Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

We took 2 out 3 in Pittsburgh bringing us 3 games back of the Pirates early in the season. Our bats are starting to come alive but our bullpen continues to be shaky.

And to that point we did something that I never do, we made a trade in April. As crazy as this sounds we traded J.P Howell to the Rays (our favorite trade partner) to get back Tommy Pham and Seung Hwan Oh who we traded last year.

I know it's crazy but Howell struggled in Spring Training and thus far is pitching to a 54+ ERA. Add in the fact we had 4 lefties on our 25 man roster and something had to give.

Both Oh and Pham were in AAA so the Rays probably got the better end of this deal but I actually regretted the trading of Pham and Oh last year and am glad to have both back.

Still can't believe I made a roster move in April


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[countryboy]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

We took 2 out of 3 against the Brewers which included Michael Wacha getting his first win of the season and Madison Bumgarner getting his 2nd win and tossing a complete game. Our offense opened up in game 3 putting up 7 runs and getting timely hits as we never hit the ball out of the ballpark. We have made our way back to .500 (6-6) and still 4 games back of the Pirates.

Next up is 3 at home vs the Giants.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

Just an update on Patrick Wisdom, our highly touted 3B prospect that we came close to trading multiple times in March, is hitting .355 with a couple of homers and 9 RBI in Memphis thus far.


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[countryboy]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

We took 2 out of 3 against the Giants bringing our record to 8-7 on the year. We were going for the sweep but Mike Leake didn't have his best stuff and our bats went quiet. Rookie pitcher Mark Jefferson of the Giants had a no-hit bid into the 6th before Jacob Wilson broke it up.

We currently trail the surprising Reds by 4 games, as the Reds are 12-3 mid-way thru April.

Next up is a 4 game home series vs the Pirates. Playing pretty good baseball right now, hope that continues this series. Even though its only April, we can't afford to fall too far back.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

We dropped 3 of 4 to the Pirates and find ourselves now 5 games back as April comes to a close in 10 days.

We just aren't playing good baseball right now. Pitching hasn't been terrible but we just can't get key hits when needed. Early on we are only scoring via the long ball and this team isn't built to play that way.

Piscotty, Holliday, and Grichuk are struggling mightily at this point which is hurting us as we rely on their production heavily. Neither Diaz nor Sierra are hitting well which is also hurting us.

We start a road trip in Miami tonight. Hopefully a return to Florida will mean a return to swinging hot bats.


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[countryboy]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

We just simply can't find a way to win a game. We are in the midst of a 3 game losing streak and have fallen 6 1/2 games back of the Pirates. We have lost the first two in Miami after losing leads late in the games. Our last outing saw 2 runs cross the plate due to errors. If there is a way to lose a ballgame we are going to find it.

Series finale against Marlins tonight then it's off to Cincinnati for the weekend.

Ready for April to be over.


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[countryboy]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

Miami was a bust as we only managed to win one of three against the Marlins. Our bats are so cold right now and our pitching staff is tired and worn out. We finally got an off day after this series so I'm hoping that a rested team will equate to better production on the field. We are off to Cincinnati to face the Reds for 3 games.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

We swept the Reds to push our winning streak to 4 games and climb one game over .500. We didn't play exceptionally well in this series, but our starting pitching was solid, and our bullpen was able to get the job done. Still waiting on guys to get their bats going (Randal Grichuk, Aledmys Diaz, and Stephen Piscotty)

We will close out the month of April against the back to back World Series defending champion Dodgers. We miss Kershaw in this 3 game set thankfully and have Wacha, Bumgarner, and Martinez pitching for us.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

The month of April has come to a close with a disappointing loss to the Dodgers to finish the month at 13-13. We trail the Pirates by 7 games already as the Pirates are the best team in baseball thru a month at 20-6.

Division leaders thru a month of baseball:

AL EAST - Rays
AL CENTRAL - Indians
AL WEST - Astros

NL EAST - Braves
NL Central - Pirates
NL West - Dodgers

Here is hoping to a better month in May.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

Lost 2 out of 3 to the Dodgers. Wacha and Martinez got shelled in their two starts with Wacha only going 2 1/3, walking 7 and giving up 5 runs. Martinez lasted til the 5th but was pulled after giving up 7 runs. Bumgarner won his start after allowing 2 runs in the first, he settled down and only allowed 1 more run in route to a complete game victory. He also hit his first homerun as a Cardinal.

Next up is a 4 game series with the Cubs. We remain 6 back of the Pirates as they lost 2 of 3 to the Reds.

The Red Sox traded Rafael Devers to the Reds for C Tyler Stephenson. They also dealt Joe Kelly to the Dodgers for C Austin Barnes. Outside of Blake Swihart, they are weak at the Catcher position, or were. Sandy Leon stinks in my franchise...LOL

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

We are simply playing bad baseball right now as we've lost 5 of our last 7.

Starting pitching has been horrendous the past week and we can't drive in runs.

We are only 4 games back of the Pirates despite our struggles as they are getting beat up as well.




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[ty5oke]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

In a great battle down the stretch with my M's to get the AL West spot from the Angels. After going through a rough spot early in September, we've put together a good run to go from 6.5 GB to 1.5 GB with 7 games to go. Also, pulled from 1.5 out of WC to be pretty comfortable 3.5 games free of WC contenders.

Amazing how close some of my stats are with real life:

Game - Cruz: .264 36 HR 95 RBI 152 H 86 R
RL - Cruz: .288 36 HR 114 RBI 151 H 85 R

Game - Cano: .274 22 HR 101 RBI 163 H 76 R
RL - Cano: .286 22 HR 93 RBI 160 H 76 R

Game - Seager: .264 27 HR 93 RBI 157 H 94 R (bats #2 for me)
RL - Seager: .252 25 HR 83 RBI 140 H 60 R

Not to mention Cruz hit a walk off 2-Run HR vs CLE in both game and real life yesterday.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

Our losing streak stands at 4 games now after being swept by the Reds. We are in last inthe Central 7 games behind the Pirates.

We are struggling right now in every facet of the game. Hopefully we snap out of this funk soon and get back to winning 7 out of 10 instead of losing 7 out of 10.

Next up is a 3 game series in Washington


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[Bullit]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

Our losing streak stands at 4 games now after being swept by the Reds. We are in last inthe Central 7 games behind the Pirates.

We are struggling right now in every facet of the game. Hopefully we snap out of this funk soon and get back to winning 7 out of 10 instead of losing 7 out of 10.

Next up is a 3 game series in Washington


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So your loosing streak will be 7?

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 16 Franchise Progress Thread

So your loosing streak will be 7?

The way we are playing right now, probably


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