The Definitive Top 10 Position Players in Super Mega Baseball 3

[@longballhq3128]

You can't convince me that's not Big Papi

[@CaptainCanuck1975]

If that was David Ortiz in the teaser, do you think having real MLB players in SMB 4 is a good idea? I'm kind of torn, because I prefer the fictional SMB teams and players.

[@AllisonIsLivid]

@@CaptainCanuck1975 I agree, adding pros to a game that celebrates the variety and passion for baseball that exists outside the MLB hegemony is asking to have the uniqueness of the game stamped out. It happened to backyard sports, and it could happen to SMB. Cameos could be okay, but having them as players might be a bit much. This should stay an indy ball game.

[@davec7164]

the new legend Papi Grande

[@CaptainCanuck1975]

@@AllisonIsLivid They showed a picture of Hammer Longballo today, so it looks like they'll still be using the original players.

[@AllisonIsLivid]

@@CaptainCanuck1975 Good news.

[@properidiot7573]

the return of the king glad to see that you are back

[@caseyhayward8094]

Yay you put Nance Tools in! She is so underrated I love that you put her in this one.

[@longballhq3128]

Yeah, great two-way player!

[@TylerMcNamer]

Bet the Earth shakes when Hammer and Hack start to arm wrestle.

[@longballhq3128]

haha

[@mattsteinhoff5514]

Slash Trip's or Ronda Horne could make it on here

[@longballhq3128]

Both great players! These guys are a bit better. Rhonda's defense holds her back and Slash's arm is poor and his power while great, isn't top tier.

[@vacon04]

​@@longballhq3128Slash is just so fast though. He's a base-stealing machine.

[@jaidenstowers8314]

need top 10 worse players list and underrated players

[@AllisonIsLivid]

Seconded.

[@MisterTeal]

Thirded

[@travisfletcher6342]

Fourth-ed-duded

[@longballhq3128]

I probably won't get to this for 3, but I'll keep it in mind going into 4

[@nobodyimportant6071]

Agree with the emphasis on defense. Nance tools is super useful in franchise mode because she can cover so many positions

[@longballhq3128]

You can put her in the outfield, but she's more valuable at shortstop; that's where you want her.

[@nobodyimportant6071]

@@longballhq3128 She is best at shortstop but It's great that she can go in any outfield spot in case that someone gets injured or you want to sign an elite shortstop

[@ghjong001]

Ahem. You seem to have left out the legend himself, Digg Efforto.

[@longballhq3128]

haha

[@Blankford777]

#1 will always be Hammer for me but that's because the Sirloins are my team. I'm super pumped for SMB4! T-minus 6 days if you pre-ordered the ballpark edition.

[@longballhq3128]

I'm partial to him as well!

[@mmotörpsycho]

DUDE YES!! Happy to see you uploading again!

[@travisfletcher6342]

The absence of Tarzan Woodburn on this list is troubling

[@longballhq3128]

you're funny

[@skippy6456]

he'd be great if he weren't geriatric

[@lostnite66]

In my SMB 3 offline mode, I converted all the female players to male, just to add a touch of realism. plan to do it again.

[@longballhq3128]

Understandable. I just roll with it personally. They're fictional, basically from anther planet. Wherever they're from women are just as athletic I guess.

[@skippy6456]

Jock, that son of a gun. He's like my nemesis

[@shakez003]

So hype for the release date and full reveal of smb 4 tomorrow!

[@longballhq3128]

Saaaaaaaaaaaame

[@babum4925]

Good to see nance in the list:)

[@longballhq3128]

she earned it

[@davec7164]

Who is the most dangerous player to pitch to, and why is the answer Gunns Jackman.

[@longballhq3128]

I completely agree! He'd be listed if not for his porous defense

[@PRAKNASTY]

Loved the rankings! Totally agree Hack Liner is a Bad Man you don't want to ever see in the batter's box unless he's on your side lol. I'm intrigued to see if there will be a definitive top ten pitchers list for SMB3 coming out as well? Great vid as always dude! #TheNastyOne

[@longballhq3128]

Thanks man! Pitchers is possible. I'm leaning towards team tiers next though. May run out of time with smb3

[@PRAKNASTY]

@@longballhq3128 sounds fair tier is another good option for sure

[@danielfisher3781]

Slash Trips?

[@longballhq3128]

great player for sure. his power isn't top level and his arm is a weakness, so he doesn't quite break into the top 10

[@nothumbbowler1802]

I don't know if it's a mental thing, but I do much better with some players than others, and all those numbers be dammed. Jess Fowl was by far best for me. Put her on same team with Hack Liner. She was still better. The kept making her better in Franchise until 99 Power and Speed.

[@longballhq3128]

If you upgraded her stats, yeah she's better. I was ranking off the base stats It can definitely be a mental thing to succeed/fail with certain players, but that's on the gamer not the character

[@l3wismoreman9227]

If I gave Hammer Longballo a trait it would be either RBI MAN or TOUGH GUY or even POW/CON vs either LHP or RHP but that’s my idea for him and another is Stealer just to give him a speed boost on base running but what do you think?

[@longballhq3128]

Maybe fastball hitter, he has that in 4 now; pretty broken

[@l3wismoreman9227]

@@longballhq3128 i know but I’m just trying it out on SMB3 as I was wondering what traits could be useful for him and even give a negative trait which is not good but I like to experiment with different ideas

[@skippy6456]

My very first franchise was with the Wideloads and Hack was the man.. by a wide load. a god among mortals

[@longballhq3128]

you were spoiled choosing the Wideloads!

[@skippy6456]

@@longballhq3128 I'm a Cats man these days 🐈 ⚾️

[@longballhq3128]

@@skippy6456 oh no! 😂

[@skippy6456]

@@longballhq3128 that's the experience hahaha

[@skippy6456]

@@longballhq3128 marsha is the queen though

[@aperron88]

If Junior Young Sr. (underrated imo) Isn't in this game I'm going to be getting a refund. Side note Moonshota is a fav of mine lol he crushes the ball. Had my PB homerun with him (478ft) side side note lol this list is awesome. Cant wait to play.

[@longballhq3128]

Let's go dude! Surely they kept Young Sr. Hammer was just as old and he's still here so I think we're safe

[@AllisonIsLivid]

This is going to rule as long EA doesn't screw it up somehow. I'll need to get a new controller, and spend a week meticulously recreating my smb3 teams. Then I can keep smb 3 on switch as my portable option, and keep my league records accurate to the seasons I played through. I'm hyped! I feel like that guy on the Mariners who got his first major league home run on a grand slam today!

[@longballhq3128]

heck yeah, I'd be willing to bet you can copy a lot of your team data over, speculatively

[@AllisonIsLivid]

@@longballhq3128 cross platform though? I'm probably going to have to do it player by player though. Remake the logos. I'll never get the colors quite right, even if they've implemented a hex code color to the picker. or something, because 3 doesn't have it. And who am i kidding, I'll love it and make a million incremental improvements to everything again the whole time. This game is too good, and fingers crossed they added even more customization options to everything.

[@longballhq3128]

@@AllisonIsLivid I'm sure they added way more options!

[@longballhq3128]

well, it seems there is no porting teams this time after all.

[@gemini1sh]

Kat Stanza is my favorite sleeper bat, she's got one of the best hitting stat lines with 90 pow/ 71 con/ 58 spd, decent defense, can play as backup catcher, and has a solid trait in outside pitch.

[@longballhq3128]

she's super good! If this list were just for hitting, she'd be on it. I don't trust her at catcher personally.

[@tommygsgamingchannel]

Good list. Is there also a list for pitchers?

[@longballhq3128]

yeah I made one some time back kzbin.info/www/bejne/aJ3CpIl4p86FoZY I have changed my formulas lately; so, if I get to it, I may update this too

[@koalasama]

Cool video ! What convinced you to become a defense respector ?

[@longballhq3128]

hmm, good question. Playing the game a lot I noticed how successful dives and speedy outfielders can save runs decently often. So I dug into defense metrics for mlb a bit, figured out some scaling for the 3 defensive relevant stats by position and then added a varible to increase relevance in the more crucial defensive spots. Catcher is the highest in mlb, but it's largely due to pitch framing which isn't relevant in SMB. So SS is the highest, then C, CF, 3b, 2b, and the lowest are 1b, LF, RF. I think what I have compares defensive value fairly well. Just needed to find the right ratio compared to offense. In mlb, offense is 50% of the game, (run production) run prevention is the other 50 maybe a fifth of that is left to the defenders after pitchers have their say. Hitting is so impactful in smb that I don't think this ratio carries over. Scoring runs is more reliable than preventing them, so investing in that strategy is beneficial. But balls in play are more common in smb, so defense should be more relevant in that regard. I think pitching's relevance takes a hit more than defense does in smb. So I wanted something like 10-15% of an average teams value to be in their defense. With what I ended up with, the median is 12.6, so pretty good.

[@ScaryStoriesNYC]

Nice job! I'm eager to learn the dimensions of the new stadiums in smb4!

[@longballhq3128]

I'm hype for new stadiums. 23 once they're all out! not too shabby. I want 30 though, I'm greedy

[@Joejensen2383]

Love the video

[@longballhq3128]

Thanks

[@loganray6570]

are you gonna make a vid about the reveal and everything?

[@longballhq3128]

idk yet. There's a bit to peruse and ponder in it but it's pretty straightforward overall. They're sure to release more before it drops, so I'll probably have something at some point

[@isaiahthevideogamesfan]

I am Requesting the greatest team of all time, THE BEEWOLVES!!!

[@NT_-vq4zb]

What did u think about the reveal? I just hope the direction they take the game stays true to how smb was before EA acquired Metalhead

[@longballhq3128]

It looks legit. I'm way more excited than concerned with what I've seen so far. Seems like EA is letting Metalhead do their thing which is ideal, obviously

[@spittlefish5208]

Handley, Sakda, and Hack Liner are probably the top for me. Handley can play any position, has the best defense in the game, great contact and speed, and he has amazing traits (switch hitter w/ utility). Also, he's only 22 so by far the best player in Franchise mode. Sakda has a rare combo of speed w/ contact and power. I think he'd be #1 if he had a position outside of 1B/RF. Hack Liner is definitely the scariest batter with runners on, and also he has a cannon arm to throw from 3rd.

[@longballhq3128]

Good point about Handley being young. You have to pay him so much though, because he's ranked S. Hang on to him a few years down the line when he develops some power though... scary.

[@CaptainCanuck1975]

Hopefully Longballo is younger in SMB 4. He always retires after a couple of seasons in franchise mode. I think Longballo and Liner are the only two players on this list who I've never had on any of my teams, but only Juice Jackson and Moonshota weren't playoff rentals. Two seasons ago I had Slam and Song for the playoffs. Won a championship with them and they signed with other teams in the offseason. I beat each of their teams in the playoffs and they both retired. Always felt kind of bad, like losing to my team forced them to retire before they wanted to, even though they were both fairly old by that point. Had Jackson the past two seasons, primarily as a DH. He retired this offseason at age 39.

[@longballhq3128]

Yeah, I kinda wish they hadn't made him so old too, it would seem odd to have him age backwards though. Idk how to feel about it Wow, you're such a spirit crusher; can't all go out with a win i suppose

[@MuiscAndMisc]

SMB4 coming out means more Longball HQ videos 😊🎉🎉

[@pbandjp]

BEEFCAKE

[@longballhq3128]

yeah, he just missed the cut. He has no traits in this game