MLB 11 The Show "Franchise/Season" Progress Thread

[antilowpe]

I'm 6-7 now with the White Sox.

After a rough serie against Tampa (1-3 lost), we were down 3-6 but we managed to win the serie against the A's 2-1 (best team with a 7-2 record before our serie).
It was a tough one and each game was decided by a run.
I won game one 2-1, lost game two 5-6 on 12th and won last game 2-1.
And after that win, I managed to beat the Halos in the first game. It's the first two wins in a row of the season.
So I'm sitting now @ 6-7, good for 2nd place behind the 10-4 Tigers.

My pitching (HOF) is becoming quite good, 3.59 ERA.

But my offense is the problem.
#1: I'm hitting .229 as a team (AS zone hitting).
I have a Juan Pierre in MVP mode (.479 avg, 13 runs, 10 SB so far) and a good Konerko .290 avg but I have terrible hitters too.
AJ and Quentin are below the .150 avg (ouch) and Rios is sitting at a mediocre .069 avg. (in 45+ AB, he got only 3 hits (2 doubles))!!!
Somehow, he gets good at bats, works the count and smacked the ball pretty hard but it's always on outfielders. No luck...
Alexei has been hurt on a slide and is out for 2 months. So I called Escobar to fill the bench.

#2: My power is also non existent (only 9 HR on 13 games 3 for Dunn 2 for Konerko)

[Marino]

I'm currently 40-23 right now as I go for the sweep of the Phillies in Philly.

Andre Ethier has once again gotten hot, probably has 10 RBIS in the last 4 games. Currently has 14 HRs and 44 RBIs on the season.

The offense has been hitting homeruns left in right since the road trip began. I am pulling away from the Rockies right now and have a 4 game series coming up where I can really bury them.

The starting pitching has been phenominal but the bullpen has been shoddy minus Troncoso and Broxton. I may look to call up Jansen and/or trade for another lefty to take some stress off of Kuo.

I may go up to HoF pitching, not sure yet.

[yankecrazy]

v. Pirates: Joba Chamberlain


Relevant Statistics:
Joba Chamberlain: 7.0 IP, 10H, 1ER, 0HR, 0BB, 5K (85 pitches, 59 strikes)
While the 10 hits given up aren't pretty, Joba was very sharp. 3 hits didn't leave the infield, and two more were broken bat bloopers. A near .400 BABIP doesn't represent what we would expect to see from Joba over the course of the season. One concern was Joba's inability to put people away - while he struck out 5, with the number of 2-strike counts, you would expect that number to be higher.

Bartolo Colon: 1.0 IP, 1H, 1BB, 0K
- Not a sharp outing, but serviceable. Colon has said that he will not accept an assignment to the Yankees AAA affiliate, so if he doesn't make the team, Colon will become a FA following Spring Training.
Ryan Pope: 1.0 IP, 1H, 0BB, 2K
- 2 more K's for Pope, he's a lock for the 25-man roster, and should compete with David Robertson for some high-leverage innings.

No decision has been made about the Yankees final rotation spot. The Yankees are considering having each starter make one more appearance before making a final decision. Sources within the Yankees organization say that Freddy Garcia is still the front runner, and that the team "feels more comfortable" sending Chamberlain to AAA to start the year and stretch out.

[Shield]

First game of the season with FLA, i went against my gut feeling and left Josh Johson in until he gave up a run. Going into the 8th, hadn't allowed a run but 7 hits. JJ's energy was almost spent on 76 pitches and 3 lefties leading off the 8th. I wanted to yank him but i was up 4-0 so i left him in even though i felt the Mets were gonna break out. He struck out the side and proceeded to handle the 9th with ease. My first CG shutout in MLB 11! Felt proud of myself lol. Only 161 games to go.

[cardsleadtheway]

Made the playoffs as the top team in the AL with 115 wins. We won the division on the last day of August, so we spent most of September letting the callups play. I actually simmed the entire last half of September since we were so far out in front. Carlos Pena ended up winning the MVP award with a .330 average (third best), 50 home runs, and 148 RBI's. Had Abreu and Mauer not hit so well, Pena would have the triple crown. We also picked up Fuentes off waivers from the Phillies just in time to have him eligible for the playoff roster.

We faced off against the Rays for the first series. it turned out to be a relatively easy clean sweep, thanks in large part to our pitching. Anderson pitched 7 shutout innings while the bull pen managed to give up only two to get the win. In game two, Cliff Lee pitched a shutout, giving up 4 hits and striking out 9. Game three had Gio go 7 innings of 1 run ball, while Fuentes and Bailey managed to hold off any hope of a comeback. Our offense wasn't as quiet as the last three playoff seasons, but our big names certainly were. Dunn and Pena batted around .200 with no offensive contributions. It was SS Termel Paxton that held up the bottom of the order with 2 home runs in the series and a 545 BA. Quentin and Carter were also great contributors. On to Boston

The Red Sox have been the bane of our playoff existence, beating us 3 out of 4 years so far (with the Yankees taking the other year). Anderson pitched quite a gem, giving up 2 runs. Quentin belted a three run shot to go up on them, while Suzuki hit his first of the series. Bailey closed the door for a great start to the series. Game two Cliff Lee was not as solid as he was against the Rays. He struck out 7, but managed to give up a solo shot to Youk and a three run jack to Beltre. Luckily, our offense managed to match them in stride. Back to back solo shots with Pena and Dunn (each now with 1 HR and 1RBI in the post season) and another three run shot by Quentin as well as a two run triple was all we needed. Again Fuentes and Bailey managed to keep the door shut to win game 2. Now we are off to Boston in hopes of finishing out the series there. It will be Gio and possible Mazarro in games 3 and 4 of the series.

Fuentes has been so awesome, I think I will try to re-sign him in the off season. I love having an overpowering lefty in the pen rather than the usual finesse guys.

[mlblover15]

Just finished my second week in the franchise and i'm 4-11. just tried Marino's sliders for my last two games and am in love with them... they are by far the best i have tried... had two great games with them... anyway... 6.5 games out of first... not looking good right now but it is early and if i can get some offense to go with my pitching i can start getting this thing rolling...

[cardsfan2222]

Nice start to the playoffs cards. Did you get MLB 11, or are you still playing 10?

I kept 10, and am 18-11 so far this season. I knocked Wainwright out for the season as in real life, and have struggled replacing him. Lance Lynn was mediocre at best in his 3 starts, and Walters has been awful. In my last game, he gave up 8 runs in 2 innings against the Brewers.

My offense has been ok, despite being last in home runs with 17 so far. My bullpen has struggled to hold leads late, leading to 8 extra inning games already this season. I'm 7-1 in extras, but it wears on the bullpen having to go 10 or 11 innings so often, especially since I only have 4 starters capable of pitching 6 innings.

[meep316]

Started my season last night with the Red Sox, going to try and play all 162. I accidentally simmed the first game and lost 9-2. But then I came back the next game, pitched a CG Shutout with Beckett. I was just absolutely dealing and won 4-0. Mike Cameron had 2 solo shots off of Wilson, and crushed one to left that would've went out for a 3rd if it was higher.