MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

My team.

There's not a ton across the league, though.

I think the most ML level DL injuries is 3 on a squad and total is like 5 across the organization.

Which is ridiculously low, imo.

One thing to keep in mind is that the rosters are only 90 players in size so they can’t have too many guys on the DL or teams will be playing with short rosters. I mean I guess you could safely have 15 players on DL but that extends rosters to the brink.

I’ve had as many as 8 guys on dL at once and it causes headaches with roster management


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[Jr.]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

My team.

There's not a ton across the league, though.

I think the most ML level DL injuries is 3 on a squad and total is like 5 across the organization.

Which is ridiculously low, imo.

I have a set of sliders for simming with injuries at 7 and there are plenty. The max the game will give you is 10 players to put on the DL and I'm usually at 8-10 for the season. CPU teams range but most have at least 5 on the DL for the organization.

[FluffyTonka]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Started the Reds Franchise. Played 2-3 innings of about a 6-7 Spring training games, while making trades and tinkering with lineups and rotations and getting used to the new animations.

Opening day roster is:

Hamilton - CF
Berroa - RF created player
Votto - 1B
Eugenio - 3B
Scooter - 2B
Schebler - LF
Barnhart - C
Peraza - SS
Kuechel - P

Kuechel - 3 P prospects from Astros
DeScaf
Castillo
Wright - Minor league prospect P from Red Sox
Stephenson/ Bailey

I also traded away a blue chip P prospect & and another solid OF prospect for 1B Greg Bird from the Yankees. So at some stage I'll move away from Votto and move him for a future Ace or a lights out reliever.

Opening Game Vs Nationals

Reds 4 def Washington 3.

Bottom of the 7th, two out; I was down 3-1 and Scherzer was dominating. Votto drew an 10 ball walk which took Scherzer's pitch count to 100. Scooter then was hit by a pitch and unbelievably the Nats left Scherzer out there.

First pitch Scherzer threw one right down the pipe and Schebler crushed his second HR of the game and put me up 4-3. Kuechel pitched a CG for the win in his Reds debut.

Key Players
Schebler
2-3 2R 2HR 4RBI BB
Votto
1-1 3BB R
Kuechel
9IP 4H 3R 1ER 8SO

[bravesfan1984]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Do any of you do anything with sponsors or just leave them blank for all teams?

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Braves have made yet another trade for pitching, this time sending Ozzie Albies to the Twins for Jose Berrios. While I'm not entirely sure what the Braves are doing, the Twins have improved their lineup as they will now move Nick Gordon from SS to 3B and have Albies play SS. Royce Lewis is still in AAA and I expect they will keep him there for the year barring injury.

Jose Berrios has talent/potential but his stats aren't that impressive. I'm guessing the Braves are hoping he will turn it around in Atlanta as they continue to rebuild their pitching staff. Pretty clear their plan of action is to make that pitching staff as deep as possible and they are doing very well in that regard.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

And the Cardinals have made their first trade of the season as injuries continue to plagued them. With Bader and Piscotty most likely gone until the All-Star break, the Cardinals made a deal with the Padres to bring back Tommy Pham (who was in AAA and not on 40 man roster) to St Louis in exchange for SS prospect Andres Rosario whom the Cardinals just drafted. Rosario is 18 years old, rated 59 (great fielder - waiting on bat to catch up) and an A potential. The Padres are overloaded in the outfield and could use depth in the IF so this is a win - win for both clubs.

Tommy Pham will be the everyday right fielder with Piscotty gone as Mercado and Fabregas will be better served at the 4th and 5th outfielder respectively.

Jeremy Hazelbaker has been placed on optional assignment waivers. Part of me hopes he gets claimed.

[boxboy99]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cubs drop one vs the Nats today 6-4.

Bad management on my part, I tried to get Arrieta through the 6th and he gave up a solo shot to Troy Robles to give the Nats a 3-2 lead. Then in the 8th I try to get another inning from my reliever and he gives up a 3 run homer with 2 outs to Ryan Zimmerman to put the Nats up 6-2.

Down 4 in the 9th, we get the tying run to the plate but were only able to drive in 2 runs to trim the game to 6-4.

Rendon and Baez hit longballs today.

Meanwhile, in Detroit, the the Tigers and Cards played a back and forth game. The Cardinals led most of the way but the Tigers were able to take and hold the lead after scoring in the bottom of the 8th.

It is still a dead heat between the Cubs and Cards in the NL Central at 86-57. The Cubs will host the hated Brewers for 3 games in the friendly confines, while the Cardinals will host the Pirates for 3 at home. The Pirates at surprisingly at 73-70 and only 2 games out of a wild card spot.

[KBLover]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

One thing to keep in mind is that the rosters are only 90 players in size so they can’t have too many guys on the DL or teams will be playing with short rosters. I mean I guess you could safely have 15 players on DL but that extends rosters to the brink.

That's what I want, some challenge to roster management, having to use guys who might not be ready for a while or searching the FA market or having plans to call a kid up delayed for months either from him getting hurt or having to call someone else instead.

Plus, there would be more reason to keep around 15 guys who just sit on their hands (i.e. the "A-ball" roster) and make money for doing literally nothing.

Right now, I'm going to have to go back to my injury house rule again or just deal with having a Cal Ripken league basically.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

That's what I want, some challenge to roster management, having to use guys who might not be ready for a while or searching the FA market or having plans to call a kid up delayed for months either from him getting hurt or having to call someone else instead.

Plus, there would be more reason to keep around 15 guys who just sit on their hands (i.e. the "A-ball" roster) and make money for doing literally nothing.

Right now, I'm going to have to go back to my injury house rule again or just deal with having a Cal Ripken league basically.

I already have that......as I'm having to patch together my roster due to all the injuries. We've had Matt Carpenter, Patrick Wisdom, Jack Flaherty, Stephen Piscotty (currently), Juan Fabregas, Harrison Bader (currently) and Miles Mikolas (currently) all be on the DL and I just played the Mother's Day game. And this is just my major league team.

I currently have 8 players on the DL across the organization and that is causing some crazy roster management decisions.

Have you tried upping the injury slider?

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

How was Tommy Pham's first game since returning to the Cardinals via trade? He hit the game winning 2 run homerun in the top of the 11th, to avoid the sweep against the Pirates. Matt Carpenter finally got a hit after being 0 for his previous 15 when he hit a solo HR in the Top of the 1st.

Once again we sustained an injury as Miles Mikolas has been placed on the 10 Day DL after being hit in the ribs by a line drive comebacker in the 2nd. Luke Weaver will be called back up to take his spot in the rotation.

Next up is a day off then its a quick 2 game series with the Indians in Cleveland.

Other news:

Alex Reyes has been demoted to AA as he struggled at Memphis to the tune of 8+ ERA. His first start at Springfield...he went 5 innings allowing 5 runs on 8 hits. Another rough outing. I really hope he can turn this around, but if he doesn't, I don't know what we'll do. I guess place him in Single A.

Devon Snow is having a hard time adjusting to pro baseball as he is only hitting .179 with 3 HR and 8 RBI in his first 25 games at the AA level. I think I may move him down to Single A Palm Beach like I normally do with draft picks and let him develop some.

It has been decided that if he does indeed clear Optional Assignment Waivers, that Jeremy Hazelbaker will be DFA'd by the organization. What we will do after that I don't know, but he is not going to be part of the organization any more. We will either trade (poor market) or just grant him his outright release.

In another bring back a former player decision, the Cardinals will be signing Marwin Gonzalez who I just noticed today was in the FA Market. Gonzalez will take the place of Greg Garcia who will be optioned, providing he clears waivers, to Memphis. Garcia isn't hitting well at the big league level (1 for 22) and on top of that he has committed 6 errors in his limited innings on the field. Garcia will be sent down to see if he can work things out. If not, Garcia may find himself searching for a new home.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Do any of you do anything with sponsors or just leave them blank for all teams?

Sorry I just saw this question.

Personally I leave them blank for myself as I only do single team control and I don't think the CPU controlled teams utilize the funds they can get from sponsors. If it turns out they do, then i will gladly add them as I think they add an element to the presentation.

If I were doing 30 team control, I would absolutely use sponsors for each team.

[kinsmen7]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

The 2019 calendar flipped from April to May with my Jays leading the AL East by a very impressive 6.5 games over the Yankees.

At 25-6, I've been very worried that my difficulty level is too low (Playing Veteran w/directional hitting), but 21 of those games have been won by 2 runs or less, which makes me extremely wary of upping the difficulty level too much.

Bryce Harper, who signed a 13 year/$403 million contract with the Jays, is crushing pitchers on the road to a tune of .383/.420/.758, but at home is only hitting .158/.305/.393. He's got 16 HR's through the first month of the season, and is carrying the offense from the lead off spot.

Vlad Jr. is hitting 2nd, and has struggled out of the gate, hitting only .238. He has 8 HR's, and has played respectable D at 3rd, but if he can't get his average and OBP up, I'll have to shift him down in the lineup.

Tulo is back after missing all of 2018. He's been excellent defensively, but his .208/.288/.310 has left a lot to be desired. His future replacement, Bo Bichette, struggled in his first couple of weeks with the Bisons, but has bumped his average up to .270 over the past bit, and could see a call up within the next month or so.

Stroman is putting up Cy Young caliber numbers as our ace, and Aaron Sanchez seems to be bouncing back after a difficult 2018. Ryan Borucki has had some respectable starts for a rookie, and looks to be a long term piece for this squad.

After returning to the Jays on a one year deal in the offseason, JA Happ was injured in his second start, and won't be back until late May/early June. This has meant that Sam Gaviglio and David Paulino have each picked up a couple of starts, though neither of them has taken the job and run with it. Thomas Pannone, Henderson Alvarez, and Sean Reid-Foley have all put up excellent numbers in AAA, and may soon get the call to fill out the rotation.

[RogerDodger]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

I think I moved the difficulty up a bit too quick, my Dodgers are now 23-31 and in last place in the division. I was a bit hasty after Kershaw flirted with a bunch of no hitters early on and decided I needed to make things a bit tougher. Oops. I’m not far behind the record that the real Dodgers were at a similar stage, 25-30 iirc.

[TheWarmWind]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Blue Jays shift in mentality and strategy earns them a win

Many were disappointing that the Dodgers were eliminated by Washington, preventing the slugfest of champions, but the series between Washington and Toronto has shaped up to be interesting so far.

Toronto came into game 4 up in the series 2-1, but had struggled mightily to get those wins and were absolutely crushed in game 3 when the series shifted to Washington.

"We had the wrong plan last night." Said manager Shane Ashby. "We were so concerned about generating offense to counter the frustrating pitching we've been facing, but you saw what happened. Balls were getting by guys... Jeremy [Funk] in particular. He was tested at the hot corner a lot with all those right handers facing Adam [McMullen], and well... he just wasn't comfortable with it from the start. You could tell right from the first inning."

That meant tonight the Jays put back in Xander Boegarts, whose bat has been kept silent throughout the post-season.

"That plan was to stay disciplined and stifle their offense better then they were doing to ours. We knew we could do it, and as long as we did it better, we'd get the win."

Jose Lozano pitched a fantastic game, allowing no runs and 4 hits in 7.1 innings. He struck out 6 batters.

"I was just following the coaches plans." Said Lozano of his performance, speaking through a translator. "Trust in my pitches, trust in d'Arnaud's callouts, and trust in the guys playing behind me."

"I'm glad it worked out." He added later with an obvious smile on his face.

Kelvin Herrera and Trevor Rosenthal closed out the shutout, and the Jays won 6-0, taking a commanding 3-1 series lead into the final game in Washington.

[KBLover]

Re: MLB The Show 18 Franchise Discussion Thread

Have you tried upping the injury slider?

I had it at 10 and that got the CPU teams into injury situations and my minors teams.

But nothing much at the major league level for my team. So while the prospects may or may not get injured, it almost didn't matter unless it hit a guy about to come up or I got a dreaded 6+ month injury (one year I did lose Heaney in 2015, back when he was a top prospect, to that) because my majors never lacked for healthy bodies.

Ultimately, I was playing against partial strength teams because they'd get beat up in simming and then come across my team (I play every game) at a full strength 25-man squad.

But I guess this is why OOTP exists and I own both that game and The Show...