OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

[beastmode2013]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

First baseball sim/game in many years. This game is awesome!



Started my first season as Mariners affiliate in the AZL as a manager just getting my feet wet and feeling the game out. Ended up going 38-18 with a first round loss. Heart breaker with icing as I was a win away from Manager of the Year.


I was promoted to manager of the Class A Short Season affiliate Everett AquaSox. Another close season as I was a win away from the playoffs at 39-37. We had some nice streaks until the GM promoted my best players


I was promoted again to manage the Class A Clinton LumberKings. We had some solid prospects and went on a nice 18 win roll to finish 97-43 and a championship. Also won Manager of the Year and had the MVP of the league.


Skipped the next level affiliate and was promoted to manager of the Arkansas Travelers in the Double A league, inheriting the championship team as well as prospects that I have watched develop and grow since the first day of my career. Cant wait to see what this bunch does! Hopefully repeating and getting another promotion into the big leagues. To be continued...

Welp, things didn't go our way. In fact, they probably went as bad as they could go. Within the first month, most of our talent was crippled by season ending injury. I was down to 5 pitchers, and had to call up some warm bodies just to fill the ranks. We went 53-87, dead last in the league. Some how I still got promoted to Triple A and took over for the Tacoma Rainiers.


We had some great prospects trickle down from the bigs and we mashed the league with 98 wins, losing only 40 games. We ending up losing 3-2 to the Las Vegas 51's who went on to lose to the OKC Dodgers in the championship. I won Manager of the Year again, and also had the PC MVP.

[KBLover]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

2034 All-Star Report

(Imgur not working for me so all text)

The Angels end the first half with a six game lead in the division. For a while, however, the Astros were on top and looking dominant. BNN expected an improvement from them, but not the degree of playing over .600 ball.

The Angels got a spark from a 10-game winning streak the led the way to a 37-17 record in May and June. The Astros have hit a slump in June and the first half of July, but are still playing far above expectations.

The pitching was a lot of the issue in those early months. The rotation has settled in since then with Mukai leading the way in ERA at 2.87. New face Hatakeyama has been reliable and posted a 3.34 ERA. The biggest struggle was from Kahng, right when he was elevated to ace by Moulin. The Korean pitcher has played much better since those early months.

Injuries have hurt the team consistently in the first half with the usually iron man Mike Trout suffering one of the longest term injuries. He's expected to miss at least eight more weeks with a back injury. The positive is that the Angels have shown they can compete offensively without him, something they'll need to do. (he won't play forever, right?)

Nakatani in particular has really stepped up his game. He's got 25 home runs already, matching last year's total. He moved into right field to slide Trout to DH, ironically in hopes of keeping him healthy and with high energy.

Nakatani has also helped cover for Sakai's lack of power this season. Sakai suffered a four-week injury, contributing to the team's lack of offense in the early going. Sakai is back and starting to put up his power numbers, given his playing time.

On the farm, the Angels welcomed the hyped Jared McGlauflin, an 18-year-old flamethrowing pitcher. He caught the Angels' eye after seeing he gave up two runs in 112 innings of work as a senior in high school.

"High school stats are always looked at cautiously, but a 0.16 ERA has to be a sign of some real talent, " Yuki Saito, the team's head scout, commented.

CF Tetsyuki Tomita, the team's consensus top prospect, has found AAA ball challenging. He's batting .238 with a .704 OPS, most of that coming from the ridiculous amount of triples he's hit.

Meanwhile, 1B Luis Guardado is batting .313 with an .803 OPS so far in AAA. He could be in line for some September action at the majors if this performance keeps up.

C/P Arturo Molina is hitting .250 at the High-A level while the pitching side of him might be starting to show promise with a respectable 4.44 ERA, the best he's shown in the minors so far.

Many of the rest of the better prospects haven't entered the system yet. They are the recent discoveries by Saito and are working in the international complexes at the moment. There is one exception, 16-year-old pitcher Eiju Okada has started working at the Dominican Summer League, for reasons unknown to most. He has a 3.44 ERA in 3 starts.

[KBLover]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Last post, I referred to Mike Trout as iron man.

Well, the Angels just got word that his 8-week timetable just got reduced to two weeks.

"He's just amazing, " Angels manager Andy Moulin commented, "The hole he leaves if and when he ever stops playing this game is going to be difficult to measure and perhaps impossible for one player to fill."

His return could be the one break that can help the Angels put their foot on the neck of the Astros and stop any hope of their rival mounting a come back in the division.

[KBLover]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

2034 Season Report

The Angels won the division, but an epic September swoon could have turned into a heartbreaking collapse had the Astros managed to get hot at the same time. Fortunately for the Angels, they were able to back into the division title as the Astros couldn't take advantage.

It is hard to pinpoint any particular cause for the meltdown. No one did especially poorly compared to the rest of the season and most of the games were close affairs. Could have just been one big ball of bad fortune or the signs of cracks starting to show.

"One minute, we're at .650. The next, we don't even hold .600. This could have really turned bad on us. We can't let things like this happen, " Moulin commented.

Offensively, the team was terrible in home runs, but that's not unexpected given the roster design. Nakatani maintained his career year in home runs, checking in with 41 on the season. The usual get on base and then be aggressive once on base approach worked to get the Angels 3rd in runs in the AL.

On the pitching side, Hatakeyama ended up leading the team in wins with 14 and his 3.13 ERA fell in with the rest of the rotation nicely and, along with Harriston, led the team in innings with 178. Mukai led the team in ERA with 3.01 and posted a 5.3 WAR. Kahng had the biggest turn around, lowering his FIP to 2.67 and posting 5.6 WAR - both were best among starters.

In farm news, Luis Guardado got a bit of a taste of the majors in September action. Not much to draw from, but he did bat .297 with a .366 OBP. He didn't have any extra base hits.

Looking at the postseason, the Blue Jays will be the first opponent for the Angels. The Jays won the AL East with 91 wins on the season.

[KBLover]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Angels Bounced in ALDS

The Angels, perhaps fittingly and deservedly, were immediately bounced from the playoffs, losing 3 games to 1 to the Blue Jays.

"What can I say, we didn't show up. And by 'we', I mean the bats. Our pitchers did what they could, but we scored them next to nothing, " Trout commented.

The Angels won the first game...by a 1-0 score...and it took 10 innings to score that one run. The team then lost the next three games, scoring a total of five runs. Total.

"Maybe the league is adjusting or perhaps the run environment is changing. Pitching in the league could be catching up, so it might be hard to continually string hits together and rely on hits and walks alone, " one analyst commented.

It will be interesting to see if the Angels make any changes to the roster, and if those changes include adding power.

"I think our approach can still work. I think September and October are just going to leave a bitter taste. I hope the front office doesn't abandon things, " Moulin commented.

The winner of the World Series was the NL's second best team. The Cubs, who won 105 games...and was not the best record in the NL...won 4-1 over the Royals, who were tied with the Angels for the AL's best record. The best record in baseball, the Phillies with 106 wins, suffered a major upset at the hands of the Wild Card winning Pirates 3-1 in the NLDS.

As such, the sun sets on the 2034 season.

[WaitTilNextYear]

August 1 2019 Update

Overall Record: 66-42 
July Record: 16-13
Division: 1st place NL East (+5)
Wild Card: N/A
Team MVP so far: [B]Kevin Pillar[/B], .288/.375/.449 | 9 HR | 64 RBI | 19 SB | 4.0 WAR
Team Cy Young so far: [B]Chris Bassitt[/B], 8-2 | 3.05 ERA | 1.34 WHIP | 121.0 IP | 1.1 WAR

STILL TRENDING

July has come and gone. The upstart Carolina Knights baseball club maintains a healthy 5 game lead over the 2nd place Atlanta Braves baseball club. Let's see if Carolina can hang on thru 54 more games to play. Bobby Cox is sticking it to his old franchise.

Many of the indicators have remained positive for the Knights. They've drawn 2,378,974 fans which ranks 4th in baseball, behind only the Yankees, Dodgers, and Cardinals. The club is up about 10,000 fans per game year over year. GM/manager Bobby Cox's OOTP rating has transformed from "poor" to "great" as the 78-year-old has maintained a .559 winning percentage through 1.5+ seasons. The Knights continue to be stingy about getting on base, ranking 1st in the NL with a .354 team OBP. They've scored an NL 2nd best 574 runs despite being in the lower half in HR, AVG, and SB. The Knights have yet to post a month worse than 16-13 this season. Making the most of things.


SLUMPING WOES

It's a little hard to believe that the Knights were somehow able to maintain their pace in July. That's because their "playmakers" all went cold at once. The nominal 3-4-5 of the order has been 1B Jose Abreu, RF Max Kepler, and 3B Yangervis Solarte. Well, Abreu missed the first 2 weeks of July with a hammy strain and then had his trademark "bad month." He's contractually incapable of having a level performance. There must be highs. And lows. Accordingly, in 17 July games after returning from the DL, Abreu batted .185/.338/.354 with only 2 long taters. Kepler's month was pretty similar. Right about the time Abreu came back, Kepler was shelved for 2 weeks with a bad knee bruise. In the 17 games Kepler logged, he batted .182/.313/.291 with nary a dinger. Solarte had the sense to not get hurt, but his production tapered off badly with a .234/.308/.364 line including 3 HR in 28 games. Perhaps he was pressing while trying to compensate? Once a serious NL MVP candidate, Solarte is an extreme longshot now.

If it wasn't enough for the heart of the order to vanish, staff ace James Paxton really got clobbered in July. His season ERA is verging on 5 (4.96). He followed up his 8.10 June ERA (fueled by .439 BABIP) with a 7.50 July ERA (fueled by .373 BABIP). Hopefully Paxton's long epoch of bad luck and uber-hittability will soon come to an end. Paxton also allowed 2.3 HR/9 in July, which is the most worrisome stat available. For the season, his rates are pretty decent: 9.5 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 1.2 HR/9 and a 3.9 WAR pace.


THE MERRY MEN

I guess one way to rationalize the team playing good ball while most of its top players scuffle--is team. Cox has instilled a 'next man up' attitude and the entire team seems to have bought in. Whether it's the bullpen merry-go-round from AAA Providence to MLB (Phil Klein has gone up and down so many times, he'll need a private plane soon), or the inexplicable continued success of back end starters (Marco Gonzales and Chris Bassitt have no right to be this consistent), or the first wave of call ups (Harrison Bader, Joe Jimenez, and Thairo Estrada are all logging meaningful innings). Things be clicking, yo.


TRADES?

Having already used 3 of the club's allotment of 5 trades in the 2019 calendar year, the Knights couldn't go hog wild at the deadline. Nor would they want to considering the team is 24 games over .500 and solidly in 1st place. In fact, Carolina didn't do anything at all in the week leading up to the July 31st deadline.

One move that did go down was a July 18th deal with the awful Orioles for bullpen help. Carolina identified a trio of arms to stockpile and continue the bullpen merry-go-round, minimizing the fatigue level in their MLB pen: RHP Trevor Rosenthal [30 IP, 2.70 ERA, 9 SV], RHP James Hoyt [38 IP, 4.50 ERA], LHP Dario Alvarez [32 IP, 3.94 ERA]. Hoyt and Alvarez weren't making much more than the minimum, but Rosenthal's entire remaining salary--all $4M or so--was comped by Baltimore. It also says something about how bad the Orioles have been for Rosie to have just 9 saves in 30 innings of work.

In return, the Knights parted with RHP Zack Wheeler and LHP Francisco Liriano who both had been marooned at AAA. The pitching-starved O's likey. Baltimore also received INF Dilson Herrera, the starting 2B for most of the season; 19-year-old C prospect Omar Baldo, Carolina's 14th round pick in 2018; and some RHP dude named Jorge Soreni who entered MLB randomly from Venezuela. Soreni was closing games for AAA Providence to the tune of 18 saves and a 2.08 ERA. It's been tempting to call Soreni up, but the Knights have been too cheap with his MiLB contract converting to a $1M MLB deal if sent for.

The price was pretty high--5 somewhat useful players--for a trio of relievers, but the Knights find themselves in 'win now' mode, at least for the most part. It seemed prudent because: (1) a contender can never have too many trustworthy bullpen arms; and (2) closer Zach Britton has struggled with his health in recent years. Time will tell...

Carolina left themselves with one more trade allowance to be used in August or to be saved! Saved for the offseason!


TEAM PAGE

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STANDINGS

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[TannerYoho]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Hello all, this is my first "series" if you will so any feedback would be dope. Been wanting to do this since early last year and am so excited.

***PRESS RELEASE***

On August 20, 2018 the Pittsburgh Pirates announced that GM Neal Huntington was stepping down as GM citing "fan outrage" as his reason. He will stay on board under new GM Tanner Yoho. Tanner is a young GM at 23 years old, and has been a follower of the Pirates since birth. Tanner pledged to the city to put this team on a fast rebuild track to the playoffs. The city seems rejuvenated, and started coming to the ball park to end the season. Going into the off season Yoho has a few goals in mind.

1. "Trim the fat on payroll: "We have all gotten sick of the two f words (Financial Flexibility) but the reality is that we have a limited amount of cash in our hands here. We're going to do the best moving forward, but for now it is paramount to recoup some dollars.

2. Acquire a Middle Infielder: "We need a bat in the infield. With all respect to our current lineup the Pirates have been lacking a threat at the plate up the middle since my childhood, unless we're counting Neil Walker."

3. Garner Excitement: "It is a good time to be a Pirate fan, I promise we're headed the right way."

GMTY didn't waste any time getting started. His first move came only days after he was hired when he traded 2B/Utility player Josh Harrison to the 2nd place Cleveland Indians for 22 year old IF prospect Yu-Cheng Cheng and 24 year old reliever Henry Martinez. Harrison had a team option of $10.5 million for the 2019 season. He was having a good year (.305/.357/.468) and struggled after the trade (.229/.279/.323). Yoho thanked Harrison for all his efforts for the Organization and is excited to continue to keep him in the area as Harrison is not moving to Cleveland. *Cleveland has picked up his option for next year*

Yu Cheng Cheng will start the 2019 season in AAA and is a 2.5 star prospect. He has been an average hitter in the minors and will more than likley grow into a utility role.

Henry Martinez was a throw in prospect and will probably be a career minor leaguer.

The key of the trade was moving salary and get something now because the team option was not going to be picked up.

OFFSEASON

As stated above the goal was to improve the middle infield. Jordy Mercer, Sean Rodriguez and David Freese were all non-tendered. Prospect Kevin Newman will probably be a 2B for this season until Kevin Kramer arrives.

The Pirates made a huge splash in Free Agency signing coveted SS/3B Manny Machado. They got Manny for 4 years/72 mil. Manny was courting offers from a few teams, but ultimately decided Pittsburgh. GMTY promised big things and has delivered thus far.

Other tidbits

Atlanta approached Pittsburgh for a trade that would send Julio Teheran to the Buccos for Ivan Nova and Trevor Williams. Atlanta retained 25% of Julio's deal and GMTY pulled the trigger. Teheran had grown extremly unhappy in Atlanta and is excited to play in Pittsburgh as the number 3 pitcher.

Signed International FA C Eui-ji Yang to a 3 year/24 mil deal. Yang will be the backup catcher, and split time with Cervelli who has expressed interest in playing first on off days due to concussion history.

END RELEASE

Obviously this was MUCH longer than a normal update, just had to get all the moves and notes in! Another update coming after Spring Ball!

[KBLover]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

2035 Angels

Some changes occurred for the Angels over the offseason. Gone is Steve Belfiore, who seemed to price himself out of the market. The Angels weren't going to give him $18 million per year, and, apparently, no one else would either.

However, the Angels needed a third baseman. There were some options, but the Dodgers presented Tohru Hirano to the team. For the third time.

"The Dodgers kept dangling him in front of us, but they couldn't make any sensible offer. We were prepared to go with some in-house ideas, but third time is the charm, as they say, " GM Yarrow commented.

The third time, Poydras drew the Dodgers interest, and that was something the Angels would work with. While the Angels like Poydras, pitching is not nearly as big a need as the corner infielder. So, Poydras and a couple infield prospects moved and Hirano arrives, a prospect of sorts himself.

Also changing on the pitching side is the return to a 5-man rotation. Poydras' departure made that easy and would-have-been 6th starter, rookie southpaw Luis Cabrera, will get his first innings as a long reliever out of camp.

Nishino moves out of the closer role to make room for Kevon Wiese, acquired as a free agent.

However, the starting five are the same batch that have been in place for a while. The stability alone is one strength many teams would die for.

Offensively, things are stable as well. Hirano is one of three new faces and the only new entry into the starting lineup as of Opening Day. The other two will work off the bench.

Catcher Jorge Prado was selected in the Rule 5 draft from the Rays. He will work alongside Luis Arreguin. Some might argue that Arreguin is new to the lineup, but he picked up 416 PAs as a "backup catcher" last season and started in 99 games. Arreguin will get the bulk of the playing time for the time being.

The second new face is 1B Luis Guardado. He batted .347 in spring action with a .370 OBP. The extra base hits are still missing to a degree, but the batting average alone will get him some depth and pinch hit at-bats. He will also work alongside Trout as the team hopes the young hitter can learn from the amazing 43-year-old who seems ageless.

In all, BNN is still sold on the Angels because of their top-tier pitching.

"As usual, we rate the Angels staff as far and beyond better than the rest of the league. They go from having six starters that could be #1 or #2 on most staffs to five starters that fit that bill. Big whoop. If anything, trading Poydras improved the team with the return they got back, " a BNN writer commented.

BNN has the Angels winning 108 games, led by a projected ERA over a half-run better than the next best AL team and an offense that might well be in the bottom third.

"So they'll win 4-2 instead of 6-2. It's still winning, " as one BNN writer put it.

On the farm, the Angels' ranking took a large leap forward as Baseball America has become enamored with SP Jared McGlauflin and his newly showcased 102 MPH fastball.

"This young man is looking like a real intimidating monster in the making. Seeing his fastball grow to break the 100-barrier is impressive enough, especially in a starting pitcher, but the fact his curve is already getting close to big-league quality gives him a lot of upside. The change-up is coming, and that will be the final piece of the puzzle, " an analyst commented.

McGlauflin is the #1 rated prospect this year. He heads up an Angels farm that checks in at 6th ranked. Joining McGlauflin as a new entrant to the Angels top 200 is CF Luis Amarante and fellow CF Hirozo Maede.

Amarante, a hard-working, 18-year-old Dominican, projects as one of those "greater than the sum of his parts" type players with strong intangibles and solid, if unspectacular, tools in all facets of the game.

Maede, an 18-year-old Japanese prospect, is exciting to watch with his sheer speed and aggression, both in the field and on the bases. Hitting will be the question mark offensively while consistency will be the watchword on defense.

[KBLover]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

2035 Season Report

The Angels undershot BNN's expectations in the wins column, and it's not hard to see why.

The pitching, while tops in the AL, was not the far-and-away front runner as expected...and typically has been in recent seasons. No one pitcher to single out as the whole rotation pitched below standard. Mukai in particular had a terrible season, suffering a long-term injury to start the year and not doing all that well once he returned.

Min-huei Kahng, once again, led the way, especially in the second half...just like last season. He was the team's hottest pitcher in the final two months, leading the team in ERA and WAR and second to Hatekeyama in innings pitched.

The bullpen was mixed as well but led by the combination of Nishino and Weise. Nishino didn't let the role change throw him off, posting another sparkling ERA while Weise didn't disappoint in the back end, racking up 49 saves and nearly 3 WAR.

Endo, Houston's former closer, was picked up at the deadline as the Astros needed to drop his potential arbitration salary. He was helpful in solidifying a slumping middle of the bullpen.

Offensively, the team, for once, didn't have any huge weak areas. Kamai was the weakest hitter, but his 27 runs above average at shortstop made up for that.

Tomita joined Guardado at the majors around the midway point of the season, replacing Kuwata who was under performing both in the field and at the plate. Tomita posted an .800 OPS and above average defense, seeming to put him in the driver's seat in center field.

Speaking of Guardado, scouts think the challenge he's facing will pay off. He struggled at the plate for the first time in his career as major league pitching gave him some rough nights. However, scouts think the adjustments he has to make and the work he'll get with his coaches as a result will make him a better hitter in the long run.

Among the usual starters, not much changed. Sakai was his usual self. Nakatani continued the success he had last season, solidifying his place as a starter, and Arturo Luna continued his "be all in, go all out" style of play in all facets of the game.

Hirano, the third baseman picked up in the Poydras trade, won the season if only because Poydras went down with a season-ending injury. On his own merit, Hirano was pretty solid. Not the greatest of seasons, but 2.7 WAR is certainly acceptabe. If he can improve his on-base percentage, Hirano will be that much closer to being an all-around solid hitter.

Takada played well but the concern here is that the Angels will not be able to sign him to an extension. Negotiations have been somewhat strained between the two parties with the latest round of talks going especially sour, according to sources.

"I think the Angels think Takada is dealing from the bottom of the deck, and he might think he has the organization over a barrel. Rumors are that the Takada camp lured the Angels back to the negotiating table with a favorable number, only to just about double it once talks began, " one reporter commented.

On the farm, Jerod McGlauflin struggled initially in AA but then started dominating and posted a 3.68 ERA at the level. He'll likely get some looks in AAA next season and probably a spring training invite as well.

Catcher/Pitcher Arturo Molina had a solid season at the plate, hitting .277 with a .788 OPS in AAA. He pitched to a 4.68 ERA in 171 innings as his two-way quest continues onward.

[KBLover]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Royals Win AL Central After One-Game Playoff

The Royals and Tigers needed an extra game to settle things. After a 10-5 victory, the Royals will move on as the division winner while the Tigers will settle for first wildcard.

Joe Moerbe, the K.C. starter, worked a gutsy eight innings, giving up five runs, to help his team move on. Kris Bryant, 43 years young, hit a key home run to cap off a rally. He went 1-for-4 on the day. He batted .287 with 23 home runs this season and remains the starting third baseman for his club.

The Royals will face the O's in the ALDS while the Angels await the winner of the Astros/Tigers tilt.

Twins Alex Kirilloff to Retire

One of the more prolific sluggers in the league, Alex Kirilloff, will call it a career after this season.

Drafted in 2016, he made his way to the majors in 2020, hitting 32 HR with a .950 OPS as a rookie. He would go on to break the 1.000 OPS mark five times in his career, and for a stretch between 2024 and 2027, he was arguably the game's best hitter and certainly the best pure slugger. In 2026 and 2027, he hit a total of 119 HR, racked up 19.5 WAR, and batted .350 in 2027.

He retires with 614 HR, 2460 hits, a .297 batting average, a .986 OPS, and 87 career WAR in a 16-year major league career.

[KBLover]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Angels Eliminated Early, Phillies
Take World Series

The Angels suffered an early exit from the postseason, a rare occurrence under Moulin, as the Tigers slipped past the Angels 3-2.

The Tigers won a couple pitching duels in the series, and that made the difference. The Angels bats weren't much of a factor overall, which was a surprise since the Tigers didn't come in with the best pitching around. But, in this series, the Tigers arms were up to the task.

In the end, the Phillies beat the O's 4-2 in the World Series. The Phillies were one of the best teams in the league while the O's were the weakest playoff team, despite winning the AL East.

Kahng Wins AL Cy Young

Min-huei Kahng edged out Tigers' Luis Magana, who had a surprise solid season. Kahng went 18-6 with a 3.17 ERA. Magana went 12-7 with a 3.26 ERA.

Takada Departs

The Angels were indeed unable to come to terms with 2B Yousuke Takada and the player rejected the qualifying offer and filed for free agency.

[KBLover]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

Angels Surprised at Lack of Interest
in Venezuelan Pitcher

When the Angels succeeded in signing lefty pitcher Pippino Soto, they were surprised the deal closed quickly on the Italian-born Venezuelan.

"We were prepared to have to get into a fight for him and perhaps come away empty handed, " Yarrow commented.

Instead, the Angels got Soto's arm with no fight at all. Literally, the Angels were the only team interested in acquiring his services.

"We met their price and two days later we have a deal. I was like, 'wait, really?' I couldn't believe it, " the GM continued.

It is not known why Soto was passed over by the other clubs. Some say it's Saito, the team's head scout, at work as she discovered a talent no one else found...or thought highly of. Some think it's just one of those things that happens in the chaos of free agency. Though, it's hard to see a pitcher with a top-tier change-up and a 95 MPH sinker falling through the cracks if he's any good at all.

The Angels will see what they have in Soto soon enough.

Rotation Competition to Heat Up
Once McGlauflin Arrives

Jared McGlauflin is coming, sooner than later. In fact, he will likely get a crack at spring action despite having not set foot on AAA soil. If he blows away that spring audition, it's likely he'll be at least 5th starter out of camp.



There's some question marks around how well he'd do in that spring audition, let alone any regular season work. The command is not there just yet. It started to show in AA where he got by on the sheer filth of his stuff but that stuff, and especially location, was undermined by his wildness.



McGlauflin's curve and fastball are absolutely insane. When he has them working, it's unfair. Sometimes, though, the curve levels off, probably from overthrowing as he wants to have a power curve while he might naturally have a nasty 12-6 curve that's tantalizingly slow...while looking just like his 102 MPH heater out of the hand.


Also, there's the change-up that probably suffers from the same "throwing it too hard" fate on top of still being uneasy with the grip and arm action.


"He tips it because his delivery isn't as aggressive. He has a very twisty, torquish delivery and that tones down when he throws the change, so hitters can start to pick up on the subtle differences as he advances up the ladder. Better hitters see those little things, especially when they know they have to gear up for 100+ those things give them something to work with at the plate, " AAA pitching coach Jose Duran commented, "I don't know if I'll get to see much more of him if he sticks at the majors, so I wanted to really try to drive home the point to just let it go like his fastball and those other pitches will move and deceive."

[notsobabybombers]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

In my time playing OOTP, few things have been more satisfying than snapping Seattle's playoff drought. We missed the playoffs by a wide margin in year one. We were out of the hunt at the deadline so we became sellers. Shipping Nelson Cruz to Boston was probably the biggest deal.

In year two, I didn't expect us to be good. The bloated contracts of Gordon, Segura and Hernandez made it impossible to add any real help in the offseason. We made some minor moves and added some players to our Triple A team throughout the year. And it paid off.

The AL West was very, very weak this year. We led for a lot of the season and there were times that we held first place with a losing record. We were in first place on August 1 at 52-52. It was a tight race of mediocrity down the stretch but a hot September allowed us to win the division and make the playoffs.

We met the Twins in the ALDS. Minnesota, a club that won 96 games, probably thought we'd be a cakewalk. But, boy, were they wrong. It was a competitive series and Seattle won it in Game 4 in front of an electric home crowd. LaMonte Wade, a Rule 5 pick from the Twins in the offseason, won MVP of the series.

Our pitching has been our biggest weakness and injuries have really contributed to that. Our rotation is a rag-tag group, with Lance Lynn (signed 8/24) and Jhoulys Chacin (traded from Boston near the deadline*) making a huge difference. Marco Gonzalez and Felix Hernandez went down with season ending injuries so we've had to fare without them for a while. All-Star reliever Dan Altavilla also went down with a season ending injury so our BP isn't as strong as it could be. Edwin Diaz is still a great young closer, though.

We had listed options at the deadline because we had no cap room. So we sent OF Ben Gamel and some decent minor leaguers to Boston for Chacin, who was playing well for their AAA affiliate. He had a 3.77 ERA with us.

As another demonstration of our desperation, we signed John Axford to a minor league deal in July. The 36-year-old played well in Tacoma and all he did in Seattle was post a 2.45 ERA in 15 games.

Similar stories can be seen throughout our roster. That's not the case with our opponent in the ALCS, the Boston Red Sox. Boston also won 96 games and they have all the makings of a dominant club. It'll be a tough series for the 88-win Mariners.

[KBLover]

Re: OOTP 19 Franchise Progress

2036 Angels

Look who's back for his age-44 (and turning 45) season? Mike Trout. Fellow 40-plus-year-old Kris Bryant is also back. The only two over-40's on a major league roster are both nearing 45.

Like Bryant, Trout is still in the starting lineup and expected to be at least major-league average, which is an achievement with the ages these men are sporting.

Offensively, the Angels might be decent, but they are expected to fall behind as the team's shift to defense-first has taken full root. The only players around for their bat alone would be Sakai at 1B and Trout at DH. Everyone else should be at least plus in their defensive ability, according to most scouts.

This defense should enhance what is still the most dominant staff in the league, by BNN's estimation. While the Angels are not expected to have the best performer on the mound (that honor goes to Jeremy Allred, a 25-year-old 8th-round selection that grew rapidly and plays for the Astros), the Angels have all five of their projected starters in the top performers list.

"The Angels don't have that top #1 guy, but there are literally no weaknesses in that rotation, or that staff as a whole. None, " one BNN writer commented, "Mavity, a sure starter on most other teams, is a long reliever. Enough said."

Indeed, Tim Mavity was displaced to the bullpen after the strong performance by Pippin Soto, the Venezuelan-Italian signing this offseason. Scouts are high on Soto, some calling him the team's best overall player.

Kahng will again head the rotation and Mukai will get another chance. Hatakeyama and Harriston take the middle spots with Soto at #5 for now.

However, the one big dog looming over the rotation is still Jared McGlauflin. His spring audition was an interesting one:

-He gave up just 1 home run...and that was in his final spring start.
-He put the ball on the ground 68% of the time...without a sinker.
-He only struck out five batters per nine innings. That is odd.
-He held hitters to a .250 BABIP...and at one point was under .150.
-He has blazing speed and is a very strong right-fielder.


The lack of K's is the main reason he didn't stick. That might mean he'll be back sooner than later if the K's show up again in early AAA action. The command was surprisingly decent. He posted a 3.5 BB/9, which is not great but it's not heinous either. Scouts have elevated his current command as well.

"I think he's ready to dominate, right now. I wouldn't worry about the strikeouts. I think it's a shame his bat isn't good enough because he'd have 'two-way player' written all over him if it was. I couldn't believe he was a pitcher when they put him in right field with how smooth-yet-aggressive he was in the field, " a team scout spoke.

Scouts are also bullish on Luis Guardado. Moulin is as well and he will again have the lanky young Dominican working with Trout at DH.

Overall, the Angels are expected to win 101 games, enough for the division and top record in the AL. However, the Angels aren't expected to have an easy time of things. The Astros are slotted at 96 wins, well within reach of the top spot in the AL West.

The offense not disappearing and the pitching and defense rising to the occasion is what will carry the day. Should either of the strengths falter, it might be a dogfight in AL West.

[WaitTilNextYear]

September 1 2019 Update

Overall Record: 86-50 
August Record: 20-8
Division: 1st place NL East (+10)
Wild Card: N/A
Team MVP so far: [B]Yangervis Solarte[/B], .296/.403/.525 | 23 HR | 83 RBI | 4.1 WAR
Team Cy Young so far: [B]Chris Bassitt[/B], 11-3 | 3.47 ERA | 1.36 WHIP | 150.1 IP | 4.0 rWAR

STILL THE ONE

And I can't get enough.

The Carolina Knights continue to surge mightily toward the finish line of the 2019 season. Carolina is now 86-50, tied with the Cubs for tops in the NL. These selfsame Knights have now posted a winning record in each month and won a franchise best 20 games in the month of August. While playing said .714 ball in August, the Knights effectively won the NL East division although their actual magic number is 17 here on this, the first day of September in the year of our Lord 2019. The NY baseball Mets are now a full 10 games back--a faint smudge in the rear view mirror. These Metropolitans lost 2 of 3 games to Carolina to close out the month of August.

It remains somewhat mysterious as to how this ballclub keeps powering ahead with so much gusto. There were some solid performers in the lineup during August, and mostly everyone performed to an 'average' level with no real amazing hot streaks. The RF platoon tandem of Max Kepler (.176/.308/.257) and Harrison Bader (.154/.233/.269) was downright awful. Everyone else in the starting lineup batted between .259 and .318. Young infielder Thairo Estrada now has 40 games started under his belt as the nominal starting second baseman. He's batting a respectable .283/.382/.359 at the MLB level.

On the pitching side of things, Carolina got its best performances from its best players. #1 starter James Paxton righted the ship with a 4-1 record and a 3.29 ERA in August. #2 starter Mike Clevinger was even better, going 4-0 with a 2.52 ERA. He also tied his franchise high of 14 Ks in one game against the Giants on August 14th. Closer Zach Britton went 9/9 in saves and didn't allow a run. Setup man Joe Jimenez continues to be nasty as he lowered his season ERA to 1.53.


THAT BULLPEN THO

The Carolina bullpen has been mostly good all season--they rank 7th in the NL with a 3.73 ERA. Now that Britton is healthy, they can do some things. The July trade for Trevor Rosenthal and the subsequent August waiver trade for Justin Wilson gives the Knights one of the deeper and more complete 'pens in the game. When you can go with Lou Trivino and James Hoyt in the 6th inning, then Rosenthal in the 7th, Wilson and Jimenez in the 8th, before turning it to Britton in the 9th, that's pretty doggone good.


PITCHING NOT ALL GOOD?

Unfortunately as some of the more talented pitchers on the Carolina staff pitched to their levels in August, some of the "feel good" stories felt more like a kick to the dong. For example, Chris Bassitt has been one of the more effective pitchers all season for the Knights, but he scuffled in August to a 5.22 ERA. Marco Gonzales has also been a mainstay in the rotation, but he pitched poorly (5.55 ERA) then was lost to a shoulder impingement for the remainder of the season. Due to Gonzales' absence, Ross Stripling comes back from his banishment to AAA. Stripling owns a 7.19 ERA in the bigs this season, but rehabilitated his game in 7 triple A starts--3.38 ERA, 38 K vs 5 BB, 1 HR allowed.


TEAM PAGE

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STANDINGS

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