OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

**notsobabybombers** · 07-14-2018, 06:53 AM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Figured I'd share that, Mike Trout just had the best OOTP season I've ever seen. 2018: 64 HR, .349 average, 130 RBI, 12.9 WAR, which I believe is the second highest of all time behind Babe Ruth. Unanimous MVP winner.

**KBLover** · 07-14-2018, 08:56 AM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

I don't think my Trout ever had a season like that (he's had some 10 WAR ones) - that's incredible.

I don't know if there's any "records by age" but at 40, mine is having a strong first half...and his ratings are dropping very slowly.

**notsobabybombers** · 07-14-2018, 10:48 AM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Originally posted by KBLover

I don't think my Trout ever had a season like that (he's had some 10 WAR ones) - that's incredible.

I don't know if there's any "records by age" but at 40, mine is having a strong first half...and his ratings are dropping very slowly.

It's cool to see he's still producing when he's that old. In my experience, he gradually drops off.

------------

Rockies Disappoint in First Month of 2018

After a surprising run to the playoffs last year, the Rockies hope to continue that success in 2018. The team spent a lot of money to improve its notoriously bad bullpen. Otherwise, the Rockies stood pat, much to the chagrin of fans and analysts alike.

With one month in the books, the Rockies are right around where most expected them to be, if not worse. Colorado stands at 14-16, third in the NL West, five games back from the 18-10 Dodgers and 4.5 games behind second place Arizona (17-10.) San Francisco is right on the Rockies’ heels at 13-16. Meanwhile, San Diego is the worst team in baseball at 8-22. Colorado is 2.5 games out of the WC hunt.

Standings:

Spoiler

For Colorado, the pitching is still holding the team back. Injuries have made matters worse. Starters Kyle Freeland and Antonio Senzatela both went down and, from today, will miss about a month plus rehab. The bullpen, despite all the money flowed to it in the offseason, remains among the worst in baseball (13th ERA in NL.) Brian Shaw was playing well as our closer but he got hurt. He’s on a rehab assignment in AAA. Wade Davis has been solid but Ottavino, Dunn and Oberg have been bad.

The offense hasn’t been able to pick up the pitching. The Rockies rank just 7th in the NL in RS, 5th in average and 7th in OBP. They still hit dingers, though. (5th in NL.) The defense is terrible, too (12th in NL) which makes the pitching even worse.

Charlie Blackmon got off to a horrible start but he’s coming around. At least, he was till he went down with a concussion and was placed on the DL. Top OF prospect Raimel Tapia would have taken his place, but he got hurt in AAA and is out 2-3 months. Mike Tauchman got the call and now he’s starting and batting leadoff.

Top prospect Ryan McMahon made the opening day roster. He’s only batting .234 but he won NL Rookie of the month. Nolan Arenado is great (.322, 7 HR.) David Dahl is only batting .206 with 2 HRs, which is disappointing. LeMahieu is “only” batting .303 to start his contract year.

Gerardo Parra has been amazing with a .382 BA and a .500 Slugging percentage. Ianetta has been “meh” at catcher (.263) while Trevor Story’s play on the field (.239, 7 HR) doesn’t match his work off it (got the Rockies to start a charity.) Jordan Patterson and waiver claim Renato Nunez have been solid off the bench. Similarly, Ian Desmond is bating .305 off the bench as a utility guy. Somehow, Bud Black isn’t starting Car-Go, who’s batting .262.

It’s a long season, so hopefully Colorado can pick itself up before it’s too late.

**KBLover** · 07-16-2018, 10:38 AM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

All-Star Break Report

The first half sees the Angels about on the track that BNN had them on. If anything, the Angels have underperformed what BNN thought (.716 win pct).

As amazing has been the good health of the squad. When asked about it, Moulin could only shrug.

"I don't know. I guess it's our training staff. I wish it would carry over to our minor league levels. And I hope it continues as we head into the second half, " Moulin commented.

The bullpen has been insane this season, perhaps the work to improve it has finally paid off. Benno Hendricks didn't work out as he was the only black spot on the bullpen, and he's down to make room for the return of Murayama.

The rest of the bullpen arms have been phenomenal. Nishino has taken to the closer role nicely and Romero looks like a completely different pitcher from the unreliable arm he demonstrated last year.

Since Murayama's rotator cuff injury, the starting rotation has filled up, so he will work in the bullpen for the time being. Ohtani's rotation days are numbered, though he's still trying to hang on with a decent ERA. It's not out of the question that Ohtani and Murayama will swap spots, perhaps starting in September.

Mukai and Mavity are doing great at the top, though Mavity just had three horrible outings in a row to end the first half. Hopefully, that's not a sign of things to come for him. Rayol has been as advertised and is putting up a strong audition in his walk year. The Angels may not extend him as they might use the would-be open spot to promote another young arm from AAA.

Kahng's "better than his ratings" act might be coming to an end because scouts are finally warming up to him. Meanwhile, Harriston has basically been "Mavity II" at the bottom of the rotation: similar profile, similar performance.

On offense, the on-base percentage has been disappointing, and it's due largely to a few who are really doing terrible in that regard. Of course, Uselton, the continued black hole of offense is doing the stat no favors. Takada is doing surprisingly poorly in OBP, barely clinging to .300. Same for Sobreito at the top of the lineup - in both cases, the reason is a mystery.

Takai is doing a decent job in the HR department...though he would need to get hot to reach the 57 HR projected by BNN. Mike Trout continues to be amazing. He's on pace to threaten 40 HR and 5 WAR at age 40. He's also 8 HR away from #800 in his career.

The Angels made a trade to boost their farm. They sent 1B Trujillo to the Blue Jays for CF Tomita. This gives the Angels a much-needed good prospect and clears the way for Zaire McCline to get a real chance to play. McCline is pretty much the opposite of what manager Moulin likes, but so is Takai, and these days, Trout.

As the July deadline approaches, the Angels might be looking for a catcher, and they could go for an aggressive move to get a true top talent. Clearly, there's some pitching that could move, teams have expressed interest in Harriston and Kahng before.

**saintrules** · 07-16-2018, 11:16 AM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Little informal update on my 2018 Giants...

The last time I wrote we had that grueling 18 inning grind fest with Arizona, thankfully, coming away with the win. Greinke was slated to start for the DBacks in the second game of the series, and man did he deliver. The stud went seven, fanning five, and allowed nothing on nine hits. Johnny Cueto opposed Greinke, but he was worked early and often by the snakes who racked up seven earned runs on Cueto after just four inning of work. Our offense was rather silent and we fell by the wayside, 8-0.

The rubber match in the series was similar to game two, a solid chucker on the mound in Robbie Ray, and not a ton of offense to speak of from our sticks. To make matters worse, McCutchen was injured while diving for a ball midway through and is considered DtD until we know the extent of his injury. Ty Blach opposed Ray and through for six, allowing four. The DBacks lineup is no joke as Ownings, Pollock, and Goldschmidt, are a hefty load, even without Jake Lamb producing. Hunter Pence drove one out, but that was the extent of our scoring.

After losing two of three to the Backs and surrendering our first place lead, now tied, we took on the struggling Padres. The San Diego club was 5-8 heading into our series and we put a hurting on their record, taking all three games in the series. Chris Stratton, Tyler Beede, and Johnny Cueto, all put forth quality starts, holding San Diego to less than three ER's a game. The second game in the series featured extra innings, but we went off in the 10th with a four run top, closed out by Strickland who also earned the victory.

Following the series, I decided to call up one of our top prospects, CF, Steven Duggar. It was announced Andrew McCutchen would head to the DL for five weeks, so we needed to make an adjustment in the lineup. The 24 year old hit .261/.370/.413 in 46 AAA at-bats last year, and has snagged nine hits in 34 AB's this season in AA. I could have either used Gregor Blanco or Gorkys Hernandez in right, but I liked the thought of a 24 year old highly touted prospect to get the playing time. We will see how Duggar performs in the bottom of the lineup.

**notsobabybombers** · 07-17-2018, 07:19 AM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Rockies Round Into Shape With Strong May

A disappointing April left fans wondering if last year’s playoff berth was an anomaly rather than a sign of things to come. With a strong May, Colorado proved that it’s a talented ball club.

After May, the Rockies stand 30-26, third in the NL East behind the 35-21 Dodgers and the 32-22 Diamondbacks.

The offense seems to be getting into gear but a rough April still has them ranked 8th in the NL in RS. They’re up to 4th in BA and HR yet still 6th in OBP.

The pitching hasn’t gotten much better but there are bright spots. Jon Gray leads the staff at 6-2 with a 3.44 ERA. Reliever turned starter Chris Rusin (2-0, 2.35 ERA) is having a career year. He only has 4 starts, though, so it’s early to fairly evaluate him.

The team signed Anibal Sanchez to a minor league deal, and after playing well at AAA, he’s part of our rotation. Jeff Hoffman (3.80 ERA) and Tyler Anderson (4.31) have not been great.

Wade Davis has taken over the closer spot, even though Bryan Shaw is back from a DL trip and outperforming him (1.59 ERA compared to 3.33.) Jake McGee (4.55) Adam Ottavino (6.61) and Mike Dunn (7.62) have not lived up to their contracts. Scott Oberg’s ERA has steadily decreased but’s still 3.99.

Jairo Diaz joined the club after performing well at AAA and he’s got a 2.57 ERA.

Health wise, the club is rounding into shape, but struggling starter Chad Bettis (6.94 ERA) and outfielder Charlie Blackmon are hurt. Blackmon can’t stay healthy this year, he’s struggling on the field and he got a concussion earlier in the season before this latest injury.

Offensively, Mike Tauchmann (.333 BA in 19 games) continues to start and hit leadoff in Blackmon’s stead. Ryan McMahon won his second Rookie of the Month award in a row, and he recorded five hit game in May. (A feat duplicated by Trevor Story later in the month.) Dahl (.228) and Ianetta (.248) continue their mediocrity. Story’s BA is up to .240, Parra is still producing (.371) LeMahieu is up to .344, and Arenado is down to .297.

Desmond has been solid off the bench, Car-Go had a rough month, as his BA dropped by about 15 percentage points and the bench, overall, is a little thin.

Standings:

Spoiler

Mediocre June Shows Rockies Are Who We Thought They Were

After a strong May, it seemed that the Rockies were back to their 2017 selves. In other words, they looked like a playoff team again. A bad June, though, has the team reconsidering its plans for the rest of the season.

On July 1, the team stands at 39-44. They have dropped to fourth place in the NL West ( 11.5 games behind the Diamondbacks and Dodgers atop the division.) The Rockies are also 7 games out of a WC spot. That deficit isn’t insurmountable, but the team’s hopes for contention are on thin ice.

The offense has fallen to 11th in RS (but they’re still 4th in BA and HR.) They still can’t get on base (7th in NL.) The pitching stands 10th in RA with the 10th best starter’s ERA. The BP ERA has fallen to 14th, though.

The team signed Zach Putnam and Jason Motte in an attempt to fix the BP. Putnam recovering from a UCL tear, was sent to AAA but he just got hurt, again. His diagnosis is pending. Motte, having pitched in the independent leagues throughout the 2018 season, will join the big league club right away.

Chris Ianetta wasn’t having a good season as our starting catcher but, when he went down with a broken hand in June, the offense suffered. Tony Wolters and Tom Murphy have been mediocre.

Though Charlie Blackmon has returned, Mike Tauchman continues to produce, which is why he’s kept his starting spot as the leadoff hitter. (.318 average n 33 games.) Blackmon is rounding into shape (.247 average) after a horribly slow start.

David Dahl has been on fire; his average dropped to .203 in early May but he’s gotten it all the way up to .280. Arenado is still solid (.295, 15 HR) and Ryan McMahon is a fixture at 1B (.256, 13 HR.)

LeMahieu’s average has dropped to .329 but he’s still playing like a great 2B in his contract year. If the team decides to sell, which seems likely, he could get Colorado a good haul.

Story’s average is down to .218 but he’s still got some pop. Nunez and Desmond have still been solid off the bench but Desmond has struggled after a hot April?May.

Jon Gray had a hot start but his ERA has steadily climbed in recent weeks. Tyler Anderson remains inconsistent. (4.29 ERA.)

Wade Davis has settled in as the closer, which is especially good because Bryan Shaw’s ERA has climbed to 3.58. McGee, Dunn and Ottavino continue to disappoint. Ottavino could be on his way out if he doesn’t improve. Rusin has been solid, both as a starter and reliever, with a 3.07 ERA.)

The Rockies might have started their sale on the first day of the new month. Carlos Gonzalez, who had fallen out of favor with Bud Black, was confined to the bench. He was growing increasingly unhappy. Given his morale and his contract (FA after this year,) the Rockies shopped him. A few contenders wanted him, and the Nationals made the best offer. So, Car-Go’s days as a member of the Rockies are done; he was traded to Washington for Drew Ward, Taylor Gushue and Phillips Valdez. Just a year or two ago, Car-Go would have fetched a huge haul. But Colorado held onto him, and his value plummeted. Fans were upset to see the longtime Rocky go, and they were also upset for the mediocre return.

**WaitTilNextYear** · 07-22-2018, 12:22 AM

August 1 2018 Update

Code:

Overall Record: 55-58 
July Record: 12-16
Division: 4th place NL East (14 GB)
Wild Card: 8th place (4 GB)
Team MVP so far: [B]Max Kepler[/B], .295/.401/.523 | 18 HR | 66 RBI | 3.9 WAR
Team Cy Young so far: [B]Mike Clevinger[/B], 9-5 | 3.69 ERA | 1.30 WHIP | 127 IP | 1.2 WAR

This author predicted that these expansion Carolina Knights would play noticeably worse in July after an impressive June. That, indeed, was the case.

OFFENSE IS ONE WORD FOR IT

Max Kepler continued to be a rock in the Carolina lineup with a .284 batting average and .409 OBP in July, although his slugging pace weakened considerably. He was on a long homer-less drought from 6/21 until 7/21 and hit only a single homer in July. To be fair, his lone homer on 7/21 tied the game late off of Pedro Strop and paved the way for an 8-7 extra inning victory against the Cubs. Carolina went on to sweep the reeling Cubs.

July also saw Carolina and Kepler agree to a pre-arbitration extension at 6 years and $36MM total. These types of "lock up your best players early" deals have become more and more popular. With Kepler's nice ratings, torrid start, and his arbitration estimates ticking ever upward (he's on pace for 5.6 WAR this season), it seems like a resounding win for Carolina. Kepler would've been a "super 2" player in 2019 and due 4 full years of arbitration, estimated at $36MM total over those 4 years. Thus, in essence, Carolina paid that price and got 2 free agent years for free from the 25-year-old German outfielder. The risk is that Kepler doesn't perform up to those estimates, but at just $6MM/yr it's a most acceptable risk. His Twitter handle is kepleroni and you can't put a price on that.

As a bit of a footnote the Knights also inked SS Jose Iglesias to a modest 2-year extension at $10MM total. It's a bit of a pay cut for the 28-year-old on pace for 3.7 WAR this season. Seems like a good deal for the club, hanging onto its all-time franchise hit leader (119 at time of this writing).

This is the paragraph where I either rant or rave about 1B Jose Abreu. Unfortunately, it's a rant this time. Abreu was a total mess in July. The big Cuban batted just .202/.268/.313. So instead of "hitterish," he was "pitcherish." He's a big reason that Carolina's offense went from best in the NL in June to worst in the NL in July.

Carolina's best hitter in July was...Deven Marrero? Yep. A waiver claim from Arizona on 4/25 has taken the starting 2B position and run with it. Not only has he developed his position-specific defensive rating up to a lofty, Gold Glove-level 92, but this gloveman is batting .271/.346/.455 with 9 HR and 41 RBI in 77 games.

PITCHING WOES

The starting pitching has continued to be...lacking. The 5.38 ERA for this group ranks 2nd to last in the National League. Only the Milwaukee Brewers have been worse (6.08 ERA). The cast of characters has evolved somewhat, but the results have been quite consistent. Unfortunately. Mike Clevinger [5.40 ERA], Marco Gonzales [6.19 ERA], Chris Bassitt [4.73 ERA], and Clayton Richard [5.06 ERA] had a rough go of it in July.

Closer Joakim Soria finally cracked. Brought into the 8th inning of a 7-3 game against Colorado on 7/23, he gave up his first run of the season. Then, he gave up 3 more on a Nolan Arenado 3-run blast. Colorado went on to bludgeon Soria's replacement, Ryan Sherriff, for the 9-7 walk-off at Coors Field. Carolina was swept handily in this series as the pitching staff gave up 24 runs over 3 games.

FACES IN NEW PLACES

Carolina continues to absolutely own the waiver wire. Put a decent player on there and Carolina will take and stash. In July, Carolina grabbed C Curt Casali, INF Dilson Herrera, RHP Miles Mikolas, RHP Shawn Armstrong, RHP Preston Guilmet, LHP Tim Hill, UTIL Howie Kendrick, and RHP Tim Dillard. Although not a waiver claim, the club also added 17-year-old IFA shortstop Luis Torribio to a $1.73MM bonus. Scouting sez: "Torribio is a reliable hitter in the organization's grand scheme."

One name that isn't in the Carolina rotation anymore is Patrick Corbin. That's because he was the centerpiece of a big, 9-player trade in mid-July with the St. Louis Cardinals. The Knights weren't very active around the trading deadline (because the Corbin deal was the 5th of 5 allotted trades for 2018). Corbin [4-10, 4.55 ERA, 128.2 IP] was dealt along with LHP Scott Alexander, RHP Nick Goody, 1B Logan Morrison, and C Danny Jansen for OF Harrison Bader, INF Max Schrock, RHP Dakota Hudson, and RHP Connor Jones. Bader, with 142 days of MLB service time accrued, and Schrock were both sent immediately to AAA for "seasoning." Both are likely to open 2019 on the big league club. Hudson and Jones were assigned to AA Bangor.

From St. Louis' perspective, they added 4 pieces to their MLB club at an economical price. Carolina retained Morrison's entire 2018 salary, so the pro-rated amount of Corbin's $7.5MM are the only dollars absorbed by the Redbirds. The Cardinals have found themselves in the thick of a weird NL Central race. The Brewers are completely dead. The Cubs are somehow 9 games under .500 and on a 6-game losing streak. Pittsburgh is pacing the division at 58-55, followed by Cincinnati at 56-57 and St. Louis at 55-57. The Cardinals' starting staff has been in rough shape with both Alex Reyes and Michael Wacha out for most of the season. Their early season trade of Miles Mikolas to Toronto (Carolina has subsequently claimed Mikolas off waivers from Toronto) has not been helpful either. Thus, Corbin was deemed a good get for them.

From Carolina's perspective, they were close to extending Corbin to a deal somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 years at $10MM AAV. But, as is often the case Carolina negotiated a bit harder than Corbin would've liked so he broke off talks. With Corbin being eligible for free agency next season, the Knights had to get something for him. They identified Bader and Schrock as players they really liked and got the Cards to toss in a couple of pitching prospects that could end up in the rotation someday. Hudson and Jones represent the 1st and 2nd round draft picks for the Cardinals from their 2016 draft, respectively.

Even though Carolina wasn't very good in July, they are only 4 games off the pace for the 2nd wild card spot. It's looking like one of those years where a team with a meh record could make the playoffs. Maybe it'll be Carolina?

TEAM PAGE

Spoiler

STANDINGS

Spoiler

**KBLover** · 07-22-2018, 11:16 AM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Angels 2032 Report

It's hard to say the Angels "underperformed" with a straight face, considering they posted a .667 winning percentage, but they did come in under the lofty 116 wins BNN projected.

One thing BNN got right was the Angels pitching. It was incredibly consistent for most throughout the year.

The notable exception to that was Tim Mavity. He was looking like Cy Young and then had an eight-start stretch where he looked like he was a A-ball pitcher. A lot of that will be attributed to "bad luck", and his godawful BABIP allowed during that span would give some credence to that line of thinking. Fortunately, Mavity looked more like his usual self down the stretch.

The mystery that is Min-heui Kahng continued with the Korean pitcher posting a career best ERA of 2.35, Wins with 16, and WAR of 4.8...in under 150 innings. Each of these marks exceeded his career bests he set just last season.

The other mystery that is Tim McDonald didn't have such a glowing resolution. In another September stint, he continued to be very inconsistent, thanks to his deadly combo of giving up walks and home runs in bunches. Scouts are still in love with his insane fastball, but the rest is just not there. Some in the Angels organization wonder if it's time to let someone else try to get something out of him while interest in the young arm is still high from the other clubs.

Offensively, the Angels has become a pretty average team that has to work to achieve that level of production. This year was also a down year from a few usually-strong contributors, adding into the difficulty.

One that's forever contributing is Mike Trout. He hit his 800th home run on the last day of the 2032 season, capping off his 21st year as a major league player in style. Trout posted nearly 6 WAR in his age-40 season, reached .400 OBP for the 18th consecutive season, and scouts, and his production, insist that Trout will be back for more in his age-41 season.

Toshikuni Sakai saw his HR number dip back into the 40's, but he still had a productive season that racked up 6 WAR and and the highest OPS on the team at 1.036. His profile of being a .300 hitter with a ton of extra base hits remains true to form. Sakai's .405 batting average with a 1.247 OPS with runners in scoring position certainly helped the cause.

On the down side, there's Yousuke Takada. He had, by far, his worst season as a major league player last season. He batted just .233 and produced just 1.2 WAR in the campaign. Such a large drop could have just been "one of those years", but to see a usually reliable player collapse like this is concerning.

The other major disappointment is Xadreque Sobreiro. He had a struggle at the lead off spot for much of the year. He did a little better down the stretch, but it was still not what the team was hoping to get out of him. The other outfield options don't have Sobreiro's OBP-heavy profile, but he didn't produce much OBP so perhaps Moulin would be willing to make a switch next season.

On the farm, the team continues to see eye-popping results from Luis Guardado. He pretty much destroyed rookie league pitching in his first year as a professional, batting .388 with a .671 slugging percentage. The lanky Dominican didn't take many walks at all, preferring to be aggressive on any pitch he likes. One surprise is his triples. It was expected that Guardado would be a gap hitter, but his hustle was on display as he legged out seven triples despite grading out as purely below average on the bases.

One prospect flying under the radar is this year's 1st round pick Arturo Molina. The young catcher batted .310 in 123 PA, but the intriguing thing is that he's also a two-way player. This wasn't known at the draft and he only recently started, picking up just 6 starts. For now, the pitching isn't impressive, but scouts think there might be something there.

**saintrules** · 07-23-2018, 10:40 AM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

2018 Giants

Nearing the end of April & there are a certain couple of items worth noting:

Where do we stand?

At 15-10, first in the NL West, we've exceeded not just the league's expectations, but ours, as well. We're a game and a half up on the Dodgers who are 13-11, and two and a half up on Arizona who is even at 12-12. We've got a three game series coming up with LA that is going to either change our place, or extend our lead.

What has been working?

Pitching. Plain and simple, the majority of our rotation, but especially our pen, has been on fire. Since Melancon has returned from the DL and reclaimed the closer role, he has racked up four saves in 3.2 innings, fanned four, and has only surrendered one hit. Melancon, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. Hunter Strickland, Sam Dyson, and Cody Gearrin, have also been phenomenal, averaging a 2.60 ERA over 41.2 innings, racking up 12 holds and two saves. Chris Stratton, Tyler Beede, and Derek Holland, have also put up some great starts, especially Stratton. The righty is currently 5-1 through six starts, tossing 35.0 innings, and has averaged a 2.31 ERA. With Bumgarner still on the DL for another month, at the least, our rotation has been coming through big time. I'd like to see a couple of quality starts strung together by Cueto, who is currently 3-1 with a 5.73 ERA. We need him to be the leader, because I don't think Stratton is going to go another month like this.

The pitching sounds good, but what about those sticks?

Not fantastic, but manageable. Evan Longoria is honestly looking like his All-Star self. The third baseman is slashing a fantastic .313/.361/.576 with six long balls and 18 RBI's, not to mention two granny's that came through in game winning situations. Brandon Belt had a ridiculously slow start, something like 0-25, but has since caught fire, and has five long balls with 14 RBI's. He's still under .200 for an average, but almost all of that is attributed to his horrific start. Buster Posey is still looking for his power, slugging just .342 through 79 AB's, but like Belt, it could just be a slow start. Brandon Crawford, Joe Panik, and Hunter Pence, have been so-so, with Crawford looking the best, thus far.

Injury notes

As aforementioned, BumG is still going to be out another month, but at least we reclaimed Mark Melancon to sure up an already high performing pen. We lost McCutchen a couple weeks back and he's a month away from returning as well, but youngblood Steven Duggar has actually been performing pretty nicely in his absence. Austin Jackson is a few days from returning. We're about to get Jeff Samadzija back, so we may play around with Ty Blach who hasn't chucked well so far, averaging a 6.39 ERA through five starts.

Waiver Wire notes

I wasn't sure where to throw in news about Aaron Hicks, so I'll mention it here. Hicks was up on the wire from New York about a week ago & we took a shot at him. I think their outfield was pretty clogged up, a good problem to have, so they sent him packing. With Austin Jackson returning from the DL in about two days time, I think we might keep Hicks and send Duggar back down to the minors. So far Duggar is slashing .296/.406/.556, but I don't truly believe he is 100% MLB ready, just yet. He has definitely caught my eye and is whom I will bring up no questions asked if the offense goes slumping, so we will address that if need be.

Future outlook

Three game set coming up against LA, facing off against Rich Hill (2-1, 3.24 ERA), Kenta Maeda (3-1, 3.90 ERA), and Clayton Kershaw (1-2, 5.04 ERA). It ain't gonna be easy, but we need to come away with two wins, that's the goal. After this series, we'll see three with San Diego, a club we're up 2-0 on so far in 2018.

**WaitTilNextYear** · 07-26-2018, 08:42 PM

September 1 2018 Update

Code:

Overall Record: 74-68 
August Record: 19-10
Division: 4th place NL East (8 GB)
Wild Card: 4th place (3 GB)
Team MVP so far: [B]Max Kepler[/B], .300/.401/.517 | 21 HR | 87 RBI | 4.9 WAR
Team Cy Young so far: [B]Mike Clevinger[/B], 11-7 | 3.34 ERA | 1.24 WHIP | 167 IP | 2.1 WAR

Best month so far for the Carolina Knights. A 19-10 August record has them surprisingly in the thick of the NL Wild Card race (13.8% playoff odds).

SWINGING THE LUMBER

Carolina continues to oscillate from good to bad to good. August was about a good as it gets and they nearly batted .300 as a team. A triple slash line of .299/.384/.469 put a tremendous hurting on some pitching staffs; the club scored 10+ runs 5 times in August. Perhaps the coup de grace was a 15-6 comeback win on 8/25 at Nationals Park where Carolina put up 12 runs in the 9th inning: Ichiro reached on an E1, Jayson Werth struck out, Kevin Pillar hit an RBI double, Jose Iglesias and Jose Abreu walked, Max Kepler hit an RBI single, Jefry Marte hit a 2-RBI double, Curt Casali walked, Kepler scored on a passed ball, Kike Hernandez hit an RBI single, Ichiro--batting again--hit an RBI single, Werth singled, Pillar drew a bases loaded BB, Iglesias came through with an RBI single, Abreu drew a bases loaded BB, Kepler hit a sac fly, Marte hit an RBI single and Abreu was thrown out trying to go 1st to 3rd. Without the baserunning gaffe, Carolina might've gotten Ichiro a 3rd plate appearance in the inning.

KEY COGS

Max Kepler posted another nice month for Carolina [.315/.400/.496]. The franchise player has yet to post an OPS lower than .809 in any month so far. He was joined once again by "good" Jose Abreu. In August, Abreu was an unstoppable force, slashing .343/.474/.610 with 7 HR and 17 RBI. He's not making the decision to keep him next year at $15-20MM or let him walk any easier with these wild swings in performance. Centerfielder Kevin Pillar got hot as well; he batted .345/.386/.491, but tore his hamstring on the final day of the month.

WAIVER WIRE HEROES

The club is getting some yeoman performances from recent waiver claims. One example is Jefry Marte. Marte was selected by Montreal in the 2018 Expansion Draft and then plucked away by Carolina. However, when trying to stash him, the Phillies scooped him up and held onto him for 4 months. The Phillies tried to sneak him through waivers on August 9th, but Carolina wasn't having that. Reunited at last. In 18 games at the hot corner for Carolina, Marte batted .306/.390/.653 with 5 HR and 20 RBI. Not bad for an injury replacement. Other examples include Curt Casali [.325/.446/.590, 4 HR 14 RBI] and Howie Kendrick [.370/.414/.667, 2 HR 9 RBI].

MIKE AND THE FUNKY BUNCH

Starting pitching has been a frequent scourge for this team. Led by a really great month from Mike Clevinger [2.25 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 9.4 K/9, 40 IP], August was a bit kinder to this staff. Clevinger tossed a 1-hit shutout against the Reds on 8/22 after carrying a no no into the 7th inning. Joining Clevinger in August: Marco Gonzales [6.43 ERA], Miles Mikolas [3.67 ERA], Clayton Richard [3.79 ERA], and Chris Bassitt [5.40 ERA]. The starting staff's 4.14 ERA in August was the best so far. Ross Stripling is progressing on a rehab assignment and figures to bump out one of Gonzales, Bassitt, or Richard when he returns at the beginning of September.

DOWN ON THE FARM

The organization will have a tough time explaining away why the likes of Harrison Bader and Max Schrock don't get a September call up (hint: the real reason is service time). Schrock in particular is absolutely blowing up AAA pitching for the Providence Roosters. He's batting .406 with just 7 strikeouts in 183 plate appearances. It's pretty clear he's got the inside track at 2B for the 2019 club. Bader isn't exactly chopped liver himself; he's slashing .286/.333/.440 in 42 games for Providence since being dealt from St. Louis. Bader is also getting a good deal of experience at all 3 outfield positions--the only question is whether he plays LF or CF in 2019.

Some of the lower level prospects are progressing nicely as well. Casey Mize has struggled in rookie ball [5.32 ERA, 8.5 K/9, 3.8 BB/9], but there's little cause for concern over the #2 prospect in baseball. Anthony Seigler is dominating rookie ball [.351/.433/.564 with 10 HR]; Thairo Estrada is doing some nice things at both AA [.289/.378/.418] and AAA [.289/.341/.303]; Cole Roederer [.338/.417/.476 and Jordyn Adams [.357/.460/.613] are both excelling in rookie ball for the 11th-ranked farm system.

TEAM PAGE

Spoiler

STANDINGS

Spoiler

**KBLover** · 07-26-2018, 11:14 PM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Told you - the Knights are gonna do it.

It's playoffs time!

**WaitTilNextYear** · 07-29-2018, 01:38 PM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Originally posted by KBLover

Told you - the Knights are gonna do it.

It's playoffs time!

Didn't quite work out (will make a more detailed post later). Finished 85-77 and a few games back of the Wild Card. But, a very positive year 1 for this expansion team. Getting into the offseason now.

**WaitTilNextYear** · 07-29-2018, 10:41 PM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

So.....Bryce Harper just signed with the Astros in my OOTP save. Good luck to everyone else.

**KBLover** · 07-29-2018, 11:25 PM

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Angels Fall Short in World Series
Cubs Win in Six After 19-inning Marathon

The Angels had no problem getting out of the ALDS. They swept through the O's to face the Blue Jays, who also swept their way to the ALCS.

From there, the Angels continued to play well, winning the ALCS in five games.

But then the Cubs came up in the World Series and the Angels were getting flattened. They found themselves down 3-0 in the series.

But the bats came through in game four to avoid the sweep. Mukai had a decent outing and Trout led the offense to an 8-4 win. The Mavity came up with a solid outing and bats exploded again...this for 12 runs and another win.

Game six was a back and forth affair with runs at a premium. The game wound up tied 3-3 after the regulation nine innings.

And then the war of attrition began. Both teams had to go through several arms as the innings...and the hours...passed by. The game started at 8 PM...it ended at 3 AM. Seven hours in a cold, rain-soaked night in Chicago.

When all was said and done, the Cubs became the 2032 World Champions and kinda celebrated for the handful of fans who were somewhat awake (or drunk). Fortunately, the Cubs will get their victory parade tomorrow when most people will find out the Cubs actually did win game six.

The Angels will have to contemplate the offseason and try to figure out what might have gone wrong.

Ohtani Retires
Angels Retire #20 in His Honor

MLB's first two-way player called it career after the World Series.

He retires with a pitching line of 219-77, 2.98 ERA, 2,542 IP, 2,935 K, 156 ERA+, 78.8 Pitching WAR.

His hitting stats amounted to 4113 AB, .295/.359/.529, 243 HR, 137 OPS+, 23.7 WAR.

"He is an amazing player and will be remembered for years to come. I'm fortunate that I got to manage such a unique talent, and I hope that he'll make it to Cooperstown when he hits the ballot, " Angels manager Andy Moulin commented.

"He meant so much to this team, an anchor and a corner stone of our organization. I am happy we invested heavily in Shohei and that we were able to keep him in our organization and jersey for his entire career. Thank you for everything, Shohei Ohtani, " GM Xander Yarrow commented.

**WaitTilNextYear** · 07-31-2018, 11:53 PM

End of 2018 Update

Code:

Overall Record: 85-77 
September Record: 11-9
Division: 3rd place NL East (9 GB)
Wild Card: 3rd place (5 GB)
Team MVP: [B]Max Kepler[/B], .288/.391/.487 | 22 HR | 97 RBI | 5.1 WAR
Team Cy Young: [B]Mike Clevinger[/B], 13-8 | 3.43 ERA | 1.21 WHIP | 194 IP | 2.7 WAR

THE STRAIGHT DOPE

The Carolina Knights played quality baseball pretty much throughout the entirety of their inaugural season, and ended up with a respectable-but-not-quite-good-enough-for-postseason 85-77 record. For an expansion franchise, being this successful this early is no small feat--even though manager/GM Bobby Cox's OOTP-generated "POOR" rating after 1 season doesn't really do it any justice. The club drew 2,759,738 fans to Roy Hobbs Field (12th in MLB) while posting $140.8M in revenue against $84.5M in expenses (including a $56.7M player payroll).

The owner, 65-year-old Raleigh mogul Josh Christianson, was well pleased. The tolerant/economizer/normal/winning-focused owner showed his admiration for the team "not sucking" by raising the budget from a minuscule $85M to $102M. New goals from on high include: achieve a winning record (2019), upgrade at 3rd base (2020), extend Chase Utley (2020, already completed

), acquire a former MVP (2022), increase attendance to 40,200/gm (2021), and make the playoffs (2024). So just all that, huh.

As for the playoff hunt, it went right down to the final week of play. With four 3-game series remaining (COL, PHI, ATL, SF), the Knights were just 3 games off the wild card pace. That stretch of games started quite well with a 3-game sweep of the Rockies. Things quickly went south as the Knights traveled East to Philly and dropped 3 in a row to the team they were chasing. And then dropped 2 out of 3 to the Braves (although CAR would still eek ahead of ATL in the division in the end, suckers). The setback against the Braves was the death knell for Carolina's chances...Philly and Colorado just got too hot to catch. Carolina did finish strong, however, with a 3-game sweep of the Giants in San Francisco, outscoring them 19-3. In retrospect, although losing the Philly and Atlanta series were very frustrating, Carolina finished 5 games off the wild card pace--so they would've needed to go 12-0 in the final 12 games just to force a 1-game playoff. Not really all that plausible, which makes the losses easier to stomach.

Lots of content below...especially in the positional overview spoilers.

TEAM PAGE

Spoiler

STANDINGS

Spoiler

2018 PLAYOFFS

Spoiler

POSITIONAL OVERVIEW - INFIELD

Spoiler

POSITIONAL OVERVIEW - OUTFIELD

Spoiler

LF: The Knights did all they could here to extract any remaining celebrity from Ichiro Suzuki and trotted his corpse out there as an everyday player in 2018. Predictably, the 44-year-old responded by posting an awful season, batting a sub-replacement .212/.325/.273 in 513 excruciating at-bats. Mostly in the leadoff role. Then, poof, he retired (although the club did sign him to a modest contract extension that got the silly, idiotic fans amped up first). Also getting some time in LF were waiver claims Jayson Werth and Howie Kendrick. Werth was pretty bad, but had some moments against left-handed pitching. It's a moot point because Werth followed Ichiro out of baseball. Kendrick was one of the driving forces down the stretch and batted .395/.460/.628 in 43 [mostly pinch-hit] ABs. Despite how good he was, Carolina was chagrined to notice later on that he actually had 2 years left on his contract when they claimed him. It's not so sure that a $4M salary is fitting for an older bit player like Kendrick so it would be surprising if he's an option in 2019. One player that will most definitely be in contention for playing time in LF...and CF...and 2B...and 3B...is Kike Hernandez. Acquired in the Utley deal from LA, Hernandez did what he always does, play damn near every position and mash lefties. Kike got into 112 games while batting .268/.358/.399, and with an uncanny knack for game-winning Grand Slams and other assorted homers. Maybe he's best as half of a platoon and a super-sub; if so, the Knights will be on the prowl for a lefty bat here.

CF: Kevin Pillar figures to man center field in 2019, when he's not on the trainer's table that is. The 2018 NL Gold Glover was limited to just 114 games. He missed a week with a bruised forearm, then a month with a strained oblique, then was shut down for the season upon tearing a hamstring in late August. I'll say it: he's fragile. But, when he's out there he is quite good. Not only the aforementioned Gold Glove defense, but he was a doubles machine as 40 of his 125 base hits were of the two-bagger variety. He was also 2nd on the team in stolen bases (22) and posted a 3.0 WAR season despite hitting for virtually no home-run power at all: .267/.320/.371 with 3 HR. The soon-to-be 30-year-old still has 2 more trips thru arbitration, in 2019 and 2020, and relatively cheap at that. Carolina will want a solid backup option here, and the most likely one already in-house is Harrison Bader. Bader was picked up along with Schrock in a July trade and batted .286/.333/.440 in 42 games at AAA Providence. The 24-year-old has the ability to play any OF position. Bader is not nearly the defender that Pillar is, but Bader has a good deal more thump in his bat. Even if Pillar stays healthy, Bader will likely get a good amount of run as a heavily-used 4th OF and possible platoon partner for other outfielders.

RF: The single brightest spot on the 2018 Carolina Knights' ballclub was All-Star Max Kepler. He played so well that the team did one of those pre-arbitration, long-term, modest-dollar contract extensions. He'll be with the Knights, theoretically, for the next 6 years at $6M each season. Kepler paced the club in WAR (5.1), was 2nd in HR/RBI/runs/hits/doubles (22/97/101/159/38), 1st in free passes (95), 1st in total bases (269), 1st in sac flies (10), tops in AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS (.288/.391/.487/.879), and even 3rd in stolen bases (13). His .391 OBP was good for 7th in all of MLB. He played a solidly above average RF as well (+2.7 ZR). It's clear that Kepler is entrenched here, but there might be some pursuit of a bat, whether an internal option like Bader or otherwise, to take some ABs vs lefties off of Kepler's plate. Kepler was pretty dreadful down the stretch in September where he batted .206/.325/.279 and seemed more that a wee bit worn down.

POSITIONAL OVERVIEW - PITCHING

Spoiler

OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

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