Power Pros Forum

do player stats such as AVG, HR, and ERA have an impact on a players ability or does it solely rely on ranked abilities? i'm thinking about updating these stats to reflect the 2008 MLB season but only if it will make a difference.

It has significance when the developers are making the game (duh), but when you're editing, it doesn't. You can give Ryan Braun G in power or Bengie Molina an A in run speed if you wanted to, without changing the stats.
Hope that answers your question.

right. i realize that a player's skills can significantly be changed by editing the ranked ability letters but i was also thinking that AVG, HR, and especially ERA listed in a player's profile could possibly have a subtle impact on players as well.

Especially for pitchers, ERA being a positive or negative effect on a player. it would contribute to previously mentioned ranked letter abilities and would help determine the frequency in which opposing batters would get hits/extra base hits when making solid contact etc... for example, a pitcher with a 5+ ERA would get hit more than a pitcher with a 1.50 ERA (assuming they were 2 identical players with all the same ranked abilities and attributes for testing purposes).

with the MLBPP instruction manual leaving much to be desired, obviously gamers have alot to figure out on their own. hence the wiki page

you have a point. and yes, that's part of the reason for the wiki, because of the 50+ page manual that doesn't tell us anything. However, I will just say one thing: ERA isn't the best measure of a pitcher, because of his defensive support. Just sayin'...