well they call a game or work with the pitchers. It would be nice to have that, but I don't know how they would implement it.