MLB The Show 17 Franchise Discussion Thread

[HeavyWeight]

Re: MLB The Show 17 Franchise Discussion Thread

22-8. Shouldn't of started my franchise so fast and not have Bradley Zimmer in the game.

[Ranger Fan]

Re: MLB The Show 17 Franchise Discussion Thread

Texas Rangers Update: Season 3 MOM

The regular season is over and the Texas Rangers are the American League Western division Champs!!!!!!!!! I won the division with a 96-66 record finishing second overall in the American league behind the Cleveland Indians. I played both Wild Card Games and the Tigers took out the defending AL Champs Astros while the Cardinals beat the Dodgers. The ALDS has Texas and Toronto facing off while Detroit takes on Cleveland. In the National League the Cardinals will face the Mets and the Giants will take on the Cubs. The Washington Nationals failed to make the playoffs after winning the Championship last year. In other news

MVP- Justin Upton (Tigers)
NL- Madison Bumgardner (Giants)
AL Cy Young- Corey Kluber (Indians)
NL- Madison Bumgardner

Elvis Andrus was named Rangers player of the year with a 308 Average 15 HR's and 75 RBI's. He also stole 23 bases.

ALDS starts tonight with Danny Salazar on the mound against Toronto's Marcus Stroman

[HozAndMoose]

Re: MLB The Show 17 Franchise Discussion Thread

All Star break - 2020

With a little more than half of the season done we sit at 39-50. 4th in the Central. 1.5 games ahead of the last place White Sox and 12.5 games back of the 1st place Tigers. We are 19-15 since the draft and 8-2 in our last 10 games. Injuries continue to be an issue. Jorge Bonifacio came off the DL and got sent back to AAA. A month later he tore his ACL. Terrance Gore broke his ankle on June 28th. Might be back sometime in September. He was playing really well at the time. Was finally starting some games and was hitting .292 with a .333 OBP. And the in the last game before the AS break Peter O'Brien broke his hand. He should also be back sometime in September.

The offense took a step back scoring runs. AVG just over 4 a game. Despite the AVG and SLG going up with the OBP basically staying the same. We are hitting .258/.323/.412. Which is 17th, 13th and 18th overall. We are up to 5th in doubles with 165. 21st in triples with 15 and 20th in HR with 93. We are tied for 6th with 65 SB and 11th in SB% at .793. Only 263 walks which ties for 19th with the Pirates. And we are starting to strikeout more and more with 756. Tied with the Marlins for 13th.

• Billy Burns - .345/.387/.517 (28 AB)
• Ruben Sosa - .317/.391/.463 (41 AB)
• Ryan O'Hearn - .288/.396/.577, 17 HR, 38 RBI (215 AB)
• Whit Merrifield - .285/.343/.376, 12 SB (319 AB)
• Mike Moustakas - .284/.353/.464, 12 HR, 55 RBI (345 AB)
• Salvador Perez - .268/.315/.413, 10 HR, 36 RBI (317 AB)
• Bubba Starling - .257/.312/.406, 8 HR, 10 SB (261 AB)
• Hunter Dozier - .247/.313/.416, 14 HR, 44 RBI (332 AB)
• Mark Springer - .240/.326/.504, 8 HR, 5 SB (121 AB)
• Corey Toups - .236/.303/.375, 5 HR (259 AB)
• Raul Mondesi - .232/.284/.359, 4 HR, 12 SB (220 AB)
• Cam Gallagher - .156/.206/.187 (32 AB)

DL Players

• Terrance Gore - .292/.333/.354, 7 SB (48 AB)
• Jorge Soler - .271/.374/.459 (85 AB)
• Peter O'Brien - .258/.317/.435, 7 Hr (209 AB)

Burns and Sosa have been good in bery limited time since coming up for injured players. Both have taken some time from Whit who has struggled tremendously over the last month. On June 7th his AVG was up to .344. Since then he has gotten a hit in 20 of 113 AB (.176 AVG) with just 6 runs. And in his last 14 games is just 7 for 58 (.120 AVG). And somehow we still played 4 games over .500. Ryan O'Hearn has slowed down a bit as well. No where near as bad. Still hitting HR at a good pace and he OBP is great. Moose on the other hand cant hit a HR to save his life. Just 2 over the last 34 games. Salvy has continued to do pretty well. Nothing spectacular but still has an OBP over .300 and the power has started to show up a bit again. He was our only All Star on the team. Bubba starling has picked up where he left off before getting hurt. Has already more than doubled his WAR from the last 2 years. Still not the guy he was supposed to be when we drafted him but he has turned into a good option. Hunter Dozier has found his rookie year form again. AVG is still a bit low but its much high higher over the last month. Mark Springer made his MLB debut on June 5th. Struggled a bit to start out but has turned it around recently. And in his last 6 games has hit 4 HR. Corey Toups and Mondesi continue to be the low points on the offense. Mondesi has been better recently though. And Cam Gallagher is doing absolutely nothing. Was planning to call up Viloria again and then of course he gets hurt.

Pitching did bounce back a bit. Its not like it could get much worse. Our Team ERA dropped from 4.86 to 4.53.

• Mariano Parra - 2-1, 1.83 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 22 SO in 34.1 IP
• Nate Karns - 5-6, 3.60 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 118 SO in 95 IP
• Danny Duffy - 5-10, 4.34 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 108 SO in 105.2 IP
• Jake Junis - 6-6, 4.46 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 95 SO in 107 IP
• Scott Blewett - 2-1, 4.74 ERA, 1.74 WHIP, 17 SO in 19 IP
• Eric Skoglund - 2-4, 4.88 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 56 SO in 51.2 IP
• Mike Minor - 4-6, 6.78 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 71 SO in 81 IP

Parra made his MLB debut on June 13th. And has been damn good over his first 6 games. It got off to a pretty rocky start though. Gave up a lead off HR to the very first batter he faced. Averaging just under 6 innings per start. So hopefully he can start to go a bit deeper. Karns has been pretty consistent the last month and a half. Really needed with Duffy still not pitching all that great. He has really earned back some trust and could be back next year. As for Duffy is hopefully turning it around. He went 8 innings with no runs and 9 K's in a 1-0 win over the Twins in his last start. From there its really more of the same. Junis, Blewett and Skoglund all keep struggling. Gonna give each one 1 more start and whoever does the worst will be sent down. Mike Minor is no longer starting.

• Matt Strahm - 20 SV, 3.52 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 28 SO in 23 IP
• Kevin McCarthy - 3-1, 2.36 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 51 SO in 45.2 IP
• Seth Maness - 4-2, 2.95 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 23 SO in 55 IP
• Scott Alexander - 1-1, 3.10 ERA, 2.10 WHIP, 38 SO in 40.2 IP
• Brian Flynn - 3-2, 3.68 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 21 SO in 22 IP

Its a shame the starters and offense arent better. The BP is damn good for us this year and we have nothing to show for it. Strahm still isnt getting many opportunities. Neither is Flynn really. While McCarthy, Maness and Alexander are all doing as good as we could have hoped.

No update on the minors this time. Only about 2 months left in the season so ill wait till then to do the big update on them. And ill probably hold off on a September update for the MLB team again unless we somehow have something to play for. 13 games left in July and 29 in August. 22 of the 42 on the road and 20 against a team with a winning record.

[Midnite2sixman]

Re: MLB The Show 17 Franchise Discussion Thread

Does anyone use the classic modern stadiums in their franchises? Like does anyone use the old Yankee Stadium for the Yankees and Shea for the Mets? Just interested to hear

[HozAndMoose]

Re: MLB The Show 17 Franchise Discussion Thread

End of Minor League Season- 2020

Well the minor League season has come to and end and things didn't end up as good as they were looking. AAA Omaha finished the season at 78-64. 3.5 games back of the Cubs for 1st place. AA Northwest Arkansas finished the 2nd half of the season at 28-42. Worst in the division. They did win the 1st half though so they will be heading to the playoffs. Both teams were kind of screwed over by all of our injuries.

AAA Prospects

Spoiler

• Meibrys Viloria - .311/.394/.472 with 4 HR (212 AB). Missed the last 2 months with a broken wrist.
  
• Terrance Lombard - .299/.367/.422 with 18 SB (204 AB). Had 200 AB in AA. He hit .255/.344/.350 with 16 SB.
  
• Richard Pectol - .289/.378/.477 with 13 HR and 20 SB (346 AB). Had 116 AB in AA. Hit .293/.390/.483 with 5 HR and 5 SB.
  
• Chris Campos - .287/.362/.416 with 8 HR and 18 SB (327 AB). Had 114 AB in AA. Hit .325/.434/.465 with 2 HR and 7 SB.
  
• Jorge Bonifacio - .281/.347/.474 with 10 HR (196 AB). Tore his ACL on June 30th. Had 85 AB in the Majors. hit .235/.280/.329.
  
• James Nadeau - .272/.338/.372 with 4 HR and 21 SB (449 AB).
  
• Seuly Matias - .263/.357/.442 with 14 HR. Had 51 AB in AA. Hit .353/.476/.569 with 3 HR.
  
• Khalil Lee - .222/.311/.319 with 5 HR and 11 SB. Had 105 AB in AA. Hit .324/.377/.514 with 4 HR and 4 SB.
  
• Tom Guttierez - .148/.303/.222. Had 230 AB in AA.Hhit .209/.265/.283 with 3 HR.

• Elroy Dowling - 5-3, 2.60 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 70 SO in 83 IP. Had 90 IP in AA with a 1.90 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 66 SO.
  
• A.J. Puckett - 11-9, 3.36 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 160 SO in 174.1 IP.
  
• Josh Staumont - 1-7, 3.90 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 147 SO in 92.1 IP
  
• Estarlin Cordero - 4-2, 1.93 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 28 SO in 32.2 IP. Had 29.1 IP in AA. 1.84 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 15 SO.
  
• Otis Villalona - 1-1, 3.09 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 20 SO in 23.1 IP.

Guys I wouldn't consider prospects anymore but had good seasons.

• Chris Withrow - 3-1, 1.03 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 25 SO in 26.1 IP. Had 17 IP in the Majors with a 5.82 ERA, 2.00 WHIP and 16 SO.
  
• Kyle Zimmer - 5-3, 2.64 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 93 SO in 81.2 IP. Had 52 IP in the Majors with a 7.10 ERA, 1.75 WHIP and 46 SO.
  
• Yender Caramo - 7-3, 2.82 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 87 SO in 115 IP. 28 year old RP.
  
• Malcom Culver - 0-2, 3.16 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 23 SO in 25.2 IP. 30 year old RP. No MLB time.

• Paulo Orlando - .282/.317/.444 with 14 Hr and 6 SB (507 AB)
  
• Frannk Schwindle - .251/.288/.377 with 15 HR (557 AB).

AA Prospects

Spoiler

• Chase Vallot - .287/.361/.443 with 13 HR (341 AB). Had 70 AB in AAA. Hit .143/.231/.271 with 2 HR
  
• Ramon Torres - .300/.380/.404 with 10 SB (277 AB). Had 137 AB in AAA. Hit .212/.368/.292. Cant really consider him a prospect anymore.
  
• Osvaldo Abreu - .261/.339/.353 with 15 SB (303 AB)
  
• Samir Dunez - .260/.318/.327 with 17 SB (446 AB)

• Pablo De Los Santos - 11-4, 2.45 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 101 SO in 176 IP
  
• Foster Griffin - 6-7, 2.67 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 60 SO in 81 IP
  
• Hank Steele - 9-9, 2.67 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 126 SO in 168.2 IP
  
• Freddy Harman - 6-10, 2.77 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 135 SO in 149.2 IP
  
• Doug Sanders - 8-5, 2.83 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 61 SO in 92.1 IP
  
• Jose Ramiro - 8-8, 3.74 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 106 SO in 130 IP
  
• Pedro Fernandez - 0-6, 3.75 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 46 SO in 48 IP

• Gene Starks - 2-1, 1.03 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 15 SO in 26.1 IP. Had 22.1 IP in AAA with a 4.03 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 9 SO.
  
• Tom Porter - 0-0, 2.43 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 22 SO in 29.2 IP
  
• Henry Salazar - 2-1, 3.33 ERA, 1.68 WHIP, 22 SO in 24.1 IP
  
• Jesse Porrazzo - 4-4, 3.75 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 62 SO in 62.1 IP
  
• Rico Bautista - 2-7, 3.84 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 61 SO in 75 IP

2021 Expectations

Spoiler

Players that should contribute to the MLB team.

• Meibrys Viloria will probably break ST with the MLB team. Would have been back up in the majors in July had he not gotten hurt.
  
• Elroy Dowling will start the season in AAA again. But will get a call up around mid season if everything goes well for him.
  
• Otis Villalona will gt an invite to ST and a chance to win a spot in the pen. If not he will start back in AAA and wait for a call up later in the season.
  
• A.J. Puckett will be out of options so we have no choice but to keep him on the team. Was good enough to deserve a call up earlier in the year but there was either someone better or he would have a bad game when the time came.

Players that could contribute to the MLB team.

• Richard Pectol may get an invite to ST. But I would be very surprised if he doesn't start in AAA. Would like for him to spend the whole year down there but he may play his way onto the team if we are in a race.
  
• Chris Campos was supposed to be in AA all season. But with injuries he was forced up to AAA. Did a damn good job up there to. Will start the season in AAA again and could play his way onto the team like Pectol.
  
• James Nadeau would be a long shot. But assuming we need a 2B and Campos isnt playing well Nadeau would be the option. He has the bat for it but would be a major liability defensively.
  
• Josh Staumont will be 27 next year and has all pretty much lost his chance to be a starter for us. He could be an option for us out of the pen though. Especially when we need a strikeout.
  
• Ramon Torres is getting to old to be a prospect and other players have taken over his role. But if the circumstances arise he could be a SS/2B for us at some point.
  
• Freddy Harmam will start in AAA. Would like for him to spend all season down there but he may end up being the best starter we have in the minors.

Player who should spend all of 2021 in the minors

• Chase Vallot will start in AA for like the 10th straight year it seems. Could be up to AAA by mid season if he plays well.
  
• Pablo De Los Santos, Hank Steele and Doug Sanders will all start in AA and could move up to AAA by mid season. Would like for them to get another full year down there though.
  
• Rico Bautsista and Jesse Porrazzo should start in AAA. I expect them to stay down there all season but if we are in the playoff race and we need bullpen help they may be an option.

[Ranger Fan]

Re: MLB The Show 17 Franchise Discussion Thread

Texas Rangers Update: Season 3 MOM

The ALDS started last night and it was a nighmare start for the Texas Rangers. We got 2 hit by Marcus Stroman and lost 8-1. Danny Salazar could not get out of the fifth inning. After 2 innings he had thrown 67 pitches. Toronto is loaded, I didn't realize just how many studs they had this year until we started playing. Will Myers, Marcell Ozuna have joined them. Tulo, Martin. Bautista left before last season, I saw him playing for Oakland, not sure where he is at this year. Game 2 is tonight, Tanner Roark takes the mound against Aaron Sanchez

[Trent Booty]

Re: MLB The Show 17 Franchise Discussion Thread

I had to restart my franchise due to a couple settings I wanted to have being different than what I wanted.

Anyway, so my new roster is as follows:

Lineup:
SS Jean Segura
LF Ben Gamel
2B Robinson Cano
DH Nelson Cruz
3B Kyle Seager
1B Danny Valencia
RF Mitch Haniger
C Mike Zunino
CF Jarrod Dyson

Bench:
INF Danny Espinosa
UTL Shawn O'Malley
OF Guillermo Heredia
C Carlos Ruiz

Rotation:
Felix Hernandez
Hisashi Iwakuma
James Paxton
Ariel Miranda
Yovani Gallardo
(Drew Smyly will miss entire 2017 season)

Bullpen:
LR David Phelps
MR James Pazos
MR Tony Zych
MR Mark Rzepczynski
MR Steve Cishek
SU Nick Vincent
CL Edwin Diaz

I have IRL injuries set for every team, including minor leaguers for 2017.

I will want to play every game, or at least try it at first because I feel as if I was getting through the season way too fast last time. For the first couple months of the season, I will be following the IRL trade deadline and making moves made IRL.

Notable prospects - level at start of 2017:
OF Kyle Lewis - A
SP Nick Neidart - A
1B/OF Evan White - A
SP Sam Carlson - A
3B Joe Rizzo - A
SS/2B Bryson Brigman - A
SP Rob Whalen - AA
SP Max Povse - AA
SP Andrew Moore - AAA
1B/3B DJ Peterson - AAA
1B Dan Vogelbach - AAA

About to play opening day vs. Houston. My expectations are to at the very least, be competitive in the playoff race in 2017.

Edit: Aaron Hicks & Kolten Wong both hit for the cycle and MadBum threw a CGSO on opening day, so all three games were interesting, lol.

[Ranger Fan]

Re: MLB The Show 17 Franchise Discussion Thread

Texas Rangers Update: Season 3 MOM

Game 2 of the ALDS did not go allot better for the Rangers as they lost 7-4 to go down 2-0 in the series. Tanner Roark did not make it out of the fifth inning and Martin Perez could not do much better when he came in. The Rangers saw a ray of hope when in the second inning down 2-1 Pedro Alvaraz launches a 446 ft shot over the right center fence. Toronto however tied the game in the next half inning. I then took the lead once again in the fourth when Greg Garcia laced a 2 run single to left. Roark could not hold the lead as once again Toronto retook the lead in the next half inning and never looked back. So its do or die time tonight as Wi Yen Chen for Texas faces Dan Strailey of Toronto.

[boxboy99]

Re: MLB The Show 17 Franchise Discussion Thread

Playing year 3 of my carry over chise and sitting at 72-56 with a game and a half division lead with the Cubs. My team is falling apart after having the best record in baseball. Were like 8-14 this month and lost like 10 of last 12.

Worst batting average in the majors at .230 on all star zone. I just made the move to directional and am getting more hits until last game where I was no hit by the last place Reds. 2-5 on directional so things have not gotten much better.

Anyone else hit a huge slump after performing so well? I kind of saw it coming, couldn't get hits but Rizzo and Rendon were rocking home runs until a couple patches ago and our pitching was solid. Now pitching is suspect and the power is gone.

I'm fairly certain we'll blow the division and maybe even the WC if this continues.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[ggsimmonds]

Re: MLB The Show 17 Franchise Discussion Thread

Quick little note on my Orioles franchise, my rookie SS has had one hell of a week.

Going into a home series with the Red Sox we had lost 6 straight to fall to a game under .500. We swept the series in no small part to his play, as he went 7-13 with 3 RBI and 4 SB. (Machado also had a great series, had more than 6 RBI I believe).

Coming off that series we had a home series with the Cardinals.

We were trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the 8th with 2 outs. AJ jimenez surprised everyone with a hit to bring up my lead off hitter (same SS). He drew the 2 out walk, then Johnson got a single to load the bases for Machado. Machado hits a 2 run double to tie the game at 3.

Fast forward to bottom of the 11th. That SS leads off the inning with a single making it past Jose Reyes (came off the bench after they pinch ran for the starter). He then steals second against Molina. Johnson ends up striking out bringing up Machado who hits a ground ball to SS, I wait until after Reyes starts throwing to first to send the runner to 3rd. Risky but it worked. Runner on 3rd with 2 out and the unthinkable happens.

A strike 3 pitch gets away from Molina, my runner on 3rd books it for home, and somehow Trumbo beats out the throw to first.

We win in extra innings on a dropped 3rd strike. Amazing and the past several games is a 180 from what happened during my losing streak. Two of the wins against Boston came due to late inning rallies against relievers where my guys were coming up clutch with runners on base, in contrast to most of the month when far too many of my runs were coming off solo homers

[Brabes2]

Re: MLB The Show 17 Franchise Discussion Thread

Sorry if this has been asked.. but has anyone else had issues with a pitcher's starts being skipped over in the minors after demotion? I drafted a pitcher #1 in the draft and started him in the majors because I wanted to play with him.. after a rocky first two months, I demoted him to AAA, but his starts kept getting skipped over when I simmed. I ended up just doing quick manage on his scheduled starts..does anyone know why this is happening or how to fix this?

[Trent Booty]

Re: MLB The Show 17 Franchise Discussion Thread

Mariners Franchise
End of May

Just finished the draft, and just got into June with the Mariners. Playing every game for the first time ever on the show, and I have to say it is so much fun. Knowing every stat is legitimately yours is so cool.

We currently have a record of 32-22, which is a half game back of the Astros.

• Offensive stats/info

Spoiler

So far I have one of the best offenses in the AL I'm on all-star difficulty for hitting and hall of fame difficulty for pitching, so I'm really surprised how good my team has been, as I usually hit on veteran and pitch on all star, so my hopes were to play close to .500 all year similar to IRL. I have 5 starters in the top-12 in batting average, including three in the top four. Their names might surprise you.

JARROD DYSON, yes him, is leading the AL in batting average with a .353 AVG, 12 points higher than Aaron Hicks, who is in second place. 3rd and 4th belong to AL MVP candidate Robinson Cano (.324) and Jean Segura (.324). Outfielder Ben Gamel is also in the top-10, as he is hitting .310 (8th), and just outside the top-10 is Mitch Haniger, who is 12th place with a more than respectable .302 batting average. While they have been really good, Mike Zunino (.227), Kyle Seager (.241), and Nelson Cruz (.253) have not, despite their average to good power numbers Seager and Cruz started the season horrible, as they had averages below the Mendoza line at the end of April. Danny Valencia has been in the middle of the pack, with a respectable .268 AVG, playing 1B everyday our bench, has also been suprisingly good, albeit in small sizes. Heredia, our 4th OF, is hitting .255 but his defense, speed on the bases, and clutch hits have been key to our team so far. Backup Catcher Carlos Ruiz is hitting .258 but only in 11 games (31 at bats), as Zunino has been excellent playing almost every day behind the dish. Our backup infielder Danny Espinosa and super-utility man Shawn O'Malley have been super good in their limited playing time, as both have averages over .300 (both have barely 40 at bats so far so I expect it to come down as they got hot early and have cooled down since then) and they both have filled in nicely for...basically everyone on the team.

In the power department, the Mariners are led by, you guessed it, Cano/Cruz/Seager. Despite the struggles by Cruz and Seager, this trio lead the team in HRs and RBIs. Cano and Cruz have 9 HRs and Seager has 6. Zunino also has 6, Valencia and Haniger each have 3, Gamel has 2 and Segura has 1. No one else has hit one out yet, but it's still early.

Cano/Cruz/Seager also are all in the top-10 for RBIs, as Cano (1st) has 38, Cruz (6th) has 34, and Seager (8th) has 32. Zunino, Haniger, and Valencia have also been good run producers for the team so far.

A by-product of Jarrod Dyson leading the league in hitting is his speed gets it's value maximized. As a result, he is tied with the Rays' Mallex Smith for the league lead in stolen bases with 15.

• Pitching stats/info

Spoiler

I'll start with the rotation:

Felix Hernadez and James Paxton have been one of the best 1/2 starters in baseball, as Felix has an ERA of just 3.00 (his best since 2014), and Paxton has a sub-3.00 ERA (2.88) for the first time in his career. Felix is 6-1 with 71 strikeouts (3rd in the AL) in 75 innings, and Big Maple is 6-2 with 63 strikeouts (11th in the AL) in 75 innings. Iwakuma has been a great #3 pitcher, as he's 4-5 with 50 strikeouts and a 3.68 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP (11th in the AL) in 71 innings. The back end of the rotation struggled very badly early, but have rebounded nicely. Miranda is 4-5 with a ERA just under 5 (4.96) and Gallardo has a 5.52 ERA, and while I would move him to the bullpen and call up someone like Sam Gaviglio or Andrew Moore (who have both been KILLING it in AAA), my bullpen has actually been so good there's not really any room for him, so he's stuck in the rotation basically.

Speaking of the bullpen, I decided to roll with just a 7-man bullpen (I usually go with 8), and so far it has worked out great. The lone weak spot right now is LHP James Pazos, who has a 3.38 ERA. I do admit, however, that I should be using Pazos as a lefty specialist with Rzepczynski (1.93 ERA), but he's been so good I haven't been giving those situations to Pazos so he's been pitching in bad spots throughout the first two months. The rest of the bullpen has been insane as Rzep (mentioned above) has been a superb LOOGY, and David Phelps (1.80 ERA) has been a great long relief guy when needed, going two, sometimes three, and even four (one time) innings. He recently got a throwback 3 inning save to end a game against the Red Sox in late May. Zych struggled early but hasn't given up a run since mid-April and has a nice 2.37 ERA to show for it. Cishek has a 1.93 ERA and has been great in the 7th and 8th innings, as he hasn't blown any games for me all year. Nick Vincent has been the best set-up men in the AL not named David Robertson, as he has a 1.74 ERA with one save and a 0.87 WHIP as well. To save the best for last, closer Edwin Diaz has a 1.66 ERA along with 13 saves, only blowing two. Diaz would have a lot more saves if we actually had close games, as we have had a lot of blowouts, as I could easily see him with 20 saves right now if we had closer games (Ken Giles of Houston leads the AL with 19 saves).

• Prospect Updates (Super long, not worth the read honestly unless you're interested in the farm system)

Spoiler

4 of our top-5 prospects, OF Kyle Lewis (#1), SP Nick Neidart (#2), 1B Evan White (#3), and SP Sam Carlson (#5) are all in single-A and have no stats to show. However, Nick Neidart just got called up to AA Arkansas and will be making his first AA start on June 1st (the day I am currently at).



#4 prospect SP Andrew Moore has a 2.50 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP in AAA Tacoma, and it's only a matter of time before he makes his MLB debut.



#6 prospect OF Braden Bishop got called up to AA early in the season and has a hit a respectable .277 with 3 HRs, 17 RBI and 4 SB. I expect him to finish the year in AA and maybe start 2018 in AAA depending on how the organizations handles the OF moving forward and how much depth we have next year.


#9 prospect RP Thyago Vieria has struggled in AA and actually lost his closer job to Zac Curtis. He is currently on the DL but if he bounces back when healthy, I could see him being in AAA by the start of 2018.


#10 prospect Max Povse has actually been really good in AA with an 1.98 ERA in 11 starts. If a spot opens in AAA he's the first in line to get it.



#11 prospect Marco Gonzales is currently posting a 3.72 ERA in AAA Tacoma, which is okay, but not what I'm looking for, especially if Gallardo's or Miranda's spot in the rotation comes up for grabs, or if an injury occurs in the MLB rotation. Christian Bergman, Andrew Moore and Sam Gaviglio are first in line for a shot in Seattle, and he also isn't on the 40-man roster, so he is blocked by that as well.



#12 prospect 1B Dan Vogelbach and #14 prospect 1B/3B DJ Peterson both are doing fine as the 3/4 hitters in Tacoma, as they are both have 7 HRs so far, which is top-5 in the PCL. Vogelbach is on the 40-man so we'll definitely see him in Seattle by September at the latest. Peterson isn't on the 40-man, and is also in jeopardy of being passed up by Evan White on the 1B depth chart.


#13 prospect Emilio Pagan has been serving as a reliever in AAA and has good stats (2.48 ERA), and I'd say him and Evan Scribner are the first in line should an injury occur at the major league level. He is on the 40-man roster so he'll see some time in september regardless.


#16 prospect 3B Joe Rizzo is only 19, and still in A ball. He has a good shot at starting 2018 in AA as a 20 year old, although a position change might be necessary, as he's blocked at 3B by Kyle Seager and Zach Shank, who is raking in AAA.


#17 prospect OF Luis Liberato is also in A ball, although he is close to AA and will by there by 2018 at the latest.


#22 prospect SP Rob Whalen is posting average numbers in AA (4.01 ERA), so he is probably going to spend all of 2017 in AA and depending on how he is doing at the end of the year, could either make the AAA team by the start of 2018 or stay in AA.


#24 prospect OF Ian Miller got called up to AAA after hitting over .320 in AA very early, and is currently hitting .268 in Tacoma with 18 stolen bases. If he can learn to hit lefties, he could maybe have a spot on in Seattle one day.


#25 prospect SP Chase De Jong started the year in AA as just a long reliever, but has impressed and has already earned a spot in the AAA rotation.



#26 prospect C Tyler Marlette is currently hitting .271 in AA, which is good, he's just blocked by Steve Baron and Tuffy Gosewich at AAA, expect Marlette to being 2018 at AAA.


#29 prospect SS/2B Bryson Brigman is still in A, but you can expect to see him in AA by the start of 2018


#30 prospect INF Tyler Smith is hitting .239 as a backup infielder in AAA currently. He's blocked by Espinosa, O'Malley, and Taylor Motter as far as 'guys who can play backup infielder in Seattle.'


Once I get to opening day 2018 I will probably do an updated list with the guys I just drafted included.

• Draft Results (pretty detailed like the prospects updates list)

Spoiler

1st Round: LHP Jose Spanos, 22 years old (94 pot) - Already a 72 OVR, so I probably am going to skip my house rule where all drafted prospects start in A ball their first year and start this guy in AA. Dominating there could get him to AAA early in 2018, and he could be striking out major league hitters by 2019. Has a good 5-pitch repertoire, only issue seems to be control/walks.



2nd Round: SS Xavier Richardson, 18 years old (82 pot) - Glove-first speedy SS who can also play 2B/3B, if he can improve his contact, he could very well be our SS of the future, replacing Segura when he moves to 2B to replace Cano. Will start 2018 in A and probably get called up to AA soon after, because he is already a 58 OVR.



3rd Round: OF Robert Francis, 20 years old (78 pot) - offensive-minded CF with great contact and great speed. Future lead-off hitter for sure. If he develops some power and works on his defense, he could be a superstar, despite the low potential. I saw he's from California, and then I saw another CF from California named Douglas Francis, who looks sort of similar to Robert, and is the same type of player (high speed/contact but with lower potential) and I tried to get him in the 4th round but he was taken by the Brewers. I will definitely trade for him in the off-season/before opening day, and since he is a D potential he will be very easy to get. I'll start both of them in A ball but probably call them both up to AA together early into 2018 because they're already 67 and 65 OVR.


4th Round: OF Luiz Martinez, 18 years old (75 pot) - really average in every aspect of the game. Has the ceiling to be a starting corner outfielder but most likely will be a 4th/5th OFer, Gonna start him in A and just try to let him progress.



5th Round: RHP Juan Francisco, 18 years old (69 pot) - I took him because he was 18 with high velocity (83) and good break (72) on his breaking ball, which is a plain curveball. Gonna do the same thing with this guy, just keep him in A for the first year and see how good he progresses.



6th Round: SS Alberto Pacheco, 19 years old (89 pot) - I scouted this guy and saw he had 80-grade potential so when I saw he was available in the 6th round I leaped at the chance to take him. He only has average speed (69) but it could potentially develop into a plus tool. He's pretty average in all other areas of the game so far and is a low OVR so I'll probably keep in A ball for the first year as well.


7th Round: OF Joel Ramirez, 22 years old (61 pot) - I took him because nobody I scouted was left to draft and he was the fastest guy left. He has great speed (89), good power already (high 50s/low 60s)

• Some notes/fun facts from around the league:

Spoiler

• The Dodgers have the best record in the league, with 36 wins and 19 losses.
• The Braves have the worst record in the league, with 20 wins and 33 losses.
• The Nationals have the best team ERA with 2.61, led by Max Scherzer (0.96), Gio Gonzales (1.00), and Stephen Strastburg (2.39)
• The Diamondbacks have the worst team ERA with 4.44
• The Cardinals lead the legaue in HRs, led by Jedd Gyorko (18), Randal Grichik (16), and Matt Carpenter (9)
• The Angels have the least HRs with 24. Trout/Cron/Pujols/Calhoun all have 5 HRs
• The Mariners lead the league with 252 runs scored, led by Cano (35), Segura (32), and Dyson (31)
• The Angels have scored the least amount of runs with 137, the 29th team (Padres) have 153 lol
• The Mariners lead the league with a .288 batting average
• The Angels are last in batting average with .229
• DJ LeMahieu leads the NL in batting again with a .351 AVG and in hits with 73
• Brandon Drury leads the NL with 24 doubles
• Trevor Story leads the NL with 6 triples
• Jedd Gyorko leads the NL with 18 home runs
• Randal Grichuk leads the NL with 43 RBIs
• Paul Goldschmidt leads the NL with 44 runs
• Keon Broxton and Jonathan Villar lead the NL with 16 stolen bases
• Madison Bumgarner leads the NL with 9 wins (next highest is 7)
• Kenley Jansen leads the NL with 20 saves
• Max Scherzer leads the NL with a 0.96 ERA (followed by 1.00 by Gio Gonzalez)
• Scherzer leads the NL in strikouts with 83
• Alex Wood leads the NL with a 0.69 WHIP
• Jon Lester leads the NL in pitcher WAR with 2.9
• Goldschmidt leads the NL in batter WAR with 3.4

• Jarrod Dyson leads the AL in batting average with .353
• Cano leads the AL with 72 hits
• Hanley Ramirez leads the AL with 20 doubles
• Byron Buxton leads the AL with 5 triples
• Chris Davis leads the AL with 14 home runs
• Cano leads the AL with 38 RBI and 35 runs
• Jarrod Dyson and Mallex Smith lead AL with 15 stolen bases
• Jason Vargas leads the AL with 8 wins
• Ken Giles leads the AL with 19 saves
• Andrew Cashner leads the AL with a 1.43 ERA
• Chris Sale leads the AL with 82 strikeouts, 0.87 WHIP, and a 2.4 pitcher WAR
• Aaron Hicks leads the AL with a 2.8 batter WAR

If you read any of that, I'm sorry

[Buccosback]

Re: MLB The Show 17 Franchise Discussion Thread

I'm doing a Pittsburgh Pirates franchise. I usually quick manage 6-8 innings and then join the game (can get through games quickly and still have full control). I sit at 15-10 through the first 25 games. I wanna wait until July to make any major moves. I manually injured Marte for 80 games (steroids) and I am keeping Kang in the minors for the year for real life situations. Only trade I made was a C prospect to TB for Jumbo Diaz.

Rotation:
Cole - 5.63ERA
Nova - 1.10ERA
Taillon - 1.93ERA
Kuhl - 4.18ERA
Williams - 3.99ERA

Bullpen:
Shugel - 2.25ERA
LeBlanc - 1.38ERA
Nicasio - 6.00ERA
Marinez - 1.04ERA
Watson - 2.25ERA
Hudson - 2.08ERA
Rivero - 1.59ERA 10SV

Lineup:
Frazier - .339/1/3
Harrison -.227/0/8
McCutchen - .309/3/12
Bell - .239/1/8
Polanco .258/5/17
Freese -.230/1/11
Cervelli - .288/0/6
Mercer - .275/1/2

Bench:
Moroff - .471/0/4
Osuna - .250/1/3
Jaso - .269/1/2
Stewart -.313/0/2
Diaz -.000/0/0 (6AB)

I am pleased with my lineup and bench although i might look to add another veteran (not Gosselin) bench player at 3B/OF cause i will sit Marte in postseason if i make it. Even though Marinez is 55overall I seem to pitch very well with him but if Cole doesn't turn it around by July (4.30-4.50era) or the back of my rotation falters I would like to pick up some rotation depth 3rd-5th starter and a bullpen arm. I may look to trade Watson/Cole but what can I get for them? I know this isn't the trade forum but that one is so cluttered and a bunch of stuff gets lost. I have 30 team control but only use the pirates, i let the CPU make their own trades/roster moves. I would obviously trade Cole to a contender regardless but I would like to get a starter with less than 2-3 years of service time. Dodgers offered both Maeda/Ryu and Maeda/Baez for Cole/Bastardo but i figured that wasn't very realistic but maybe Cole/Maeda+prospect. I'm willing to dump Bastardo for very little so I would have enough money to go after a Gray/Hamels type lefty starter. My rotation is all righties.

At the deadline I will make trades they make in real life that is the reason I have 30 team control or at least make real life type moves for teams in contention

Still early but Twins,Rockies,Padres all have less than .400 winning percentage

I was looking at Nathan Eovaldi/Homer Bailey as possible rotation upgrades and the Padres bullpen

potential SP (lefties)
Danny Duffy (KC)
Jason Vargas (KC)
Tyler Anderson (COL)
Daniel Norris (DET)
Robbie Erlin (SD)
Christian Friedrich (SD)
Adam Conley (MIA)
Gio Gonzalez (WSH)
Wei-Yin Chen (MIA)
Andrew Heaney (LAA)
J.A. Happ (TOR)

[The Chef]

Re: MLB The Show 17 Franchise Discussion Thread

First month is in the books on the quest to get Seattle back to the World Series and things couldn't have started much better. The hitting isn't as prolific when it comes to the long ball but they hold their own, where they shine is in the contact department. Through the month of April we're hitting .313 as a team which is good enough to lead the league. The real surprise has been the pitching, after shipping Felix Hernandez to Miami in the offseason it was expected that the pitching would drop off a bit but Sonny Gray has taken well to being the ace of the staff with career best numbers across the board. To top it off James Paxton has turned things around after season one when he struggled badly at times and limped to a 14-11 record, 4.04 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. It helps that the division has been rather weak to start the season and Houston is struggling out of the gate giving me the opportunity to seize early season control.

Offense

Spoiler

Pitching

Spoiler

Standings AL

Spoiler

Standings NL

Spoiler

Farm Report
Down on the farm things are looking pretty solid as well. The Tacoma Rainers are sitting with a 18-7 record 1 GB in the division.

1B Dan Vogelbach (AAA) - Hitting .360-3-20-0 and showing some signs of life finally. Came up in 2017 for the big league club and struggled hitting a mere .214 over a limited 28 AB's. Being 25 y/o means his window is closing if he doesn't improve soon and all that potential will never come to fruition.

RF Kyle Lewis (AAA) - Nothing special at all, another top prospect who isn't doing much sporting a .253-0-8-5 line. He has excellent vision for a 22 y/o but needs to work on his fielding and bulk up in the weight room if he ever hopes to reach the majors.

LF Tyler O'Neill (AAA) - Another guy that isn't setting the world on fire despite the potential. He's hitting .262-2-9-0 and has shown little to no improvement in any area. His contact is subpar, power is better then Lewis' but poor vision and discipline mixed with terrible fielding means he won't stand a shot at seeing the majors for at least a couple years.

The main reason Tacoma is doing so well is the MLB talent that is down there propping them up. Rubby De La Rosa is in AAA starting (3.03 ERA, 1.40 WHIP) and offensively Guillermo Heredia (.329) and Phil Gosselin (.316) are helping out with all the young guys.

If things continue like they are I may have a shot at making some reason noise again come playoff time. I'm probably 1-2 good RP's away (Scribner and Vincent have struggled) and I'm not sure I trust either Fiers or Chen in the rotation long term but so far so good.

[Trent Booty]

Re: MLB The Show 17 Franchise Discussion Thread

First month is in the books on the quest to get Seattle back to the World Series and things couldn't have started much better. The hitting isn't as prolific when it comes to the long ball but they hold their own, where they shine is in the contact department. Through the month of April we're hitting .313 as a team which is good enough to lead the league. The real surprise has been the pitching, after shipping Felix Hernandez to Miami in the offseason it was expected that the pitching would drop off a bit but Sonny Gray has taken well to being the ace of the staff with career best numbers across the board. To top it off James Paxton has turned things around after season one when he struggled badly at times and limped to a 14-11 record, 4.04 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. It helps that the division has been rather weak to start the season and Houston is struggling out of the gate giving me the opportunity to seize early season control.

Offense

Spoiler

Pitching

Spoiler

Standings AL

Spoiler

Standings NL

Spoiler

Farm Report
Down on the farm things are looking pretty solid as well. The Tacoma Rainers are sitting with a 18-7 record 1 GB in the division.

1B Dan Vogelbach (AAA) - Hitting .360-3-20-0 and showing some signs of life finally. Came up in 2017 for the big league club and struggled hitting a mere .214 over a limited 28 AB's. Being 25 y/o means his window is closing if he doesn't improve soon and all that potential will never come to fruition.

RF Kyle Lewis (AAA) - Nothing special at all, another top prospect who isn't doing much sporting a .253-0-8-5 line. He has excellent vision for a 22 y/o but needs to work on his fielding and bulk up in the weight room if he ever hopes to reach the majors.

LF Tyler O'Neill (AAA) - Another guy that isn't setting the world on fire despite the potential. He's hitting .262-2-9-0 and has shown little to no improvement in any area. His contact is subpar, power is better then Lewis' but poor vision and discipline mixed with terrible fielding means he won't stand a shot at seeing the majors for at least a couple years.

The main reason Tacoma is doing so well is the MLB talent that is down there propping them up. Rubby De La Rosa is in AAA starting (3.03 ERA, 1.40 WHIP) and offensively Guillermo Heredia (.329) and Phil Gosselin (.316) are helping out with all the young guys.

If things continue like they are I may have a shot at making some reason noise again come playoff time. I'm probably 1-2 good RP's away (Scribner and Vincent have struggled) and I'm not sure I trust either Fiers or Chen in the rotation long term but so far so good.

Damn you have made a bunch of moves since the last time I checked! I know you went through the offseason and all so that makes sense at least. Interesting roster. Are you playing every game?