OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

**KBLover** · 06-12-2018, 07:40 PM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Originally posted by WaitTilNextYear

Hmm, interesting. I'm not seeing how James Larson is a 75 FV with basically a short reliever profile. His 3rd pitch would need to be much better (and he'd probably need a 4-seamer or sinker) to really be a top starting pitcher, no?

Either of those would help a lot, but if he can get both to 70 or 80, he'll have 75 stuff with 50+ movement and control. That's basically Juan Chairez or one notch below Ohtani in ratings (OOTP seems to agree with the 75 POT rating on him).

Depends on how much OOTP would penalize in sims if he is basically a two-pitch pitcher with that 3rd as a "show me" at best.

I know he needs 3 to "be a starter" in the game's eyes and he, technically, has three.

But I would love for him to get another fastball or breaking ball, definitely.

**WaitTilNextYear** · 06-13-2018, 06:08 PM

Carolina Knights

A feeling of deja vu washed over the baseball world as MLB, the flagship baseball league on planet Earth, expanded to add two additional teams for the 2018 season. The NL receives a Carolina Knights franchise based in Charlotte, NC. The Knights will play their home games at Roy Hobbs Field and compete in the NL East Division. The AL added a reboot of the Montreal Expos, obviously based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Playing in the AL East Division, this iteration of les Expos will call newly constructed Labatt Park home.

Beautiful Roy Hobbs Field, home of the Carolina Knights
Capacity: 42,300 | LF line: 316 | LF: 343 | LCF: 383 | CF: 421 | RCF: 395 | RF: 355 | RF line: 324 | 18 FT RF wall

Picturesque Labatt Park, home of the Montreal Expos
Capacity: 44,287 | LF line: 325 | LF: 354 | LCF: 380 | CF: 400 | RCF: 380 | RF: 356 | RF line: 330 | 8 FT wall

Taking the helm for the Knights is longtime baseball man Bobby Cox. The septuagenarian will assume both manager and GM duties. Cox's first task was putting together a coaching staff. The highlights are new bench coach Renan Sato who has zero experience, team trainer Rick Jameyson (that's right, I'm Rick Jameyson *****!) who is a literal wizard, and scouting director Al Bridges who is also at least a warlock. Bridges should help the organization bring in quality players and Jameyson should make sure they stay on the field.

Jameyson has 24 years of experience and his trainer focus is "prevention" (duh) and has "LEGENDARY" prevent arm injuries, "outstanding" prevent leg injury and fatigue recovery, "excellent" heal arms/heal back/prevent back injury. He's rated "great" at everything else.

Bridges has 30 years of experience and his scouting focus is "heavily favor ability." He's an "outstanding" major league scout and merely "excellent" at everything else.

With a coaching staff assembled, the Knights turned their attention toward building an inaugural roster for the 2018 season. Carolina picked 35 players in the expansion draft, then raided the waiver wire so much that Blackbeard would be envious, and also make a few trades right off the top.

Expansion Draft Picks

Spoiler

With just 35 players in the entire organization, the team made a host of waiver claims as well.

Preseason Waiver Claims

Spoiler

Some of the players acquired via expansion draft were never meant to don a Carolina Knight jersey; the Knights churned the roster a bit while connecting on 3 trades with the Dodgers and White Sox (using 3 of their allotted 5 deals for 2018).

Preseason Trades

Spoiler

After the dust settled with the roster moves, lineups and rotations were locked and loaded.

Financially, the team is looking pretty good with the lowest payroll in the league ($37.044M). Only 9 players are making $1M+: Patrick Corbin ($7.5M), Jose Iglesias ($6.3M), Logan Morrison ($5.5M), Kevin Pillar ($3.3M), Sandy Leon ($1.9M), Trevor Cahill ($1.5M) Chris Hermann ($1.3M), Stephen Drew ($1.0M), and Conor Gillaspie ($1.0M). Well, technically Jose Abreu ($13M) and Joakim Soria ($9M) are also making at least 7 figures, but Carolina isn't responsible for that money. There is no guaranteed money on the books next season either, but the team will probably approach Abreu pretty quickly about a contract extension.

Carolina will play its first game in franchise history at home vs Max Scherzer and the Nationals at 7:05 PM EST on 3/29/18. PLAY BALL!

**KBLover** · 06-14-2018, 04:47 PM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

2030 All-Star Break Report

It's been the tale of two...quarters?

April and May saw the Angels fly out of the gate playing well over .700 ball through the end of May. Since then, the Angels have been essentially .500, knocking the lofty win rate down significantly.

In practical terms, however, it's done little to slow the Angels march to another division title. The Angels were beaten by many of the other AL contenders during one dark stretch that saw the Angels lose nine in a row, with the lowlight being a 22-9 drubbing at the hands of the Twins.

Moulin's now hatred of the shift combined with the emphasis on infield defense has gotten Tim Mavity and Shinji Mukai back on track. Both are pitching much more like the young studs they appear to be. It's also gotten Max Alba going, so much so that he's become the de facto bullpen ace. Moulin has rewarded the sinkerball-knuckleball pitcher the most innings in the bullpen, including some long-duration saves and other game finishes.

The rest of the rotation has been solid as well. Ohtani suffered another moderate duration injury but otherwise remains dependable. Kahng and Murayama have lived up to the billing so far.

The one dark spot is Jim Lenhart, who might be playing his way off the mound. This isn't the first time his two-way dreams have been endangered. From 2023 to 2025, Lenhart was barely decent on the mound, raising thoughts that he might move exclusively to the outfield. Those murmurs have resurfaced.

The bullpen? Hard to know what do with the lot of them. Chairez and Bedrosian might be feeling the effects of age as both are in the upper 30's. The rest of the crew, sans Alba, has just been plain inconsistent. Moulin may well do a mass clean out if things don't improve soon.

Offensively, it's decent enough, though consistency is an issue here, too. Trout might not be liking leading off after all if his batting average is any indication...or perhaps Father Time is winning the battle at long last?

Dominic Hutchinson still being a large part of the offense is a concern because he's refusing to sign an extension. Whether this is a negotiation ploy or the beginning of the end of his time as an Angel is uncertain. The Angels will pull some negotiation tactics of their own by putting Hutchinson on the trade block as the trading deadline approaches.

The surprise has been Masamichi Kamai. The young shortstop has been effective at the plate and completely ridiculous in the field. At the plate, he's posting a .298/.341/.388 line - nothing fancy but it will do. In the field? How about 21 ZR already? His 1.173 defensive efficiency rating is 5th in the MLB, and first among non-catchers. His 21.6 Zone Rating dwarfs anyone else in the league. Second place has 10.6 ZR.

"The kid gets to everything. And you'd think someone trying so many difficult gets and throws would be charged with more errors, but nope. He still makes all the plays without making mistakes even on the tough ones, " Moulin commented.

Kamai's overall scout grade hasn't moved yet, perhaps waiting for more sample size, but his fielding tools had been 70-80 for some time now, and it looks like the scouts weren't wrong, and Kamai may have actually improved.

On the farm, 1B Rogelio Trujillo, ranked #58, is turning heads after beating AAA pitching to the tune of a .362/.409/.699 line in 176 PA thus far. His bat-to-ball skills have suddenly blossomed, and it's showing a payoff on the field.

Also turning heads is SP Tim McDonald (#150). McDonald does two things well: throws baseballs very hard, and throws baseballs multiple ways. McDonald has six pitches, four of which are solidly major league quality. Five if you're willing to count his fringe knuckle curve. The change up is still a mystery to him, but what he has brings him many strikeouts, 115 of them in 95 innings. Scouts, as might be expected, are very conflicted on McDonald. Some say he can be at least an average major leaguer. Others think he will be a relief pitcher at best and just yet another hard-thrower that never refined his stuff.

**WaitTilNextYear** · 06-15-2018, 05:38 PM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Mike Trout finally slowing down? Looking a little bit mortal.

**KBLover** · 06-15-2018, 07:08 PM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Originally posted by WaitTilNextYear

Mike Trout finally slowing down? Looking a little bit mortal.

Seems like it. His ratings are starting to slip a bit as well. I hope it's a slow decline so he can at least be useful as a starter until his contract runs out and then maybe, like Kershaw, he'll take token contracts to hang around the guys for a few years.

And Chairez will be an albatross contract. He collapsed this year. So unless he can pull a Kershaw and learn to pitch with lower stuff, that's gonna be dead weight on the books.

**KBLover** · 06-16-2018, 05:16 PM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

The Angels may be getting hot at the right time as they ran off a 23-8 end to the season.

The starting pitching and the defense set the foundation of the team for much of the season. Then the offense came alive again to take full advantage.

Of course, one of the leaders of that offense may well be playing his final games as an Angel. Contract progress with Dominic Hutchinson has been non-existent and it would take a dramatic shift to see an agreement be made.

Outside of Hutchinson, there's Takai and his power bat. He was one of the few that had no real up-and-down aspect to his performance, at least in the home run department. There's also Yousuke Takada, who came out of nowhere with 31 home runs, much above any previous career high. Takada also hit for the cycle once this year. It's not sure where this power came from or if it will last.

It's not often Mike Trout has one of the lowest batting averages on the team, but he still has his .400 OBP. This is the 16th consecutive season that Trout has posted a .400 or better OBP, and not many hitters can call a 128 OPS+ as a career worst season.

Not listed in the lineup is Steve Belfiore as he's still on the DL of a little while longer. Belfiore's second season was as successful as his first. He continues to flourish under Moulin's approach to the game. His defensive numbers were solid, +9.9 ZR, likely held back by his own teammate, SS Masamichi Kamai and his insane +27.6 ZR.

"So he's stealing my plays, that's what you're telling me?" Belfiore joked when told of the defensive metrics, "I'm gonna have to learn the Japanese for 'I got it! Don't steal my play, dude!' "

The problem on defense for the Angels is when the ball is hit in the air. Hutchinson is above average but Trout and Lenhart are a touch below.

The other problem, and perhaps this is related, is the bullpen. The best performer in the bullpen was Josh Shreffler, picked up at the trading deadline. He gets ground outs, playing into the strength of the defense. He got 61% of his outs via the ground ball. That combined with his strikeouts (11 K/9) allowed him to post a 1.31 ERA as an Angel.

Alba slowed down in the second half but continued to have the trust of Moulin and pitching coach Wally Whitehurst. Alba racked up 115 innings in relief, posting a respectable 132 ERA+ in the process. Another commonality with Shreffler? Alba is a ground ball pitcher.

The rest of the bullpen is a whole lot of who-the-heck-knows. Not any of the remaining arms has inspired confidence that they can perform, no matter the role. If it wasn't for Alba and Shreffler, the Angels would have a significantly lower bullpen ranking.

This could be a concern since, in theory, the offense will have a harder time carrying the bullpen in the playoffs. The Angels were 18-21 in 1-run games during the regular season and 8-7 in extra inning games. Not terrible, but postseason promises harder competition. Some of those wins might not come as a result.

Juan Chairez and Kevin Ball did so poorly that Moulin will remove them from the playoff roster. Taking their places will be Eddie Harriston, as he continues his audition for what many think will be a rotation gig next season, and divisive prospect Tim McDonald. Both hurlers looked strong in their September cups of coffee this season.

**KBLover** · 06-16-2018, 07:15 PM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

The Angels came up short in the playoffs, falling to the Blue Jays in game seven of the ALCS.

The bullpen was an issue, unfortunately, as expected. This nearly led to the team's demise against the division rival A's in the ALCS, but the offense came through in the final game. They were not able to do so in the deciding ALCS match, losing a 3-2 heartbreaker.

Tim Mavity gave them team 7 strong innings but Luis Angel Medina coughed up the lead in the 8th and the Angels could only claw back one of the runs.

"It's disappointing, but it's just part of the game. We have to do better and get back on top, " Trout commented after the game.

Meanwhile, there could be more shake-ups as Moulin is likely getting a little tired of not another World Series victory after taking the league by storm in his first two seasons.

**canes21** · 06-19-2018, 09:32 AM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Alright, it's been a bit since I posted an update, but here it is. My Braves team has continued to surprise much like the real Braves. At the end of July the team is still sitting atop of the NL East.

Spoiler

After struggling for a couple of months, Markkis has really turned it around. He's gone from a .220 average all the way to a .297 at this point. Freeman and Inciarte continue to remain two of the top hitters in the league and the top of my lineup is punishing opposing pitching, but the bottom half is rather pedestrian so the offense as a whole isn't as good as it should be.

Spoiler

I've had some rather interesting trade proposals, I've even had crazier potential players offered to me. Kimbrel and Sale were both available for me to trade for. They were the two biggest names I got an email about them fitting into my wants and I could trade for them.

I have been tempted to make another move or two as the trade deadline is here, but this is year one and I need to remain patient and let the young faces mature and grow. I've made the pitching staff better. It isn't quite elite, but it is nice to have changed things up enough to where Foltynewicz is the 5 and not the 2 or 3. Carlos Rodon and Garrett Richards continue to make me look smart in trading for them. Richards has a 2.88 ERA through 56.1 IP with the team. Rodon has a 3.18 ERA in 79.1 IP with the team. What's nice is that even Teheran and Kazmir have sub 4 ERA's and Flty at the 5th spot has a 4.35 which at this point I'll take from a 5th man. Once Newcomb comes back I will have a nice problem of having too many arms that are producing.

The starters have the 3rd best ERA in the NL, but the bullpen has been even better, They have the 2nd best ERA in the NL and they've continued to surprise me. It seems no matter who I put in there they excel.

The most recent trade I made brought Martin Prado back to the Bravos. He's regressed a bit and sn't quite the player he used to be, but he is still a good hitter(batting .303 on the year) who can offer me some good defense at 3rd and if needed can play all over, though not quite as well as he used to. I had been struggling to find anyone that could come in behind Camargo and not be an automatic out at the plate. Rio Ruiz wasn't cutting it and anyone else that rotated up in the league failed as well. I am hoping Prado can provide some stability there. He also was worth just getting Anibal Sanchez off of the roster. Sanchez was getting nicked up constantly and when healthy he was wanting to be in the rotation and was constantly unhappy and I felt I got an email from him every few weeks. It's July and he was only able to get 6 appearances. I've got enough young arms in the rotation and the pen to where I just don't need him nor him negativity. Prado brings much more value to the team at the moment.

I also was able to get Raisel Iglesias from the Reds to add more quality to my bullpen that was already playing well. The reds retained 50% of his contract $4,500,000, and in return I sent them 3 prospects, all 23 years old oddly enough. All 3 prospects are 20/25 according to my scouting department. The Reds must see something in them I don't. I'll have to keep them shortlisted and see if they do indeed exceed what my organization saw in them or if I just outright won this trade. Iglesias himself is 28 years old and a well round arm coming out of the bullpen.

Spoiler

Overall, the team feels ahead of schedule. I don't know what to expect this year to be honest. I believe there is no reason the team shouldn't be able to remain atop of the division. I think the offense has under-performed as a whole and it'd be nice to see them turn it on for the rest of the year, but at the same time it does seem my pitching has been maybe better than it should be, so hopefully they are actually this good and don't "come back down to Earth".

I'm really excited to see what happens. I've still got so many young, talented guys that will be coming up in the next couple of years to go along with a relatively young team. Once my position guys start coming up my guys like Richards and Rodon should be right at the top of their game and some of my younger arms should be ready as well. It's fun to think about the potential of the organization in a couple of years. For now I am just going to enjoy this season, though. The future isn't guaranteed and as nice as it looks now, a lot of guys might not pan out and it'll be another challenge to try and keep the momentum going forward.

**canes21** · 06-19-2018, 08:59 PM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

My team lost the next 7 games after I made that update....

**KBLover** · 06-19-2018, 10:31 PM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

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Offseason Transactions Overview

Notable Free Agent Signings
Red Sox: OF Dominic Hutchinson, $31.3 million for 7 years.
Indians: SS Cade Doughty, $20.7 million for 6 years.
Giants: OF Michael Conforto, $17.5 million for 3 years.
Brewers: SS A.J. Remus, $24 million for 5 years.
Rockies: P Ryujiro Kino****a, $19.8 million for 5 years. (vesting) (NPB)
Giants: P Devin McPhearson, $18.8 million for 4 years.
Cubs: C Torajiro Okamoto, $24.4 million for 7 years. (player) (NPB)
Rangers: 3B Kris Bryant, $22.2 million for 2 years (vesting)
Giants: SS Rece Hinds, $24.5 million for 7 years
Rangers: P Jhonny Valdez, $23.6 million for 5 years
Dodgers: RF Bryce Harper, $24 million for 3 years

Angels Free Agent Signings
P Shunzo Nishino: $8.5 million for 4 years. (NPB)
P Carlos Jose Romero: $7.25 million for 4 years.

Extensions Signed
Twins: SS Royce Lewis, $152 million over 6 years. (vesting)
Angles: P Tim Mavity, $127 million over 7 years.

Angels Award Winners
SS Masamichi Kamai, 3B Steve Belfiore win the Gold Glove.

1B Toshikuni Sakai, 2B Yousuke Takada, CF Dominic Hutchinson win Silver Slugger.

Andy Moulin wins AL Manager of the Year.

P Tim Mavity wins AL Cy Young.

Major Trades
Royals trade P Steve Harrison and SS Belchyor Casquinha to the Phillies for RF Josh Shuler.

The Royals pick up a solid right fielder in Shuler, a decent, well-rounded bat and defender. But parting with a young strong arm like Harrison had to be tough. Harrison’s ready to be tested at the majors at only 22 years old, and possibly will replace Shreffler, who was dealt to the Angels last season.

Diamondbacks trade SS Derrick Cherry and P Juan Arenas to O’s for P Alan Lloyd and P Steve Ellis.

Cherry gets shipped to another team and brings the D-backs an underachieving current pitcher in Lloyd and a potential sleeper in Ellis.

Cardinals trade RF Chris Greenman, RF Juan Zamora to Cubs for LF Josh Pyle, P Jake Sorenson.

Sorenson is a very nice young arm. For whatever reason, he’s not had experience at the high minors, but he appears ready, posting a low-2’s ERA in High-A. Scouts are a little concerned about his command, but think his raw whiff ability and ability to miss barrels is good enough to be serviceable at the major league level. Greenman and Pyle seem like an even swap of outfielders. So perhaps a change of scenery will help both players.

Rule 5 Draft
Round 1 – CF Setsuo Yokota

Round 2 – No selection

Angels losses:
No players were selected.

Other Angels Moves
Offered qualifying offer to Dominic Hutchinson. (rejected and became free agent)
P Josh Shreffler exercised his player option.
P Juan Chairez refused minor league assignment and was given an outright release.
P Juan Rocha was removed from the 40-man roster.

**WaitTilNextYear** · 06-19-2018, 10:47 PM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

A big loss of Hutchinson there. Also, Chairez was one of your dudes for a while. But, you picked up a Japanese pitcher and a Japanese position player in the Rule 5 draft, so all is well.

Conforto, Bryant, Harper--some of the "old timers" just hanging on.

**KBLover** · 06-20-2018, 02:09 AM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Originally posted by WaitTilNextYear

A big loss of Hutchinson there. Also, Chairez was one of your dudes for a while. But, you picked up a Japanese pitcher and a Japanese position player in the Rule 5 draft, so all is well.

Conforto, Bryant, Harper--some of the "old timers" just hanging on.

Hutchinson might hurt, yeah. Back to a void in CF but I'm thinking we'll just go moar defense. I think we'll be fine overall.

Maybe we can get three Gold Glovers.

Chairez just fell apart. As far as I can tell, no one picked him up.

The Rule 5 guy doesn't figure to be anything but depth. The pitcher is a reliever - hopefully change up the bullpen a bit and making it have more depth.

Harper getting $24 mil a year - he's certainly hanging on

He's 25 away from 600 HR I believe.

Moulin's reputation just shot up to Legendary from Average like what the flip.

**KBLover** · 06-20-2018, 03:55 AM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

BNN is telling a different story for each league with its predictions. For the NL, the writers and analysts think that the league is either one big ball of mediocrity or a collection of evenly matched teams. In the AL, the consensus is that it is a very top-heavy league.

At the top of that heap remains the Angels. However, BNN thinks the Blue Jays will contest that crown. The Angels are expected to win 105 games with the Blue Jays at 101. They, along with the White Sox at 96 wins, are thought to be head and shoulders above the rest of the peasants in the AL.

For the Angels, defense is the watch word again this season. Last season, the defense was as even better than hoped with Kamai leading the way with 27 runs saved the average shortstop. This year, Kamai and Belfiore return to the left side of the infield, a pair of Gold Glovers.

The outfield defense should be much improved. Kuwata, an international free agency signing four seasons ago, will play center field. The 21-year-old has no hope of filling Hutchinson's shoes offensively, but he should be better defensively as he gains experience.

Left field will see a new face in the person of Xadreque Sobreiro. He will, at least for now, take control of left field, and his glove should be strong. At the plate, he has a different game than Jim Lenhart - relying more on on-base percentage and doing damage on the bases.

Lenhart will still be a two-way player, but we'll have to play his way into playing time after scouts soured on his ability to hit for average. They were not thrilled with his spring performance offensively.

The middle of the order is stable. Sakai/Trout/Takada should be a potent combo once again. Another new face follows them, Rogelio Trujillo, who will make his rookie major league campaign after destroying every minor league level he ever visited.

On the mound, the starting rotation is largely the same. The new face is Eddie Harriston, who will break camp with the team for the first time. Jim Lenhart edged out flamethrower Tim McDonald for the time being to remain in the rotation as #6 starter.

Ohtani's time as the best Angels starter might be coming to an end as scouts are noticing some negative impacts of aging. As he stands, he's still the #1 starter will make another Opening Day start.

The bullpen got a new look. They are, except for Max Alba, strikeout artists, at least on paper. New arrival Nishino and Romero bough fit that mold and Tim McDonald could find himself here until a rotation spot opens.

The team's farm ranking fell as Kahng came off the list. Trujillo may well come off along with Tim McDonald if he breaks through. This will push the ranking back down towards the bottom, but because of another influx of young talent has arrived and is no longer a part of the farm.

The team's top prospect is P James Larson (#56), an arm scouts are more divided on with his future than they were last season.

**WaitTilNextYear** · 06-21-2018, 06:57 PM

April 2018 Update

Code:

Team Record: 14-17
Position: 5th place NL East (6 GB)
Team MVP so far: [B]Max Kepler[/B], .262/.390/.500 | 5 HR | 16 RBI
Team Cy Young so far: [B]Trevor Cahill[/B], 2-1 | 2.88 ERA | 1.14 WHIP | 34.1 IP

It's been a bunch of firsts so far this spring for the Carolina Knights. The club's first win came on Opening Day against the Nationals as Mike Clevinger outpitched Max Scherzer. The team's first homer was hit by Chris Herrmann in the 6th inning off of Scherzer; Jose Iglesias made it back-to-back jacks and I'll bet most franchises can't say that. The first hit in franchise history belongs to Max Kepler--a 2nd inning triple on Opening Day. The first loss in franchise history came 2 days later against the same Nats. The first name "Max" seems to have played an outsized role in Carolina's infancy.

Overall the team has been pretty light hitting [.223/.309/.365] with the 2nd worst OPS in the National League. The steadiest position players have been RF Max Kepler and SS Jose Iglesias--both are on the cusp of 1 WAR already. Nominal starting first baseman Jose Abreu suffered through a pretty epic April slump. On April 14th, he was the toast of the town with a .321/.410/.585 triple slash line, but he went 0/20 immediately afterward. At the end of April, Abreu was sporting a really sad .212/.322/.384 line. Good thing the White Sox are still the ones paying him.

The starting pitching has been pretty rough as well [5.31 ERA] and dealing with injuries. Preseason trade acquisition Ross Stripling was thought to be a stabilizing, mid-rotation option. But, he's made only 2 starts and left both of them with injuries. The first exit was due to a sore shoulder and the most recent exit turned out to be a torn rotator cuff in the same shoulder. Stripling is probably done-zo for the season after a grand total of 4.2 IP and 77 pitches thrown.

Carolina #1 starter Mike Clevinger missed a good chunk of April on the DL, too. He left his start on April 9th against the Padres with a "mild shoulder strain." Fortunately, Clevinger returned on 4/26 against the Giants and threw 106 pitches with no discomfort. Joakim Soria, acquired from the White Sox in a preseason deal, has been out since 4/18 with a sprained elbow.

Looking around the league, the Yankees, Indians, Mariners, Phillies, Reds, and Dodgers hold early division leads. One of these things is not like the others...the Reds? An epic month by Joey Votto [.381/.529/.781, on pace for 13 WAR] is largely responsible for Cincinnati's surprising start. The new look Expos are holding their own in the AL East so far. They've been propped up by fast starts from Jabari Blash [.284/.394/.716 | 11 HR], Collin McHugh [3-1 | 2.47 ERA | 1.05 WHIP], and Dellin Betances [8 SV | 0.82 ERA | 15.5 K/9]. Hey, some of those names sound awfully familiar...

**KBLover** · 06-22-2018, 09:32 AM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Angels 2031 All-Star Break Report

The Angels are finding a way.

It's not been pretty. Or wonderful. Or consistent.

It's been reliant on a hot hitter in Sakai and that's pretty scary. Not because Sakai isn't an excellent hitter...but he hit 15 home runs in May. He's not going to hit 15 HR in a month often...right? What happens when he doesn't?

Mike Trout has been, no other way to say it, awful. Terrible batting average, mediocre wOBA, can't stay healthy - it's been an awful first half. The team really needs Trout to step up, and it's not often...if ever...that has been said in his career.

Angels are 4th in runs but where those runs are coming from is something of a mystery. OBP and HR are not exactly high ranking. Is it the stolen bases? Is it Moulin's aggressiveness working magic? It's certainly not the doubles, triples, or walks.

Defensively, depending on the metric you want to use, the Angels have either been mildly disappointing or very stout as expected.

Defensive efficiency has the Angels pretty much middle of the AL road. BABIP allowed puts the Angels 2nd in the AL, which is interesting why there's a difference since the two metrics are inverse to each other. Then, there's ZR...which has the Angels the best in all of baseball with 29.4 runs saved above average, which is 51 runs better than the league average of -22 runs.

Kamai is doing his thing at shortstop with a +14 ZR there. Belfiore hasn't been quite as strong as last season, coming in with +3 ZR. Kuwata has been disappointing with just a +3 ZR in center field despite what many think is Gold Glove level defense.

On the mound, injuries have been the biggest issue. Ohtani is fading and this latest injury isn't going to help any while Murayama is out for the foreseeable future with treatments related to his torn rotator cuff.

Of the pitchers that have managed to stay healthy, Mukai is the most steady. Last year's Cy Young winner, Tim Mavity, has been up-and-down again to this point. They could use him to find that consistency again. Jim Lenhart is doing a solid job as a Kahng, so that's definitely helped. Harriston and McDonald haven't been bad, but, Harriston especially, mildly disappointing.

The Angels traded RF James Duffy to the Rays for P Esteban Bonilla, and the Angels had him as a starter even though he's thought to be a reliever. Bonilla fared well, though going just five innings in two of his three attempts and six in the other. He was very strong, however, posting a 1.69 ERA in those three starts. Bonilla has been moved back to the bullpen for the time being as Tim McDonald is getting his chance in the rotation.

Overall, the AL is playing out a lot like BNN expected. Angels on top with the Jays pushing very hard. The Angels might need to make a deadline move to try to stabilize things if a sensible move comes along. It will certainly be tempting.

OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

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