I always wonder about that for catcher pop times as well (I wish they tracked steal rates in the catcher stats). Intuitively, you would think that a higher defensive rating would equate to more runners thrown out... but I don't know for sure
that is interesting to think about. I believe that you are right... if the simulator actually can factor in reaction time and range factor. I'm not sure if it does or not. I wish there was a definitive way to know.