How long to stay with a player?

[timmermac]

For those of you that sim/play every game, how long do you stay with a struggling player before you decide to bench him? I'm playing from as far back in time as the game will let me with the Boston Beaneaters, and John Hinton and Malachi Kittridge are both struggling significantly. The current date is April 23rd, 1901 and Hinton is hitting .174 with a .217 OB. Kittridge is even worse with a .133 average and a .195 OB. The potential problem with Hinton is that I don't have anyone who would be able to handle third as well defensively (well being a relative term, Hinton's got an .870 FA) as everybody else that can play the position in my farm system has a lower defensive rating than Hinton. I have other catchers that could take over, but Kittridge has handled the running game well enough (3rd in the majors in RTO%) for me to give him some rope. Am I being too patient, or should I give them more time?

[Natenanimous]

I tend to be relatively patient with mine. If they're struggling for a while, and if I have someone who can take over reliably for a game or two, then I'll bench them for a short period. But if they're a player that should really be doing better than they are, I don't keep them down for too long. They usually even out over the course of a season. And hey, your season is still young.

If Hinton is the only reliable third-bagger you've got, I'd say let him work his own problems out while playing, unless you can nab a reliable veteran backup who can handle the defensive duties while giving Hinton a rest. As for Kittridge, go ahead and give him a game or two off if you want, but if he's your main man, give him every chance to make it work.

[FRENCHREDSOX]

Depends on your position in the race for the title - C is more complex as a defensive catcher will win you 5 to 10 games thru "good calling" whereas a defensively poor hitting 3B is a LIABILITY.

But each to his own!!

[TheJay]

Catchers are historically awful hitters, so if you're impressed with Kittridge's defense I'd stay with him. Given that you have other catchers that may be better offensively, are any of them capable of handling third? To answer your original question, I usually give guys until the end of April before benching them.

[RickD]

I tend to keep my starters and lineup unchanged until May. If my starters are doing awful I will bench them. However if there is no adequate backup I will rearrange the batting order and drop them down to 8 or 9.

[ohms_law]

Same as RickD; i'll rearange them in the order, but I tend to keep them out there.

[SFSteveG]

It tends to be more of a matter of wethr I have a good backup or not. After about a month to 6 weeks in I start giving the guy heavy rest and starting anybody competent at the position. If in another month or so he's still not doing well and the other guy is I make it a 50/50 platoon. I've usually decided by the AS break what to do.

[Rongar]

For those of you that sim/play every game, how long do you stay with a struggling player before you decide to bench him? I'm playing from as far back in time as the game will let me with the Boston Beaneaters, and John Hinton and Malachi Kittridge are both struggling significantly. The current date is April 23rd, 1901 and Hinton is hitting .174 with a .217 OB. Kittridge is even worse with a .133 average and a .195 OB. The potential problem with Hinton is that I don't have anyone who would be able to handle third as well defensively (well being a relative term, Hinton's got an .870 FA) as everybody else that can play the position in my farm system has a lower defensive rating than Hinton. I have other catchers that could take over, but Kittridge has handled the running game well enough (3rd in the majors in RTO%) for me to give him some rope. Am I being too patient, or should I give them more time?

What I'd do Tim, is to start a new 1901 Boston Beaneaters, on the side, make sure the under-achieving two players are in it, sim it thro the season, at Mogul, giving them the maximum workout, then take a look at their stats, to see if they lived happy ever after.

Be sure not to save this second game, it'll make a lovely experimental station/training ground for future problem players.

Also be sure to hang onto your original game, too of course! - I'm not suggesting that you substitute the new game for it...as a matter of fact, it might be an idea to give your new "tryout" team a nickname to distinguish it from your regular team...I call my tryout team the "Experimentals"
Yours could be "The Boston Boffin Shop":D Good luck to the dilatory duo.
Hope this helps

[gododgers]

I think other considerations should come into play as well - are you trying to win this year or build for the future? with young guys I tend to be more patient to allow them to grow and bat them 8th so there's not as much pressure.

Older guys I'm less patient with - I do give them a month, then I put a back up in for a week and if he's doing horrible, put the starter back in, but monitor it week by week giving ample shots for each guy to win the job.

I noticed on the Dynasty Forum, on Deja Blue: Rebirth of the Dodgers, Nuzzy62 has had some really awful bottom of the order stats and he stayed with them, but then again the top of the order was loaded.

So the other part is, how well is the top half of the lineup doing? If they are doinng above average, you might be able to be more patient.

[DeViLzzz2006]

Heck I am having to keep players I don't even want in the lineup and have raided my farm system as I have had so many injuries this season but hey it has made for some interesting baseball as I have picked up some players who in real life MLB became HOF type players or heroes in big situations and so it is interesting to see what they can do at a young age ....

Often with my lineup I leave a player in it too long when I know he struggles with either LH or RH pitching and really instead of doing that I should be platooning but when you have a team that needs all the speed it can get in the lineup well I can't take out players like Cedeno even if he is having trouble staying above the Mendoza Line

I stayed with JR Richard in the rotation for around 100 innings and traded him after I realized the situation was not going to get better. Richard had an era around 7.00 and yeah he struck out alot of batters but he did so early in a game and then got wild as the game went on and his pitches were hard to keep around the plate and eventually you just had to throw the ball down the middle and he got killed. Uhmmm the thing with him was he was a two pitch pitcher and he did not have that one more offspeed pitch that would have allowed him to really get out of innings and make the batter chase instead of having to throw fastball after fastball ...

It is different with every team and every situation (like what time of the season it is and are you contending or not) ....