MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

[KariLetsThemIn]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Game 2 of the NLDS between the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets was another hotly contested match. Starters Carrasco and Wheeler twirled gems, each allowing less than 4 hits, with the only run scored through 6 innings being on a single by New York in the top of the 1st. Wheeler was removed from the game in the bottom of the 7th after walking Matt Adams to lead off the inning. He exited after striking out 7 in 103 pitches. Carrasco left after 7 IP with 6 K's and 98 pitches thrown.

The wheels came off the proverbial wagon after Wheeler's departure, as New York's bullpen, tired from the 12 inning affair the day prior, proceeded to walk Braves' catcher Robinson Chirinos, giving Atlanta a pair of base runners. A three run blast by Braves 2B Ozzie Albies and a two run bomb by Freddie Freeman bracketed a single by RF Wil Myers. Atlanta would go on to add another run via an 8th inning triple to RF by Chirinos, which scored SS Manny Machado from first.


Final score 6-1 Atlanta.


Atlanta looks to sweep their rival in Game 3 in New York. Sean Newcomb will face Jacob deGrom, in what looks to be yet another pitcher's duel.

[SoxSoxSox]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Looking at the up-coming free agent class it looks like Chris Sale will be a free agent after my 2018 season. However, in real life, he’s not a free agent until after 2019.

I run a 30-team controller franchise so I’m going to try to get him to re-sign with Boston to a one-year deal.

Has anyone been successful with this in the offseason? My first thought/idea is to just withdraw all other offers from other teams. I like to let the CPU take care of signings and free agents as much as possible with everyone except my team (Cubs), but I’m curious if I’ll be able to pull off a one-year deal with an elite pitcher like Sale to make him a free agent after 2019.

My other thought is to kiss sign him to the Red Sox for a long-term deal and pretend like he just signed an extension.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

If we (Boston) suck *** in your sim, he used his opt-out LOL.


I actually don't know if his deal has one in it, I know Price has one, pretty sure it's after 2019 and each season after if he chose to use it.

[Gagnon39]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

If we (Boston) suck *** in your sim, he used his opt-out LOL.





I actually don't know if his deal has one in it, I know Price has one, pretty sure it's after 2019 and each season after if he chose to use it.

I’m almost positive Sale has a club option. And the Red Sox will win the division in my franchise.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[reyes the roof]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Three games in to the NLCS so far and it's been a heck of a series. Game one deGrom dominated to the tune of 7.2 innings pitched and one run. David Wright gave us the lead in the 1st with a HR and then we tacked on one run in four of the last five innings to give us a5-1 win


Game two was a pitchers duel with Syndergaard going seven and only allowing one hit. Unfortunately the one hit was a one out triple from Kris Bryant and Rizzo knocked him in on a groundout to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead. Kyle Hendricks was unhittable, I was swinging at sinkers in the dirt all game and when I tried laying off it then it would stay in the strike zone. At one point Yoenis Cespedes struck out looking at three straight thigh high pitches down the middle because I was expecting the pitch to drop out of the zone. Cubs added an insurance run in the 8th with a Javier Baez HR of Trevor Rosenthal to give them a 2-0 win. Both teams only had two hits all game


Game three the series headed to Citi Field and it was the most dramatic so far. Matz gave up a HR on the first pitch of the game but Michael Conforto tied things up in the 2nd with a HR of his own. He's hitting .458 so far this post season with 10 RBIs. We took a 2-1 lead in the 5th after a HBP, wild pitch, a Devin Mesoraco single to advance the runner and then a run scoring groundout by Amed Rosario. The 6th started out with a Todd Frazier error, then a Jason Heward single giving the Cubs two on and no out with Bryant coming up. Bryant would strike out and Rizzo grounded out, they're having a miserable post season. Then Contreras doubled in two runs to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead. In the 8th I bring in David Wright to pinch hit since a lefty was on the mound and he comes through with a double and two batters later Conforto knocks him in to tie the game. I've got David Wright playing first since there is nowhere else to put him with Frazier in the lineup, I leave Wright in after pinch hitting and when he comes up in the 10th he hits a walkoff HR to end it. I'm up 2-1 with Wheeler and deGrom pitching the last two games in NY so I'm feeling like worst case scenario I'm going back to Chicago with a 3-2 lead

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

The trade deadline came and went without us making a move. Just nothing out there that we felt comfortable in pulling the trigger on. We thought about Jackie Bradley Jr, but the move we would've made would've sent Oscar Mercado to Memphis, but he is out of options and almost surely guaranteed to not pass through waivers.

We are currently exploring the trade waiver market but again, nothing that I feel we need to do. Once we get healthy, I think we have a team capable of getting to the World Series. The only thing we are considering is Freddy Galvis of the Angels. He would be an improvement with the bat over Aledmys Diaz, but again Diaz is out of options and I don't think he would pass through waivers.

Decisions, decisions....

[reyes the roof]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

We just had a miserable game 4 at the plate, Lester only needed 69 pitches to get through 7.2 innings. I think Maddon may have overreacted when he took him out but he had just given up a pinch hit HR to Travis d'arnaud to make the score 3-2. Wheeler pitched well and Bryant and Rizzo's miserable post season continued until the 5th inning when Bryant got a single and Rizzo hit a laser to right field for a two run HR. Happ added another run with a solo HR in the 7th and that was enough for Chicago to even the series at two with a final score of 3-2. It seemed like pretty much every pitch Lester through was a strike but we couldn't make good contact except for two HRs that seemed more like a case of us swinging hard in case the ball hits the bat instead of having a good approach. Now I've got a deGrom vs Quintana matchup then its back to Chicago to close out the series

[Gagnon39]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Almost in September, finally. Going to try to do some more frequent updates.

[reyes the roof]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

I am completely demoralized after game 5. I've got deGrom going on a full four days rest, full energy bar, and 94 stamina but after 72 pitches his energy bar turns yellow and after 88 pitches I get the warning that he's getting tired and I have to pull him after 6 innings and 90 pitches.


I'm up 2-1 in the 6th and Wilson Contreras and his 54 speed hits a slow roller to 2nd base and somehow beats it out for an infield single, of course he comes around to score and tie the game. Then in the 8th he hits his 2nd HR of the game. He's hitting .481 in the post season and impossible for me to get out. Now it's back to Chicago where I need to win two in a row for a trip to the World Series

[Gagnon39]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

I am completely demoralized after game 5. I've got deGrom going on a full four days rest, full energy bar, and 94 stamina but after 72 pitches his energy bar turns yellow and after 88 pitches I get the warning that he's getting tired and I have to pull him after 6 innings and 90 pitches.


I'm up 2-1 in the 6th and Wilson Contreras and his 54 speed hits a slow roller to 2nd base and somehow beats it out for an infield single, of course he comes around to score and tie the game. Then in the 8th he hits his 2nd HR of the game. He's hitting .481 in the post season and impossible for me to get out. Now it's back to Chicago where I need to win two in a row for a trip to the World Series

Go Cubs!

Two years ago on MLB 16 I was up 3-2 on the Dodgers heading back to Wrigley for Game 6 and 7. I had absolutely destroyed Clayton Kershaw in Game 5 to take a pretty decisive series lead heading back home. Game 6... lost. Game 7, Kershaw started... lost.

Talk about demoralized. Haha.

Luckily the Cubs won the World Series in real life that same year.

[reyes the roof]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

I got an offensive explosion in game six to force game seven, 8-3. HRs by Cespedes, Nimmo, Conforto, and two by Wilmer Flores. Seven of my eight runs came via the HR, which is a little concerning but I'll take it. Syndergaard gave up a HR on his first pitch of the game but then he settled in to pitch 6.2 innings without allowing anymore runs. My rotation is messed up though, guys aren't getting their full energy back despite getting four days rest between starts so I'm having to pull guys before they can even get to 100 pitches. I've got Matz going vs Kyle Hendricks now for a trip to the World Series. Last time I faced Hendricks it was a total nightmare, hopefully we'll have a better approach at the plate. I usually use a different lineup vs righties but after what I did in game six I'm sticking with that lineup. Thanks to the blowout and Syndergaard pitching in to the 7th I was able to rest my closer and setup men, plus I'm thinking deGrom will be available in the pen too if needed

[Gagnon39]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Player morale is so out of whack, at least the individual performance category.

Couple examples:

Anthony Rizzo is currently, "failing," his All-Star Level expectations... and he's hitting .308 with 25 home runs and 92 RBIs....

Kris Bryant is also, "failing," in the same category despite hitting .300 with 30 home runs and 74 RBIs.

That area needs a complete re-work.

[Gagnon39]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

One more note about morale... It has to be broken actually.

Kyle Schwarber's expectation is "Replacement Level," and he's simply, "meeting," it. That's quite the understatement since he's currently the front-runner for NL MVP.

He's hitting .296 with 49 home runs and 126 RBIs. I'd say that's a... decent year. And he still has a month to play.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

We took 2 out of 3 against the Cubs to extend our divisional lead back to 7 games. We lost the series opener as King Felix shut us down, but was able to beat Duane Underwood and Alex Cobb to take the series.

Next up is 3 in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, followed by 4 in Arizona as we take a quick West coast trip.


We did make a trade with the Yankees although it doesn't involve MLB players, as we swapped:

Cardinals Get:

RP Giovanny Gallegos
SP Braxton Garrett

Yankees Get:

RP Johan Oviedo
OF Scott Hurst
IF/OF Grant Green

The Yankees are loaded in the pitching dept and really need outfield depth. Scott Hurst is 23 years old, rated 70 and has an A potential. Ovideo is 21 years old rated 71 with a B potential. Grant Green we thru in to help improve their infield depth as we had to do something with the 32 year old journey man.

We get Gallegos who is rated 75 and deepens our bullpen. Oviedo with us struggled and was on the block to be included in a deal either now or the offseason. Garrett gives us a left handed pitcher to try and develop. He was average at best in the Yankees organization and found himself in A ball after getting passed by other propsects. Hopefully he'll develop in our system.

Again nothing blockbuster about this deal, just 2 teams swapping players in positions of need in August instead of November/December.

[OneTonneBaby]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Never posted before but as i'm at the very start of my 3rd season in my 2017 Franchise I thought i'd try joining in. It also finally feels like a year i can compete for the WS in.

RAYS FRANCHISE
In summary:
2017 - 86-77 - 2nd in AL East and won a game 163 to get the Wildcard which I won against Seattle only to lose in the ALDS 3-1 to the Indians.
2018 - 83-79 - 2nd in AL East but finished 4 games back of the Wildcard after a disappointing August put us out of the division race. Archer won the CY Young for the second year in a row with a 14-9 314k 2.21 ERA line. Edwin Diaz won reliever of the year with 48 SV 107k 1.54 ERA.

2019 sees the emergence of some of the farm products and after a disappointing offensive season last time out, I'm hoping for a rebound from some of my players.

In the off season I focused on getting a couple of catchers, a LH bench bat and some middle relievers which went like this:
Acquired C Will Nicholson for RP Jeff Ames
Acquired RP Luis Avilan for 3B Patrick Leonard
Acquired C Jose Trevino for LF Hyun Soo Kim and CF Mallex Smith
Signed FA 3B Chase Headley
Resigned FA RP Tyler Clippard
Resigned FA RP Fernando Rodriguez
Signed FA Jonathon Paplebon (AAA depth)

Projected Lineup:
C Will Nicholson R
1B Jake Bauers L
2B Matt Duffy R
3B Eduardo Nunez R
SS Willy Adames R
LF David Dahl L
CF Kevin Kiermaier L
RF Jorge Soler R
DH Kendrys Morales S

Bench C Jose Trevino R
Bench INF Chase Headley S
Bench INF Daniel Robertson R
Bench OF Mark Canha R

Rotation
SP Chris Archer R
SP Matt Andriese R
SP Blake Snell L
SP Jose De Leon R
SP Brent Honeywell R

Bullpen
RP Erasmo Ramirez R
RP Fernando Rodriguez R
RP Tyler Clippard R
RP Luis Avilan L
RP Carlos Estevez R
RP Chris Hatcher R
CP Edwin Diaz R

First series against the Yankees coming up who added Jose Iglesias, Carlos Santana and Brian Dozier in the offseason looks like a tough on. Updates to follow...

[reyes the roof]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

We are officially on to the World Series after winning games six and seven in Chicago. After being overmatched by Kyle Hendricks in game 2, nothing in his soft tossing bag of tricks was fooling us this time. We put up four in the first inning, should have been five but I screwed up the baserunning controls on a Todd Frazier bases loaded double. We got a two run blast from Jay Bruce in the 2nd and Matz knocked in d'Arnaud after a triple and we had tagged Hendricks for seven runs in three innings. Now it's on to Yankee Stadium for game one of a subway series.


Anyone else experiencing their pitchers not recovering full energy after their starts. I've had to remove three consecutive starters before 100 pitches, deGrom has had eight days rest and his energy bar still isn't full