MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

[eric7064]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

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)

June continued the Cubs up and down season. The fans are starting to believe the championship hangover is real as the Cubs finished the month going an even 12-12 and still sitting at .500 with an overall record of 43-43.

Kimbrel lost his closers Job in June having blown multiple saves and skyrocketing his ERA over a 6. The lineup is still lacking power and Alan Quick remains the big bright spot on the team. The rotation has yet to get it together, and the bullpen began to struggle for the first time this year. The Cubs cant singularly point to one problem.

The offense and the rotation are both underperforming and yet the Cubs are still only 2GB of the Wild Card even with the division starting to look out of reach with the Reds having a 9 game lead on the Cubs sitting at 52-34.

The Cubs finally had enough and made a mid-June deal with the Rockies. The Rockies who are out of the playoff picture already decided to trade Corey Kluber in the final year of his 2YR deal he signed in the 2020 offseason and traded him to the Cubs for SP Erich Uelman and CP Tommie Hendrick. Both are higher end pitching prospects in the Cubs system. Enough so that Uelman will automatically be apart of the Rockies rotation on arrival.

Kluber has looked really good in his first few starts as a Cubs despite his age. The jolt still has not been enough at the Cubs are .500 through June and past the halfway point in the season.

July was another tough month for the Cubs and they have continued to find the magic that helped propel them to a championship in 2021. The All Star game saw Javier Baez (SS) as the lone representative.

The Cubs overall went 11-14 in the month and were struggling at the deadline to make a decision. Buy or sell? They had already made a trade in mid-June to acquire Kluber, and were stuck. 5GB of the WC. The division is already out of reach with the Cubs 14GB of the Reds.

The Cubs decided to stay put and not sell at the deadline and will push forward with the team they have assembled.

Alan Quick continues to be a bright spot as a rookie, and Adam Eaton are the two best positional players statistically this season. The rotation has gotten a boost with Kluber and Urias and Hendricks are putting together solid seasons, while Darvish and Lamet have been sub-par.

Much of the bullpens success early in the season gets squandered in July as many games were blown because of the bullpen that was so great last year and the first half of this year.

The Cubs sit at 54-57 after July, and are nearly in need of a miracle to make the postseason.

[canes21]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Braves' Offensive Struggles Continue in Game 2, Albies Makes 3 Errors

The Atlanta Braves had one of the best offenses in just about every single hitting category over the course of the regular season. That same offense has scored 3 runs and finds themselves one more loss away from having their season end. Yu Darvish pitched 6.1 innings, allowing 6 hits, 1 run, and striking out 8.

The Braves were one of the top teams at avoiding strikeouts and drawing walks during the year. So far through 18 innings of playoff baseball they have 25 strikeouts and 0 walks.

Cole Hamels didn't struggle as much as Soroka did last night, but he did give up the same amount of runs, this time through 5 innings. He was not helped by his defense, at least Ozzie Albies. Albies made 3 errors in 2 innings, 2 of those errors came in a 2-run 5th inning.

The Braves looked like they started to figure Darvish and the Cubs pitching staff out as the game went on. Their at bats went longer and longer and they were hitting the ball harder and deeper into the outfield, but nothing could ever go their way. If a ball was pulled down the 3rd baseline, Bote would make a great defensive play and keep the Braves off the bases. If a batter got a hold of a hitter's pitch it would die at the wall and be caught.

The series has a travel day tomorrow then continues in Chicago. The braves must win all 3 remaining games to keep their season alive. Game 3's projected starters are Felix Hernandez for the Braves and Jose Quintana for the Cubs.

In the other series, Washington and LA are tied at 1 game each. The Indians and Astros are tied at 1 game each. The Yankees are up 2 games to none over the Red Sox.

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[canes21]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Braves Get Some Hits, Still Can't Score - Season Ends in Sweep

The braves finally looked like their offense was about to put up some crooked numbers. In the 1st inning they managed 2 singles, but didn't push anyone across. The second inning saw 2 more singles, yet no runs were pushed across. This trend would continue all game as the Braves outhit the Cubs 9 to 4, yet lost 2-0.

The slugging Braves offense that was basically the best offense all year in the NL was absent all postseason scoring only 4 runs in 3 games. The pitching was the worry going into October, but it held it's own for the most part, allowing only 10 runs in 27 innings despite some rocky starts by Soroka and Hamels in games 1 and 2.

The potent 1-5 in the Braves lineup was more or less nonexistent. Acuna finished batting .182 in the series. Albies and Freeman both held .083 averages. Brantley actually had a respectable .273(as did Swanson). Ozuna had a weak .091.

While the Braves were putting the ball in play and only struck out 5 times in game 3, they still failed to get a walk in the 3-game series. As was the case all season, anytime the Braves did get the bat to the ball they either hit it right at somebody or just got poor contact. Acuna had multiple AB's in game 3 where he hit the ball hard, but right to an outfielder. Freeman and Ozuna struggled to even get the bat to the ball all series. Brantley hit for average, but he kept the ball on the ground all series just getting ground ball singles.

The lineup may have had their 1-5 hitters all have career years. The offense was among the best of all-time for the Braves organization, but yet again another Braves team just fails to show up in October.

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The Cubs went on to face the Dodgers who beat the Nats in 4 games. The Yankees swept the Red Sox. Houston won game 5 over Cleveland to advance.

In the NLCS the Dodgers beat the Cubs in 5 games. The Yankees won the ALCS in 6 games. The Dodgers and Yankees faced off for another World Series. The Dodgers jumped out to a two games to none lead before the Yankees evened it back up at 2 games. The Dodgers then kept the trend of two's going and won the next two games and are your 2020 World Series champions. Kody Hoese was WS MVP with a .440 average, 1 HR, and 6 RBIs.

[Son of Motown]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

My brother and I just restarted our Tigers Franchise with Ridin 2.5 Rosters and Mike Lowe's 1.0 sliders He plays the odds and I play the evens. 6-3 so far. Cron has yet to homer, but Cameron Maybin has three Homer's. This was from the Home Opener against Kansas City

[MightyMaxxx13]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

I started my Yankees franchise with 30-team control so I could mitigate the nonsensical CPU transactions .... but now I’m so invested in managing the CPU rosters that I’m considering running a purely 30-team franchise and playing with different teams each day.

Has anyone done this? I’m afraid it’ll be too overwhelming and I’ll give up on it. Would like to hear others experience if someone has done this successfully.

I’ve decided to give this a go. Hopefully it’ll keep me engaged as it increasingly looks like we won’t have a 2020 baseball season. Looking forward to playing with every team at least a couple times and seeing all the parks, something I don’t give myself a chance to enjoy while playing 1 team in the past.

March 24, 2020

Actual 40-man rosters and true-to-life injuries are in place (it was an arduous task) and Spring Training is coming to an end for most clubs. Have a few minor transactions and storylines to report thus far:

#1 prospect Carter Kieboom has been optioned to AAA and will not start the season with the Nationals as intended. Kieboom batted below the Mendoza line in spring training so was sent down to find his swing. Starlin Castro will be the opening day third baseman in Washington. A crowded Nationals roster claims two other casualties, RHP Joe Ross and IF Wilmer Difo, who were both out of options and DFA’ed. Ross still has some upside and is unlikely to survive waivers.

Cubs DFA Daniel Descalso, bringing an end to a disappointing tenure in Chicago. Robel Garcia wins a job for opening day as a reserve infielder.

Orioles #5 prospect Ryan Mountcastle is set to make his MLB debut as he was named the Opening Day third baseman. Mountcastle was the AAA International League MVP in 2019 batting .312 with 25 HR.

The Mets send reliever Jacob Rhame to the Rangers for minor league RHP Collin Wiles. This move is mostly roster cleanup - Rhame was out of options and had no spot in NY, and the Rangers needed some bullpen help. In exchange they receive Wiles, a 2012 first round pick out of Kansas who adds some organizational depth on the bump. Rangers rotation is a sleeper to make some noise in the AL West with Kluber, Minor, Lynn, Gibson, and Lyles.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals drop series to Dodgers

The Cardinals dropped their series with the Dodgers to start the week suffering bookend losses. The Dodgers won the series opener and the series finale, with the Cardinals able to take Game 2 against Clayton Kershaw of all pitchers.

The Cardinals offense only showed up for game 2, as in the 2 losses, the Cardinals were shutout in both games and managed a total of 7 hits in the two games. As for game 2, the offense exploded for 11 runs on 17 hits and they knocked out Kershaw in the 3rd inning as he had given up 7 runs on 9 hits including 3 homeruns.

The Cardinals will be off on Thursday but return to the field for a weekend series with the Yankees.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals take series against the Yankees

The Cardinals took 2 of the 3 games against the Yankees in Busch Stadium over the weekend.

The Cardinals won game 1 as Michael Wacha was solid going 7 innings allowing just 1 run and 4 hits. Jo Adell regained some of his early season form going 2 for 2 with 2 walks while driving in 3 runs.

Game 2 saw the Cardinals get absolutely destroyed as the pitching staff was torched by 7 Bronx Bombers homeruns, including 2 from Aaron Judge. The Cardinals offense was sluggish but managed to put a respectable 3 runs on the board thanks to a 3 run homerun by Anthony Rendon in the 8th. The Cardinals lost 16-3.

Game 3 saw Jack Flaherty pitch a well of a game, but saw the bullpen blow a 3-0 lead in the 8th inning, allowing the Yankees to put up 6 runs in the inning, 4 on a grandslam by Judge. Robby Scott, Adam Cimber, and Jordan Hicks contributed to the meltdown. But the Cardinals had some heroics as Anthony Rendon would hit a 3 run bomb in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game at 6. In the 10th inning, Roberto Osuna struck out the side and Jo Adell earned a walk-off walk with bases loaded to put the final score at 7-6 for the Cardinals.

The Cardinals will take on the East leading Marlins in a 4 game series in Miami.

[decga]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Start of a very pivotal home stand

4 game series vs. the Nats. Game 1: Mad Max shut us down. He went 6.1IP,5H,10K,4BB,2ER. The Nats offensively got to Teheran(13-3) early & often, 5 runs in 4 inn. The Nats 1st 4 of their lineup went 11 for 19, with 4 RBI's. Lost 8-2.

Game 2: SP Newcomb out duels Stratsburg. Newcomb 7.0IP,8H,8K,0BB,1ER & Stratsburg 6.0IP,5H,8K,0BB,2ER. Btm of the 6th SS Albies hit a 3 bagger to left-center & 3B Culberson drove him in with a deep sac-fly to center. CP Kimbrel closes the door with 2Ks for his 29th save. Won 3-1.

Game 3: Called up 3B Austin Riley. I wanted to see how he plays at the hot corner while Donaldson is on the DL for another 6 days. I got to see if give 3B Donaldson a contract extension. Folty out duels Corbin. Another well pitched game. Folty 7.0IP,5H,5K,1BB,1ER & Corbin 6.0IP,2H,0BB,8K,1ER. Bttm of the 7th, 3B Riley delivered the go-ahead RBI single (1 for 3) in his debut. CP Kimbrel closes it out with his 30th save. A lil rocky, with back-to-back 2B by Dozier & Suzuki. We won 3-2!

Game 4: Soroka was knocked around! Soroka 4.0IP,9H,2K,5ER,2BB. Journeyman starter Hellickson was on it! He pitched 6.0IP,5H,11K,2ER. Robles & Eaton had 3 run producing hits each. Lost 7-3.

We stayed atop the NL East with splitting the 4 game series. Record is 59-43. Now in virtual tie with the Mets(58-42) again by % points. Up next is a 2 game inter-league series vs the Royals. Day off 1st & day off after before division play again on the road.

I made a few contracts extensions since I am near the end of July.
1. SS Swanson re-signed 2yr/3.58M
2. SP Newcomb re-signed 2yr/15.7M
3. SP Folty re-signed avoided arbtration 2yr/20.98M
4. C Alex Jackson for depth re-signed 2yr/1.1M

[ECUoak]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

The Dodgers (47-18) take all 4 games sweeping the Colorado Rockies (34-31) dropping them to 13 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West standings. The Rockies remain in 2nd, 1 game ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks (33-32).

4 June 20- 7 Dodgers home runs, 2 each by Gavin Lux and Cody Bellinger, launch the Dodgers to 14-5 win in game one.

5 June 20- Kenley Jansen picks up Save #16 in the 5-4 win.

The Dodgers send 1B Tyler White to AAA Oklahoma City. White was batting .147 with 2 HR and 6 RBIs on the season. Dodgers promote 1B Edwin Rios to fill the roster spot.

6 June 20- Will Smith’s 2 HR and 6 RBI performance catapult the Dodgers to a 13-3 win. Justin Turner’s 15 game hit streak came to end as he went 0-2, with 2 walks on the night.

7 June 20- AJ Pollock hit career HRs number 99 and 100 in the Dodgers 10-1 win.

Kike Hernandez strained his oblique in the game and will miss the next week.

The Dodgers hit the road to play 3 games in Cincinnati (36-30) and 3 in Atlanta (38-28). Projected pitching matchups against the Reds are:
Clayton Kershaw (9-2, 1.78) v Tyler Mahle (4-1, 2.79)
Walker Buehler (6-1, 1.64) v Jose De Leon (1-2, 5.57)
Julio Urias (7-2, 3.14) v Trevor Bauer (2-9, 5.54)

League Transactions:

The Indians trade 3B Miguel Andujar to the Yankees for SP Logan Allen.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[eric7064]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

June continued the Cubs up and down season. The fans are starting to believe the championship hangover is real as the Cubs finished the month going an even 12-12 and still sitting at .500 with an overall record of 43-43.

Kimbrel lost his closers Job in June having blown multiple saves and skyrocketing his ERA over a 6. The lineup is still lacking power and Alan Quick remains the big bright spot on the team. The rotation has yet to get it together, and the bullpen began to struggle for the first time this year. The Cubs cant singularly point to one problem.

The offense and the rotation are both underperforming and yet the Cubs are still only 2GB of the Wild Card even with the division starting to look out of reach with the Reds having a 9 game lead on the Cubs sitting at 52-34.

The Cubs finally had enough and made a mid-June deal with the Rockies. The Rockies who are out of the playoff picture already decided to trade Corey Kluber in the final year of his 2YR deal he signed in the 2020 offseason and traded him to the Cubs for SP Erich Uelman and CP Tommie Hendrick. Both are higher end pitching prospects in the Cubs system. Enough so that Uelman will automatically be apart of the Rockies rotation on arrival.

Kluber has looked really good in his first few starts as a Cubs despite his age. The jolt still has not been enough at the Cubs are .500 through June and past the halfway point in the season.

July was another tough month for the Cubs and they have continued to find the magic that helped propel them to a championship in 2021. The All Star game saw Javier Baez (SS) as the lone representative.

The Cubs overall went 11-14 in the month and were struggling at the deadline to make a decision. Buy or sell? They had already made a trade in mid-June to acquire Kluber, and were stuck. 5GB of the WC. The division is already out of reach with the Cubs 14GB of the Reds.

The Cubs decided to stay put and not sell at the deadline and will push forward with the team they have assembled.

Alan Quick continues to be a bright spot as a rookie, and Adam Eaton are the two best positional players statistically this season. The rotation has gotten a boost with Kluber and Urias and Hendricks are putting together solid seasons, while Darvish and Lamet have been sub-par.

Much of the bullpens success early in the season gets squandered in July as many games were blown because of the bullpen that was so great last year and the first half of this year.

The Cubs sit at 54-57 after July, and are nearly in need of a miracle to make the postseason.

August firmly took the Cubs out of contention for a playoff spot. The Cubs went 13-15 and continued to spiral out of control. The Cubs set sights on a September of getting the young guys playing and seeing what they have in the future. They even called up SP Brailyn Marquez a top prospect in the system and gave him a couple starts at the end of the year.

The Cubs went 13-11 in September to finish the season. It was a disappointing finish. Many Cubs fans worried that the loss of Kris Bryant would be huge, and it seemed evident it was. Although the offense still ranked 7th in the MLB in runs, it seemed to be missing a power bat in the middle. The Cubs were 17th in runs allowed, and with the mixture of those two ranking many would think it would be enough to be a playoff team, but this team was too streaky and piled up to many losses in a row that proved to be the downfall of this years team.

Cubs finish 79-83.

Questions for the offseason:

Is it time for a rebuild yet? This is the first time since 2014 that the Cubs have finished below .500 and the team is getting older in many positions. Or is it reload time? The Cubs budget heading into next season will be around 150M dollars. The Cubs have an option on Jason Heyward RF and SP Yu Darvish that they are likely to decline. This can put the budget even lower. After 2023 the Cubs will have many more contracts coming off the books. The Cubs seem to be at a crossroad heading into the offseason. Do they let the contracts go by and rebuild these next couple years, or do they still feel they have the talent on board to make a run.


2022 Notable Performers
SS Javier Baez .233/.291, 32HR, 92RBI
CF Adam Eaton .334 AVG, 20HR, 81RBI (NL Batting title)
2B Alan Quick (Rookie) .279AVG, 4HR, 49RBI, 46SB
1B Anthony Rizzo .282, 21HR, 81RBI
C Kyle Schwarber .289AVG, 33HR, 93RBI
SP Julio Urias 14-12, 3.57ERA, 185SO
SP Kyle Hendricks 16-10, 3.42 ERA, 155SO

[Rocket32]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

April is now behind us and the Yankees sit at 23-9 as we move into May. A team would finally get to us as the Indians came in and delivered an ugly 3 game sweep in the Bronx by scores of 7-10, 4-10, and 3-14. They just overall outplayed us and that was without OF’s Domingo Santana and Tyler Naquin. But we would end April on a good note sweeping the Tigers in 3.

End Of April Recap:
AL Pitcher Of The Month: NYY James Paxton 5-0, 2.10 ERA, 34 SO.
AL Player Of The Month: HOU Alex Bregman 86 AB’s, 374/477/637, 8 HR’s, 22 RBI’s. You’d think he has teammates banging on a trash can in the dugout with that line.
NL Pitcher Of The Month: MIL Brandon Woodruff 3-0, 1.72 ERA, 42 SO
NL Player Of The Month: MIL Christian Yelich 84 AB’s, 369 BA, 13 HR’s, 27 RBI’s.

Division Leaders:
Yankees 23-9
Red Sox 20-13 3.5 GB

AL Central:
Indians 20-13
Twins 19-12 Tied

AL West:
Rangers 18-12
Astros 17-14 1.5 GB

NL East
Braves 21-12
Nationals 15-15 4.5 GB

NL Central
Cubs 21-11
Brewers 18-13 2.5 GB

NL West
Dodgers 21-9
Diamondbacks 16-15 5.5 GB.


Clarke Schmidt dominated in his MLB debut vs Detroit. 6 shutout innings of 1 hit ball. A struggling Jordan Montgomery was optioned to AAA and Schmidt will claim that rotation spot for now. Tauchman has fizzled out at the plate but Mike Ford keeps hitting now up to 7 HR’s as Voit remains on the bench.

Up Next: The Yankees open May with 3 at the Rogers Centre facing the Blue Jays, then a day off as the Yankees return home for a brief 2 game set with the Pirates.

News:
Giants Hunter Pence Breaks Foot on 4/28, out 2-3 months
Astros George Springer Breaks Hand on 4/25 out 1-2 months.
Rangers Todd Frazier breaks forearm on 4/24, out 1-2 months

Twins SP Rich Hill Fractures Head, Season Over. Career Over?
A brutal way to potentially go out for Rich Hill. At age 39 on an expiring deal this could very well be the last we see of Rich Hill in MLB. While there’s always a chance you have to think the age 40 comeback off a significant injury and in need of a new MLB deal isn’t happening.

[Aussie_Red_Devil]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Season 3 San Diego Padres

First time posting so I’ll give an update on my previous 2 seasons

Season 1 was a disappointment, the Padres finished 73-89 and 5th in the division, 27 games back of the Dodgers.
Tommy Pham was the best of the position players. Driving in 29 home runs with 26 stolen bases.
Zach Davies was the choice of the pitches finishing the season with a 2.50 ERA.

Around the league Christian Yelich lit up the league with 60 home runs on his way to a AL MVP awards. Mike Trout to out the AL version. Carlos Carrasco and Clayton Kershaw were the CY Winners.
At the end of it all the Cubs came out as World Series champions.

Season 2 was a big time improvement for the Padres. Finishing 95-67 for the first wildcard spot. In the wildcard we took down the Brewers at Petco Park to set up a showdown with the 104 win Braves.
The Braves took the first 2 at home before we got 2 back in San Diego. The Padres rode the momentum back to Atlanta to take game 5 and set up a NLCS against the defending champion Cubs.
In a tight series it ones again went to game 7 with the Padres prevailing again to win the pennant and set up a clash with the Red Sox in the World Series.
The World Series also going to 7 games. Unfortunately some great pitching from Ace Chris Paddack was no match for the power bat of JD Martinez as the Red Sox took out their 10 World Series.

Season highlights for the Padres were
Fernando Tatis Jr .295/33HR/105rbis/22sbs
Manny Machado .250/27/93
Starling Marte.307/26/87/32

Around the league Freddie Freeman and JD Martinez were the MVPs and Chris Sale and Jacob deGrom were the CY winners.

Just arrived at September in season 3 and it’s been neck and neck with the Dodgers for the NL West all season, currently the Dodgers have a .5 game league.
This season as been a big year for a few players. Fernando Tatis Jr has already set career highs in Home runs(40) and on pace to score over 100 runs (97) with 39 double so far as he leads the race for the NL MVP.

Will update once the season comes to an end.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Gamer14]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Dominating in my franchise. 31-10 leadin the AL, however NO POWER. We are 18th in the MLB in homers....incredibly frustrating i cant hit for any power. I would Love to get Joey Gallo but his trade value is WAY TOO HIGH and even my top prospects wont be enough.

[HozAndMoose]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

July Update - 2021

We are well past the halfway point of the 2021 season. 2/3 of the way exactly for us. These last 54 games were a bit better than the first 54. We went 25-29 bringing us to 43-65 on the season. 4th in the Central and 26 games back of the Indians. Things could have been better though. On June 25th we were sitting at 34-49. Having gone 12-10 in the month. Then Adalberto Mondesi fractured his wrist against the Diamondbacks. The team fell apart and went 4-12 before the All-Star Break. We came out of the break strong though. Going 6-4 with a sweep of the Mariners and taking 3 of 4 against the Twins. We did get swept by the Giants in between. 2 more suspensions have been handed down. Both over the all star break (cause I forgot to do it when I was supposed to). Nicky Lopez was hit for us. Must not have liked hitting .164/.238/.207 in 37 games. The other player was Ian Happ for the Cubs. He had played in 80 games hitting .246/.352/.427 with 9 HR.

Standings

Spoiler

The offense seems to be doing better but the numbers don't back that up. We are hitting .246/.312/.404 (23rd/27th/19th) we moved up to 18th in Home Runs with 125 and stayed in 7th for doubles with 184. We still have the best Stolen Base percentage in the league at 73%. Least caught steal and Tied for 5th in Steals with 82.

Ryan O'Hearn still leads the team in WAR by a good margin sitting at 3.3. He is hitting .304/.389/.539 with 23 HR and a team-leading 120 hits. Behind him is Hunter Dozier who has managed to turn things around slowly but surely. He is hitting .251/.316/.423 with 12 HR and leads the team in doubles with 25. Still not on par with his last couple seasons but he is on the right track. The catchers couldn't really get much worse. Though they haven't done much to improve. Meibrys Viloria has gotten more playing time the last month or so. He is now hitting .201/.367/.347 with 7 HR. Unfortunately, he just went down with pulled calf in his last game. He should only miss a week or so. Khalil Lee is also on the IL at the moment. He broke his forearm on July 6th and was hitting .252/.310/.375 in 81 games this season. We called up Jahmai Jones to make his MLB debut on May 19th. Has done well since then currently 2nd in the Rookie of the Year race hitting .268/.345/.449 with 7 HR in 52 games. Ryan McBroom has done pretty well in very limited action. Only 31 games so far but he is hitting .281/.325/.509 with 7 HR.

Like the offense the pitching isn't very good. We have a 4.37 ERA putting us 24th in the majors. And don't ask me how but we are 5th in shutouts with 10. Only Brad Keller has a CGSO.

Brady Singer has done very well so far but it been a struggle. He only went 4 and a third in his first game of the year but gave up no runs. He has his 2nd start on May 26th and allowed 2 baserunners to lead off the game before leaving with a shoulder injury. He missed the next month and a half before coming off the IL over the break. He gave up 1 run in 5 innings against the Mariners then gave up 2 runs in 6 innings against the Giants both of which were unearned. So in 4 starts, he has made it through 15.1 innings with a 1.17 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. I didn't think Heath Fillmyer was going to last very long up here and boy was I wrong. He has pitched 68.2 innings with a 3.54 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. He isn't striking many guys out with his 6.55 K/9 but he gets the job done. Eric Skogland has still been our best starter so far putting up a 2.94 ERA with a 1.33 WHIP in 113.1 IP. We released Mike Montgomery to make room for Singer when he cmae off the IL. Montgomery had a 5.02 ERA in 100.1 IP. The same day we went ahead and released Greg Holland. Last year must have been a miracle. In 40 innings this year he had a 5.36 ERA nad 1.81 WHIP. Keone Kela has fallen apart the last month or so. Made it just over 20 innings without allowing a run and now has 17 allowed since with 37 innings pitched. The rest of then pen has been pretty good. SCott Barlow, Kevin MCCarthy, Tim Hill and Tyler Zumber all have an ERA in the 3's. Rule 5 Pick Durbin Feltman as gotten better as the year has gone on now with a 4.50 ERA.

Transactions

Spoiler

All Star Game

Spoiler

Ryan O'Hearn was our lone all star this year. He went 0-1 with a strikeout.

4 days left before the trade deadline. Going to be pretty uneventful for us. Salvador Perez is our only free agent after this season and no one will want his *** hitting .193/.258/.297. Down in the minors, Omaha sits at 46-55. More than likely not going to be making the playoffs. The Naturals though have already clinched a playoff spot by winning the first half of their season and they currently lead in the 2nd half by 5 games. We will have an update on the prospects when their season comes to an end. 54 games left for us up here in KC. 29 games at home and 29 games against teams at or over .500.

[canes21]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Franchise Discussion Thread

Braves Land Betts, Ship Off Brantley in Active Offseason

Spoiler

Not many people had the Braves picked to be in the running for Mookie Betts as the season came to a close. They had a star-studded outfield already with Acuna in CF, Brantley in right, and Ozuna in left. That didn't stop them from going after the hottest free agent in the baseball world. Sources say it was a two-team race at the end between Atlanta and the Cubs, but Atlanta won at the end. The deal is said to be 6 years in length and around $200 million in total value. Sources also say that the Braves gave Betts a player-option and that was one of the deciding factors in them winning the battle over the Cubs.

Signing Betts crowded the outfield and it was clear that either Ozuna or Brantley were likely going elsewhere, but which one would it be and where would they end up? It took until winter meetings, but we eventually got our answer. The Cardinals ended up acquiring Brantley at the cost of a couple of prospects to be named later.

Another acquisition that would have been bigger just a few years prior was the signing of Justin Turner to a 1-year deal. Turner is coming off of a season where he broke his leg and many are questioning if he will return to be the same player as he was before the injury. Some expected LA to resign Turner, but once Kody Hoese rose to the occasion and was World Series MVP it set in motion the eventual departure of Turner. Did the Dodgers get caught up in the moment and make a short-sighted decision? Will both parties come out winners? Time will tell.

The move allows the Braves to let Johan Camargo sit on the bench, being a utility man, and getting some starts at 3rd here and there. It also allows them to send Austin Riley back down to work on a few more things and polish up before he takes over full-time for Atlanta in the hot corner. He spent practically all year up with the club, but didn't get as much playing time as he or the organization had hoped. Turner becoming a free agent and agreeing on a 1-year deal was an opportunity the club felt they couldn't pass up, especially since they really felt Riley needed some more work in AAA before staying up full-time.

The Braves did resign Cole Hamels to a 1-year deal after he far surpassed expectation last year with his sub. 3 era. While he did disappoint in the playoffs, he offers experience and ability that the club will really benefit the young arms they have in the rotation. Another late signing by the Braves was Charlie Morton. They got him on a 1-year deal and are hoping he pans out somewhat like the Hamels deal the year prior. He is another experienced arm that they hope will benefit the young arms, especially Soroka. Matt Duffy was also acquire late during spring training to be a utility man and a pinch hitter when the club needs a bat off of the bench that can do damage against right-handed pitching.

Overall, it was a surprising off-season for Atlanta. Getting Betts caught many off-guard. The Turner signing was another deal that many had not projected going into the off-season, but once it became clear LA and Turner were splitting up, Atlanta became one of the destinations that made the most sense.

The Braves hit on each free agent pitching signing last year. Felix Hernandez, Cole Hamels, and Henderson Alvarez later in the year after the Fried injury all pitched surprisingly well. Alvarez did fall off at the end of the year and finished with an era over 4.20, but he was more than what Atlanta had hoped he would be. Can they see more good fortune and have Hamels repeat another sub 3 era year? Can Charlie Morton be effective in the middle of the rotation as he creeps towards 40?

Going into the year the Braves are set like this:

Mike Soroka
Mike Foltynewicz
Charlie Morton
Max Fried
Sean Newcomb

and in the pen we have

Cole Hamels
Logan Gilbert
Luke Jackson
Shane Greene
Darren O'Day
Chris Martin
AJ Minter
Will Smith

The club expects Hamels to find himself in the rotation throughout the year, though. Logan Gilbert is a guy with tons of upside, a well-known prospect, but are the Braves taking an unwarranted risk here by selecting him in the rule-5 draft? They'll have to keep him up all year despite most thinking he is not MLB-ready. There were numerous clubs eyeing him and the Mariners knew they were taking a risk by not protecting him, but sources inside their organization said they thought the rumors were just that and felt they would hold onto him. He's not projected to be MLB-ready at all this year, and potentially next year, but the Braves must have seen something in him that makes them think he is either going to be ready and can contribute this year, or they really love his ceiling and are willing to waste a bullpen spot on him.

On the hitting side of things the club looks like this:

1B Freddie Freeman
2B Ozzie Albies
3B Justin Turner
SS Dansby Swanson
LF Marcell Ozuna
CF Ronal Acuna Jr
RF Mookie Betts
C Tyler Flowers

Bench

Travis d'Arnaud
Charlie Culberson
Johan Camargo
Ender Inciarte
Matt Duffy

Sources say d'Arnaud is on a thin rope after his disappointing year last year. Before his injury he hit for .203 and his defense left plenty to be desired. The front office also was pleasantly surprised with how Shea Langeliers handled himself after being forced into the starting role when Tyler Flowers also went down last year. d'Arnaud had a strong spring and finds himself on the big league roster for now, but if he struggles all around like he did last year then don't be surprised to see his name floated around in the trade mill, and don't be surprised if Atlanta lets Laneliers be the man to give Flowers a rest.

Fan favorite Charlie Culberson returns for another year. The man that can practically play everywhere except catcher batted near .260 last year, put up some WAR, and remained Charlie Clutch despite hardly ever actually starting a game. He appeared in 104 games and has continued to be a hero and producer whenever given the opportunity. Expect him to still be the first man off of the bench in clutch situations, whenever guys need rest, and for defensive purposes.

Johan Camargo also has a reputation for being clutch, and he performed extraordinarily well last year. He finished batting .284 in 430 AB's. Many thought he might have earned himself the full-time starting job at 3B, but the Turner deal kept that from happening. Sources also say that he is happy coming off of the bench and knows that his ability to play all over the infield plus his batting ability will allow him to see the field plenty during the year. There is also word that he has the potential to become the full-time guy at 3B after this year and that the job is not being handed to Austin Riley.

Inciarte is going to remain a bat off of the bench to face right-handed pitching, plus he plays above average defense still despite injuries and medical operations. He'll be the main guy giving Acuna and Betts rest. Duffy is the last man on the bench. He is another utility man that will not be used as a defensive sub, but he has great hitting ability vs RHP and is the type of guy that becomes valuable as the season wears on and guys get beat up or need rest. His ability to play the entire infield will be a bonus once attrition begins to popup and even Culberson and Camargo need some breaks.

As we head into the 2021 season, experts expect Atlanta to once again repeat as the NL East champions. The way too early predictions have Atlanta taking on the Yankees in the Fall Classic this year, but can Atlanta finally get over the hump and win a postseason series? Last year was an embarrassing exit. After fielding an offense that was top 5 in every category in the entire MLB, the offense mustered 4 runs in the 3 games against Chicago and failed to draw a walk, striking out 40 times. Can the addition of Betts and Turner help prevent that from occurring this year? On paper this team certainly looks primed to make a deep October run, but there is a reason they play the games.

The club will certainly get their chance to build a lead in the division early on as 26 of their first 31 games are division match-ups. The club opens up with a 4-game set hosting the Mets, then hosts Miami for 3 games before traveling to Philly for 3 games, then to Miami for 3 more, then they come back home to face the Phillies in a 4-game series. They get 2 against Houston at hime, then travel to the Big Apple to face the Mets in a 3-game series. They then go to the nations capital to face the Nats for 3 games. They go to Pittsburgh for 3 games to end their road trip and then return home to host the Nats for 3 games. They get to play everyone multiple series and if they play up to expectations they may be able to build a nice comfortable lead for themselves.