MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

[zorroomega]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

I'm having lots of fun with the roster management aspect too, more so than I'd thought. I've never approached a franchise like this where I sim some games and play others.

In my Phillies franchise Cole Hamels went down for 4 months right after the All-Star break. I couldn't believe it. To make matters worse, I had just traded Joe Blanton to ATL to pickup lefty specialist Eric O'Flaherty to balance the bullpen for the playoff run. I'm still good with Halliday, Lee and Oswalt as my 1-3, and Kendrick is a passable 4th, but the 5th spot is now totally in disarray.

If Lee or Oswalt get hurt again (both have been hurt this season), I could run into big problems.

It's a shame he's doing so well and I can't use him. I only do hitting then I supersim the pitching so the games go by faster. He seems like a blast to use but oh well.

Out of curiosity, if you were to do only hitting or pitching, which would you do?

I am still chugging along in my two franchises: one an All-30 teams chise where I am exclusively using the Phillies, the other a single-team chise with the Pirates.

They both come with their ups and downs....

I have played most of my games in the Pirates chise, but certain AI roster management scenarios/decisions have wained my interest. For instance, I recently played the Nationals and the closer I faced was Livan Hernandez.....since it's a single team chise I cannot edit lineups and rotations. These nuances leave me feeling cheapened by the outcome of games.

So I then pick up and continue playing in my Phillies" All 30" chise. Its still in April, albeit late April, so I play a couple Halladay starts then sim forward to June. Once I get to the draft, I made every team's first rd selection then simmed the rest. I then had to sign the new draftees, and assign them to the minors....well I opted to automate and 3 hours later I had not played a single game, and I was almost done with lineups before nodding out.

I do like full-control, but it gets rather cumbersome. However, it is also hard to deal with the AI roster moves etc.

So I am kinda stuck on what direction I should go. I am spending more time managing rosters than playing games in my all-30 franchise, and although I have more time invested in my Pirates chise I am getting tired of seeing the cpu assign Livan Hernandez the closer role, or making Hong Kuo a starter for the Dodgers.

Ya Trojan man it would suck if you lost anymore pitchers (as a Pirate fan I'm saying this through franchise talk not team talk). I'd probably pitch and field has more lasting appeal. Gotta start back up with the Pirates. JBH I like control to I hate when I want a challenge and want to play against their ace. Probably go with the Pirates and hope I didn't delete it. Just cleaned my junk out of the XBOX so..LOL.

[cardswin2006]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

Quick Update on my Orioles Franchise (Year 3):

As I stated in my last update, I was in the ALCS vs the Rangers. I have since swept the series and am on to the World Series! I'll be facing the Cincinatti Reds who won the NLCS in 5 games and knocked the cover off the ball in their series against the Dodgers.

Adam Jones and Matt Wieters have really carried the team offensively in the postseason and I've had to resort to "manufacturing" more runs as my power hitting cools off. Felix Pie is a base stealing machine

I'm fairly confident of a repeat WS winner, but time will tell....

[jonmchugh007]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

hey guys using the indians, what are some realistic moves to where i could add a bat or 2 in my lineup. specifically from the right side. would like to get a decent deal for grady. i put him and ocab on the block and texas offered me andrean beltre 3b. only problem is where do I put him with calling up chisenhall?

what are some other moves i could do? realistically.

[RookieMiztake]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

hey guys using the indians, what are some realistic moves to where i could add a bat or 2 in my lineup. specifically from the right side. would like to get a decent deal for grady. i put him and ocab on the block and texas offered me andrean beltre 3b. only problem is where do I put him with calling up chisenhall?

what are some other moves i could do? realistically.

If you make the trade and call up Chisenhall you can move Beltre to 1st base have Chisenhall at 3rd base and Travis Hafner at DH. To fill the void of Grady you can then either have Crowe play center or move Brantley from left to center.

[zorroomega]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

If you make the trade and call up Chisenhall you can move Beltre to 1st base have Chisenhall at 3rd base and Travis Hafner at DH. To fill the void of Grady you can then either have Crowe play center or move Brantley from left to center.

Hit edit player at manage roster screen, and then see there fielding ability at the position first.Just to make sure they won't suck there.

[RogueHominid]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

Cliff Lee goes down for 2 1/2 weeks with 5 weeks remaining and PHI with a 6 game lead over NYM. Rollins is out for a week. And I need to win!

The last month should be exciting. I thought a division title was a fait accompli just a week prior.

[arizona_icedT]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

Cliff Lee goes down for 2 1/2 weeks with 5 weeks remaining and PHI with a 6 game lead over NYM. Rollins is out for a week. And I need to win!

The last month should be exciting. I thought a division title was a fait accompli just a week prior.

How many games do you actually play?

[RogueHominid]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

How many games do you actually play?

I play one and sim 3-5. That way I make it through several seasons but still feel like my play has a significant impact on my overall record in a given year. Given how tight it is and my injury situation, I'll probably play half the games or more in the final month.

I never would have done that before this year, but I just gave it a shot, and the sim stats and injuries work well enough to make it an option. I'd suggest the approach if you want to be able to progress through a franchise a bit.

That decision to ship off Joe Blanton for O'Flaherty is looking bad in hindsight. I could really use Blanton's innings-eating arm out there to stand in for my two downed starters.

[zorroomega]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

How many games do you actually play?

Play one, sim 3-5. But I don't have a guaranteed system so. I might play two, but usually always sim 3-5. Depends on the team also.Tough situation Trojan Man. Like a movie.

[JBH3]

Well my decision was made for me last night regarding what franchise I should continue playing in.

Once I had simmed from late April to June 25th, and along the way reset all 30 team's rosters due to the draft etc. I go to play a game in the current Red Sox/Phillies series and the dynamic player ratings had defaulted back to the original ratings for all 30 teams. I tried quitting and reloading the game, but that didn't work....so essentially the dynamics from having simmed about two months of games were gone. Bye bye all-30 teams franchise, hello Pirates franchise.....

I picked up where I left off in my Pirates franchise, my final series playing against the Cubs before the ASB break. I sent Brian Bannister to the hill against Matt Garza. Both pitchers were in a duel pitching shutouts through 6 innings. Garza would go 8 innings never allowing a run, nor XBH. Bannister would eventually surrender a run in the 7th, and Renyel Pinto gave up a 2 run bomb to Tyler Colvin, his 25th, and the Cubs shutout the Pirates 3-0.

I am excited in finally just moving forward with my Pirates chise. My #1 overall SP picked in the 2011 draft has all the makings of a stud, and I can't wait to get him on the big lg team. My offense has been great, but my pitching suspect so playing as the Pirates has been a challenge and dynamic experience.

[Franchise408]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

I again haven't posted much in here, because I haven't been playing that much due to lots of other stuff on my schedule. But I've been able to get a few games in, here are some of the recent storylines in my Giants franchise (currently in May 18th):

-Giants finally overtake 1st place in NL West
After a disappointing 1-9 start, the Giants have finally battled back into 1st place, overtaking the Rockies after a 2 game sweep

-Freddy Sanchez returns from injury
After an extended stint on the DL, Freddy Sanchez returned to action against the Dodgers. He proceeded to go 3-4, with an RBI. He continues to have a hit in every game he's played in this season, and is batting .500 on the season.

-Buster Posey goes off
Buster Posey had an amazing game in Colorado to finish off the sweep of the division rival Rockies. Posey went 5-5, with 2 HR's, 7 RBI's, and a double.

I sometimes feel like the game may be getting too easy. As a team, I have the highest .avg in the league, at .303 - with the Giants...

Some individual averages: F. Sanchez (.500), M. Tejada (.369), A. Torres (.367), P. Sandoval (.347), B. Posey (.311), A. Rowand (.309), E. Burriss (.300), C. Ross (.293), P. Burrell (.272) - I am wondering if these will start to balance out at I start simulating games, and start progressing deeper into the season. As I stated earlier, I am only thru May 18, so I'm barely a month and a half into the season.

On the flip side, as a team I am bottom 10 in the Majors in runs (166 runs, 7th to last in the Majors), bottom 5 in HR's (30 HR's, 5th from last), and my OBP is actually middle of the pack.

So somewhere along the line, the game is still balancing itself out. I am not running away with the division - in fact I've been in last place or somewhere at the bottom of the division for awhile. My record is what I feel to be a realistic 25-18 through this point of the season. And even though I started off a horrid 1-9, I am still 15-15 in manually played games, including losing 2 of my last 3 manually played series' to the D'Backs and Rockies respectively.

So I'm not sure. There are details about my franchise that aren't running exactly realistically, like my team batting average, and the averages of many of my hitters, but the overall results of the franchise feel very realistic. Even some of my better pitchers like Lincecum and Cain get rocked, I've blown a couple of saves with Wilson, and good pitching shuts me down big time.

[cardswin2006]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

I again haven't posted much in here, because I haven't been playing that much due to lots of other stuff on my schedule. But I've been able to get a few games in, here are some of the recent storylines in my Giants franchise (currently in May 18th):

-Giants finally overtake 1st place in NL West
After a disappointing 1-9 start, the Giants have finally battled back into 1st place, overtaking the Rockies after a 2 game sweep

-Freddy Sanchez returns from injury
After an extended stint on the DL, Freddy Sanchez returned to action against the Dodgers. He proceeded to go 3-4, with an RBI. He continues to have a hit in every game he's played in this season, and is batting .500 on the season.

-Buster Posey goes off
Buster Posey had an amazing game in Colorado to finish off the sweep of the division rival Rockies. Posey went 5-5, with 2 HR's, 7 RBI's, and a double.

I sometimes feel like the game may be getting too easy. As a team, I have the highest .avg in the league, at .303 - with the Giants...

Some individual averages: F. Sanchez (.500), M. Tejada (.369), A. Torres (.367), P. Sandoval (.347), B. Posey (.311), A. Rowand (.309), E. Burriss (.300), C. Ross (.293), P. Burrell (.272) - I am wondering if these will start to balance out at I start simulating games, and start progressing deeper into the season. As I stated earlier, I am only thru May 18, so I'm barely a month and a half into the season.

On the flip side, as a team I am bottom 10 in the Majors in runs (166 runs, 7th to last in the Majors), bottom 5 in HR's (30 HR's, 5th from last), and my OBP is actually middle of the pack.

So somewhere along the line, the game is still balancing itself out. I am not running away with the division - in fact I've been in last place or somewhere at the bottom of the division for awhile. My record is what I feel to be a realistic 25-18 through this point of the season. And even though I started off a horrid 1-9, I am still 15-15 in manually played games, including losing 2 of my last 3 manually played series' to the D'Backs and Rockies respectively.

So I'm not sure. There are details about my franchise that aren't running exactly realistically, like my team batting average, and the averages of many of my hitters, but the overall results of the franchise feel very realistic. Even some of my better pitchers like Lincecum and Cain get rocked, I've blown a couple of saves with Wilson, and good pitching shuts me down big time.

Good stuff.

I wouldn't worry too much about the statistical abberations at this point. You're still early enough in the season that you can go on a month long cold streak with half of your lineup and be back in the pack in AVG. That's why they play 162

That being said, if you're still having those same issues later in the season, you may try adjusting your sliders to allow for less contact (smaller hitting window means fewer hits and fewer solid hits).

[cardswin2006]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

Well my decision was made for me last night regarding what franchise I should continue playing in.

Once I had simmed from late April to June 25th, and along the way reset all 30 team's rosters due to the draft etc. I go to play a game in the current Red Sox/Phillies series and the dynamic player ratings had defaulted back to the original ratings for all 30 teams. I tried quitting and reloading the game, but that didn't work....so essentially the dynamics from having simmed about two months of games were gone. Bye bye all-30 teams franchise, hello Pirates franchise.....

This does happen in every franchise. I think it's put in there to keep the hot players from hitting 90 HRs and the cold players from hitting .150 for the year. Then again, it could just be a bug.

But I have this happen every year in my franchise. Don't worry, though, the streaks come back every so often.

The only time they don't happen is in the playoffs (kind of a bummer as you can't ride a 'hot bat' ala Buster Posey).

[zorroomega]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

Tabata out 4-6 weeks with a calf from a sick run to dive catch. 1 Pirates post coming up soon. JBH sounds like you got the Pirates rollin'.

[cardswin2006]

Re: MLB2K11 Franchise Progress

I'm fairly confident of a repeat WS winner, but time will tell....

Famous last words.

Update on my Orioles Franchise (Year 3):

So I'm in the World Series against Cincinatti. Their lineup is sick. Well, their top 6 are anyway. You have to get down to the 7 spot before you come across a hitter with less than 25 HRs.

Game 1 against the NL Champion Reds was Paul Malholm vs. Aroldis Chapman.

Chapman's fastball should be illegal.

After working a long first inning and drawing 3 walks (capped with a Mark Reynolds 3 RBI double) I thought I was off to an easy game. Unfortunately, Malholm gave the 3 runs right back in the top of the 2nd.

It stayed 3-3 until the 8th inning when the Reds scored on a sac fly, giving them a 4-3 lead. In the ninth they added a solo HR.

I thought I was going to come back when I had 1st and 3rd with no one out against the Reds converted-starter-now-closer, Homer Bailey. Unfortunately, Josh Bell lined out to 2nd for the first out. Felix Pie followed that up by swinging at a curveball in the dirt for the K (2nd out) and Vladimir Guerrero was thrown out straying too far from 3rd to end the game.

I'm down 1-0 in the World Series, but I'm still holding out hope that my quoted post above doesn't become a legendary example of overconfidence.