OVR and POT Ratings

In addition to all of the individual baseball skill ratings, your scouting director also provides you with an overall assessment of a player's current overall (OVR) and potential (POT) ratings, that can be displayed numerically or graphically as stars. OVR ratings can be seen on the Player Profile or in any player list using the default view. They are also available on the Scouting Reportsscreenand in lists of players.

Stars vs Numbers

The ratings scale for OVR ratings is slightly different from individual skills. OVR ratings can be displayed on a 20-80 scale or using a series of stars in half-star increments, with 5 stars being the top rating. You can also choose to disable display of OVR ratings entirely. This setting can be configured during game creation on the Game Options page, or after game creation by navigating to OOTP Menu >> Game Setup >> Global Setup tab.

Basis for OVR Ratings and POT Ratings

By default, OVR ratings are based exclusively on underlying actual ratings only. These are compared to the average actual ratings for all players at that position or role within the league. POT ratings are based exclusively on your player's underlying potential ratings, compared to the average underlying potential ratings for all other players at that position or role within the league.

In some cases for pitchers, the OVR rating is calculated using the current role of the pitcher, whereas his POT rating is calculated using his projected role in the future. So, when a pitcher is currently a decent reliever, but projects to a below-average starter, the OVR rating may be lower than his POT rating.

Example - OVR Ratings

Bob Wilson is a shortstop with 4-star OVR rating. This means that, by evaluating the player according to his underlying actual ratings, he is an above-average shortstop, compared to the rest of the shortstops in the league. It's important to note that this is specific to shortstops! If you have a strong crop of second basemen, if you were to change him to be a second baseman, he might be no better than 3 stars, or even less.

Example - POT Ratings

Let's say you have a third baseman with 5-star OVR potential. This means that, according to his underlying potential ratings, he has the potential to be among the best third basemen in the league. This is akin to having a player who is highly touted and expected to become a star, even when he's hitting .225 in AA. It's important to note that this is specific to third basemen! It is NOT saying that he has the potential to be among the best players at any position in the league. If your league is very weak in third basemen, he could actually be nothing more than average compared to the top players in the league.

Options for OVR Ratings and POT Ratings

If you don't like this manner of calculating OVR ratings and POT ratings, there are several options to change the way the game determines OVR ratings and POT ratings. See the Game Options page, or navigate to OOTP Menu >> Game Setup >> Global Setup tab to see the additional options.

OSA and OVR and POT Ratings

If you have scouting enabled, OSA does not provide OVR ratings or POT ratings for players. Only your scouting director provides such ratings. If scouting is disabled, then OSA will provide OVR ratings and POT ratings.

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