MLB 11 The Show "Franchise/Season" Progress Thread

[SmashEd44]

Re: MLB 11 The Show "Franchise/Season" Progress Thread

So, now I'm 23-5.

Lost game Two to the Mets, 2-1. First lost series of the season. Lee went 8 and a third, let up 2 earned on 7 hits and struck out 4.

Won the Finale, at a price, 8-2. Podsednik hit a pinch hit RBI double in the 7th to give us the 3-2 lead, then Marco Scutaro hit a 2-run double to make it 5-2. Victorino hit a 2-run Ground-rule Double in the 8th to seal the deal. Oswalt went 7, gave up 7 hits and 2 runs and struck out 7. 777. Should go to the slots.

Anyway, like I said, Price. Suffered my first major injury. Jimmy Rollins is gone about a month and a half with a broken arm. He'll be back in Mid to Late June.

So, I went out and made a minor trade. Sent a D-Level Shortstop and a B-Level Reliever to the Marlins for SS Osvaldo Martinez who will be my backup while Scutaro is my primary shortstop. Not too devastating, but it sucks nonetheless.

[fullmetal2405]

Re: MLB 11 The Show "Franchise/Season" Progress Thread

Looks good. I couldn't stick with the yanks either..too easy.
I am going with the cubs.
What sliders are you using?

My own, really I just play games and as I go through I change things as I see fit. The main thing I did was lower pitch speed to make it easier to read pitches.

[MarinersVsDodgers]

Re: MLB 11 The Show "Franchise/Season" Progress Thread

Oh Man, I'm notching my hitting difficulty back down to Veteran for analog. I'm playing with the Mariners and I've only scored one run in 5 games (CPU does the rest of the scoring for me). I have no problem with pitching it's just the Safeco effect (any team that visits hits well but not the M's). I made some offense-based moves so maybe that will pick things up.

[Alistair]

Re: MLB 11 The Show "Franchise/Season" Progress Thread

Just lost a 3-2 heartbreaker in 20 innings

[cardsleadtheway]

Re: MLB 11 The Show "Franchise/Season" Progress Thread

I'm in 11. I only got one complete season in last year. I've got Carpenter, Wainwright (on DL) Garcia, Westbrook, Hawksworth, and now Hochevar as my starting rotation. My bullpen is the same as last year except Sam Freeman is my 2nd lefty, and Drew Storen has taken over as closer. I got him in the Holliday for Dunn trade. Dunn is now with Houston, and the Pirates splurged and took Berkman, who is leading the league in home runs.

I signed Rolen to play third, Mather and Craig split time in left field, and Brignac is at short. The other positions are like the real cards, except Ludwick is still in right. He's been a disappointment. His average is ok after a hot start, but he only has 1 home run. I need more power than that from the cleanup spot.

I remember that Holliday/Dunn deal. Dunn has been nothing short of amazing for me. He is about 10 dingers shy of the 500 mark now, while Pena is about 6 shy of 400. Is Storen holding down the fort in the closer role? I am starting to think that just about anyone can do the job there, which means I am on the fence as to whether I should exercise Bailey's $8 mil option. I probably will, as he is a 4 time all star for us, but he is also having his worst year of his career. At 8 blown saves already, which is probably more than the last 4 years combined, and an era above 6, I might look to replace him. I guess it depends on the market and my budget after re-signing the rest of the crew. I have Fuentes, which the CPU never uses when I sim, but is lights out when I use him. He is old though, so I can't expect him to last much longer and I don't know how he will fair in sims. Maybe I will slip him into that role since I already have a huge lead over the rest of the West.

How is Rasmus doing for you? He ended up being one of the "holdouts" in my last off season, so I may be able to pick him up on a cheap one year contract and not lose a draft pick if no other teams goes after him. I have put together my "vulture" strategy where I sign these guys that spend a year in free agency. It seems to be hit and miss so far, but the reward is much higher than the risk since the risk is very nominal. Tulo has been amazing, which means I will try to sign him to at least a 6 year deal. Greinke has been far from stellar and Soria has been pretty meh. I also picked up Nomar Garciaparra and put him in AA. I guess the roster makers zeroed out all his attributes, but he never retired, which is why I never noticed him before. I upped his attributes back to where they were on default minus 10 to everything. He is basically holding his own at the AA level but should finally retire at the end of the season.

I have been a staunch believer in the play every game method, but I am now on board with the one game a series method. I get to play roughly three season for the price of one and I still have some control of my players. I usually pick whatever pitcher I want in each series or which matchup looks the most interesting. Certain players will also perform better for the CPU than when I use them and vice versa. Pena was mvp last year and that definitely doesn't happen if I am using him the whole year. He hit 50 home runs and I only hit 40 with him one time. I can bat over .330 with Dunn, but the cpu will end up dropping his average down to the .270 mark. I can't pitch with Mazarro to save my life, but the CPU has managed to drop his era to the 3.00 or under arena. Lots of other players like that as well. Hopefully by playing this way, I can get to see some of my prospects and draftees take over the game and watch the old vets ride out into the sunrise.

[cardsfan2222]

Re: MLB 11 The Show "Franchise/Season" Progress Thread

I'm not so sure anyone can close. Franklin did horrible there last year, but he still got a 3 years at 4 mil per. Storen has been better than expected so far. He has 8 saves, but should have 11. The game doesn't recognize a 3 run save in extra innings apparently. He's only blown 1 save so far. I just had to put McClellan on the DL, so I'm giving Eduardo Sanchez a chance to see if he can pitch like his real life self.

Rasmus is very inconsistent. He was hitting .360 and leading the team in RBI's, now he's down below .280 and failing in RBI situations. He can hit long home runs when he really connects though. Dunn didn't do anything for me, but is doing great for Houston, at least power wise.

I've always hated simming, but I've been doing it alot more this season. I play 1 or 2 games per series, depending on the matchups. Garcia doesn't sim well, so I have to try and pick up a few more games with him. I'm still behind where I would like to be in the season, but having 2 kids under 2 doesn't give me a lot of time to get in extra games.

[cardsleadtheway]

Re: MLB 11 The Show "Franchise/Season" Progress Thread

I doubt I will take Rasmus, as I already have a young CF that I have been developing since I drafted him. He isn't as fast, or as good of a defender as I would like, but can get to the ball and steals well (for me, the CPU never steals with him despite having nearly maxed out base running. It must be due to the average speed rating) and has pretty good pop. Plus I just re-signed him to a 4 year contract to bypass arbitration.

Closers do seem to be overpaid in the game. Maybe I just have to bite the bullet and pay up like the rest of the teams have to do. I hear you on simming. I don't have any kids yet, but one might come later next year. I figure that will put an indefinite hold on my gaming, so I had better get it all in while I can.

By the way, how much is a top 5 young catcher worth? Suzuki's contract is up and I have to decide whether I can re-sign him or if I need to vulture another "holdout" like Weiters for a season and go from there. I don't really have anyone lined up to replace Suzuki since I sent that guy to Seattle in the Lee trade.

[haiuguyz]

Re: MLB 11 The Show "Franchise/Season" Progress Thread

Just started a franchise with the Mariners. I made two blockbuster trades that proved to be worth it. I traded Ichiro, Justin Smoak, and an A potential SP for Adrian Gonzalez. Then, I traded Felix Hernandez for David Price and Jeremy Hellickson.

Simmed out the first season like always. I went 84-78, and although I didn't make the playoffs, I still was very happy. Gonzalez won MVP, and Price won Cy Young (with Felix very close), so both trades worked in my favor.

[cardsfan2222]

Re: MLB 11 The Show "Franchise/Season" Progress Thread

I was surprised that the first kid didn't affect my gaming all that much. The second is only a month old, but just the overall tiredness of having 2 kids, plus finding time to spend with the wife has left me with less time to squeeze in extra games.

I'm not sure what catchers are worth on this game. Molina is due to be a free agent after this season, so I have to decide whether to keep him. He has a great arm, but teams so rarely steal against me that it goes to waste. Matt Pagnozzi did great when Molina got hurt last year, so I probably won't go too high trying to bring back Molina. Right now Jose is hitting better for me than Yadi anyway.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 11 The Show "Franchise/Season" Progress Thread

I have a love/hate relationship with this game. Love it for all that it does, hate it when players get injured lol

Lost Daniel Descalso(who was my everyday SS because Theriot is terrible) just tore his achilles tendon and is done for the year.

I am now in the market for a SS...Punto and Theriot aren't going to cut it and I don't wanna did into minors because well...I don't think thats the answer right now.

[cardsleadtheway]

Re: MLB 11 The Show "Franchise/Season" Progress Thread

I hear you about catchers. Their value doesn't translate well with the show. If they can hit, the rest of the attributes are not that important. Victor Martinez is the best catcher in my franchise, so that should tell you something. I could have just kept Jake Fox and probably put up 30+ home runs and been able to keep him at less than $1mil per year. Anyway, I will probably just offer arbitration to Suzuki and try to get him to sign at around $8 per year. He has one all star appearance so far and is finishing up his $4mil per year contract I signed him to previously. If he doesn't take that, I will see what else is out there.

[IAHawks1903]

Re: MLB 11 The Show "Franchise/Season" Progress Thread

Are the Red Sox beyond amazing in anybody else's franchise? I just entered September, and they already have 98 wins.

[ckarlic]

Re: MLB 11 The Show "Franchise/Season" Progress Thread

I have a love/hate relationship with this game. Love it for all that it does, hate it when players get injured lol

Lost Daniel Descalso(who was my everyday SS because Theriot is terrible) just tore his achilles tendon and is done for the year.

I am now in the market for a SS...Punto and Theriot aren't going to cut it and I don't wanna did into minors because well...I don't think thats the answer right now.

Have u made any adjustments to the injury slider? I have mine at default (5) and was just curious to what u have yours set at.

[BenGerman]

Re: MLB 11 The Show "Franchise/Season" Progress Thread

I am now 2-3 with the Phillies, after finally breaking out for some runs in a 9-3 victory of the Mets and RA Dickey (who I have never been able to hit). Howard has 3 HR's early in the season, Polanco is hitting .385, and Brian Schneider won MVP with a 3-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI game.

[countryboy]

Re: MLB 11 The Show "Franchise/Season" Progress Thread

Have u made any adjustments to the injury slider? I have mine at default (5) and was just curious to what u have yours set at.

injury at default.