MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

[KBLover]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

Players who want to be "All Star" or "Star" want to be starting AND performing at a certain statistical level. That's what you can't control. So if a player wants to be a "Star" and he's having a league average season, he'll be upset and you just have to deal with that. I like it because it replicates the phenomenon of guys being head cases or losing focus if they're not having success at the plate.

Yeah this "Star" expectation is odd.

Ichiro in one my franchises is batting .238 and he's happy there because he's a Star and is expecting to be Platoon. I'm not sure in what world .238 BA with a .574 OPS is a "Star", but if Ichiro is happy, I'm happy.

It's funny because he expects to perform at replacement level...which he is simply meeting (I say not even that with a -0.41 WAR, but whatever).

I guess Ichiro is easy to please. Wish they were all like that *cough*Boeve*cough*

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

Streaks end...Cards fall to Reds 4-1

A bad night for two players in the Cardinals 4-1 loss to the Reds. Matt Holliday saw his 23 game hitting streak come to and end and Carlos Martinez saw his unbeaten streak end at 4. Holliday was 0 for 3 with a sacrifice fly RBI and Martinez, pitched well, fell to 4-1 on the season.

Carlos Martinez allowed a run in the first on a Joey Votto RBI double scoring Billy Hamilton. He then allowed a solo homerun to Brandon Phillips in the 4th. But that was it. He allowed only one other hit all while fanning 11. He deserved a better outcome than he got, especially in Great American Ballpark.

With the score 2-1 in the bottom of the 8th, Seung Hwan Oh allowed a run on a double to Joaquin Brown he doubled home Hamilton for a 3-1 lead. Hamilton though reached on a throwing error by Johnny Peralta. Next batter Joey Votto then singled home Brown on the first pitch he saw from Kevin Siegrist, for a 4-1 lead.

The Cardinals had their chance in the 9th against J.J. Hoover as Brock Holt and Randal Grichuk singled. With 2 out and 2 on, Johnny Peralta came to the plate as the tying run, but grounded out to Brandon Phillips to end the game.

The final game of the series is tomorrow as Adam Wainwright will face off against Raisel Iglesias in the rubber match.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

Test it to be sure the game handles it correctly, but that's how it's supposed to work.

It works as intended.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

Yeah this "Star" expectation is odd.

Ichiro in one my franchises is batting .238 and he's happy there because he's a Star and is expecting to be Platoon. I'm not sure in what world .238 BA with a .574 OPS is a "Star", but if Ichiro is happy, I'm happy.

It's funny because he expects to perform at replacement level...which he is simply meeting (I say not even that with a -0.41 WAR, but whatever).

I guess Ichiro is easy to please. Wish they were all like that *cough*Boeve*cough*

Star is tied into where they are batting in the lineup. I believe its hitters 1-4 or hitters 1-5 that get the "STAR" expectation.

[KBLover]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

Star is tied into where they are batting in the lineup. I believe its hitters 1-4 or hitters 1-5 that get the "STAR" expectation.

Oh I see - seems like "Top of the Order" (or Lineup: Top) would be a better moniker.

Well - at least I know!

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

Oh I see - seems like "Top of the Order" (or Lineup: Top) would be a better moniker.

Well - at least I know!

As best I can tell looking at my roster, its actually hitters 1, 3, & 4 that get the role of a star.

[RogueHominid]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

Star is tied into where they are batting in the lineup. I believe its hitters 1-4 or hitters 1-5 that get the "STAR" expectation.

That makes more sense...In my franchise, Star performance was being met by all my players who were actually having All Star caliber seasons, but they were also batting 1-5.

KB's example is more perplexing if "Star" means a certain level of statistical performance, but it makes sense if it's about batting order and Ichiro is not hitting where he wants to be hitting.

[RogueHominid]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

The Dodgers swept the Giants and are headed to the World Series, where they'll face the Toronto Blue Jays.

We won 8-2, 4-1, 6-5, and 2-1. We got timely performances by Puig, Gonzalez, and Pedersson, who each had 2 HR in the series. And we got stellar pitching save a disastrous start by Ryu in game three where he allowed 5 runs in 4 innings.

Kelly Jansen went 2 innings to close out the series-clinching game, which was a major fist-pump moment.

As great a season as we've had, I actually don't think we can beat the Jays with all those power bats. We have home field advantage, so I at least won't have to face Encarnacion as often, but they have so many dangerous hitters that it's hard to imagine my pitching holding up.

We are getting Grandal and Turner back for the WS, which is a nice bonus. Both have been out over 2 months with serious leg injuries. In the meantime, Kyle Farmer has hit .462 in relief duty and AJ Ellis was hitting over .350 in the playoffs, forcing a tough decision to remove Ellis from the playoff roster and keep Grandal and Farmer.

Kike has also entrenched himself as my everyday 3B while Turner has been hurt, and he hit .295 w/ 14 HR in the regular season and is hitting .382 in the post season, to go with excellent defense. Turner may well find himself the odd man out and be forced to DH and pinch hit in the WS.

Can't wait to see how the series plays out!

[Sumodeads]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

Just finished a 3 game series vs the Rockies. Gave the fans at Wrigley more to cheer about than during the series with the Reds and ended up sweeping Colorado.

Cubs vs Rockies Game 1

Cubs win 7-4

Colorado had the lead in this game 3 different times, but we battled back each time to tie it and eventually break it open with a 4 run 7th inning. Jason Hammel kept us in the game with 6.0 inn, 3 R, 3 ER, 6 H, 4 K, 1 BB for the ND. Fowler went 3-5 with a 2B(7) and an RBI(13) raising his BA to .467! Kyle Schwarber went 3-4 witha 2B and a HR(3), scoring 3 runs and driving in 3 as well. Jason Heyward hit his first HR of the season. Neil Ramirez got the win with 1 inning of relief in which he gave up a run and Rondon picked up the Save(4) with a scoreless 9th.

Cubs vs Rockies Game 2

Cubs win 4-0 as Arrieta dominates again!

It was the Jake Arrieta show again. Not only did he completely dominate a strong Rockies lineup, he also had the big blow of the game with a 2-out, 2 run 2B that opened the lead up to 3-0. His line: 9.0 inn, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 H, 7 K, 0 BB.( 1 hit was a misplay in the OF and another was a weak bouncer to first and nobody covered the bag). He earned his 2nd consecutive complete game shutout, improving to 3-0 and upped his scoreless inning streak to 19 innings. Addison Russell went 2-3 with a SB and a run scored.

Cubs vs Rockies Game 3

Cubs win 4-0, blanking Colorado for the 2nd straight game!

Jon Lester had a very strong outing. He went 6.2 inn, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 H, 3 K, 1 BB. His pitch count was high because of a lot of deep counts. He got himself in and out of trouble a few times, but kept the Rockies in check. Bryant went 4-4 with a 2B, 2 R and 2 RBI raising his BA to .442! Kyle Schwarber went 2-4 with a 2B and 2 RBI. Pedro Strop earned a 2 inn save(1) after we added an insurance run in the bottom of the 8th.

Now the Cubs(9-3) head on the road to face the second place Cards(8-4)!

[PhilliesFan13]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

The Phillies are heading into the final series of April against the Cleveland Indians after just taking 2 of 3 from the 1st place Washington Nationals. Sitting at 13-9 on the season.

What a last game I just had. Vince Velasquez on the mound cruising until the 6th inning. End up loading the bases on a Bryce Harper intentional walk with 2 outs to face Ryan Zimmerman who has done nothing but murder me in the 6 games against the Nationals so far. I wanted a play at any base but instead Vinny from Philly serves up a grand slam to put the Nationals up 4-1. Talk about a downer. However, this Philly team doesn't go away. Cesar Hernandez drove in his 2nd RBI of the season in the top of the 7th to get the Phillies within 2. Top of the 8th Cody Asche walks with 2 outs and then Cameron Rupp deposits his first home run of the season into the left field seats to tie the game at 4 and chase Stephen Strasburg from the game. Andres Blanco steps in to pinch hit and promptly hits a go ahead pinch hit home run to give the Phillies the 5-4 lead! His second go ahead pinch hit home run of the season too and third overall. Blanco has been money off the bench for the Phillies so far. Jeanmar Gomez comes in to save the game and gives up a 1 out double to Jayson Werth. Anthony Rendon is intentionally walked to face Danny Espinosa who immediately hits into a game ending around the horn double play! What a win!

Freddy Galvis and Cody Asche are the surprising team leaders in home runs with 6. Ryan Howard, David Lough and Maikel Franco are tied for second with 4 each.

2 big pieces of this offense really need to get going soon. Maikel Franco is hitting a meager .205 with 4 home runs, 6 RBI and a .271 OBP. Odubel Herrera is hitting a horrendous .162 with 1 home run, 2 RBI and a .212 OBP.

David Lough has been a surprising addition to this team hitting a team leading .294 with 4 home runs, 11 RBI and a .310 OBP.

As a team the Phillies are hitting .210 which is good for last in baseball, but they are finding ways to get the job done. Especially with the long ball. The Phillies are second in baseball behind the Toronto Blue Jays with 31 home runs as a team. The strikeouts need to be cut back too as the Phillies have punched out a total of 174 times which is actually ranked 16th out of 30. The Baltimore Orioles have already struck out an abysmal 219 times on the season.

The Phillies pitching staff has been very good through the first month of the season. 2nd in MLB with a 2.40 ERA, 1st in hits allowed with only 161, 2nd in earned runs allowed with only 56, T-8th in home runs allowed with 20, 1st in walks allowed with a meager 29. Next closest team is the Nationals who have walked 46 batters. The Phillies have struck out a total of 189 batters good for 9th in MLB. The starting rotation has been excellent.

Aaron Nola: 1-1, 31.0 IP, 3.19 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 22 strikeouts
Vince Velasquez: 3-1, 34.0 IP 2.91 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 35 strikeouts
Jeremy Hellickson: 1-2, 26.1 IP, 3.08 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 17 strikeouts
Charlie Morton: 1-2, 25.0 IP, 3.60 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 26 strikeouts
Jerad Eickhoff: 2-0, 30.0 IP, 0.60 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 26 strikeouts

I am having a ton of fun so far playing every pitch and inning of every game as is the normal for me in The Show.

Side note: Through 6 games played against the Nationals, Ryan Zimmerman has murdered me. He is hitting .500 with 4 doubles, 3 home runs, 9 RBI and 5 runs scored against me in those 6 games. Just unreal.

[scooterperpetual]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

As best I can tell looking at my roster, its actually hitters 1, 3, & 4 that get the role of a star.

1-4 makes them happy if they have that expectation, they are okay if he is 5th.

Colin Moran is a headcase and wants to be a star player at a 64 overall

[NDAlum]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

About 40 games in I'm doing just about as well as the real life Twins...

I think that's all I need to share lol

[RogueHominid]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

1-4 makes them happy if they have that expectation, they are okay if he is 5th.

Colin Moran is a headcase and wants to be a star player at a 64 overall

Kyle Farmer has this issue too. He's a 63 OVR, and while he hit well enough in his September call up to be in the conversation for my backup C next year, and while he made the playoff roster due to injury, I can't see the basis for his Star expectation.

I like that this factors in, because I'm either going to have to find a way to play him more, or I'm going to have to risk his development slowing, or I'm going to have to ship him out to a team that might play him.

[KBLover]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

KB's example is more perplexing if "Star" means a certain level of statistical performance, but it makes sense if it's about batting order and Ichiro is not hitting where he wants to be hitting.

Yeah, if it just means "top of the order" (or any top spot except #2...poor #2 hole...so important but so hated), then Ichiro is over the moon about hitting leadoff. If that face got any greener, he might turn into a Japanese leprechaun.

[Sumodeads]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

The Cubs just took 2 out of 3 on the road in St Louis. It was a very good series, a lot of back and forth but we came out on top.

Cubs @ Cardinals Game 1

Cubs win 6-3

Behind a very strong pitching performance from John Lackey(2-0) 8.0 inn, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 K, 0 BB, the Cubs got an easy win. Travis Wood made it a little interesting in the 9th giving up 2 runs on 3 hits, so Rondon came in for the 1-out save(5) and picked it up no problem striking out the only batter he faced to end the game. Schwarber went 2-5 with a 2B and a HR(4), 2 R and 3 RBI(16). Tony Lastella giving Bryant the day off at 3rd hit a HR(1).

Cubs @ Cardinals Game 2

Cardinals win 3-1.

It was a pitchers duel between Kyle Hendricks and Jaime Garcia. Each pitcher threw 7 innings of 1 run ball. Tied in the 8th, Bryan Sanchez allowed 2 runs on 2 hits and that was that. Trevor Rosenthal came on for the save(5) with a perfect 9th. Rookie Nicholas Cooper hit his 2nd HR and Javier Baez gave Russel the day off going 2-3 with a 2B and a SB.

Cubs @ Cardinals Game 3

Cubs win 4-2

Another strong start by one of my pitchers that ended in mother no decision. Hammel went 6.0 inn, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 8 K and 0 BB. We trailed 2-1 heading into the 8th. Addison Russell batting in the two hole with a few players getting the day off, singled to left to kick off the 8th. After Anthony Rizzo was hit with a Breaking ball, Kris Bryant came up and crushed a 3-R HR(2) to left to give us the 4-2 lead which would hold up. He knocked in all 4 runs in the game. Neil Ramirez(2-0) would take the victory for 1 scoreless inning and Rondon would lock it down in the 9th for the save(6).

The Cubs are in sole possession of first place(11-4) with the Cards, Bucs and Reds all tied for 2nd at 9-6. We travel to Cincinnati for a 4 game set next.