Stuck between good but not great team, can I get some advice? Best SS?

[MathieuForHeisman]

I'm here to ask for some team help. My team has been playing decent but I'm starting to notice a few flaws and have built up a decent number of stubs (60k) but I am about 16 walks away from 69k. Based on that, I feel like my team is good enough to not complete lower echelon team epics but my team is also not good enough to do upper echelon epics like the Nationals. I probably want to replace Beltre the most and I need a SS, Bell doesn't have the speed I'd like to play there. Any SS works (primary, secondary, epic), I just would like to hear who's best.

Lineup:

Rangers Epic: Bell (SS), Beltre (3B), Kinsler (2B), Lucroy (Backup C) - Bell and Beltre are two positions I think I want to upgrade soon.

Conquest: Jackson (RF), Holliday (1B) - Holliday is a potential upgrade but further down the line.

Rest: 92 Griffey (CF), 91 CAP (C), Steve Finley (LF) – Finley is throwing liability but pretty good overall.

Bullpen: No golds, just Capps, Barraclough, etc.

SP: Sabathia, Rookie Thor, Darvish, Aaron Sanchez, and Hamels/Hunter/Garret Richards - I generally just hope I don't draw the 5th spot but I have been leaning towards Richards.

Bench: Granderson, Carlos Correa, Billy Hamilton, J.D. Martinez, and 86 Tony Gwynn.

There's the lineup, what should I do?

[SigmundFraud]

Just want to start off by saying I'm assuming you want to improve you team for online play. Here's my advice:

I would put stubs into the pitching (especially the bullpen) before upgrading Bell.

Darvish and Sanchez aren't great pitchers online IMO. They're just not that tough to hit because of their pitch combinations. You should put another solid lefty in your rotation and take one of those two out. James Paxton is cheap and reallly good online.

I never spend stubs on hitting because every day there will be players that have ridiculously high hitting stats from inside edge. It works really well to just plug those guys in and use them while they're boosted. I said in and earlier post that Asdrubal Cabrera is awesome at shortstop when he has good inside edge. Just keep your eye out for stuff like that and don't be scared to mix things up just because you have collection players in those slots.


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[ChaseB]

I second the bullpen concept. I think the Soria Royals Epic is a very good card in my experience -- if you can afford to finish the Royals.

The Hanley Team Epic is also very good for SS if you can handle the meh defense. He's got plus speed with the good hitting attributes.

[NYYsportsjunkie]

Yep, definitely the bullpen. You can certainly get by with silver relievers but some of the higher end guys are incredibly hard to hit & are noticeably better. I faced Britton last night for the first time, I stood no chance. None. He's better than Miller, who is also unhittable. Even Melancon has a cutter that is super difficult to track & he goes for 3k. Betances has taken me to 9 wins in Battle Royale twice

Also, you're team is already stacked, there's no offense to be found on the market at 70k that would really upgrade your lineup

I will say Garrett Richards is probably the best silver pitcher in the game, he was also back in '15. Definitely keep him as your 5th

[MathieuForHeisman]

Quote: Originally Posted by NYYsportsjunkie

Yep, definitely the bullpen. You can certainly get by with silver relievers but some of the higher end guys are incredibly hard to hit & are noticeably better. I faced Britton last night for the first time, I stood no chance. None. He's better than Miller, who is also unhittable. Even Melancon has a cutter that is super difficult to track & he goes for 3k. Betances has taken me to 9 wins in Battle Royale twice Also, you're team is already stacked, there's no offense to be found on the market at 70k that would really upgrade your lineup I will say Garrett Richards is probably the best silver pitcher in the game, he was also back in '15. Definitely keep him as your 5th

If I invest in closers, I could grab some cheap ones like Familia or Melancon. I'm not super concerned there.. most people struggle if you mix your velocity and changeups. I'm only a 500 level player so I can dominate with velocity.

[SigmundFraud]

Quote: Originally Posted by MathieuForHeisman

If I invest in closers, I could grab some cheap ones like Familia or Melancon. I'm not super concerned there.. most people struggle if you mix your velocity and changeups. I'm only a 500 level player so I can dominate with velocity.

I'm not an advocate of blowing all your stubs on diamond bullpen guys. Just upgrade from the ones you have. Osuna is really good. Do the twins and royals epics for sure. That'll get you Herrera, diamond Perkins and Soria.

[BigOscar]

Marlins epic is a good one, a bit like the Rangers in the sense that it's not too expensive and gets you some useful players. Stanton on a good day is a beast, while Hanley is just about as good a hitting SS as you'll find, with all that speed. Defensively he's alright statistically, but honestly I've not personally found a whole lot of difference in high defensive rated infielders this year, they are all either outstanding or have absolutely moronic moments where they refuse to move. Then you get the perfect leadoff man in Dee Gordon and a meh gold pitcher in Ricky Nolasco, along with pretty much a perfect reliever in Kyle Bearclaw. Only about 20k for the lot iirc

[TrainerMatt21]

Agree with building bullpen using niche players such as Osuna, Capps, Will Smith, Carson Smith, etc. Best SS in game for me has been Altuve (secondary position) with Kinsler Epic at 2B. If you can finish Marlins Epic, Ramirez is excellent; and if you can finish Rockies team collection rookie Tulo is great as well.