Byron Buxton Live Card Speed

bevjen · 05-07-2019, 12:21 PM

Just curious as to why the Byron Buxton Live card has a speed rating of only 69.

According to https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sprint_speed_leaderboard, he has the fastest average sprint speed of any player in the majors this year, and has been first for 4 of the last 5 years (2nd in 2017).

He's also in the top 5 of the fastest Home to First times in 17 and 18.

He's consistently ahead of guys like Mondesi and Hamilton who both have 100+ speed.

waittilnextyear · 05-08-2019, 09:01 PM

I made basically this exact same post a few months ago. I learned that the speed rating in the game isn't intended to be a stopwatch type measurement of actual speed. It is a video game attribute that affects various AI tendencies such as the amount of stolen base attempts. Don't think of these attributes too literally as if in a console game like MLB The Show and it makes more sense.

Alex Murray · 05-10-2019, 04:25 PM

Yeah, there's a similar situation for Trevor Story of the Rockies. In the end the Devs have a system in which speed isn't an all-encompassing rating like you might think it is. Now while I too may have some opinions about certain ratings on certain cards the thing for Buxton is that he doesn't steal bases like a Billy Hamilton if you have to use his stats for reference. He only had 29 stolen bases in his lasts full season of play so it's hard to justify giving him some of the high-end ratings when the results are being shown. He and Story have pretty equivalent stolen base numbers. Now his ratings in stealing and OF range are where his speed comes into play at the moment. I'd give Buxton another full year of time to get his numbers up and you should see his ratings change to reflect that.

Alex

bevjen · 05-12-2019, 11:59 AM

I had only searched the PT Bug Forum before posting, so I didn't see the previous discussion about this. Sorry.

It makes sense as to why he might have a lower Speed rating than the elite base stealers if the stat isn't based solely on pure speed numbers. However, something still seems a little off... What is the difference between Speed and Stealing then? Does the speed rating factor into whether a player beats out a slow roller for an infield single? Stretches a single into a double? Goes from first to third on a single? Tags and scores on a shallow fly ball?

There was a good article written about Buxton on FanGraphs Friday: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/byron-bu...se-to-stardom/

Basically, he's not on base enough to rack up big SB numbers. I went back and looked at this year. He's been on first with no runner on second for only 16 teammate plate appearances. Of those 16 PAs, the hitter swung at the first pitch twice. So out of 14 opportunities, he's attempted to steal second 10 times (71.4%). I'd guess a 71% SB attempt rate is towards the top of the league.

A couple of other things, now that the regular season just ended in season 7. The Buxton live card was my primary CF in an Iron league. In 154 games and 613 PAs, he stole 15 bases, which seems low. As you said, he stole 29 bases in his last full season. This year, he's on pace to steal 34 bases. He was caught stealing 6 times for a success rate of 71.4%. He has a career SB% of 88.5%

He also grounded into 13 double plays in the PT league, which is ridiculous for someone with his speed. In almost 1200 career PAs in the majors over 5 seasons, he has 6 GIDP, with a season high of 2.

05-07-2019, 12:21 PM	#1
bevjen Bat Boy Join Date: May 2019 Posts: 2	Byron Buxton Live Card Speed Just curious as to why the Byron Buxton Live card has a speed rating of only 69. According to https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sprint_speed_leaderboard, he has the fastest average sprint speed of any player in the majors this year, and has been first for 4 of the last 5 years (2nd in 2017). He's also in the top 5 of the fastest Home to First times in 17 and 18. He's consistently ahead of guys like Mondesi and Hamilton who both have 100+ speed.

05-08-2019, 09:01 PM	#2
waittilnextyear All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2016 Posts: 1,273	I made basically this exact same post a few months ago. I learned that the speed rating in the game isn't intended to be a stopwatch type measurement of actual speed. It is a video game attribute that affects various AI tendencies such as the amount of stolen base attempts. Don't think of these attributes too literally as if in a console game like MLB The Show and it makes more sense. __________________

05-10-2019, 04:25 PM	#3
Alex Murray All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Arizona Posts: 500	Yeah, there's a similar situation for Trevor Story of the Rockies. In the end the Devs have a system in which speed isn't an all-encompassing rating like you might think it is. Now while I too may have some opinions about certain ratings on certain cards the thing for Buxton is that he doesn't steal bases like a Billy Hamilton if you have to use his stats for reference. He only had 29 stolen bases in his lasts full season of play so it's hard to justify giving him some of the high-end ratings when the results are being shown. He and Story have pretty equivalent stolen base numbers. Now his ratings in stealing and OF range are where his speed comes into play at the moment. I'd give Buxton another full year of time to get his numbers up and you should see his ratings change to reflect that. Alex __________________

05-12-2019, 11:59 AM	#4
bevjen Bat Boy Join Date: May 2019 Posts: 2	I had only searched the PT Bug Forum before posting, so I didn't see the previous discussion about this. Sorry. It makes sense as to why he might have a lower Speed rating than the elite base stealers if the stat isn't based solely on pure speed numbers. However, something still seems a little off... What is the difference between Speed and Stealing then? Does the speed rating factor into whether a player beats out a slow roller for an infield single? Stretches a single into a double? Goes from first to third on a single? Tags and scores on a shallow fly ball? There was a good article written about Buxton on FanGraphs Friday: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/byron-bu...se-to-stardom/ Basically, he's not on base enough to rack up big SB numbers. I went back and looked at this year. He's been on first with no runner on second for only 16 teammate plate appearances. Of those 16 PAs, the hitter swung at the first pitch twice. So out of 14 opportunities, he's attempted to steal second 10 times (71.4%). I'd guess a 71% SB attempt rate is towards the top of the league. A couple of other things, now that the regular season just ended in season 7. The Buxton live card was my primary CF in an Iron league. In 154 games and 613 PAs, he stole 15 bases, which seems low. As you said, he stole 29 bases in his last full season. This year, he's on pace to steal 34 bases. He was caught stealing 6 times for a success rate of 71.4%. He has a career SB% of 88.5% He also grounded into 13 double plays in the PT league, which is ridiculous for someone with his speed. In almost 1200 career PAs in the majors over 5 seasons, he has 6 GIDP, with a season high of 2.