MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals take 3 out of 4 from Giants

The Cardinals (8-5) bounced back after losing a series to the Reds by taking 3 of 4 from the Giants to start the week in St.Louis.

The Cardinals won 2 of the games in dramatic fashion with walkoff extra inning wins. On Tuesday night, it was a walkoff homerun by Rafael Devers. On Thursday it was a Paul DeJong single.

Tommy Edman continues to struggle at the plate, but he's not having terrible at bats. He's just hitting the ball where they are, not where they ain't.

Cardinals will now pack up and travel to Pittsburgh for a 3 game weekend series with the struggling Pirates.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals place 3 on IL in past few days

The injury bug is making an early appearance as the Cardinals just put 3 more on the IL in the past few days.

LHP Daniel Norris - Hamstring strain

Replaced by Zach Thompson


OF Magnerius Sierra - Knee injury

Replaced by Jasson Dominguez who just returned from IL 2 days prior


3B Nolan Gorman - Broken Ankle (Memphis)

Replaced by Malcolm Nunez (Memphis)

This is big as the bullpen took another hit with Roberto Osuna already on the IL although he's expected to return this upcoming weekend. Magnerius Sierra has been the everyday centerfielder this season after Jasson Dominguez was injured during Spring Training. Sierra was starting to swing a hot bat when he was injured. And Nolan Gorman who has seen time in St.Louis in previous seasons, was thought to maybe crack the big leagues sometime this year, will now be out until June or July with the broken ankle, thus setting him back and likely resulting in him spending the entire season in Memphis.

The Cardinals will take the next man up, although its going to be tough with the bullpen as the MLB talent they were relying on to step up in Memphis when called upon has struggled mightily this young season.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals take series from Pirates as Matthew Boyd continues to shine

The Cardinals (10-6) took 2 out of 3 from the Pirates and missed the sweep as the bullpen blew up on Sunday afternoon.

The series win keeps the Cardinals atop the NL Central with the Reds.

Matthew Boyd continues to impress as he pitched his 2nd complete game shutout of the season and he has only 3 starts. In fact Boyd has only allowed one run in his 3 starts.

The Cardinals will travel to Kansas City for a 3 game series with the Royals as they play their next 9 games in Interleague play with 3 @ Royals, 3 @ White Sox and then 3 vs Twins.

[Lil Worm]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals take 2 of 3 from Reds to open 2025 season

The Cardinals (2-1) took two out of three against the Reds in Cincinnati to begin the 2025 season.

The Cardinals won on Opening Day as Jack Flaherty and Luis Castillo had a pitchers duel, despite the Cardinals jumping up 2-0 in the 2nd when Tyler O'Neill blasted a 2 run homerun. But after that, it was nip and tuck as each starter matched the other pitch for pitch. Flaherty recorded 8 strikeouts while Castillo recorded 10. The Reds would get a run in the 6th off of Flaherty and then another run in the 9th off of Roberto Osuna, but the Cardinals would prevail 3-2 for the Opening Day victory.

Saturday's game was the regular season debut for Max Fried and it couldn't have been much worse. Fried went 2 1/3 innings giving up 7 ER on 8 hits as the Reds beat down the Cardinals 9-5.

Sunday's finale saw Sandy Alcantara make his regular season debut and it was much better. Alcantara went just 5 innings, pulled after 98 pitches, but he recorded 5 strikeouts in those innings. He would get a no decision as the Cards and Reds were scoreless until the 7th when Paul DeJong hit a two run homerun and Patrick Wisdom would deliver a PH RBI double as the Cards would win 3-1 over the Reds.

Next up is a 3 game series in Milwaukee before the Cardinals have their home opener on Thursday against the Reds.

I tear it up with Fried, but pulled a trade with the Marlins at the deadline last season for Alcantara and could not get going with him!!


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[bjenks]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

Seeing this thread still going and CB still powering through his franchise has gotten me excited for the new game coming out! I plan on being more active and streaming all my franchise games again this year. Last year I didn't update much or stream any games, but I'm excited to start again with the new game. I really enjoy reading everyone's updates about how they're coming along with their own franchise.

I'd like to start playing and streaming now, but I don't want to get burned out of the old game right before the new one comes out and lose that desire, lol. Look forward to new posts and streams once the new game drops!

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals sweep Royals in I-70 series

The Cardinals (13-6) swept the Royals in Kansas City to take the first matchup of the I-70 series.

The Cardinals now sit atop the NL Central with a single game lead over the Reds.

The Cardinals scored 23 runs this series as the bats were smoking. Pitching was solid, although the concern with Michael Wacha continues. Wacha pitched 3 innings this series giving up 5 runs on 8 hits. Wacha has been roughed up this early part of the season.

Tommy Edman continues to struggle at the plate with his average hovering around the .210 mark. It is a contract year for Edman so you wonder if he's not trying to do too much to get a big pay day during the upcoming offseason.

The Cardinals will make the trip north to Chicago to face the White Sox for a 3 game weekend series.

[Bgrd1080]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

The Philadelphia Phillies
***No runner on 2nd. Universal DH
***Starting from 2021 offseason

Another season has come and gone. The rival Atlanta Braves have won the 2021 World Series and The Philadelphia Phillies have extended their post season drought to 10 season. On the positive side they finished above .500 at 82-80 for the first time since losing the National League Division Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011. Unfortunately since winning the World Series in 2008 over the Tampa Bay Rays, they have been on a downward trajectory.
Despite having a top MVP candidate in their lineup and a top Cy Young candidate in their rotation, the Phillies had numerous offensive and pitching struggles outside of those two. Ultimately, the offense besides Bryce Harper, and their bullpen, is what did the Phillies in. They had no one in the middle of the order to protect said MVP and they never really had a set closer as their bullpen blew a number of games they had a chance to win. The bullpen blew a major league record 34 saves.

Rookie Alec Bohm was a major disappointment on offense and defense. Top pitching prospect Spencer Howard struggled before being traded to the Texas Rangers. Zach Eflin went down in July and Vince Velasquez wound up DFA’d. Their leadoff hitters ranked 29th in the majors with a .302 on-base percentage. Philadelphia’s defense was also a big issue, with Didi Gregorius really struggling at shortstop.

This is a top-heavy lineup that will rely on its stars again as it has the last few seasons to carry the load. The Phillies aren't afraid to spend money and being only 6 games back of the World Series champions should fuel them that much more to try and break the playoff drought. Defensive help in the infield and relief pitching to help the starters will be 1A and 1B on the needs list. Expect them to trim some of the fat so to speak, as they have spent big the last few seasons to little success.

[Bgrd1080]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

The Philadelphia Phillies
***No runner on 2nd. Universal DH
***Starting from 2021 offseason
Spending smart or penny pinchers, that will be the question on Philadelphia Phillies fans going into the 2022 season. An offseason that many in the organization expected to have another star or two to come in with a lucrative contract was quite the opposite.
Instead they let go of Andrew McCutcheon, Brad Hand, Freddy Galvis, Ian Kennedy and a few others. They then let everyone go to arbitration minus Rhys Hoskins who agreed to a 4 year, 28 million dollar deal and Vince Velasquez at 5 years, 26.5 million.
The rumor was Kris Bryant was number one on the free agent wish list but San Francisco never made it an option, securing his rights with a 6 year, 134 million dollar deal. The Pardes signed Carlos Rodon to 9 years, 279 million and Trevor Story went to San Francisco at 134 million for 6 years.
Missing out on those 3, Philly pivoted towards smaller, shorter deals with proven veterans, but not the type to really move the needle.
(LF) Michael Taylor 3/20mil
(RP) Craig Stammen 2/6.6mil
(P) Danny Duffy 1/8.5mil
(RP) Archie Bradley 3/8.1mil
Philadelphia will open the season at home with Zack Wheeler on the mound against Miami's Trevor Roger. Only time will tell if these moves will help Philadelphia finally break the playoff drought.

Around The League
Arizona: Carlos Correa 6/127.2mil
Arizona: Noah Syndergard 4/52mil
CWS: Jonathan Schoop 5/73mil
STL: Freddie Freeman 7/196mil

[LowerWolf]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

We're almost through April of 2022 as we head out on our second road trip of the season. We have a four-game series in San Diego and three more in Cincinnati.

We lead the NL East at 14-4. Offense is clicking, especially Acuna, Freeman and Ozuna. Riley is off to a strong start with five homers and 16 RBIs. Still need Joc and Swanson to get going. They're both hitting well under the mendoza line.

Mychal Givens is off to a terrible start. He's allowed five homers and has an ERA over 12 in 5.2 innings. Going to give him a little more time to turn it around, but we're already looking at possible replacements.

The Cubs lead the NL Central and the Dodgers have moved ahead of the Padres in the West. The Rays, at 15-4, have the best record in baseball. The Twins lead the AL Central and the Angels are off to a hot start to lead the AL West.

I hate adjusting sliders, and I played on default AS all last season. But I turned the Timing slider to 0 for me and 10 for the CPU to make things a little bit harder. It's really working well so far. I know a lot of people feel differently, but for me the gameplay has been as good as it's ever been on 21.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals finish month of April 15-9, sit atop NL Central

The Cardinals snapped a 3 game losing streak on the final day of the month, to close out April with a 15-9 record and are in sole possession of first place in the NL Central.

It was a typical baseball month I guess you could say as the Cards experienced ups and downs over the first month. They even dealt with some significant injuries that they are still trying to overcome, with Lane Thomas being the latest casualty being placed on the IL with a broken forearm.

The brightest spot has to be the arm of Matthew Boyd who leads the National League with 4 wins (4-0) and ERA with a 0.94 ERA. He also has 2 complete games.

On the other end, Tommy Edman has struggled at the plate with a .220 avg (took a 3 for 3 day on April 30th to get there) and is striking out in over 20% of his at bats.

The Cardinals will begin the month of May with 3 vs the Cubs in St.Louis.

[Bgrd1080]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

Philadelphia Phillies Look to Get over The Playoff Hump in 2022

The Rotation: Looks strong and the bullpen has gotten improved with the signing of Craig Stammen.
Zack Wheeler (R)
Aaron Nola (R)
Kyle Gibson (R)
Danny Duffy (L)
Zach Eflin (R)
--------------------
Ranger Suarez (L)
Craig Stammen (R)
Vince Velasquez (R)
Closer: Jose Alvarado (L)

Lineup: They added more power but gave up some speed and fielding, letting McCutcheon go. Khris Davis seems an odd pickup and might stunt Roman's growth but perhaps Philly thinks Davis can turn back time.
2B. Jean Segura
3B. Ronald Torreyes
RF. Bryce Harper
1B Rhys Hoskins
C. J.T. Realmuto
LF. Khris Davis/Roman Quinn
SS. Bryson Stott
DH. Alex Bohm
CF. Michael Taylor

[Bgrd1080]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

Phillies Win Game 1 of 162.

Zack Wheeler pitched a gem against Trevor Rogers and The Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park. Miami was no hit till the 5th, when J.J Bleday hit a bloop single with 1 out. Fortunately for Wheeler the next pitch was a double play to end the inning. Trevor Rogers wasn't half bad either until the 5th when he gave up 3 hits with Michael Taylor getting a 2 RBI double and Stott's a sac fly RBI to make it 3-0. Kris Davis extended the lead with a solo HR in the 7th. Wheeler finished with 6 K's in 7 innings of work. The Phillies bullpen started right where they left off 2021. Closer Jose Alvarado gave up 2 hits in the 9th but got out unscathed, racking up the 4-0 win for Philadelphia. If not for the shaky bullpen there would be little to complain about. The Phillies appear to have the same issues that plagued them last season. Then again it's just 1 game.

[UNDERTAKER1215]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

The Red Sox entered the All-Star break with the best record in the American League at 68-23, and tied for the most All-Stars with six led by Rafael Devers, Kyle Schwarber, and rookie Tanner Houck. Devers and Schwarber were also featured in the Home Run Derby, with Schwarber taking home the trophy.

The Red Sox left the All-Star break headed for New York for a four-game set against the rival Yankees.

The first game started extremely slow for Boston, not recording their first hit until the sixth inning when rookie Jarren Duran demolished a changeup into right-center field for his seventh home run of the year. Duran finished the game a triple shy of the cycle. The scoring would continue just one out later as Ryan McMahon and Alex Verdugo would go back-to-back to tie the game 3-3. The game would head into extra innings tied, but would end in the 10th with a 5-3 final.

Games two and three would be a disappointment with the Yankees outscoring the Red Sox 10-4, backed by multiple home runs from Aaron Judge.

The game four finale was dominated by Boston 7-2, led by a pair of home runs for rookie catcher Ronaldo Hernandez, the first of his career. He nearly had a three as a would-be double hit off the right field wall. The only runs for the Yankees came from solo home runs from Gio Urshela and Gleyber Torres.

Boston will head north across the boarder for a three game series against Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays (47-45).



BREAKING NEWS:
The Mariners have struck a blockbuster trade with the Diamondbacks, bolstering their lineup and rotation as they gear up for a Wild Card playoff push.

Mariners Receive: Ketel Marte, Zac Gallen
Diamondbacks Receive: Julio Rodriguez, Noelvi Marte, George Kirby, Dylan Moore, and Evan White

The Mariners previously made a trade with the Yankees to acquire Anthony Rizzo, sending minor league outfielder Stephen Wrenn to the Bronx.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

Cardinals and Rangers strike prospect deal

The Cardinals and Rangers have agreed to a trade that will see the two teams swap prospects.

The Cardinals will received 3B/COF Bryce Denton while the Rangers will get 2B Nick Dunn.

Denton came up thru the Cards organization but was dealt to the Rangers in the Joey Gallo deal a few seasons ago.

Nick Dunn was re-signed to the Cardinals in the offseason but struggled this spring and has struggled in Memphis. And with injuries to the outfield, the Cards needed more MLB ready depth in that area, so the deal was made.

[LowerWolf]

Re: MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

Camargo seeks trade out of Atlanta

A year after hitting 21 homers for the Braves, Johan Camargo finds himself back on the bench. And he's apparently asked for a trade over his lack of playing time.

Austin Riley, who began the 2021 season as the every day third baseman before being sent to Triple-A, has taken that job back in 2022. And Leury Garcia has taken over the utility role, leaving little playing time for Camargo.

The Brewers, Cubs and Giants have all expressed interest. And the Braves have had preliminary discussions with the Royals about a deal, according to sources. But no deal is imminent yet.