MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

[Stars and Crowns]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

MLB DRAFT 2021

The Royals came into the draft prioritizing position players with potential to hit the baseball. After years of spending high picks on pitching, they needed to revitalize the farm system to create a lineup for the future.

First selection (#7 overall):
Tyrone Taylor 22 yr, 2B (95 potential)
Tyrone comes from Jamaica and projects to be an above average fielder with above average pop. His contact and vision need work, but he could develop into a future star.

Second selection:
Joel Jaquez 22 yr, RF (90 potential)
Joel is a huge project. He comes from Mexico and is already an elite base runner with the ability to steal bases, but everything else is so far away from MLB ready that he is going to need many years in the minors. It is unclear if he will ever develop at the plate.

Third selection:
Charlie Schroer 20 yr, RF (82 potential)
Charlie already has a bat that could see him fast tracked through the system. He has the speed to run bases and to cover the outfield, but his arm is below average.

Fourth selection:
Louis White 19 yr, LF (90 potential)
Louis is a lot like Joel. Plenty of speed but just a raw athlete. He’ll need plenty of seasons at the minor leagues.

Fifth selection:
Choo Cho 22 yr, 2B (72 potential)
Choo Cho, from South Korea, is a left handed middle infielder. He has a lot of work to do but comes with a really good contact bat against righties. Low potential for power will probably hamstring him to a career backup, much in the Nicky Lopez mold.

Sixth selection:
Kevin Shelley 20 yr, LF (70 potential)
Shelley comes with an advanced bat, capable of a good average and power. He is an above average base runner as well, but his defense will define whether or not he becomes a career DH at the higher levels. Exciting prospect with tools, but someone who may have already reached his ceiling.

Seventh selection:
Jack Emery 22 yr, RF (60 potential)
Jack is a very exciting prospect to me. He is already a good fielder with average base running abilities, but he shows like he may have plus power at the plate against right handed pitching. He will probably struggle to produce consistently, but he does have a chance to be successful with the Royals.

Notable selections around the league:
White Sox- Peter Tomori 90 pot 1B
Tigers- Andy Archer 93 pot 1B
Angels- Alfred Tomori 94 pot LF
Mets- Kevin Guy 99 pot SP
Reds- Robby Abel 99 pot SP
Sean Chavez (#1 overall pick) 97 pot 3B

*both of the Tamori prospects are from Japan, a year apart in age. I thinks it’s reasonable to conclude they are brothers.

[overheadthree]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

The Devils finish up August with a 65-62 record sitting 5.5 back in the division behind the Astros and 4 GB in the Wild Card. The pitching has started to find a groove but it might be to little to late.

On the pitching side Pedro Strop has been nearly unhittable since the beginning of the season holding righties and lefties to averages under .200. Edubray Ramos has also been very effective posting a 2.60 ERA in 34 Innings. On the starters side Heaney has finally gotten his ERA under 4 and Honeywell keeps plugging along as our best pitcher.

On the hitting side there hasn't been really any standouts just guys hitting steady. Eli Ybarra has been consistent since we acquired him staying right below .300. Schwarber keeps hitting homeruns and Bote has been consistent as well.

Coming up in the month of September we have a big series against the Angels at the end of the season.

July has come to a close as the Devils sit 7 games back from the Astros in the division and 5.5 back in the Wild Card. July was definitely an improvement as the team finished with a 49-51 record to end the month.

The Devils made a flurry of moves in the month of July to improve the team, but also not mortgaging the future. The Devils acquired Archie Bradley from the Phillies for Reynaldo Lopez. The team then went out and traded Cole Hamels and Hector Rondon to the Brewers for SP Eric Lauer who was pitching for their Triple A affiliate currently, we slotted him into the number 3 spot in the rotation. The team then acquired C.J. Cron from the Diamondbacks for Jedd Gyorko and Hyun Soo Kim, giving the team a more reliable option hitting against righties. They also acquired Dansby Swanson who was hitting off the bench for the Braves because they have Trevor Story for Ty Buttrey, Dillon Paulson, and B prospect Brayan Buelvas.

At the beginning of July the Devils lost Kyle Funkhouser to a Shoulder Tear for the rest of the season. We optioned Gerson Bautista to Triple A and called up Alex Reyes. We also optioned Tim Wendell to Triple A along with Luc Rennie.

The Team extended Kyle Schwarber for 2 yrs and 15M and gave Brent Honeywell a 4 yr 10M contract.

Our All Stars were Ryon Healy and Pedro Strop

[marcus flemming]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

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Haven’t posted an update in a while, but just had my best offensive game to date! First game in July 2021 for the season. I’m the Cardinals and currently in first place in the NL Central at 47-34 after the first 81 games. Most of my games are low scoring (3-2, 4-3, 2-0 games a lot), so to get this offensive output was extremely exciting!



Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[cnelly4]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

Minnesota Twins April 2021 Recap

Disclaimer: I usually play all of my games but I always fail miserably at completing a season. So this year, I am playing all division games and playing the first game of all non-division games, and then quick managing the other games so that I still have a say in the lineup and bullpen usage. I am playing on Legend hitting and pitching with a few slider adjustments.

We had an up and down month of April, and with a win against the Royals to end the month, we finished at an even 13-13, 4.5 GB of the red-hot White Sox. Offensively, we have struggled to a tune of a .232 team batting average. Strikeouts have been in abundance as I lead the league in that category, 31 more than the next closest team. (In past year, playing on HOF, I always struck out the least amount, so this is new for me). My pitching has been pretty solid, as I am currently ninth in MLB with a 3.41 team ERA. My bullpen struggled early on but has been improving.

Standings
AL East
Red Sox 17-10
Blue Jays 1.0 GB
Yankees 1.5 GB
Orioles 4.5 GB
Rays 5.0 GB

AL Central
White Sox 18-9
Twins 4.5 GB
Tigers 5.0 GB
Indians 7.0 GB
Royals 9.0 GB

AL West
Angels 18-9
A's 3.0 GB
Astros 3.5 GB
Mariners 7.0 GB
Rangers 12.0 GB

NL East
Nationals 17-8
Phillies 2.0 GB
Braves 5.5 GB
Mets 6.0 GB
Marlins 6.5 GB

NL Central
Reds 13-12
Cubs 0.5 GB
Cards 1.5 GB
Pirates 2.0 GB
Brewers 5.5 GB

NL West
Giants 19-7
Padres 1.5 GB
Dodgers 4.5 GB
Dbacks 7.0 GB
Rockies 12.0 GB

Trades and Key Injuries
Trade 4/27 Phillies acquired 3B Michael Chavis from the Red Sox for C Rafael Marchan.
Injury 4/23 Angels Shohei Otani out with fractured wrist.
Injury 4/21 Brewers Keston Hiura out with torn achilles tendon.
Injury 4/20 Mets Noah Syndergaard out with fractured arm.
Injury 4/16 Dodgers Justin Turner out with a torn calf.
Injury 4/15 Blue Jays Vladimir Guerrero out with an MCL sprain.

Team Rankings
Offense
AVG .232 (24th)
Runs 105 (T-14th)
HR 31 (T-12th)
SB 4 (30th)
BB 95 (14th)
SO 253 (30th)
Pitching
ERA 3.41 (9th)
SVs 10 (T-7th)
HRA 29 (T-14th)
BBA 80 (5th)
K's 175 (24th)

Team Stats
Offense
Arraez (.267, 2 HR, 8 RBI)
Donaldson (.227, 1 HR, 3 RBI)
Cruz (.247, 5 HR, 14 RBI)
Rooker (.319, 2 HR, 11 RBI)
Polanco (.256, 4 HR, 18 RBI)
Buxton (.247, 2 HR, 12 RBI)
Sano (.250, 6 HR, 11 RBI)
Kepler (.150, 2 HR, 2 RBI)
Garver (.172, 1 HR, 3 RBI)
Garlick (.118, 1 HR, 2 RBI)
Cave (.156, 1 HR, 3 RBI)
Gordon (.111, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Astudillo (.174, 0 HR, 5 RBI)
Jeffers (.226, 2 HR, 4 RBI)
Pitching
Maeda (2-1, 3.31 ERA, 1.33 WHIP)
Berrios (1-3, 5.40 ERA, 1.43 WHIP)
Happ (2-0, 2.10 ERA, 0.97 WHIP)
Dobnak (0-1, 3.38 ERA, 1.22 WHIP)
Shoemaker (2-2, 4.05 ERA, 1.43 WHIP)
Smeltzer (5-0, 2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP)
Alcala (0-0, 6.00 ERA, 1.44 WHIP)
Thielbar (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.80 WHIP)
Robles (0-0, 4.82 ERA, 2.14 WHIP)
Duffey (0-2, 4.63 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 1 Svs)
Rogers (0-1, 3.18 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 1 Svs)
Colome (0-2, 1.59 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 7 SVs)
Stashak (0-1, 6.23 ERA, 2.77 WHIP)Demoted to AAA

Injured List
Simmons (.243, 2 HR, 6 RBI)
Pineda (1-0, 0.68 ERA, 0.60 WHIP)

Down on the Farm
Lewis-AAA (.439, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Kiriloff-AAA (.309, 3 HR, 19 RBI)
Balazovic-AAA (2-1, 3.72 ERA, 1.59 WHIP)
Waddell-AAA (2-1, 2.88 ERA, 1.24 WHIP)

What an atrocious month of May for my Twins. Our offense was still bad, and our pitching got worse. We went 8-20 and are now 12.0 games back of the Sox in the Central. Through May, we are now .224 as a team, which is 29th in the league. Our pitching really fell apart in May, and we are now ranked 25th in the league with an ERA of 4.24. June will be a very telling month, if we don't play way better baseball, this team will look very different as there will be a fire sale in July (just like my real Twins).

Standings
AL East
Yankees 31-23
Rays 2.5 GB
Blue Jays 2.5 GB
Red Sox 7.0 GB
Orioles 8.0 GB

AL Central
White Sox 33-21
Tigers 4.5 GB
Indians 5.0 GB
Twins 12.0 GB
Royals 13.0 GB

AL West
Angels 31-24
Astros 30-23
A's 0.5 GB
Mariners 7.0 GB
Rangers 16.0 GB

NL East
Phillies 31-24
Nationals 1.0 GB
Marlins 2.5 GB
Braves 5.0 GB
Mets 6.0 GB

NL Central
Cubs 30-23
Reds 2.0 GB
Cardinals 3.5 GB
Brewers 7.5 GB
Pirates 9.0 GB

NL West
Padres 38-17
Giants 0.5 GB
Dodgers 7.5 GB
Dbacks 12.0 GB
Rockies 20.5 GB

Trades and Key Injuries
Trade 5/16 Marlins trade SS Miguel Rojas to the Blue Jays for C Danny Jansen.
Injury 5/31 Cubs Kris Bryant out with dislocated ankle.
Injury 5/24 Padres Tommy Pham out with torn calf.
Injury 5/23 Rockies Trevor Story out with fractured arm.
Injury 5/23 Nationals Stephen Strasburg out with fractured wrist.
Injury 5/21 Cardinals Yadier Molina out with fractured leg.
Injury 5/21 Yankees Gary Sanchez out with fractured shin.
Injury 5/17 Mariners Kyle Lewis out with fractured arm.
Injury 5/15 Cubs Javier Baez out with dislocated shoulder.

Team Rankings
Offense
AVG .224 (29th)
Runs 212 (T-17th)
HR 66 (T-11th)
SB 16 (29th)
BB 206 (9th)
SO 466 (30th)
Pitching
ERA 4.24 (25th)
SVS 15 (T-16th)
HRA 71 (24th)
BBA 147 (2nd)
Ks 325 (29th)

Teams Stats
Offense
Arraez (.251, 4 HR, 12 RBI)
Donaldson (.216, 7 HR, 19 RBI)
Cruz (.250, 10 HR, 24 RBI)
Polanco (.221, 6 HR, 30 RBI)
Buxton (.263, 7 HR, 24 RBI, 11 SB)
Kepler (.171, 9 HR, 18 RBI)
Rooker (.232, 2 HR, 14 RBI)
Kiriloff (.255, 2 HR, 6 RBI)
Garver (.165, 3 HR, 12 RBI)
Cave (.162, 2 HR, 4 RBI)
Gordon (.291, 2 HR, 7 RBI)
Astudillo (.179, 0 HR, 7 RBI)
Blankenhorn (.250, 0 HR, 1 RBI)
Rortvedt (.174, 1 HR, 2 RBI)
Garlick (.167, 1 HR, 2 RBI) Demoted to AAA
Jeffers (.200, 2 HR, 6 RBI) Demoted to AAA
Pitching
Maeda (3-5, 3.58 ERA, 1.24 WHIP)
Berrios (2-6, 4.98 ERA, 1.42 WHIP)
Happ (3-4, 4.63 ERA, 1.23 WHIP)
Dobnak (1-2, 3.50 ERA, 1.13 WHIP)
Shoemaker (3-3, 6.17 ERA, 1.74 WHIP)
Thorpe (0-0, 6.57 ERA, 2.19 WHIP)
Alcala (0-0, 3.18 ERA, 1.19 WHIP)
Robles (0-0, 4.15 ERA, 1.71 WHIP)
Stashak (0-1, 4.76 ERA, 2.12 WHIP)
Duffey (0-4, 3.52 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 1 SVS)
Rogers (1-3, 3.66 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 3 SVS)
Colome (1-3, 2.08 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 10 SVS)

Injured List
Simmons (.243, 2 HR, 6 RBI)
Sano (.226, 6 HR, 15 RBI)
Pineda (1-0, 0.68 ERA, 0.60 WHIP)
Thielbar (0-1, 4.82 ERA, 1.18 WHIP)
Smeltzer (6-1, 5.17 ERA, 1.41 WHIP)

Down on the Farm
Lewis-AAA (.283, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 5 SB)
Walner-AA (.341, 3 HR, 15 RBI)
Whitefield-AA (.297, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 7 SB)
Larnach-AAA (.230, 5 HR, 23 RBI) Currently on the IL
Ober-AAA (2-1, 1.76 ERA, 1.01 WHIP)
Vallimont-AAA (2-1, 2.09 ERA, 1.44 WHIP)
Canterino-AA (2-0, 1.35 ERA, 1.11 WHIP)
Waddell-AAA (5-1, 2.47 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) Currently on the IL

[Stars and Crowns]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

ROYALS SPLIT FOUR AGAINST TWINS IN MINNESOTA

Game one:
WP: D. Lynch (1-0)
LP: J. Berrios (5-3)
S: J. Staumont (12)

It was an exciting day for Royals fans as the home team took the field in sole possession of first place. Today’s game had a special buzz to it though.

An hour before the game scheduled, starting pitcher Kris Bubic was scratched with a pulled leg muscle. The Royals would respond by optioning Tyler Zuber to triple-a and calling up the #12 prospect in baseball Daniel Lynch to make his MLB debut.

In the top of the first against his very first batter, Lynch would strike out Byron Buxton to pick up career strikeout #1.

In the second inning, Carlos Santana singled in a run to give the Royals a 1-0 lead.

Daniel Lynch was as advertised in his debut, going 5.1 innings and keeping the Twins off the board. He would leave allowing only three hits and a pair of walks.

In the sixth inning the Royals got some breathing room on a three run HR by Ryan McBroom and another run on a Jorge Soler single.

The Twins would score a pair in the top of the seventh off of Wade Davis, but the Royals would win 5-2, preserving them first career win for Daniel Lynch.

Game two:
WP: R. Dobnak (2-0)
LP: B. Keller (7-3)
S: T. Rodgers (13)

Keller was good, going six innings allowing just two runs, but the Royals were shutout until the ninth, when Salvador Perez and Carlos Santana hit a pair of solo HRs off of Rodgers, but the Twins won 4-2.

Game three:
WP: J. Junis (4-2)
LP: M. Shoemaker (3-4)
S: J. Staumont (13)

Danny Duffy didn’t have it. He couldn’t locate his fastball and had no feeling for any off speed pitches. In the first two innings he walked a pair of Twins to go with the two runs and four hits the Twins had. The stat line however doesn’t tell the whole story. He would go to full counts on nearly every batter and the writing was on the wall for the type of outing he was having.

After the Royals responded with two in the first and two in the second, the Royals made the move for Junis out of the pen. He would stabilize the game and pitch 4 innings in relief allowing only one run.

The Royals would add six unanswered runs to go up 10-2, but Wade Davis would allow two runs to score, and Brentz would allow three. All of a sudden it was a 10-7 game and we had to use the closer to finish it. Royals win 10-7.

Jake Brentz was optioned to Triple-A and Richard Lovelady was called up.

Game four:
WP: J. Happ (8-2)
LP: M. Minor (6-2)
S: T. Rodgers (14)

Minor would pitch 5.1 innings allowing 4 runs on 8 hits. Lovelady would give up one in relief.

The Royals were shut out through 7 innings, but Soler and Santan hit solo HRs in the eight and Taylor added an rbi single. It wasn’t enough however as the Twins won 5-3 to split the series.

The Royals are 34-23, and about to start a seven game west coast road trip against the Angels and Athletics.

[jukeum445]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

Was wondering if you guys had completed your first season yet? I just did last night , lost to the dodgers in 6th game of the W.S …a few things I was kinda shocked with … player attributes didn’t carry over well.. could be bc the level I was playing on but HOF pitching and all-star hitting was interesting during the playoffs … not the same results at all as I had during the season … also I wanted to go ham and just stack my team and then fill in the roster with very young minor leaguers .. problem is I can’t make any trades once I hit spring training or just before it … I think it’s bc I may have been over the luxury tax, but I am tryin to dump salary to make some room
And all I keep keep seeing is a message that I can’t trade to any team bc “ they have too many injuries “… can’t believe the game broke like that on me .. good thing RTTS seems to be in decent condition at the moment …

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

Alex Reyes records 50th save of career

27 year old Alex Reyes has recorded his 50th save of his career after closing out the series finale against the Indians on Sunday.

Reyes recorded his 14th save of the year, and his 50th of his career in his 99th game of his career.

Reyes saved 34 of 39 opportunities last year and thus far this year is a perfect 14 for 14.

Reyes is under team control through the 2023 season, but I would expect the Cardinals to try to lock the young righty up in a long term deal this offseason.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals sweep the Indians

The Cardianls (29-11) swept the Indians over the weekend to bounce back from losing 2 straight to the White Sox in a mid-week mini 2 game series. With this sweep the Cardinals have now won 8 of their last 10 games.

The Cardinals needed the bats in this series as the starting pitching struggled the first two games, but Kwang Hyun Kim was brilliant in the series finale on Sunday pitching 8 innings of 2 hit, 1 run baseball.

The Cardinals will now travel home to welcome the Phillies to town for a 4 game series to begin the week, before travelling to Pittsburgh for a 3 game weekend series.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals place Dakota Hudson on 15 Day IL

Dakota Hudson has been placed on the 15 Day IL due to an elbow issue. Hudson left his start against the Phillies after two pitches with the injury.

LHP Levi Prater, who pitched earlier this year when Carlos Martinez was on the IL, was recalled from Memphis to take the rotation spot.

[LowerWolf]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

So much for waiting until July.

The Mets hammered the Braves 10-0 in the opener of a three-game series between the top two teams in the NL East. With the loss, the Braves lead was cut to just a game. It was the second time in three games the Braves were shut out. And reliever Josh Tomlin's struggles continued as he was tagged for six earned runs in an inning plus of work.

After the game, the Braves GM decided to address those issues immediately by striking a deal with the Cubs for outfielder Joc Pederson and reliever Ryan Tepera.

Pederson was hitting .317 with 14 homers and 42 RBIs for Chicago. In Atlanta, he'll move to center and hit fifth. He gives the Braves another left-handed power bat in addition to Freddie Freeman. Tepera was 1-2 with a 5.30 ERA in 37 appearances for the Cubs. He gives the Braves another middle relief arm. Both players are likely rentals as they're free agents at the end of the season.

Going back to Chicago are center fielder Ender Inciarte and prospects Jalen Miller and Bryce Ball. First basemen Ball figures to be the key piece for Chicago, although he's still a few years away from the big leagues. Miller is a fringe prospect who could eventually find a role on the bench. The Cubs took back Inciarte to offset some of Pederson's salary.

To make room on the roster, the Braves DFA'd Tomlin. They'll look to trade the veteran right-hander but will likely give him his outright release.

[LowerWolf]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

Sometimes you just have one of those games.

Left Joc on the bench since he arrived late after the trade. Fell behind the Mets 3-0 early, but battled back to get to within 3-2 after five. Albies homered to lead off the sixth to get us tied.

Seventh inning, the Mets got two on for Alonso. An absolutely epic at-bat between him and Greene. It took 16 pitches, but finally struck him out to get out of the inning with no damage.

Not so lucky in the eighth as Lindor homered off Martin to give the Mets a 4-3 lead going to the ninth.

Lugo comes on for the save, but Dansby greets him with a leadoff homer to tie it up again. Dansby has 11 homers this season, six of them have come at Citi Field.

Camargo flies out before Heredia draws a walk. Pitcher's spot is up and Joc is still on the bench. You know what happened next. After looking at a pitch at his knees, Joc absolutely belted the next one out of the park. Welcome to the Braves, Joc!

Smith shuts them down in order in the bottom of the inning and the Braves take the game 6-4.

[overheadthree]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

The season has come to a close as the Devils finish just one game back in the Wild Card at 86-76. The team fought hard till the end, but unfortunately it wasn't enough. some standouts on the season Brent Honeywell at SP, Edubray Ramos and Pedro Strop in the Bullpen, and Ryon Healy and Kyle Schwarber in the lineup.

Final stats for the year:

C: Zack Collins .251 7HR 29RBI / Jacob Nottingham .273 11HR 29RBI
1B: C.J. Cron .245 13HR 38RBI / Ryon Healy .252 22HR 67 RBI
2B: Eli Ybarra .283 3HR 29RBI
3B: David Bote .273 10HR 55RBI
SS: Dansby Swanson .231 6HR 21RBI / Yeyson Yrizarri .201 2HR 18RBI
LF: Kyle Schwarber .258 28HR 85RBI / Dalton Pompey .267 2HR 16RBI
CF: Billy Burns .261 4HR 45RBI / Adam Haseley .157 8RBI
RF: Jake Cave .276 20HR 85RBI

SP: Andrew Heaney 13-12 4.00 ERA 1.29 WHIP 202 innings pitched 206 K
SP: Eric Lauer 3-2 2.27 ERA 1.09 WHIP 83 innings pitched
SP: Merrill Kelly 13-9 3.75 ERA 1.21 WHIP 201 innings pitched
SP: Brent Honeywell JR 9-7 3.11 ERA 1.35 WHIP 179 Innings pitched
SP: Rick Porcello 10-10 4.32 ERA 1.27 WHIP 187 innings pitched

RP: Alex Reyes 3-2 3.49 ERA 1.59 WHIP 49 innings pitched
RP: Edubray Ramos 8-1 2.25 ERA 1.09 WHIP 44 innings pitched
RP: Archie Bradley 3-6 3.30 ERA 1.18 WHIP 92 innings pitched
RP: Daniel Norris 2-1 4.90 ERA 1.27 WHIP 75 innings pitched
RP: Scott Alexander 5-3 3.88 ERA 1.26 WHIP 55 innings pitched
SU: Seranthony Dominguez 4.35 ERA 1.43 WHIP 51 innings pitched
CL: Pedro Strop 0-2 2.41 ERA 1.13 WHIP 56 innings pitched 46SV 4BS

The Devils finish up August with a 65-62 record sitting 5.5 back in the division behind the Astros and 4 GB in the Wild Card. The pitching has started to find a groove but it might be to little to late.

On the pitching side Pedro Strop has been nearly unhittable since the beginning of the season holding righties and lefties to averages under .200. Edubray Ramos has also been very effective posting a 2.60 ERA in 34 Innings. On the starters side Heaney has finally gotten his ERA under 4 and Honeywell keeps plugging along as our best pitcher.

On the hitting side there hasn't been really any standouts just guys hitting steady. Eli Ybarra has been consistent since we acquired him staying right below .300. Schwarber keeps hitting homeruns and Bote has been consistent as well.

Coming up in the month of September we have a big series against the Angels at the end of the season.

[Stars and Crowns]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

ROYALS TAKE TWO OF THREE AGAINST ANGELS

Game one:
WP: B. Singer (4-3)
LP: D. Bundy (3-3)
S: J. Staumont (14)

Brady Singer gave up two runs on six hits through five innings and left with the scored tied at 2. In the top of the sixth, Jorge Soler hit a two run HR to put the Royals ahead. Both teams would tack on a run and the Royals hang on 5-3.

Game two:
WP: K. Bubic (3-5)
LP: A. Heaney (8-4)
S: Staumont (15)

Bubic matched Singers five inning performance by going five as well, also allowing just two runs. The Royals got an RBI from Merrifield, Lopez, and a pair from McBroom.

The Angels would add a run off of Kyle Zimmer but fall 4-3.

Game three:
WP: A. Cobb (2-2)
LP: B. Keller
S: R. Iglesias (20)

Brad Keller pitched well, allowing two runs on nine hits in six innings. Rookie Mitch Nay took a sinker to right field for a single and Shohei Ohtani double to drive in the other.

The Royals put together several scoring threats but couldn’t get a big hit. Trailing 2-0 in the ninth, Jarrod Dyson singled and it was followed up by a Nicky Lopez double to put two in scoring position with no outs. Whit Merrifield struck out. Iglesias would bounce a curveball that got away from the catcher, but Dyson was thrown out at home for the second out. The Royals would put together a couple really nice at bats after that, McBroom and Dozier working walks to load the bases. Jorge Soler however took the first pitch fastball and flew out harmlessly to end the game. Angels win 2-0.

After the series the Royals were given great news. Alaberto Mondesi has finished his stint on the 60 day DL and is ready to rejoin the team.

The Royals are 36-24, headed to a four game series in Oakland, before going home to face the Tigers for the first time since the series which saw the benches clear and several batters thrown at.

[Stars and Crowns]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

ROYALS WIN SERIES IN OAKLAND, BOTH TEAMS HAVE POWER SURGE

Game one:
WP: S. Romo (2-2)
LP: S. Barlow (2-5)
S: L. Trivino (14)

Danny Duffy allowed only five hits in his six innings, but two were home runs, both by Mark Canha.

Down 3-0 in the sixth, the Royals get three straight hits from Soler, Merrifield, and Taylor to tie the game at 3.

Scott Barlow would come in the game for the Royals and give up solo home runs to Elvis Andrus and Matt Chapman and the A’s win 5-3.

Game two:
WP: J. Junis (5-2)
LP: C. Bedrosian (2-4)
S: J. Staumont (16)

Minor Minor got roughed up for six runs in just 2.2 innings, allowing six hits and walking five. Mark Canha hit his third HR of the series.

The Royals would battle back though with back to back solo HRs from Soler and Santana in the third and a solo shot from Ryan McBroom.

In the fourth Soler would hit a two run HR and Mondesi would double in a run as well.

Jakob Junis would pitch 4.1 innings of relief, allowing just one run to score.

In the fifth inning, Soler would single to drive in yet another run and McBroom would double Soler home.

Both bullpens finished strong, and the Royals hang on for their exciting 8-7 comeback.

Game three:
WP: B. Singer (5-3)
LP: S. Manaea (4-5)
S: J. Staumont (17)

Brady Singer gets credited with a quality start, going six innings, allowing just a pair of runs. The Royals got enough offense from a pair of Merrifield RBIs and a pair of Mondesi RBIs and they win 4-2.

Game four:
WP: K. Bubic (4-5)
LP: S. Romo
S: Staumont

It was a wild finish in this game. Bubic goes six innings, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits.

The Royals held a slim 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 8th. Greg Holland entered the game and walked the first batter. A routine double play ball turned the inning upside down when it was mishandled by Hanser Alberto and everyone was safe. On the very next pitch, Holland hit Mark Canha to load the bases with no outs. Steven Piscotty was the batter and on a 2-2 count hit a ground ball rocket to Mondesi who threw home to get the out and Perez’s throw to first was in time for the double play. Holland then got Jed Lowrie to pop up to third to get out of the mess.

Josh Staumont would pitch a perfect ninth to secure the series win and run the record to 39-25 and a three game lead in the AL Central. There is still a month until the All-Star break but it looks like this team will be looking to add at the deadline, instead of dealing valuable pieces such as Merrifield and Santana. A lot can change in the next month however, as four of the five teams in the division are above .500.

We will now head home for three against the Tigers and Red Sox before a ten game road trip.

[HozAndMoose]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

End of Season - 2023
(Long Post)

We weren't at our best over the last 32 games. But it was good enough to secure our first playoff birth in 8 years. We went 16-16 over those 32 games giving us a 91-71 record overall. 3 games back of the Twins first in the division giving us the 2nd Wild Card with the Angels taking the 1st spot also by 3 games. The division races in the NL weren't all that interesting down the stretch.

The Mets, Cardinals, and Dodgers were all leading their divisions at the start of September and kept their lead the rest of the way. Over in the AL things were a bit more interesting. The Angels entered September with a 2 game lead and ended up losing the division to the Astros by 5 games. Meanwhile, the Red Sox and Yankees battled it out till the very end. With 3 weeks left The Sox held a 2 game lead. A week later the lead was up to 5 games. The Yankees fought back cutting that lead to 2 games with a week left and then tied things up at 81 wins with 3 games left. They stayed hot and entered the last game of the season with a 1 game lead but weren't able to capitalize dropping the final game of the season against the Rays while the Red Sox picked up a win against the Orioles to tie it back up at 83 wins.

Back over in the NL, the Wild Card race was much more intense than the division race. With 3 weeks left the Diamondbacks were the 1st WC team with a 3 game lead over the Nationals in 2nd while 7 teams were within 5 games of the Nationals. 1 week later the Padres had over taken the Nationals by half a game with 7 teams now within 4 games of the Padres. With 1 week left the Diamondbacks were basically locked into the 1st WC spot. With there now being a 3-way tie between the Nationals, Marlins, and Padres for the 2nd spot. The Brewers, Rockies, and Cubs were 2 games back with the Giants and Braves 3 and 4 games back. With 3 days left things were no closer to being figured out than at the start of the week. The Diamondbacks were officially the #1 Wild Card team. But the Cubs had now joined the Nats, Marlins, and Padres in a 4-way tie for the 2nd spot at 80-79. The Brewers were 1 game back with the Giants and the Rockies 2 games back while the Braves were technically still alive at 3 games back. Unfortunately for them the Marlins and Nationals were playing each other meaning it was impossible for them both to lose all 3 games as the Braves needed. With 4 of the 8 teams playing each other to end the season thing started to look a little clearer. With 2 days left the tie for 2nd was down to 2 teams. The Marlins and Padres picked up wins with the Cubs and Nats losing. While the Braves and Giants were officially eliminated. The final day of the season started the same with the Marlins and Padres winning once again while the Cubs stayed 1 game back with a win while the Nats, Brewers, and Rockies joined the list of teams eliminated. The Cubs would come up short losing 5-3 to the Diamondbacks but had a shot to force a 3-way tie with the Marlins falling to the Nationals and Padres losing 5-4 in 10 innings to the Giants.

Both game 163s were just as close with the Red Sox @ Yankees going 13 innings to decide the AL East. Boston ended up taking the win 4-3 despite having 8 fewer hits than the Yankees. Meanwhile, over in the NL, the Padres @ Marlins would join them in extras with the Marlins taking a 2-1 win in 11 innings securing the 2nd Wild Card spot.

Standings

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Transactions

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Hitting Stats

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The offense overall was decent but just about every player on the team went through a cold stretch to end the season. Carlos Mitre secured his Rookie of the Year win despite his AVG dropping 13 points. Another disappointing season for Mondesi overall but he played very well over the 2nd half of the season and even better after the Bobby Witt Injury. At the All-Star break, he was hitting .214. When Witt went down that was up to .227. And he managed to get all the way up to .252 on September 24th before going into a slump to end the season. Seuly Matias finished 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting. Putting up a .743 OPS with 17 HR and 27 Doubles in 126 games. Edward Olivares took the biggest jump on the team going entering the season with a career-high .251 AVG, .309 OBP, and .388 SLG. He went on to smash all of those slashing .280/.346/.458 with 12 HR and 36 Doubles. Whit Merrifield took home the Silver Slugger at 2B hitting a career-high 22 HR. While Nick Castellanos won it in the OF hitting 34 HR with a career-high .557 OPS. Salvy and Andrew Benintendi were very underwhelming. Salvy easily had the worst season of his career and one of the most disappointing seasons in Royals history. .164/.225/.252 with 6 HR in 72 games. Managed to not put up a negative WAR thanks to perfect defense in his limited time behind the plate. Fresh off of a new 3-year deal Benintendi was basically a backup outfielder for the last 3-4 months of the season finishing with a line of .237/.295/.358.

Pitching Stats

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Pitching had a fairly big regression to end the season. After putting up an ERA of 3.57 through the first 5 months September and October were a different story as we gave up 139 runs in 282 innings for a 4.44 ERA. Brady Singer had a great bounce-back season after putting up a 5.02 ERA in 2022. Finishing 13-4 with a 2.83 ERA in 181.1 IP. Duffy had his 3rd straight season with an ERA in the 3s finishing at 3.24 in a team-high 188.2 IP. He is now 7 wins away from 100 in his career. Brad Keller went on a great run in the 2nd half finishing with a 3.56 ERA after sitting at 4.36 at the All-Star Break. The first season on the team for Zach Davies went very well as he put up a 3.73 ERA in 173.2 IP. Ohtani had his best season as far as health spending only 10 days on the IL and pitching a career-high 144 innings. His 4.06 ERA wasn't as good as we would have hoped but at least he was available when we needed him. The 6th starter was a struggle for basically the entire season. Bowlan started as the 6th man then got replaced with Asa Lacy. Lacy got replaced with Chance Adams who then got replaced with Bowlan again. Bowlan then got replaced with Joe Slater who ended up getting hurt in his 1 start so he was replaced with Carlos Hernandez. In order of Appearance, their ERA's went 6.28, 5.90, 7.83, 0.00 (3.1 IP), and 4.50. Joe Slater looked very good in his very short time. No runs, hits, or walks allowed with 6 strikeouts in 3.1 IP. We also called up Tim Nobless to start the final game of the season with the intention of using him in the post-season if it went well. It did not as he gave up 7 runs in 4.2 IP.

As for the pen, we really couldn't have asked for much more. Kyle Zimmer led the team in saves with 49 despite not being the closer till late April. Nick Wittgren continued right where he left off in Cleveland putting up a 2.88 ERA in over 70 IP. Colin Poche came up to replace a struggling Cal Quantrill and ended up being the best reliever on the team with a 2.15 ERA. Alex Reyes put up a 3.23 ERA in 61.1 IP after being told he wasn't good enough in St Louis. Scott Barlow didnt join the team will June 10th after replacing Josh Staumont. He still managed to go 56.2 innings with a 3.65 ERA. Nowhere near as good as his 2021 with a 2.01 ERA in 103 IP but much better than his 2022 with a 4.41 ERA in 83.2 innings. And Holden Capps found himself back in the majors all year after only 14.2 innings in 2022 putting 3.07 ERA in 55.2 innings. Gregory Soto ended up with the least innings in the pen despite 2 people ahead of him spending time in the minors. He wasn't terrible with a 4.24 ERA every one else was just better. Aside from Quantrill and Staumont of course who put up 4.79 and 6.55 ERAs.

League Leaders

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Award Winners/Players of the Month

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The last time the Royals faced off against the Angels in the playoffs it was a 3-0 sweep in the 2014 divisional round. This time it was winner take all with Brady Singer and Griffin Canning taking the mound. The Angles took 4 of 6 in the regular season with Canning giving up 6 runs in 4.1 innings back on July 2nd and Brady Singer making no appearances against them.

Singer started well getting 2 quick outs before a Mike Trout double followed by a Jared Walsh single gave the Angels a 1-0 lead. It wouldn't stay 1-0 for long as Anthony Rendon took Singer deep on the first pitch he saw to make it 3-0. Mondesi answered back in the top of the 2nd as he tucked a ball into the right-field foul pole to make it 3-1 Angels. Singer wouldn't make it out of the 3rd though as once again he got 2 quick outs before giving up an RBI single to Mike Trout. The bullpen shut things down the rest of the way with Capps, Wittgren, and Poche allowing 2 hits and 1 walk with 6 SO in 5.1 IP. Unfortunately, the offense just couldn't get enough people home. We picked up another run in the 5th on a Castellanos sac fly but with the bases loaded in the 8th we failed to score a run and couldn't come up with a rally in the 9th. 4-2 final and the first playoff win in Mike Trout's career goes to the Angels.

The Angels would go on to be swept by the Astros who would eventually win the AL and make their 3rd straight World Series appearance. And for the 3rd time overall and 2nd straight season they would face off against the Dodgers.
The Dodgers jumped out to a 2-0 lead at home before losing the next 2 games in Houston. The teams split the next 2 games with the Dodgers and Astros both winning on the road before with the Dodgers going on to win game 7, 7-2 at home giving them their 2nd straight World Series win and 3rd in the last 4 years.

Postseason

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Down in the minors, our AAA team The Omaha Storm Chasers, and our AA team The North West Arkansas Naturals both found themselves in the playoffs. The Storm Chasers would come up short but the Naturals went on to beat the Arkansas Travelers and the Amarillo Sod Poodles to win the Double-A Central Championship.

Royals Minor League Leaders

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Hall of Fame Inductees

• Miguel Cabrera - .310 AVG, 2982 Hits, 500 HR, 1782 RBI

Looking ahead to the offseason things are soon to be very interesting. Most importantly Ohtani is a free agent along with Adalberto Mondesi and Brad Keller. Hanser Alberto, Whit Merrifield, Michael Taylor and Danny Duffy all have Mutual Options. We will accept the option on Duffy and Whit for sure but I expect them to decline on their end. Hasner Alberto and Michael Taylor could go both ways. Alberto was very good to end the season and ended up with a .853 OPS but only had 151 AB. Michael Taylor was also strong down the stretch but still spent most of his time as a backup. He did have his highest OPS since 2017 but I'm not sure anyone would give them both 5+ million like their options will. We will probably accept Alberto's option and Michael Taylor would more than likely be declined but we would wait to make that decision until we know what Ohtani is doing. The biggest decision though comes down to Adalberto Mondesi. With Ohtani, we just give him a blank check. Mondesi has been very disappointing overall in his 605 career games. But those stretches where he shows he has all the ability in the world is hard to let go of. Career-high 15 HR to go along with 27 steals, and 0 caught stealing. Idk what the hell we are going to do. Nick Castellanos is also a free agent. The plan all along was for him to be a rental and while he wasn't terrible he wasn't exactly great once he joined us either. If Ohtani chooses to leave maybe we bring him back as a DH. But at 33 I don't really want him in the field and we already have Mitre who really should be at DH instead of 1B.