MLB The Show 23 Franchise Mode Discussion

[Itsma806]

Re: MLB The Show 23 Franchise Mode Discussion

2024 Pittsburgh Pirates end of regular season update

Overall Record:103-59 (1st NL Central/7 over Milwaukee)

Game Results:

Game 1
Cubs-3
Pirates-2

Game 2
Pirates-5
Cubs-3

Game 3
Pirates-5
Cubs-4

Pirates finish tied for best record in MLB

The 2024 regular season is a wrap and the Pirates were among the best this year. Pittsburgh finishes with a league best record of 103-59. The unfortunate thing is the Braves also finished with that same record and the Braves held the tie breaker to give them the #1 seed. That puts the Pirates at #2 and in the NLDS to face off against the winner of San Diego and Philadelphia. Of the two, the Padres are the higher seed as they won the NL West with their record of 102-60. The Phillies finished as the third wild card team as they finished second in the East at 85-77.

The Pirates will of course look to their pitching staff in the playoffs as they were historically good this year. The staff as a whole finished with a 2.65 ERA which is good for sixth all time if our research is right. Leading the staff will be Julio Urias who is likely the NL CY Young winner after he finished with a 2.52 ERA and 260 strikeouts. Second in command is Blake Snell who looks to finish 3rd in the CY young with his 2.81 and 225 strikeouts. In fact, the only Pirates starter to have an ERA over three was Jack Flaherty who finished with a 3.34 ERA. Closer David Bednar was the best on the staff with his 0.98 ERA in 55.1 innings he too looks like he win his second consecutive reliever of the year award.

The pitching will look for some run support from an offense that was among the worst in the league this year. The Pirates finished 27th in batting average (.243), 21st in runs (626) and 29th in hits (1293).

The top part of the lineup for the Pirates (Cruz,Hayes,Santander and Cron) were pretty good but also had their struggles at times. The back half seemed to get some clutch hits and at times were good but not consistent enough. Hopefully everyone can play well in the NLDS as the Pirates look to avoid a second straight loss in their first round of the playoffs.

In other news, the AL Central and AL West both came down to the last game of the season. The Guardians ended up edging out the twins 99-63 to 98-64 while the Angles beat out the Astros although both teams finished 90-72. The Angels and Astros also faced each other in the final series of 2024 and are also now set to face off in the wild card round.

Also, Juan Soto won the NL Triple Crown for the Padres with his .327 average, 50 HRS and 156 RBIS.

Playoff Matchups/Results
AL Wildcard 1
Minnesota Twins-2
New York Yankees-0

AL Wildcard 2
LA Angels-2
Houston Astros-0

NL Wildcard 1
LA Dodgers-2
Milwaukee Brewers-1

NL Wildcard 2
San Diego Padres-2
Philadelphia Phillies-1

ALDS 1
Toronto Blue Jays
Vs.
Minnesota Twins

ALDS 2
Cleveland Guardians
Vs.
LA Angels

NLDS 1
Atlanta Braves
Vs.
LA Dodgers

NLDS 2
Pittsburgh Pirates
Vs.
San Diego Padres

[Itsma806]

Re: MLB The Show 23 Franchise Mode Discussion

2024 Pittsburgh Pirates ALDS Preview

Pittsburgh Pirates (103-59) Vs. San Diego Padres (102-60)

Season Series: 3-3

Team Rosters

Pittsburgh Pirates
Starting Pitchers
1.Julio Urias LHP 95 OVR
2.Blake Snell LHP 87 OVR
3.Roansy Contreras RHP 87 OVR
4.Jack Flaherty RHP 87 OVR
5.Mitch Keller RHP 84 OVR

Bull Pen
LRP 1-Domingo German RHP 78 OVR
LRP 2-Johan Oviedo RHP 74 OVR
MRP1-Jordan Hicks RHP 84 OVR
MRP2-Chase De Jong RHP 74 OVR
SU1-Jose Alvarado LHP 83 OVR
SU2-Joe Jiminez RHP 78 OVR
CP-David Bednar RHP 91 OVR

Lineup (VS RHP)
1.Oneil Cruz SS 85 OVR
2.Anthony Santander RF 83 OVR
3.Ke'Bryan Hayes 3B 81 OVR
4.CJ Cron 1B 82 OVR
5.Jack Suwinski CF 75 OVR
6.Termarr Johnson 2B 75 OVR
7.Matt Frazier LF 74 OVR
8.Yoennis Sherry DH 74 OVR
9.Endy Rodriguez C 71 OVR

Padres
Starting Rotation
1.Joe Musgrove RHP 87 OVR
2.Yu Darvish RHP 78 OVR
3.Michael Wacha RHP 76 OVR
4.Nick Martinez RHP 75 OVR
5.Miles Mikolas RHP 73 OVR

Bullpen
LRP 1-Seth Lugo LHP 72 OVR
LRP 2-Ian Seymour LHP 70 OVR

MRP1-Connor Brogdon RHP 74 OVR
MRP2-Steven Wilson RHP 73 OVR
MRP3-Nabil Crismatt RHP 71 OVR
MRP4-John King LHP 71 OVR

SU-1-Lucas Sims RHP 75 OVR
CP-Alexis Diaz RHP 85 OVR

Lineup vs. RHP
1.Manny Machado 3B 96 OVR
2.Luis Guillorme 2B 72 OVR
3.Juan Soto LF 97 OVR
4.Fernando Tatis JR RF 96 OVR
5.Xander Bogaerts SS 85 OVR
6.Ryan McMahon DH 80 OVR
7.Bobby Dalbec 1B 75 OVR
8.Kevin Plawecki C 65 OVR
9.Tretn Grisham CF 77 OVR

[Itsma806]

Re: MLB The Show 23 Franchise Mode Discussion

2024 Pittsburgh Pirates NLDS Game 1

Final Score:
Pirates-2
Padres-0

Pirates remain true in series opening victory

All year, its been the pitching that has carried the Pirates and that remained true in game one of the NLDS.

The pitching matchup saw the Pirates ace Julio Urias face off with the Padres' fourth, Nick Martinez as their top three were still resting from the wildcard round.

Martinez was actually better early on as he all but dominated the Pirates hitters through the first half of the game. Urias was good but did find him self in several binds that he was able to work out of.

The first came in the second inning with Ryan Mcmahon on first base for the Padres. After a Joey Gallo strikeout, Luis Campusano came to the plate and promptly hit a missel into center field that was sure to score a run. Unfortunately for the Padres, that missile bounced over the fence for a ground rule double that kept Mcmahon at 3rd. Urias then proceeded to strikeout Evan Longoria to end the inning.

The Pirates would crack the scoreboard first in the 5th inning after Termarr Johnson led off with a double and was later brought home by a Yoennis Sherry sacrifice fly.

The Padres threatened again in the sixth when they loaded the bases with just one out. Urias stood his ground again however as he then struck out Ryan Mcmahon and then got Joey Gallo to ground out on a ball that Oneil Cruz was just able to reach as its rolled toward center field.

The Pirates added their second run in 8th on a Ke'Bryan Hayes rbi single and then David Bednar came in to close the game in the 9th.

The Pirates will look to go up 2-0 and maintain their home field advantage in game two. It appears that it will be Blake Snell for the Pirates and Joe Musgrove for the Padres.

Other results:
NLDS Game 1
Dodgers-3
Braves-1

Dodgers lead 1-0

[Itsma806]

Re: MLB The Show 23 Franchise Mode Discussion

2024 NLDS Game 2

Final Score:
Pirates-3
Padres-2

Snell/Santander big as Pirates take 2-0 lead

The Pirates find themselves just one win away from their first trip to the NLCS since 1992 after their 3-2 victory in game two. Joe Musgrove (Padres) and Blake Snell (Pirates) battled it out in game two with Musgrove being especially sharp early. However, it was Snell much like Urias in game one who made all the right pitches when it mattered most.

Snell's heroic efforts started in the first inning of the game. When the Padres were able to load the bases with two outs. Snell was able to get Bobby Dalbec to ground out to shortstop and the inning ended with no damage. Dalbec had a rough day of it as he again came up in the third inning with Tatis on third after he hit a triple earlier in the inning. In that at bat, Dalbec struck out to end that threat. Evan Longoria also struck out in that inning after Tatis' one out hit.

The Duo repeated that performance in the fifth with Xander Bogaerts on third again, with one out.

Anthony Santander was the first to get the scoring ball rolling as he hit the Pirates first post season homerun on a 437 foot shot to right in the fourth inning. He added a second in the 6th after Oneil Cruz got on base with a one out double.

The Padres did score their first runs of the series as they scored one in both the 7th and 8th innings but David Bednar came in again in the 9th to get his second consecutive save.

Overall, the Padres offense was great in game two as they outhit the Pirates 15-5 but the Pirates pitchers keep coming up clutch when it matters the most. Can that continue as the series heads to San Diego? We will see.

Other Results
NLDS
Braves-1
Dodgers-0

Series tied 1-1

ALDS
Twins-13
Blue Jays-8

Twins-6
Blue Jays-4 (Pirates off day)

Twins lead series 2-0

ALDS
Angels-8
Guardians-7

Guardians-3
Angels-0 (Pirates off day)

Series tied 1-1

[Itsma806]

Re: MLB The Show 23 Franchise Mode Discussion

2024 Pittsburgh Pirates NLDS Game 3

Final Score:
Pirates-4
Padres-1

Pirates sweep Padres to head to NLCS
The Pirates allowed just three runs in their three game sweep of the Padres. The Pirates shut the Padres out in game one, allowed two in game two and just one in the series clinching game 3.

That one run did put the Padres in the lead for the first time of the series. San Diego was able to get to Roansy Contreras early in the first inning when Fernando Tatis knocked in Luis Guillorme who hit a double in his at bat.

From there however, Contreras would lock it down and like the Urias and Snell, was able to work out of tough jams.

Yu Darvish was the Padres pitcher and also like his teammates, he was dominate early on. The only thing that got to him was a high pitch count thanks to a patient Pirate offense. That patience didnt amount to much until Darvish was gassed and that came in the seventh inning.

In that 7th inning, the Pirates were able to load the bases with just one out. In the inning, John King replaced Darvish and after he struck out Endy Rodriguez, it looked as if he was going to be able to end the Pirates threat. That was not the case however as Oneil Cruz hit a two rbi single into left field.

The Pirates added to more in the eighth and yet again, David Bednar saved the game in the 9th.

The win sends Pittsburgh into the NLCS for the first time since 1992. They will face off with the 2nd place NL West team, the Los Angeles Doders.

The ALCS will feature the Blue Jays and Guardians.

The Pirates did lose Endy Rodriguez for 1-2 weeks thanks to a pulled calf muscle. That leaves the Pirates with just Gary Sanchez to catch so hopefully he can stay healthy until Rod is able to return. (I couldnt replace Rodriguez as my minor league catchers werent on the 40 man?)

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 23 Franchise Mode Discussion

For reason based solely on immersion factor, I decided to return back to my re-started franchise that I picked up and finished the 2025 season after my save file debacle. Actually I never really stopped playing it, just mixed with the other and well to prevent rambling, I was having more fun with it over the other.

Anyways...the past month or so has been anything but fluid for me in my franchise, but I did complete the 2026 season, deleted everything else and made a back save file for this franchise. I'll roll with this until 24 comes out and then will decide what to do from there.

Anyways...again...I'm sure nobody really cares. So my post below will be the 2026 season wrap up as we head into the offseason.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 23 Franchise Mode Discussion

Cardinals 2026 Season Wrap Up

The Cardinals 2026 season came to an end on Thursday night as the Dodgers beat the Cardinals 6-3 to win the NLDS and advance to the the NLCS. The Cardinals continue to exit the postseason one round previous from the year before (2024 - World Series, 2025 - NLCS, 2026 - NLDS), but this year you can attribute alot of that to injuries as they played in the NLDS without Tommy Edman, Paul Goldschmidt, Harrison Bader, Ivan Herrera, and Jack Flaherty. All but Goldschmidt were lost in the final 5 weeks of the season.

Still the Cardinals had a decent lineup and the pitching staff was still strong as Julio Urias was the ace with 24 wins and having won his 2nd straight NL Cy Young Award. But the Dodgers offense, who hit 222 homeruns over the season, proved to be too much as the Dodgers would clobber 11 homeruns over the 4 games, including 6 in a blowout win in Game 2.

2026 saw some surprises, none more than the Reds reaching the postseason as a wild card even after dealing away Elly de la Cruz in July to the division rival Brewers. But their young pitching staff carried this team in the 2nd half which saw them win 14 games straight to get back into the playoff mix as the calendar flipped to September.

Another somewhat surprise was the Blue Jays not only winning the AL East, but coming within one win of winning the World Series despite losing Vladimir Guerrero Jr in free agency as he signed with the Dodgers.

And the final surprise was the Padres winning their first World Series Championship defeating the aforementioned Blue Jays in 7 games in the 2026 World Series.

Now we turn our attention to the offseason and Winter Meetings as the Cardinals look to put together the pieces to get back to October and hopefully back to the World Series.

[Itsma806]

Re: MLB The Show 23 Franchise Mode Discussion

2024 Pittsburgh Pirates NLCS Game 1

Final Score:
Pirates-4
Dodges-3

Pair of homers lifts Pirates over Dodgers

Jack Flaherty was good during the regular season but out of the Pirates starters, was the worst. Still, he had a ERA below four and performed pretty well.

In his first playoff start, he did allow as many as the previous three games against the Padres in the NLDS. That number was three and those came in the second inning after Flaherty walked Luke Voit and allowed a Chris Taylor single. The next batter was Max Muncy he promptly crushed a hanging slider deep into the right field stands.

Walker Buehler started for the Dodgers and was great early on as the Pirates again got out to a slow start. He did eventually give up six hits one of which was Anthony Santander's third homerun of the post season that was good for three and to tie up the game at that score.

Matt Frazier had just one hit in the Padres series but in game one against the Dodgers, he had two key hits. One of which put him on base to be knocked in by Santander and the other was the go ahead solo homerun in the 7th inning.

From there, the Pirates bullpen did their thing and David Bednar saved his fourth consecutive game.

The Pirates will look to maintain homefield advantage as they head into game two with the Dodgers.

The ALCS will also kick off as the Blue Jays and Guardians faceoff in Toronto.

[Itsma806]

Re: MLB The Show 23 Franchise Mode Discussion

2024 Pittsburgh Pirates NLCS Game 2

Final Score (10 innings)
Pirates-2
Dodgers-1

Pirates K 16 enroute to 2-0 series lead

Mitch Keller was phenomenal for the Pirates in game two of the NLCS. He faced off against Tony Gonsolin who everyone thought would have the upper hand. Gonsolin was great but Keller was even better.

Keller struck out five out of the first six that he faced and finished with a Pirates playoff best 11. The Pirates as a whole struck out sixteen as Domingo German added three and Chase De Jong had two of his own.

As mentioned, Gonsolin was great as he allowed just four hits in his six innings of work.

Both teams struggled to score early but the Dodgers got on the board first, in the sixth inning. That run came thanks to Will Smith's third homerun of the postseason, on a ball that just scraped over the left field wall near the foul pole.

The Pirates answered back in the seventh after Jack Suwinski led off with a double. The next batter, Termarr Johnson attempted to sac bunt Suwinski to third but laid down such a good bunt, he too was safe at first.

Matt Frazier then grounded into a fielder's choice that allowed Suwinski to score.

From there, both bullpens locked it down. That is until the 10th inning. In the 10th, Matt Frazier walked and then stole second on a ball in the dirt from Alex Reyes. Gary Sanchez then got his first postseason hit that scored Frazier for the Pirates walk off win. The play at home was alot closer then the Pirates might of hoped for with Mookie Betts throwing a prefect dart to Will Smith. Fortunately for the Pirates, Frazier was able to get in there just before the tag.

The Pirates now take a 2-0 series lead on the road as they head to Los Angeles with Julio Urias set to take the ball in game three.

Other Results:
ALCS
Blue Jays-8
Guardians-3

Blue Jays lead series 1-0.

ALCS Game 2
Blue Jays-4
Guardians-2

Blue Jays lead series 2-0 (Pirates off day)

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 23 Franchise Mode Discussion

Cardinals re-sign Dylan Carlson to a 3 year deal

The Cardinals have re-signed OF Dylan Carlson to a 3 year/$37.5M deal during the exclusive negotiation period. Carlson is coming off a solid season where he hit .265 with 12 homeruns and 67 RBIs in the number 2 spot in the lineup. Carlson did miss time in 2026 with injuries, but was healthy from August thru the postseason.

Jordan Hicks, Harrison Bader and Alex Reyes exercise player options

The Cardinals got more good news during the exclusive period as RHP Jordan Hicks ($11M), RHP Alex Reyes ($8.7M) and OF Harrison Bader ($13M) all exercised their player options and will return to St.Louis for the 2027 season. Hicks and Reyes both had great years in the bullpen will once again provide the team with a strong late inning arms. Harrison Bader was likely to exercise his option after his missed more than 3 months of the year last season due to injuries. For now he's the everyday option in center, but given his struggles last year at the dish and injury concern, could be a prime trade candidate this winter.

Julio Urias declines player option and will be free agent

LHP Julio Urias is coming off his 2nd straight NL Cy Young award with the Cardinals but decided to decline his player option to become a free agent this winter. Urias who won 24 games last season will be a highly sought after arm this winter. The Cardinals will likely be in on the mix, although his asking price may prove to be too much for the team to afford given additional contracts on their books.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 23 Franchise Mode Discussion

Cardinals sign LHP Garrett Crochet to a 4 year deal

The Cardinals have signed LHP Garrett Crochet to a 4 year/$30M deal. The 27 year old will add a veteran left handed arm to the bullpen, essentially replacing Andrew Chafin from last year. Crochet had a 3.21 ERA over 53.1 innings with the White Sox last year and provides even more depth to a bullpen that consists of arms such as Michael King, Genesis Cabrera, Jordan Hicks, Alex Reyes, and Ryan Helsley.

Pitching was a target for the Cardinals this winter and thus far with Reyes and Hicks exercising their options and the signing of Crochet, the Cardinals are fulfilling that need. Now they need to turn to the starting pitching market looking for a mid rotation starter.

Yankees sign Julio Urias to a 8 year deal

The Yankees won the World Series in 2025 and then missed the playoffs in 2026 as their pitching staff couldn't overcome injuries. Well the Yankees just added depth by signing 2 time NL Cy Young award winner Julio Urias to an 8 year/$252M deal. Urias won 24 games with the Cardinals last year and will likely be the ace of a staff that still has Gerritt Cole and Tyler Glasnow.

[NYJin2011tm]

Re: MLB The Show 23 Franchise Mode Discussion

Ok this is not in 23 but in my 19 season on MLB 19 I have a proud Show moment. In my carryover franchise started in 14 my very first draft pick is now in his fourth full season(fifth overall) and he is a 99 overall player.

[Itsma806]

Re: MLB The Show 23 Franchise Mode Discussion

Ok this is not in 23 but in my 19 season on MLB 19 I have a proud Show moment. In my carryover franchise started in 14 my very first draft pick is now in his fourth full season(fifth overall) and he is a 99 overall player.

Thats awesome I hope they bring it back one day.

[Itsma806]

Re: MLB The Show 23 Franchise Mode Discussion

2024 Pittsburgh Pirates NLCS Game 3

Final Score:
Pirates-7
Dodgers-4

Pirates crazy first inning nets a win

The Dodgers faithful actually showed up on time and wished they hadn't. The first inning of game three of the NLCS couldn't have gone any worse for the home team.

The inning started with a leadoff Oneil Cruz blast to right field, his first of the postseason. From there, the Pirates scored four more off of just one other hit, CJ Cron's rbi single. The dagger came on what could have been a inning ending double play. With the bases loaded, Yoennis Sherry hit a ball to second that he would have likely beat out the return throw anyway. However, Matt Frazier took out Dodgers SS Chris Taylor which caused an errant throw to first and two runs scored on the play to make the final tally in the 1st, 5-0.

Dustin May was also pulled after that play and Sonny Gray replaced him. Gray was much better as he ended up pitching 4.1 innings while he allowed just one hit.

On the other side of things, Julio Urias was great as usual althought, he did not get his normal stirke out total. He pitched seven full but just tallied three punch outs while he allowed just four hits. He was pulled after seven thanks to a rain delay.

The Dodgers made it interesting in the 9th when Mookie Betts hit a three run no out homerun to make the score 7-4 but Jordan Hicks bounced back and got the next three in a row to include a stirikeout to end it and give the Pirates the 3-0 series lead.

The Pirates will look to close it out and sweep the Dodgers in game four as Blake Snell faces off with Lucas Giolito.

The AL did not play today as that series still sits at 2-0 in favor of the Blue Jays.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB The Show 23 Franchise Mode Discussion

I can't find a connection to my franchise that is in the 2029 season after the save debacle. Its like I keep waiting for it to crash again.

I find a connection to the team in my redo franchise after save debacle, but once I get to the offseason I lose interest because I know what happened previously and how players progress/regress and it kills the spontaneity of the offseason.

I really think I'm just going to hang it up and wait on '24.