MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

[eric7064]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

2022 Season Cubs

The defending champion Cubs were looking to enter 2022 season on a good note. Lots of expectations still and with the loss of Kris Bryant many were worried they would take a step back despite other signings. The Cubs proved the criticism true so far in the early part of the season.

March/April was a tough 33 game start for the Cubs as they limped to a 15-18 record heading into May. Injury to 4th OF’er Derek Tate at the end of spring training led to the call up of 2020 2nd Rd pick Henry Browning, and 5 games into the season Browning broke his ankle, which then made the Cubs call up another top prospect In OF’er Brennen Davis.
Kris Bryant no longer being in the middle of the lineup may have affected multiple Cub hitters as the offense was stagnant in the first part of the season. Only Rookie 2B Alan Quick was hitting over .300 after the first month, with many averages below .250.

The rotation returned the exact same 5 as the year before. 2021 was a excellent season for this crew as they all had under a 3.60ERA over the entire season, the beginning of 2022 was different. After April only Hendricks and Urias have under 4.00ERA’s while Julio Teheran has been awful with a 0-4 record and a 8ERA.

Only the bullpen has been a bright spot for the Cubs in the first month. The entire team looks to pick it up in the coming month. 15-18 start is not what the defending champs envisioned.

May was a better month for the defending champs. It wasn’t as great as it could have been as it ended in a 4 game losing streak, but overall the Cubs went 16-13, so the end of May resulted in an overall 31-31 record.

Rookie 2B Alan Quick continues to be the steady bat at the bottom of the lineup with a .325AVG, 1HR, 23RBI line. His play may see him get more AB’s at the top with Justin Turner struggling hitting only .256 in the #2 spot.
Power has been an issue for the Cubs as only Kyle Schwarber (11) has double digit home runs on the season, and the Cubs rank 21st in MLB in that statistic. Adam Eaton as the new leadoff hitter has been terrific hitting .332, 9HR, 28RBI’s from the leadoff spot.

Again, the Rotation still has struggles as only Urias is having a good season. Bullpen continues to carry the weight pitching, and the Cubs will look to these last 100 games and realize they may need to win 60% of them as the Reds find themselves 6 games up on the Cubs with a 37-25 record heading into June.

Cubs 31-31. The draft was the first day of June, and the Cubs feel like they grabbed a stud at pick #25

2022 Draft
1. 19 YR OLD SP Jose Serrano (74OVR/A POT)
2. 20 YR OLD SP Dave Curry (65OVR/ C POT)
3. 22 YR OLD 2B Robert Robles (70OVR/C POT)
4. 20 YR OLD RP Howard Sirota (67OVR/ B POT)
5. 20 YR OLD SP Scott Juarez (61OVR/ B POT)

[cnelly4]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Bailey, Twins Take Game Three
Bailey gets help with three double plays

April 15, 2020
Toronto--- Homer Bailey impresses again, and the Twins get homeruns from Nelson Cruz and Mitch Garver, as they were able to take game three from the Blue Jays in Toronto on Wednesday night 6-2.

Bailey (4-0) is off to one of the best starts in his career. He went six and two-thirds innings, allowing six hits and two runs, while recording six strikeouts. Through 27 and two-thirds innings this year (over four starts), Bailey has 27 strikeouts and a 1.63 ERA.

“This is a damn good ballclub,” said Bailey after the game. “I know that if I can keep my team in the game, this offense will come through and we will win games. That is what they brought me here to do.”

Offensively, the Twins did their damage in the first and eighth innings. Cruz hit a two-out, two-run homerun in the first to get the offense going off Jays starter Chase Anderson (1-1). They added one more in the third, but the Jays worked their way back with a run in the fourth and seventh to make it a 3-2 game.

After back-to-back walks from Jays reliever Nate Pearson to open the eighth, Mitch Garver sat first pitch fastball and didn’t miss it, sending it in the home bullpen to break the game open to 6-2.

“He was out their for his second inning and walked Nelly and Rosie on nine pitches,” commented Garver. “He has a big fastball, so I was guessing he was going there, and he did and I put a good swing on it.”

The Twins also got three hits from Max Kepler and two hits from Miguel Sano, who appears to be slowing getting out of his early-season slump.

The Twins have an off-day tomorrow as they travel back to Minnesota. They will then open up a 10-game homestand on Friday night, taking on division rival Detroit Tigers. Jhoulys Chacin (2-0, 3.00) gets the ball for Minnnesota and Detroit is scheduled to send out Jordan Zimmerman (1-0, 1.80). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM.

[JoshC1977]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Bailey, Twins Take Game Three

Bailey (4-0) is off to one of the best starts in his career. He went six and two-thirds innings, allowing six hits and two runs, while recording six strikeouts. Through 27 and two-thirds innings this year (over four starts), Bailey has 27 strikeouts and a 1.63 ERA.

Homer Bailey tantalizing like this for a short stretch is such a meme for his career. I've always rooted for him, he just could never seem to catch a break (unless it was a broken body part).

I'll be interested in hearing how long this lasts...would love to hear a story about him pulling it all together for a full season.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals take series against Mets

The Cardinals (50-30) have taken the series against the Mets by winning 3 of the 4 games in New York. After losing the series opener the Cardinals won the final 3 of the series and now lead the National League Central Division by 6 1/2 games over the Brewers.

The Cardinals will now travel to Pittsburgh to face the Pirates to close out the month of June and move into July.

[canes21]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

As the end of August quickly approaches the Braves have got hot at a perfect time. After starting off just 5-6 in the first 11 games of the month, the Braves have now strung together 7 straight wins to push their record to 80-48. Despite their 7 straight wins, the Nats continue to remain right behind them in the NL East race. Here are the current standings for the division.

Atlanta..........80-48
Washington....78-51
Miami.............62-66
New York........61-66
Philly..............48-79

The Marlins have definitely cooled off the second half of the season and have finally fallen under .500 for the first time all year. The Mets and Phillies have both been consistent in their performances all year for the most part. The Phillies had a good first 2 or 3 weeks of the season, but since then they've been one of the worst teams in baseball.

So far the Michael Brantley trade has been a good one for the Braves. He's been on a tear since coming over to the NL and actually has his line up to .349/.407/.535. He has 20 HRs with 55 RBIs. He's been a big time boost in the lineup compared to Markakis and the fielding hasn't seen a big dropoff as Markakis had his age showing the last two years.

The biggest surprise for the Braves this year, though, has been how consistent their pitching staff has been. Max Fried was the lone man out all year that was having an average year at best, but once he went down the Braves were quick to sign Henderson Alvarez. Alvarez has now thrown 20.2 innings and sports a 3.48 ERA with a 1.35 WHIP. His 3.48 ERA is actually the second WORST in the Braves rotation. Soroka spots a 3.70 ERA through 153.1 innings and has a 1.35 WHIP as well. Foltynewicz has come back to earth a little bit since the all star break. His ERA has jumped up to 3.37 and his WHIP has risen to 1.15. I don't think anyone expected him to keep a 2.5 ERA and .8 WHIP all season.

Around the league we still see the Cubs holding onto a nice lead up 16.5 games on the Brewers. The Dodgers have lost 3 in a row, but their 89-41 record is still the best in baseball and has them up 29.5 games on the Padres. The NL Wild Card race see the 78-51 Brewers with the 1st spot, the 66-61 Brewers, who just got swept in a 3-game series by the Braves coincidentally, are 66-61 and 4.5 games up on the Marlins for the second spot.

In the AL the Red Sox are still up a healthy 14.0 games on the Yankees. They sit at 83-45. The Indians field an 81-46 record which has them 8.0 up on the White Sox and 9.0 on the Twins. The Astros are 77-50 and have a 9.0 game lead on the Angels of Anaheim. The White Sox and Twins still hold both wild card sports while the Yankees and Angles are only back 3.5 and 4.0 games respectively.

Josh Donaldson has been surpassed by Alex Bregman in the AL MVP race. He has cooled down quite a bit. His average is still a respectable .305, but much lower than the .330+ he carried most of the year. He also saw his HR rate decline. He sits at 35, but Arenado has passed him for the lead in the MLB with 38.

Max Scherzer is having an unbelievable year right now. He has a 14-3 record with a 1.56 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP through 179.1 innings. He has 233 strikeouts vs only 51 walks. His teammate Strasburg is challenging him in the Cy Young Race with an 18-3 record, 2.43 ERA, and a 1.04 WHIP in 181.1 innings. He has 213 K's and 51 BB's.

Up next for the Braves is an off day, then they get 3 games against the struggling Phillies in Philadelphia. They get another off day before they get 2 games at home against Oakloand and 4 games at home against Colorado right after that. They get a day off after the Colorado series and then see a very important 3-game series at Washington. That series could help put some distance between the Braves and Nats, or it could flip the top 2 spots in the division depending on how it goes. The season does look to have a dramatic September in the NL East as the Braves do host the Nats in a 4-game series in the final week of the season. If the two teams continue to play like they have so far that 4-game series will likely decide who wins the division. If it is still up in the air after that series then the Braves have their work cut out for them as they host the Astros for a 3-game set to end the season. At this point it is almost a guarantee that both teams do make the postseason, it's only a question of which team gets the division title and the perks that come with it.

[canes21]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

The Braves were able to travel to Philadelphia and sweep the struggling Phillies. The sweep allowed them to place a little bit more distance between themselves and the Nats as the lead is now 3.5 games. The first game of the series saw a game where each team was allergic to base hits. The Braves tallied 10 hits, but 8, yes 8, of them were XBH. They were gap ball machines tallying 6 doubles and they tacked on two homers as well. The Phillies put 8 hits on the board and 6 of their 8 hits were XBH. They had a lone double by Harper and then hit 5 solo shots.

The Braves had a 5-1 lead going into the 7th inning, but it seemed they left Felix Hernandez in the game too long. Despite having less than 80 pitches on his belt to start the 7th inning, Hernandez lacked any control and was leaving balls all over the plate. He surrendered 3 of the solo HR's that inning. He had also left a changeup up and over the plate earlier in the 2nd inning and gave up a solo shot then as well. The Braves were ill-prepared for his sudden struggles. He had been cruising to that point and had right around 70 pitches through 6 and had surrendered only two hits to that point, one walk. The Braves had nobody even stretching in the pen and before they knew it he had given up back to back shots and it was 5-3. They finally got an arm up in the pen, but Hernandez surrendered his third homer of the inning before they were ready to come in.

The Braves were able to take advantage of an exhaust Philadelphia pen as no pitcher came into the game rested and they had to turn to the pen early as Pivetta only went 5 innings, giving up 3, and throwing a lot of pitches. This led to the Braves facing a tired Dominguez in the top of the 8th. He came in and allowed no runs in a quick inning. He came back out for the 9th and allowed a quick double off the bat of Tyler Flowers on the 2nd pitch of the inning. The third pitch of the inning saw a ball that almost hit Austin Riley and then Dominguez was holding his elbow. He subsequently left the game and a tired Stock came in and allowed Tyler Flowers to be driven in on double by Riley, then he allowed Albies to hit a 2-run shot to make it 8-5. The bottom of the 9th saw Realmuto hit his 2nd HR of the game off of Will Smith, but was otherwise uneventful.

Game 2 of the series saw the Braves offense explode for 20 hits and 16 runs. Ozuna hit 3 HRs and drove in 9 runs altogether. Henderson Alvarez pitched 5, gave up 1, and finally notched his first win of the year. He's 1-1 since joining the Braves last month.

Game 3 had the Braves score 6 runs on 12 hits. The Phillies were limited to only 4 hits, but they put across 3 runs thanks in part to the Braves defense imploding and committing 4 errors on the game. Soroka pitched 6 innings and got his 8th victory of the season. He is now 8-8.

The Braves tallied 11 HR's and 20 XBH in the 3-game series. The team has now won 10 in a row and the offense is rolling much like it has all year. The Braves are 4th in the MLB in average, 2nd in runs, 4th in hits, T-3rd in doubles, 3rd in triples, and T-1st in HRs after the series. They have 3 players with 30 or more HRs in the last week of August. Freeman has 34, Albies has 32, and Ozuna has 30.

***Note, I simmed to the all-star break only playing every critical moment to that part. Since the ASB I have played the first game of every series start to finish, every pitch, and then I sim the rest of the games of the series only playing the critical moments. These accumulated stats have been accumulated mostly through simulations. They even surprise me a bit. My offense has been elite.

[Gagnon39]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread



SAN DIEGO (OS) -- The Chicago Cubs jumped out to an early lead as Kris Bryant and Javier Baez led off the game with back-to-back home runs off of Padres starter Chris Paddack. The Padres answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the first and Eric Hosmer's two-out RBI single in the bottom of the fifth evened the game at 2-2. But the Cubs were able to push across a pair of runs in the top of the eighth and the bullpen held on for a hard-fought victory over the Padres at Petco Park Saturday night for their second consecutive win.

Jon Lester was solid through six innings, allowing just two runs on three hits, but earned the no-decision. Tyler Olson improved to 2-4 on the year after a scoreless sixth and Craig Kimbrel shut the door in the ninth to earn his second save in as many nights, and his eighth on the year.

The two consecutive victories come after the Cubs had dropped five straight and seven of eight dating back to the May 6th loss against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Cubs manager David Ross is hoping the recent momentum will help propel the Cubs on their nearly two week road trip. "We've played well the last couple games and you just have to focus on what you're doing right and continue them game-to-game," said Ross. "The season is a marathon and you can't hang your head when you hit a losing streak. This team is resilient and they showed that the last two games."

The Cubs will look to take three of four from the Padres tomorrow afternoon as they wrap up the series before a day off Monday. Kyle Hendricks (5-2, 3.67) will take the mound for the Cubs opposite Dinelson Lament (1-3, 5.76).

[canes21]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

The Braves finally lost. After getting 11 straight wins, they split the short two-game series against the A's. The Braves won the first game with a 1-0 final. Acuna Jr. hit a HR in the bottom of the first from the leadoff spot and that was the only run scored all game. The Braves finished with only 2 hits in that game. Manea pitched a gem as did Hamels.

Game 2 saw Luke Jackson and the Braves bullpen squander a 4-2 lead. They pen allowed 4 runs in 4 innings and the Braves fell short in their comeback attempt in a 6-5 final. Brantley led the bottom of the 9th off with a double, but Ozuna hit a hard ball right at the SS to halt any advancement of Brantley. Camargo then struck out on a high fastball. Swanson came out and put one in the gap, but it hung in the air for quite a bit of time and Laureano was able to make an easy grab to end the Braves' win streak.

Despite winning 11 straight before that last game the Braves only find themselves up 4.5 games on the pesky Nats.

The Braves lineup is almost all completely hot at this point. Despite the 1-0 game against Okaland the offense has been putting up some good numbers nearly all year long. Here's a look at the lineup heading into the series against Colorado.

Acuna .291/.362/.545 - 25 HR 67 RBI 94 R
Albies .265/.310/.514 - 32 HR 90 RBI 86 R
Freeman .327/.413/.601 34 HR 92 RBI 85 R
Brantley .353/.415/.551 22 HR 62 RBI 88 R
Ozuna .281/.358/.548 30 HR 84 RBI 73 R
Camargo .307/.361/.481 15 HR 52 RBI 35 R
Swanson .250/.337/.402 7 HR 47 RBI 43 R

Some notables

Tyler Flowers is out with a broken wrist. His line was .269/.342/.420 - 11 HR 41 RBI 42 R
Travis d'Arnaud in 195 AB's has been weak to this point. .205/.272/.364 - 8 HR 17 RBI 21 R

Also, Culberson platoons with Camargo. He sports a line of .261/.309/.436 - 9 HR 28 RBI 40 R

And here is the rest of the bench

Inciarte .244/.309/.354 - 3 HR 13 RBI 17 R
Markakis .261/.350/.430 - 14 HR 59 RBI 50 R
Riley .231/.250/.436 1 HR 5 RBI 4 R
Duvall .261/.335/491 - 8 HR 23 RBI 22 R

And in his 1 game since being called up to replace Flowers, Shea Langeliers went 1 for 3 with a walk. He also stole a base. So he sports a .333/.500/.333. He didn't score and was not driven in.

Hopefully my offense can keep this fire lit and carry the pitching in the playoffs because I don't think my pitching is built to hold up in the postseason too well despite how well they've performed to this point.

[Rps21]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

For anyone that has reached the offseason...Once FA hits, how do we figure out how much money we actually have to spend? I seem a 200 payroll...and it seems I can offer 30 mil contracts, while staying in positive cash flows. But as soon as I simulate a day, I'm told my contract has been withdrawn. Can anyone help, please?

[decga]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Lost another 3 game series in Brew Town

Game 1: Folty 5-6 vs. Davies 8-5. It was a pitcher's duel to say the least. Both starter's went 6 inn strong, giving up only 2 hits each. RF Yelich ended the game by depositing a hanging sinker thrown by LRP Santiago into RF! Lost 2-1 and SS Camarago to a (Torn MCL) for 6 mnths.

Game 2: SP Soroka(4-4), went 7.0IP,3H,9K,91NP,0ER & 0BB. LF Matt Joyce went 3 for 4,
2RHR,2RBI. We won 4-1! Lost 3B Donaldson for 2wks to a (finger contusion) placed him on the 10day DL.

Game 3: Bullpen blows It! SP Fried(13-2) vs. Peralta. Fried and the offense was hot! The offense put up 6 runs by the btm of the 5th & then an injury happened to SP Fried. My bullpen blew the 6-0 shut out by giving up 7R, 5 of them were earned. We lost 7-6! Luckily Fried just broke a nail. He won't miss a start. Breath easy! I started contemplating trading for a Left handed starter if it was going to a season ending injury.

Next up a 6 game home stand bank Truist Park. Record 57-41, 4 gms vs. the Nats. A battle to hold onto 1st in the NL East. I'm up by 1.0 game.
Pitching matchup's: Game 1: Schrezer vs. Teheran, Game 2: Strasburg vs. Newcomb, Game 3: Corbin vs. Folty and Game 4: Hellickson vs. Soroka.

[Gagnon39]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread



May 17, 2020

SAN DIEGO (OS) -- Tommy Pham and Manny Machado each homered in the bottom of the first to give the San Diego Padres an early 3-0 lead, but the Chicago Cubs rallied back to claim their third consecutive victory, 6-5. "That's the kind of gutsy win you like to see," said veteran southpaw Jon Lester. "I've been around the game a long time and I know this group has what it takes to win."

Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks settled in after a shaky first inning, completing five innings and striking out four batters to improve to 6-2 on the year. Anthony Rizzo belted his fifth home run of the season, a two-run shot off of Padres starter Dinelson Lament in the top of the third to get the Cubs on the board.

Trailing 4-2 in the top of the sixth with two outs, the Cubs drew four consecutive walks, including a bases loaded pass by pinch-hitter David Bote to cut the lead to one. Kris Bryant followed up the Bote walk by driving in a pair of runs on a single up the middle off of Padres reliever Luis Perdomo to give the Cubs their first lead of the game, 5-4.

Craign Kimbrel earned his third consecutive save, his ninth of the year, punching out one.

The Cubs will be off tomorrow before traveling to Pittsburgh for a three game set against the Pirates at PNC Park. The Pirates sit in last place in the NL Central division with a 13-32 record. Jose Quintana (3-2, 3.86) will pitch for the Cubs while the Pirates will call upon Joe Musgrove (2-4, 2.76). The Pirates are just 3-12 over their last 15 games.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

For anyone that has reached the offseason...Once FA hits, how do we figure out how much money we actually have to spend? I seem a 200 payroll...and it seems I can offer 30 mil contracts, while staying in positive cash flows. But as soon as I simulate a day, I'm told my contract has been withdrawn. Can anyone help, please?

Take your weekly budget and multiply by 26 to get a rough estimate of what your total payroll is for the offseason. Remember the total payroll is for players, scouts, and coaches.

Also, the game will set aside X amount of dollars to ensure that you can resign your contract renewable players, as well as arbitration players, by the end of the year. What that amount is, is unknown.

The best thing to do is to determine which players, contract renewable players, you want to keep and which you are willing to let walk, and go ahead and resign them or release them. This will help prevent you from receiving the "can longer afford contract" messages.

[Relichris]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Homer Bailey tantalizing like this for a short stretch is such a meme for his career. I've always rooted for him, he just could never seem to catch a break (unless it was a broken body part).



I'll be interested in hearing how long this lasts...would love to hear a story about him pulling it all together for a full season.

While Homer Bailey is working out for him, he’s not doing well for me, lol. Though he did string 3 wins in his last 5 outings. He’s 3-2 in 7 starts, 40 innings, 37 Ks and has a 4.73 ERA. Not bad but not great either. I’m very envious of Cnelly’s production out of him.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

As calendar flips to July, Cardinals have trade targets in mind

The calendar reads July 1st, and that means we are a couple of weeks away from the All-Star Break (we'll see you soon Atlanta), but it also means the July 31st trade deadline is just mere weeks away. Teams will now determine whether to go all in for a shot at a World Series or sell off veteran assets in an attempt to rebuild and be a contender next year or shortly after.

The Cardinals, who lead the National League Central division by 7 games over the Brewers, will certainly be looking to improve their club in an attempt to return to the post season in 2025 and secure that World Series championship that has alluded them since the 2016 season.

The Cardinals don't have many holes, but they do have two spots they are seriously looking to improve and they have their targets already chosen and narrowed down, to well, currently just two players given the announced trade block thus far.

The Cardinals are looking to improve their bench and are desperate for a left handed starting pitcher. Introducing Ian Happ of the Cubs and Kyle Freeland of the Rockies. Both the Cubs and the Rockies are far removed from playoff contention in 2025, so both have made a few valuable assets available, and the Cardinals have picked one from each team they are seriously considering.

While the Cardinals strongly shy away from trading with Central division foes, the idea of adding Ian Happ to their roster is enough for the Cardinals to overcome this shyness in hopes of adding that one piece that is going to push this club to the World Series. Ian Happ is a switch hitting, versatile defender who is currently hitting .289 with the Cubs, in limited play. He's a strong defender and could easily replace the likes of either Chris Taylor or Tommy Edman, both of whom, have not lived up to the expectation the Cards have for bench players. If the Cardinals were to secure Ian Happ (asking price huge), it would likely mean that Tommy Edman returns to Memphis to continue to work on his hitting.

In regards to Kyle Freeland, the Cardinals rotation isn't horrible, but it has been shaky at times and we all know how the Cardinals front office and Mike Matheny love left handed starting pitching. Kyle Freeland is 4-7 with the Rockies with a 4.07 ERA which isn't bad considering his home ball park is Coors Field. Freeland is in the final year of his contract, but his contract value is significantly low at just $6.7M this year. Like Happ, the asking price for Freeland is significant. If the Cardinals were to land Freeland, it would likely mean that Junior Fernandez would be moved to the bullpen and the Cardinals would choose an arm from the pen to either move or assign to the minors. Who that would be is a tough call, but one would think it would be between Pedro Baez and Adam Cimber.

The Cardinals continue to scope out the trade market and keep waiting as teams continue to make more players available as games are played, standings shift, and realizations of just how competitive a team will be this year come more into focus.

The Cardinals know what they want, have targets, but are still deciding how aggressive to be in terms of what prospects they are willing to part with to acquire these pieces that could potentially put them in position to be playing in the Fall Classic. The Cardinals front office is stingy in the fact they don't want to sell off success tomorrow for success today.

[GoBlue81188]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Take your weekly budget and multiply by 26 to get a rough estimate of what your total payroll is for the offseason. Remember the total payroll is for players, scouts, and coaches.

Also, the game will set aside X amount of dollars to ensure that you can resign your contract renewable players, as well as arbitration players, by the end of the year. What that amount is, is unknown.

The best thing to do is to determine which players, contract renewable players, you want to keep and which you are willing to let walk, and go ahead and resign them or release them. This will help prevent you from receiving the "can longer afford contract" messages.

Multiply by 26? Why not 52?