MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

[DJ]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

I'm back! Man, that was a LONG trip (13 days). I'll be hitting the road again next week (5 days), so diving back into my Mets franchise for a bit.

Managed to win the first game I played, and my timing was better than I anticipated. 17-8 in 2019 so far.

[Sumodeads]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Things are going from bad to worse for the Yankees in the first month of the 2019 season. After losing 2 out of 3 to the Mets we have now been swept by the Seattle Mariners in 3 games in Machado's return to Yankee Stadium. Last time he was on that field he was celebrating a championship and G7 WS victory with Yankee teammates, now he returned in a Mariners uniform. Satisfying result for him after New York went chasing after Harper instead, letting him walk. Sitting in last place 4 games out of first. Record is 7-11.



3 of our last 4 games have been lost in extra innings. Lost the first 2 to Seattle by the same score, 5-6. Lost the finale 10-5.



Not even sure what to do. It might seem like I changed the settings to make it more difficult after last season, but nope. Still the same. That makes it stranger.



Luckily there is a prime opportunity to right the ship now. A day off after the brutal stretch vs the Mets and Mariners as the lowly 5-12 Royals come to town to end the home stand in NY. After that we have another day off to rest up again as we head out on a road trip to Toronto.



If things go how they should we should be headed to Toronto on a high note having dominantly swept the Royals out of the Bronx. A day off before and after the series gives us the luxury of pretty much being able to go all out to win without really worrying about resting guys.



If things go south and we end up getting killed by the Royals somehow change will likely be coming. Of course it's still too early to hit the panic button and there isn't room to do much anyway. Maybe a new look lineup? Calling a player or two up? Who would go down? Of course the goal is for that not to be answered.

I mean this is why this game is awesome IMO. You have the reigning WS Champs with a stacked lineup and you’re off to a slow start in April. Teams and players get hot and cold just like real life and just when you think you need to change the difficulty, BOOM, You get a momentum shift. I’m sure you’ll get things rolling soon and reel off 15 out of 20 and right the ship. You have a lot of depth in your lineup so you can always move guys around to try and switch it up.


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[Sumodeads]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

2018 Oakland A’s Fantasy Franchise

I would like to share my latest project with my fellow franchise fanatics. I am currently in late June with my Yankees and still going strong, but I’ve been keeping things fresh this year with multiple franchises and this is my newest one.

SP: Ohtani, Salazar, Morton, Duffy, Kopech
RP: Harvey, McGee, Britton, Nate Jones, Baez, Hader, Jordan Hicks(CP)

Lineup: Pham(LF), Harper(RF), Bellinger(1B), Krush Davis(DH), Shaw(3B), Chirinos(C), Joc Pederson(CF), Ahmed(SS), Yolmer Sanchez(2B)

When I use Ohtani at DH I will put Davis in left and give someone a day off(typically it’s going to be Joc and I’ll move Pham to CF).

Bench: Kike Hernandez, Y. Guriel, C. Calhoun, C. Vazquez

I really love this team I put together. After taking Bellinger with my 1st pick, I somehow stole Harper as a late 2nd round pick 🤷*♂️. I couldn’t pass him up as he’s prob my favorite hitter to use the last few years and I had him on my Mariners Fantasy team this year already. Then I was able to snag Ohtani with my early 3rd round pick to be my Ace/DH/PH. I’ll try and get him ABs without burning him out too much during the year, hopefully ~3 games at DH per week plus maybe a PH or two. Danny Salazar has been one of my favorite pitchers to use the last few years and he had a great year for me on my other team so I grabbed him again. Morton is a solid veteran and a great #3 starter. My bullpen is a mix of young and veteran arms with what I think is great depth.

Krush Davis gets no love in a fantasy draft. Absolute BOMBER at the plate, but his defense is poor and you can steal him late. I think I took him ~ 11th round or so to be my real life A’s representative and my monster RH bat in the middle of the lineup. First home stand update next!


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[Sumodeads]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

2018 Oakland A’s Fantasy Franchise

First Homestand in the books and it couldn’t have gone any better. Two 4 game series vs divisional opponents and two 4 game SWEEPS of divisional opponents!! 8-0 to start the year, the only undefeated team left in MLB. Our pitching has been nothing short of PHENOMENAL to start the year. I actually had to check to make sure I still had it on Legend with CPU Solid hits and Power bumped up and I did. I’m sure it’ll slow down soon. The offense got off to a kind of slow/average start until game 8. Here were the final scores of the first two series to see how close some of these games were:

Vs Angels: 3-2(Walkoff/Harper 1B), 4-3, 4-0, 4-1

Vs Rangers: 4-3, 7-2, 3-1, 18-1!!

We had a walkoff win in game 1 and then our bullpen had a save in 5 of the next 6 games(Hicks 1-0, 4/4 saves). Then in the final game of the Homestand I had prob my most dominating Show win ever as our offense woke up and exploded for 18 runs on 19 hits. Morton was 1 out away from a CG SHO, but a Bellinger error allowed a base runner who then scored on a 2 out 2B for the only run allowed by Morton in his first 2 starts(Unearned).

Our powerful offense leads MLB with 47 runs, 18 2B and 16 HR. The last game padded a lot of those numbers. Our pitching has been unbelievable though. Team ERA of 1.50. 8/8 Quality starts and the bullpen has allowed 0 runs so far over 12 2/3 IP.

The middle of the Lineup has killed it so far. Harper, Bellinger and Davis have combined for 10 2B, 8 HR, 27 RBI and 17 runs scored. Harper is 4th in the league batting .433 so far.

Our team power, defense, pitching and overall depth makes us a strong contender to go all the way this year. It will be fun to see how this year plays out. Looking at the rosters in the rest of my division, I’d say they’re all average at best. A few good pieces here and there, but nothing that scares me in anyone’s lineups/Rotations.

I think two of our biggest key players this year could be Josh Hader who will be used in a lot of high leverage spots, including save situations depending on Hicks usage/success. The 2nd player will be super utility player Kike Hernandez. He will get a ton of playing time. He can give so many different guys days off and play top level defense all over the field as well as provide a good bat with pop that I can put anywhere in the lineup. I’ll try and get him in as often as possible vs Lefties especially and depending on how the year goes he could potentially take someone’s starting spot. What an absolute steal in the later rounds of the draft.

Also I would like to announce that Ohtani has hit his first career Major League HR and it was a liner off the foul pole in his 2nd game at the plate and it was his first career hit as well.


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[Gagnon39]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

[reyes the roof]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Four games in to the World Series and we're tied at two games a piece. Game three we beat up on Jordan Montgomery for a stress free 6-1 win. Guys that throw heavy amounts of curveballs are a really good matchup for me and we were able to knock him out after four innings.


Game four we got dominated by Charlie Morton. He had a no hitter through 4.2 but we strung together a HR followed by three singles to take a 2-0 lead. Matz was cruising all game but had a meltdown in the 7th and the Yankees tied it. I got a leadoff double from Rosario in the 10th and then Wright hit a ball in the gap that should have ended it but it went over the wall for a ground rule double. 2nd and 3rd and no outs so I'm feeling good. A Cespedes strikeout, Conforto intentional walk and Frazier double play later and I'm not feeling so good anymore. On to the bottom of the 16th I get a leadoff double from Nimmo followed by a Flores walk. I bunt them over with d'Arnaud and pinch hit with Jeff McNeil. He gets a single but I was unsure if it would drop or be caught, when it dropped my runner just stayed on third. Still, bases loaded with one out and the speedy Amed Rosario at the plate who is tough to double up and you guessed, he hits in to a double play. Yankees finally plate a run in the 17th and win 3-2


It should be round two of deGrom vs Severino but neither one recovered properly from their first start. Yankees are starting their 5th starter and I have Wheeler going on 3 days rest because he has more energy than deGrom even though deGrom pitched the day before him. After 17 innings and no off day it's a war of attrition at this point, they wore out their entire bullpen while I made a point to make sure my key guys would be available today

[Councilmann_Jamm]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

I gotta say I didn't expect it to happen like this but by going to Quick Counts I've enjoyed playing the game a lot more and I've gotten more patient at the plate.

Playing as my hometown Orioles I decided to do the rebuild my way. Only real life trade I did was Machado to Dodgers. I didn't want to sim the first year so I decided I'd play QC games and it's a blast. I'm walking the CPU more, getting better patience at the plate. I was planning on going back to Every pitch every game but I don't know now.

I'm 16-31 but having a blast.

[boxboy99]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Finished by 2018 season finally after a week and a half vacation.

Cubs beat the Rockies 3-2 in the NLDS.
Dodgers sweep the Cubs in the NLCS.

Tough to be swept after winning 100 games. We played like garbage, random unforced errors, didn't hit well, Matt Moore walking 4 people in the first inning of game 3 (seriously couldn't hit the broad side of a barn).

Actually, glad it is over. Playing 162 is a total grind and the 3rd year in a row I'm thinking I can't do it again next year. I did run through the offseason and have a save at the start of Spring Training. My sliders are pretty on-point, if 19 isn't a major upgrade I may just keep playing 18 next year. Really need to decide how to run it if I don't play all 162.

Also, I thought someone mentioned before that you could redo contracts in the offseason. I couldn't find that option. I would love to pay my guys whom are unhappy with their contract a fair value. I have a guy that was top 3 for Cy Young and he is only going to make 600k a year for the next 4 years. If there is a way I missed, I have a save point after the World Series so I can redo the offseason. (Not totally sure I'm going to stick with the first off-season run I completed).

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Finished by 2018 season finally after a week and a half vacation.

Cubs beat the Rockies 3-2 in the NLDS.
Dodgers sweep the Cubs in the NLCS.

Tough to be swept after winning 100 games. We played like garbage, random unforced errors, didn't hit well, Matt Moore walking 4 people in the first inning of game 3 (seriously couldn't hit the broad side of a barn).

Actually, glad it is over. Playing 162 is a total grind and the 3rd year in a row I'm thinking I can't do it again next year. I did run through the offseason and have a save at the start of Spring Training. My sliders are pretty on-point, if 19 isn't a major upgrade I may just keep playing 18 next year. Really need to decide how to run it if I don't play all 162.

Also, I thought someone mentioned before that you could redo contracts in the offseason. I couldn't find that option. I would love to pay my guys whom are unhappy with their contract a fair value. I have a guy that was top 3 for Cy Young and he is only going to make 600k a year for the next 4 years. If there is a way I missed, I have a save point after the World Series so I can redo the offseason. (Not totally sure I'm going to stick with the first off-season run I completed).

You can't re-negotiate contracts with a player currently under contract. The only thing you could do is release him and then try to re-sign him, and hope that you don't lose him to waivers or him signing with another team as a free agent.

[boxboy99]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

You can't re-negotiate contracts with a player currently under contract. The only thing you could do is release him and then try to re-sign him, and hope that you don't lose him to waivers or him signing with another team as a free agent.

Assumed that was the case. Gross...... perhaps I’ll risk it.


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[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Assumed that was the case. Gross...... perhaps I’ll risk it.


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You could always create a save point right before releasing him, that way you have a safety net in case it doesn't work out. Honestly that is what I would do, as you're not trying to "cheat" anyone, just pay your guy more money.

[boxboy99]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

You could always create a save point right before releasing him, that way you have a safety net in case it doesn't work out. Honestly that is what I would do, as you're not trying to "cheat" anyone, just pay your guy more money.

Yeah, that was my exact thought.

Certainly will increase the difficulty too.


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[boxboy99]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Actually, it doesn’t really work well Country boy. Good players will get scooped up and if they clear waivers I’m on the hook for the old cash. Hilariously my 88 overall Chris Tillman is very happy about his 600k a year. A few other guys making several million are furious and think they should make a couple million more. I’m just going to have to live with it.


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[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Actually, it doesn’t really work well Country boy. Good players will get scooped up and if they clear waivers I’m on the hook for the old cash. Hilariously my 88 overall Chris Tillman is very happy about his 600k a year. A few other guys making several million are furious and think they should make a couple million more. I’m just going to have to live with it.


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It was worth a shot.


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[reyes the roof]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

We're heading back to the Bronx with a 3-2 lead after a 5-2 win in game five. I had Zack Wheeler going vs Trevor Stephan, Wheeler was great for six then allowed two runners in the 7th and my bullpen couldn't strand them. We got the first two outs but Neil Walker came though with a two out double. Stephan cruised through five innings then we got a rally going in the 6th with a Rosario single, Wright single, Cespedes ground rule double, Conforto intentional walk, Frazier two run single, and a Nimmo sac fly. An inning later Cespedes added an insurance run with a solo HR, he needed this big game, he was 1 for 19 in the World Series coming in to the game. That was the first run the Yankee bullpen gave up in 23 innings. Due to a total lack of faith in my bullpen I had to use Familia for a five out save.


I've got deGrom and Syndergaard going game 6 and 7 so I'm feeling pretty good about my chances. I've just got to shake my head at the Yankees trading an 11-0 at the time Masahiro Tanaka for Eric Hosmer, as their rotation is very thin and I'm terrible against guys that throw splitters. One annoying thing, the pitchers not recovering energy at a normal rate really needs to get fixed as it caused the Yankees to use a 5th starter with a 66 overall rating where they would normally have their ace. Severino pitched game one and had six days rest and still hasn't recovered all of his energy so they're going to push him back another day. I'll definitely take the World Series win but this will cheapen it a little if I go on to win