Kyle Townsend wrote: Does this effect how the defense plays a lot? My defense is playing terrible against a team that barely beat me last time. His running game never got started but now his running game is clicking.

It's just a minor plus. So if you have two even teams, it will give you a slight boost to your defense if you pick correctly. If you have a very smart MLB, then they can adjust if you pick incorrectly. I have not noticed much of a boost, though