MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

[Franchise408]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

Wow, I can't tell if I suck, or if it's just the matchups.

I just played game 3 of the 4 game opening series against the Dodgers. It was scoreless going into the bottom of the 8th, when the Dodgers finally put up the game's first run. The score was 1-0 Dodgers heading into the 9th inning. I ended up rallying in the top of the 9th, scoring 2 runs and taking a late lead. So I bring in Brian Wilson in the bottom of the 9th, and he fails to even get and out and botches the save, as the Dodgers lineup just knocks him all over the yard. Makes me want to cry, I was staring my first win right in the face and I lost it

Now I go into game 4 just hoping I can prevent a sweep. But with Zito going, I have no expectations.

[Franchise408]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

And officially demoralized.

I just got rocked 10-0 to finish off the sweep. I had to pull Zito by the 2nd inning he was getting rocked so hard.

I don't think I've ever lost 4 straight in any franchise mode ever. IDK if I just need to make moves to make my team better, if I just suck, if it's the difficulty, or what.

4 games into my franchise, I have been outscored 26-5. My bats have picked up, so I don't necessarily want to blame the difficulty setting. And except for Barry Zito, my starting pitching has been phenomenal. The CPU doesn't start scoring on me until late in the game when my starters get worn out, or my bullpen comes in. Except for Zito. Who was awful. But that's Zito, right? Maybe the Dodgers really are just that good in the game.

[Jags4Lyfe]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

Giants need Bats..the Ratings on this game don't count for players like Cody Ross who just got unbelievably hot last year

[Franchise408]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

Giants need Bats..the Ratings on this game don't count for players like Cody Ross who just got unbelievably hot last year

That's kind of what I figured. It's hard for me to blame the difficulty setting when my starting pitching is shutting them down just as badly as they are shutting me down, and I have only about 3 or 4 guys on my entire team that have any hitting rating above an 80. And Buster Posey is hurt right now, so his hitting ratings are in the 50's and 60's.

Oddly enough, ratings aside, Cody Ross is becoming one of my more dependable hitters.

[Franchise408]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

Well the Giants' losing streak has extended to 5 games. Madison Baumgarner had a bad 2nd inning, giving up 5 runs to the Padres. Ramon Ramirez would eventually take over later in the game and shut down the Padres while the Giants proceeded to chip away at the lead. Freddy Sanchez extended his hitting streak to 5 games, and Cody Ross hit the team's first HR of the season. Buster Posey and Pat Burrell added doubles, but unfortunately it wasnt enough as the Giants fell 6-4 and dropped to 0-5 on the season.

[Franchise408]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

After losing their first 6 games on the road, the Giants would finally find a little bit of luck on their own turf, winning their first game of the season in their home opener, off the back of a walk off home run in the bottom of the 11th from Buster Posey.

Matt Cain pitched 8 stellar innings, getting 8 strike outs while only giving up 1 run in the top of the 2nd. The Giants would struggle until the bottom of the 5th, when Cody Ross would bring in Buster Posey with an RBI single. The pitching duel between Cain and Chris Carpenter continued. The Giants would bring in Brian Wilson in the top of the 9th, but the Giants couldn't take advantage in the bottom of the inning, sending the game to extra innings.

Jason Motte would pitch the Cardinals through the extra frame, but with 2 outs in the bottom of the 11th, Buster Posey, demoted to 6th in the lineup after struggling early with an injury, would send a shot down the right field line, into the crowd for the game winner.

[cardswin2006]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

Quick update on my Orioles franchise:



As Jack Buck would say, "That's a winner!"

The 2012 Orioles are the World Series champions, winning the series 4-1 against the Milwaukee Brewers. The deciding game wasn't all that close, as the final score was 14-3, but it was still a satisfying victory given the difficulties fromt the previous season. I was smiling as my team mobbed each other and the fireworks were going off

Matt Weiters was the WS MVP, but really, it could have gone to half my lineup, including Brian Roberts who was a hit machine. It was also a coming out party of sorts for Jake Arrieta, a young pitcher who struggled a bit through the season. He won game 5 in dominant fashion going all 9 innings. He'll definitely have a spot in the rotation going into next year.

So that will end 2012, now the decions for 2013 begin:

- Vlad Guerrero is on the final year of his contract. Given his monstrous year, I have to re-sign him, but I don't want to kill my budget in the process. Plus, I would prefer to keep it to a one year deal given his age. Not sure if that will be possible...

- I have to decide whether Reimold will be my long-term 1B solution. I don't have anyone in the minors that could jump in, so any adjustment would need to be made via trade or free agency. He picked it up later in the year, including coming up huge in the playoffs, but his overall year numbers were pretty poor coming from that position (which isn't his natural defensive position.)

- I also have a young 4-star potential, switch hitting 3B who, upon being called on to play the bench in the postseason, had two hits in two at bats....for 2 HRs! This guy is clutch and will definitely have to be on the MLB roster next year. The question is, who do I let go in the process? Plus, with 2011 MVP Mark Reynolds (current 3B) improving year over year, there isn't really a spot for him. I don't think he can play 1B with his defensive ratings, but I may have to check that out (or cheat and boost his 1B ratings in "edit player" ).

There's no doubt it will be tough to repeat, especially in the cut-throat AL East, but I'm hoping I can safely transition my older players for younger ones as some of my players hit their peak (Adam Jones, Matt Wieters, Nick Markaikis, Brian Matusz).

[Franchise408]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

Congrats on the win.

Off season decisions are always the funnest part to me. Good luck with it.

[Watson]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

I won the WS as well, and had Chipper and Lowe retire. My off season was quiet, as I moved Prado from LF to 3B, and gave the LF slot to Juan Rivera (who I got in a Kawikami trade) (Hinske was asking for a little too much money), moved Brandon Beachy from the pen to the rotation, and called up my best reliever from AAA, only signing players to replace the AAA talent.

[cardswin2006]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

Update on my Orioles Franchise:

So after a relatively calm offseason, I'm back playing into year 3 (2013). For those that read my previous post:

- I re-signed 37 year old Vlad (he was the league MVP after all) to a one year, $4.25 million deal. He's definitely on the downswing though...

- I re-signed Luke Scott, despite having quite a bit of depth in the outfield. He still has solid power, so he'll probably share time with Pie.

- The Josh Bell experiment is in full swing, with him playing 1B instead of his native 3rd. He has solid contact/power ratings vs LHP&RHP, so he'll likely be an everyday player for me. I let him mature a bit in AAA the last two years and it is finally paying dividends this year. Love it!

Hopefully this goes better than my Nolan Reimold experiment last year at the same position. He's now playing in AAA

- I didn't make any major acquisitions in the offseason, although I did sign a few 5 star potential minor league players. Hopefully one will hit big as I signed them all to 5 year deals.

I always find stocking the minors to be the toughest thing to do in the offseason. You end up making signings you know aren't going anywhere (29 year old, 2 star LRP) to fill roster spots. Oh well. There are some diamonds in that rough, that's for sure.


Opened the season in Tampa and won 4-2 against Price (that dude is tough to hit).

Josh Bell had 2 RBIs

[Franchise408]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

I haven't made any significant moves in my Giants franchise yet. My record is down to 2-9, but I've made some adjustments to my lineup, Buster Posey is healthy, and the bats are starting to come around, so I'm hoping that the RBI's will come around from that as well.

The only signings that I've made are bringing in relief pitcher Elmer Dessens for some bullpen depth, and 2B Cristian Guzman to bring some depth to my bats (has an 82 contact v. LHP).

But unfortunately, my last game, which was a win, I lost Freddy Sanchez to injury for about a month. He's been my best player by far in the early going, leading the majors in hits. This next month is gonna be rough and I'm not sure how I'm gonna replace his bat.

[Franchise408]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

The Giants have gotten their first win streak of the season, winning their 2nd straight, and have won their first series of the season, taking the 3 game series against the Dodgers 2-1. The Giants travel to Arizona next to take on the D'Backs in a 3 game set, followed by a 3 game set in Colorado to take on the Rockies.

[cmcghs]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

Watch out for the new injury bug...

[Franchise408]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

What's the new injury bug?

[cmcghs]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

Check this thread: http://www.operationsports.com/forum...r-new-bug.html

I also posted it in the bugs/glitches thread