MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

[cnelly4]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Groundhog’s Day?
Twins bats hot again in 19-6 win

April 4, 2020
Minneapolis--- Thursday afternoon the Minnesota Twins kicked-off their home season with a convincing 17-5 victory over the Oakland Athletics, after a day off on Friday, both teams were back at it again; and it appeared to be the movie “Groundhog’s Day,” as the Twins scored in every inning and the pitching was decent enough to beat the Athletics 19-6.

The offense was hot again, spanking out 23 hits and six more homeruns. Leading the charge were Max Kepler, Nelson Cruz and Jorge Polance, as they each had four hits in the victory. Mitch Garver had two homeruns, while Kepler, Polanco, Josh Donaldson and Jake Cave each contributed one. Miguel Sano and Marwin Gonzalez were both held hitless in the contest.

Homer Bailey (2-0) was not quite as sharp as his first outing, but did strike out 10 over his five innnings of work. He allowed three runs, but only one of those runs were earned. Devin Smeltzer and Matt Wisler both worked multiple innings to close things out.

The series between these two teams will wrap up Sunday afternoon. Jhoulys Chacin (1-0) will make his second start, and hopes to benefit from the Twins on-fire offense. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 PM.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals split series with Rays in Tampa

The Cardinals (18-18) split their quick two game series with the Rays in Tampa.

Game 1 the Cardinals lost 5-2 as Dylan Bundy for the Rays just dominated the Cardinals hitters. The Cardinals managed only 3 hits, 2 of those were homeruns (McKay and Adell), but that would be the only offense the Cardinals could drum up. Junior Fernandez (2-5) wasn't particularly strong in this outing yielding 5 runs on 10 hits over 5 1/3 innings of work. The bullpen was solid and kept the Cardinals in the game, but unfortunately the bats were silent.

Game 2 (6-2 Cards W) saw ace Kyle Funkhouser (4-1) take the ball and he was solid in his 6 2/3 innings of work giving up 2 runs on two solo homeruns and striking out 7. The bullpen again was dominant as Robby Scott, Nick Burdi, and Roberto Osuna pitched a perfect 2 1/3 innings yielding no hits and no walks.

Offensively the Cardinals saw Paul DeJong hit his 200th career homerun in the 4th that started a Cardinals rally to push them to a 4-1 lead. Jo Adell and Jose Adolis Garcia would each add 2 RBI's and Bader would add the final mark.

The Cardinals are off on Thursday before they return home for a 6 game homestand. They will face the Braves for a 3 game weekend series and then rival Cubs will be here Monday thru Wednesday for a 3 game series.

Remaining May Schedule

3 vs ATL
3 vs CHC
4 @ PHI
3 vs CIN
4 vs ARI
3 @ MIL (game 3 is June 1st)

[Councilmann_Jamm]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Do you mind sharing where you get the attributes you give to each player or do you wing it? I’m thinking about doing it this year.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

If you go to roster section - TrueSim had a spreadsheet of looks 2000 major and minor league ratings
]

[joejoe0783]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Hi everyone! Hope all is staying safe & healthy!! I am finally going to be starting my franchise & was wondering what people do with budgets? Do you play with them off or on? Thanks!

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Hi everyone! Hope all is staying safe & healthy!! I am finally going to be starting my franchise & was wondering what people do with budgets? Do you play with them off or on? Thanks!

I play with them on

[ECUoak]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Hi everyone! Hope all is staying safe & healthy!! I am finally going to be starting my franchise & was wondering what people do with budgets? Do you play with them off or on? Thanks!

I play with them off but I don’t allow myself to go over the luxury tax threshold.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[RJ1992]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Nationals Winning Streak Comes To An End, Lose Back to Back Games Against The Marlins

Rookie Tim Cate pitched much better in his second MLB start but still ended up on the losing end by a score of 1-3 as the bats went cold yet again. Strasburg pitched well in the final game of the series leaving after 7 strong innings with a 4-3 lead. Sean Doolittle who has pitched well up to this point, got his first blown save of the season giving up 3 runs in the 9th in route to a 4-6 loss. The Nationals now turn their attention to a west coast road trip against the Dodgers and Mariners. Good news for the Nationals is that Max Scherzer will make his return in game one of the Mariners series facing off against Kendall Graveman.

[eric7064]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Forgot to update yall on June, so back to back posts. Fun season so far!

July was a great month for the Cubs, it started with the Cubs starting the month 5-4 before heading into the AS break.

All Stars: Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo

In the HR derby Kris Bryant defended his crown and was able to become a back to back champion.
The Cubs then won the next 3 games out of the break, sweeping the division leading Cardinals to pull into a tie in the NL Central. They then lost grips of the division with a 4 game skid against the Nationals in which they also lost Quintana to a torn hamstring, and he was placed on the 60 day DL.

The Cubs then pulled it together winning 6 in a row, and 7 of 8 to close out the month with an overall record of 14-8 and overall sitting at 65-45, still tied with the Cardinals. It sounds like it will be a hard fight for the Cubs the rest of the season. The Cubs knew they had to make a final push for the division and were looking to bolster the team at the deadline.

Cubs pitching has been great this season, but with Quintana going down, and Teheran hovering around a 4ERA the Cubs decided to make a push for a Lamet or Lucchesi on the Padres. The Padres by far have the best farm system in baseball, and have tons of pitching coming up the pipeline, so both were expendable, and the Padres were looking for a middle of the order bat.

The emergence of Cubs Rookie 1B/OF Gary Scruggs (.295AVG, 13HR, 33 RBI) allowed the Cubs to trade CF/2B Ian Happ to SD for Lamet.
Happ and Lamet both have similar salries and the same amount of team control left, and just made sense for both teams now, and moving forward.

The Cubs did not have any other ready to play OF’ers in the minors and signed free agent Kevin Pillar (OF) for the remainder of the season.

Lamet will start the August 1st game vs NYY. 52 games left, division tied. Should be a photo finish!

Other big moves,
LF Pham (SD) to LAA, 1B Encarnacion (DET) to HOU
CLE Acquires Seth Lugo RP and Dellin Betances RP from NYM
Red Sox Acquire RF Michael Conforto from NYM
MIL Acquires SP Lance Lynn from TEX
Tigers Acquire Phillies SS Scott Kingery for SP Michael Fulmer

August was a rough month for the Cubs. Despite new pitcher Dinelson Lamet going 27IP/4ER in his first 5 starts as a Cub, the rest of the team struggled. The Cubs in August went 12-16 and now find themselves 1GB of the NL Central leading Cardinals.

After a surging start to the season where Justin Turner was hitting .340 entering June, Turner is now hitting .290, Bryant is keeping the team afloat, amassing 40 HR and 100 RBI before the calender flipped to September, and is currently leading the NL in HR/RBI and is .10 point behind the AVG leader.

The Cubs rotation continues to prosper as EVERY starter on the Cubs has under a 4.00 ERA entering September, the lineup has struggles outside Bryant and Rizzo. Baez cooled off in August and Nico Hoerner is hitting .228/.285/ on the season with 5hr and 30 RBI.

The Cubs have only 3 games left with the Cardinals in the first series of the month, and that series could be crucial in giving the Cubs a lead heading into the final stretch. The Cubs play only 7 home games this month and find themselves on the road for 16 games. Can the Cubs take the NL central crown? They are 78-61 heading into the last 23 games.

[SashaBanksFan4Ever]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

I turn budgets off cause, well...I can.

[eric7064]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

August was a rough month for the Cubs. Despite new pitcher Dinelson Lamet going 27IP/4ER in his first 5 starts as a Cub, the rest of the team struggled. The Cubs in August went 12-16 and now find themselves 1GB of the NL Central leading Cardinals.

After a surging start to the season where Justin Turner was hitting .340 entering June, Turner is now hitting .290, Bryant is keeping the team afloat, amassing 40 HR and 100 RBI before the calender flipped to September, and is currently leading the NL in HR/RBI and is .10 point behind the AVG leader.

The Cubs rotation continues to prosper as EVERY starter on the Cubs has under a 4.00 ERA entering September, the lineup has struggles outside Bryant and Rizzo. Baez cooled off in August and Nico Hoerner is hitting .228/.285/ on the season with 5hr and 30 RBI.

The Cubs have only 3 games left with the Cardinals in the first series of the month, and that series could be crucial in giving the Cubs a lead heading into the final stretch. The Cubs play only 7 home games this month and find themselves on the road for 16 games. Can the Cubs take the NL central crown? They are 78-61 heading into the last 23 games.

September started off on the right foot for the Cubs as they took 2/3 from the Cardinals, tying the division race up. The Cubs then won 7 out of the next 10 and were able to gain a 2 game lead in the division. They headed into the last 4 game series of the year with a 1GB on the Cardinals.

The Cubs won the first two games of the season ending series vs MIL. Cubs still had a 1 game lead as the Cardinals were also able to win their games. The Cardinals lost their next game, which meant the Cubs magic # was 1 and all the Cubs had to do was win, and they did. They won 5-4 in extra innings and were able to clinch the NL Central division in Milwaukee.

The Cubs will take on the Dodgers in the NLDS, the same team that swept them last year in the NLDS. Will the Cubs seek revenge with a stronger team? Or will they falter yet again against a team that has dominated the NL for years? The Cubs have a truly tough call for the playoff rotation, with every SP having under a 3.70 ERA on the season.

Game 1: Julio Urias (14-11, 3.40ERA) Vs Walker Buehler (14-9, 2.91ERA)
Game 2: Kyle Hendricks (15-11, 3.45ERA) Vs Clayton Kershaw (12-11, 2.91 ERA)
Game 3: Dinelson Limet (8-11, 3.09ERA) Vs Luke Weaver (5-5, 1.72 ERA)
Game 4 (If Necessary): Yu Darvish (18-8, 3.12ERA) Vs Dustin May (11-7, 3.59 ERA)
Game 5 (If Necessary): TBD

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals and Diamondbacks reach deal for Greg Holland

The Cardinals and Diamondbacks have agreed to a deal that will bring Greg Holland to St.Louis.

Cardinals get:

RHP Greg Holland

Diamondbacks get:

RHP John Gant
2B/IF Bryce Denton
RHP John Parrish (20 years old - 1st Rd pick last year)

The 37 year old who is coming off an injury shortened 2024 season, has been lights out for the D'Backs this season converting all 9 saves with an ERA just over 2 and a WHIP just below 1.

The Cardinals are tied for most blown saves in the majors with 10, and their bullpen has been out of whack for most of the season. The Cardinals thought they addressed their bullpen issues this offseason by letting Rosenthal go to Detroit and signing Adam Cimber, while moving Roberto Osuna to the closer role. That unfortunately didn't work out as planned. Rosenthal is having a great year in Detroit, Osuna has blown 5 of 9 save opportunities, and the Cardinals tried Jordan Hicks, but he continues to be inconsistent.

The deal to bring in Holland will move Osuna back to his normal setup role (along with Corey Littrell) and move Hicks back to middle relief with Zack Burdi, Robby Scott, Adam Cimber, and Pedro Baez.

The Diamondbacks were keen on getting both Bryce Denton and John Parrish, but the Cardinals were bullish at first, no wanting to part with either as Denton was just recalled to St.Louis for bench role and Parrish is one of the top pitching prospects/closers in baseball. Parrish is just 20 years old, but appears to be on a fast track to the majors. The Cardinals finally agreed to the deal when they convinced the Diamondbacks to also take John Gant and his contract. Another offseason signing the Cardinals were banking on to shore up the bullpen, but Gant has struggled, to put it nicely, thus far with an ERA over 9 and has been snake bit by the homerun ball giving up 7 in just 11 innings of work.

The Cardinals don't like making pre-June trades, but with the Diamondbacks essentially telling baseball they are rebuilding, and the Cardinals needing to do something to fix its bullpen, Moz and the front office couldn't wait any longer if the Cardinals (21-21) hope to be playing baseball in October.

[cnelly4]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Bats Quiet, Twins Fall to A’s 5-4
Piscotty homers late in win

April 5, 2020
Minneapolis--- Stephen Piscotty got on a 1-1 sinker from Taylor Rogers and drove a go-ahead homerun into the seats in the ninth as the Oakland Athletics salvaged the third game of the series with the Minnesota Twins, winning by a score of 5-4.

Rogers (0-1) has been used sparingly so far this year, and he had trouble locating all of his pitches. Piscotty, who was just activated from the injured list, was 0-for-4 prior to his heroic at-bat.

The Twins offense, which had put up 17 and 19, respectively, in the prior two games were limited to just eight hits in this one. Max Kepler, Eddie Rodario and Luis Arraez contributed 75% of those hits as they each had two apiece. Rosario hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the eight, tying the game at 4-4.

Jhoulys Chacin’s start was not quite as successful as his first. He went five and two-third innings, allowing seven hits and four runs. He walked three and struck out four. Tyler Clippard, Sergio Romo and Trevor May all recorded scoreless outings prior to Rogers.

The Twins will remain at home and welcome in their first Central division foe, as the Cleveland Indians come to town on Monday afternoon. Jose Berrios (0-1) will make his third start of the year. Byron Buxton is expected to be activated from the IL before the start of this one.

[MightyMaxxx13]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

MLB 20 Yankees Franchise

Already kicked up my franchise for the year but I miss posting here so I’m back. I usually attempt a rebuild before jumping into my annual Yankees franchise but this year I’m getting straight to the point. We were favorites to win the chip in 2019 and fell short. I want to win the World Series in 2020.

I’m controlling all 30 teams with realistic injuries to start the season. It took quite a bit of time to set up but it helps keep me immersed. I won’t play an active role in the other 29 teams, just want to be able to put the kibosh on ridiculous CPU transactions. I’ll be without Judge until at least mid-May, no Hicks or Paxton until summer, and no Severino at all until 2021. I’ll also be without Domingo German (suspension) for the first 63 games. I’m going to attempt playing every pitch. We’ll see how it goes.

Quick roster outlook:
Rotation: We have a new ace of course, Gerrit Cole. He let up a bomb in the first pitch I threw with him in spring training, but I think he’ll be OK. Tanaka and Happ are locks to follow him in the rotation, then Jordan Montgomery who isn’t a lock but has a leg up on those behind him. Jonathan Loaisiga and Michael King are in competition for the final rotation spot, with top prospect Deivi Garcia in the mix as a long-shot who will get a couple starts this spring.

The bullpen is mostly cut-and-dry : Chapman, Kahnle, Ottavino, Britton, and Green are my shoe-ins and there are a few spots up for grabs. Jonathan Holder should get one though he had a bad year in 2019 and will have to show some bounce back potential. Tyler Lyons and Luis Cessa are both in the mix and both out of options - it may be difficult to keep both. Youngster Brooks Kriske has an outside shot after being added to the 40-man roster during the offseason.

My early guess for starting position players is as follows:

C Gary Sanchez
1B Luke Voit
2B LeMahieu
SS Gleyber Torres
3B Gio Urshela
LF Mike Tauchman
CF Brett Gardner
RF Giancarlo Stanton
DH Miguel Andujar

I added catcher Chris Iannetta to the 40-man so he can battle with Kyle Higashioka for backup catcher duties. We lost Romine to free agency in the offseason.

Not sure if Tauchman will be my full-time starting left fielder, but with Hicks out he will definitely make the roster at least as a backup to Gardner in center. Clint Frazier could steal the starting LF spot from him, but he also has one option year left if he needs to go back to Scranton. I’m rolling with Stanton in right until Judge returns then he’ll go back to LF or DH.

Andujar is penciled in at DH but is making starts at both 3B and 1B so I can determine his defensive value coming off the injury. So far so good. Gio is penciled at 3rd but has to prove his amazing 2019 was no fluke.

Tyler Wade and Thairo Estrada are in the mix for backup infielder duties. Wade has an option remaining which is good news if he doesn’t perform, but as a lefty bat with speed and the ability to play multiple positions, he’s the frontrunner. I have a good lefty power bat in Mike Ford but unless Voit or Andujar gets injured its tough to find a spot for him. I also added Rosell Herrera to the 40-man - he’s a switch hitter who plays every position but catcher. So he could win that last roster spot if need be.

I’m playing all of Spring Training, mostly so I can get my difficulty and sliders worked out. I started on Hall of Fame with default sliders - after 6 games I’m 5-1, with a .295 avg and 2.55 ERA. I’ll play a few more games before I decide, but I’m thinking I need a bump to legend before I attempt messing with the sliders. I’ll need to compare my team stats to the rest of the league to make sure I’m in a realistic range. Any pointers in this area are appreciated.

[Rocket32]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Now nearing the halfway point in April the Yankees record sits at 11-5, 0.5 games ahead of the second place Red Sox. In our latest stretch of games we took 3 of 4 from Baltimore and 2 of 3 from the A’s.

For the lineup, LeMahieu and Gleyber have continued to mash. LeMahieu owns the most hits and doubles in all of MLB with a line of 423/453/690. Torres is currently in the very early MVP conversation with a line of 368/493/912 with 9 HR’s. Meanwhile Voit and Urshela have both looked mostly lost at the plate with Voit hitting just 187 and Urshela hitting 175.

On the mound, none of our starters have truly established themselves this year. Happ and Montgomery have been pretty shaky with Cole, Paxton, and Tanaka who who removed early in his latest start with a day to day injury, just being inconsistent. The bullpen has been great as expected with just one blown save by Chapman.

Changes that could be made? The Yanks could give someone else a look in the rotation over Happ or Montgomery. Loaisiga was called up to be a fresh arm in the bullpen for a few days giving up 3 hits and walk in the 1.1 inning he pitched though he did clutch up and only allow 1 run. Other options until German returns? Prospects Clarke Schmidt and.....Deivi Garcia.

Next up: 3 @ Texas to finish our 6 game West road trip followed by a day off as we return home for a 3 game set with the Reds. Texas started out hot before getting a bucket of cold water or, a can full of trash dumped on it by the rival Astros via a 3 game sweep at Globe Life and they now only trail the Rangers who sit at 9-6 for 1st by 1 game.


News: Back On 4/2, Yankees Option Tyler Lyons to AAA Recall Luis Avilan

White Sox Yoan Moncada Fractures Shin, Out 1-2 Months

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals sweep Phillies..have won 6 straight

The Cardinals (25-21) swept the Phillies in a 4 game series in Philadelphia and have now won 6 straight.

The offense started clicking in the final 2 games against the Cubs and it carried over into Philadelphia as the Cardinals were hitting, getting key hits, and driving in runs. Pitching was strong too this series as the addition of Greg Holland seemed to put a spark in the bullpen as guys adjusted to roles they were familiar with. Holland saved just one game in the series, but he pitched in the extra innings affair in game 3 that kept the score tied so the Cardinals could win it in the 12th.

The Cardinals now head home for a 3 game series against the Reds.