1.41 Health

[wlfcards]

Still seeing players, including Free Agents, who are a Little Tired, no matter how long they are rested.

[Amaroq]

This has been the implementation for quite a while - think Barry Bonds and his knee for a real life example. His ratings would still be very high, but the fact that he is just never able to reach 100% limits his effectiveness.

I've argued against the current implementation a couple of times, but I'm less inclined to do so. After watching Bonds' struggles the past two seasons up close (Giants part-season-ticket-holder), I think there are certainly situations which Shaun's model covers very nicely. It may be coming in too early, though - I've seen players at age 32 and 33 who can't get up to 100%, and that feels a bit off.

If I were going to change the model, I think what I would want to see looks something like this:

As players age, their ability to 'bounce back' declines, e.g., the amount that they recover at the end of each day goes down.

Extremely aged players experience the current model, where in addition to the cost, they may lose some of their maximum health. This could be tied to the injury model.

The 'health' costs are currently (I think) fixed by position, with "start" and "in off the bench" as the values. I'd like to see that changed to reflect something more like a cost "per inning played in the field", a cost "per at bat", and a cost for running the bases (any result other than a home run, essentially).

This should have the following effects:
Catchers will hit less well in the 8th and 9th innings of games, as they are fatigued from crouching all game. (As IRL)
Teams might consider not using their #2 catcher to be able to bring in a fresh catcher in extra innings.
A single pinch-hit appearance is not the same as a five-inning stint as the catcher.