Quote:
Originally Posted by bailey
Bob Robertson?
It's kinda hard because Baseball Reference doesn't have VORP or list every injury, but it's not hard to find guys who do well at 23-24 and washed up by 30. I think injuries in 'real life' occur far more often than they do in OOTP, so maybe your guy just didn't tell the manager he was in pain.
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Problem is, it is happening with such frequency that I'm having trouble coming up with "hidden narratives' to explain all these guys falling off the table.
And he wasn't washed up by 30. He was a lineup hole by 27 and just managed to hang on until 28. He was out of the game at 29. And the first baseman/thirdbaseman on the same team had VORPs of 45, 41, 33 at ages 23, 25 & 26 (limited by injuries during age 24 season, but had no residual impact). VORP would have been higher at 26 but he missed two months with a broken foot in the middle of the season. No impact on rest of that year. But, in spite of no more injuries, he never had another VORP over 0.3 and was so washed up by age 29 that he hit .176 in Single A.
And did I mention the rightfielder on that same team two years later? At 24, in less than 400 AB his VORP was 32. The next year, as a regular it was 68. Ages 26 through 28, which every study shows are the normal "peak years"? VORPs of 14, 6, and 7, playing full time.
How about one of the other talented young outfielders on that team? Ages 21-23 VORP's: 31, 15 (some injuries), 33. Ages 24-26: 8.5, -2.2, 1.6. Out baseball at 27.
And I could go on, with the one team I was managing. (By the way, the left fielder has gone on to be arguably the greatest hitter in league history.)
Like I said, it's a good thing I know the player development system is working because otherwise I'd say it has a serious bug in there somewhere.