2012 Franchise Progress Thread

[NiceSlacks]

Update on my Blue Jays franchise.We are 20-14 and have won 7 in a row! Things are really starting click especially with our pitching as we are second in the AL in team ERA.

Jose Bautista is absolutley locked in right now leading the league in Homers(17) and RBI(41).He's been a lot of fun to use, but it was not until the last few games where he has gone nuts.On this 7 game winning streak Bautista has crushed 5 homers, 3 off the twins.

On the pitching side Ricky Romero has been an ace in every sense as he is currently 6-0 with a 2.76 ERA.Brett Cecil has been a big surprise, currently sitting at 4-1 with a 2.37 ERA and is coming off a 1-hit shutout of the twins.

Sergio Santos has been flawless closing out games as he is 10/10 in saves with a miniscule 0.84 ERA.

On the not so good side:

Colby Rasmus - .192AVG 0HR 2RBI

J.P. Arencibia - .161AVG 1HR 9RBI

Adam Lind - .230 2HR 6RBI

These guys are actually starting hit better which goes to show you how terrible they have been lol.I'll be keeping an eye open during the trade deadline if we are still in it to see if I can make upgrades as outside of Bautista, Escobar, Lawrie and Johnson it's been a struggling offense.

We are currently on May 13, about to try and sweep the 4 game set from the Twins and increase our streak to 8.Red Sox lead us and the Yankees by 3.0 games.Let's go Jays!

[ravellron]

Quote: Originally Posted by NiceSlacks

Update on my Blue Jays franchise.We are 20-14 and have won 7 in a row! Things are really starting click especially with our pitching as we are second in the AL in team ERA. Jose Bautista is absolutley locked in right now leading the league in Homers(17) and RBI(41).He's been a lot of fun to use, but it was not until the last few games where he has gone nuts.On this 7 game winning streak Bautista has crushed 5 homers, 3 off the twins. On the pitching side Ricky Romero has been an ace in every sense as he is currently 6-0 with a 2.76 ERA.Brett Cecil has been a big surprise, currently sitting at 4-1 with a 2.37 ERA and is coming off a 1-hit shutout of the twins. Sergio Santos has been flawless closing out games as he is 10/10 in saves with a miniscule 0.84 ERA. On the not so good side: Colby Rasmus - .192AVG 0HR 2RBI J.P. Arencibia - .161AVG 1HR 9RBI Adam Lind - .230 2HR 6RBI These guys are actually starting hit better which goes to show you how terrible they have been lol.I'll be keeping an eye open during the trade deadline if we are still in it to see if I can make upgrades as outside of Bautista, Escobar, Lawrie and Johnson it's been a struggling offense. We are currently on May 13, about to try and sweep the 4 game set from the Twins and increase our streak to 8.Red Sox lead us and the Yankees by 3.0 games.Let's go Jays!

which sliders do you use?

[sink4ever]

Pittsburgh Pirates April Update







April 30th Notes

The Pirates had a quite poor first month. Neither their offense nor their pitching contain many bright spots.

The Pirates rank last or near-last in nearly every important offensive category. McCutchen has started to turn it around after a very slow start and both Walker and Presley have managed to contribute a little. Barmes and Barajas have been very pleasant surprises so far, but they can't be counted on to keep up that level of production. Tabata has struggled to keep his average over .200 while Jones has a whopping .446 OPS (yes, OPS). Alvarez has also struggled with the bat, losing playing time to McGehee (who is only hitting .218, but at least showing a little pop).

Bedard has pitched pretty well so far, but due to the lack of run support he only has 1 win in 5 starts. Hopefully his 30 K vs. 5 BB in 31 innings signals the beginning of a strong season. Morton and Burnett have pitched well enough, but are a combined 2-5. Meanwhile, both McDonald (1.89 WHIP) and Correia (6.30 ERA) have struggled in the back of the rotation. In the bullpen, Karstens has been flat-out horrible (16 hits and 12 runs in 10 innings). Resop and Grilli have been hittable, but Cruz, Meek, and Moskos have been good at protecting the few leads they've been given. Hanrahan has yet to give up a run, but he's only pitched in 4 games as save opportunities have been few and far between.


Minor League Notes
At AAA Indianapolis, top OF prospect Starling Marte has had a solid start (.274, 7 2B, 2 HR, 3 SB) along with 3B Josh Harrison (.317, 7 2B, 12 RBI). Tony Sanchez, the possible catcher of the future, has struggled so far with the bat (.167/.269/.206).
If a pitcher needs to be called up soon, it will probably be either Jeff Locke (2-2, 1.75 ERA, 36 IP, 28 H, 27 K, 10 BB) or Kyle McPherson (1-3, 3.56 ERA, 30.1 IP, 34 H, 30 K, 7 BB).

At AA Altoona, OF Robbie Grossman has started a bit slow (.236/.309/.375) and top 1B prospect Alex Dickerson (.269, 3 HR, 9 RBI) is trying to get on track. Infielder Alen Hanson (.333, 6 2B, 2 SB) has been on fire so far while OF Evan Chambers (.323/.419/.435) has shown the ability to hit for a solid average and get on base.
The three highly-touted power-pitching right-handers have all lived up to the hype so far. Starters Gerrit Cole (3-1, 1.06 ERA, 34 IP, 19 H, 23 K, 12 BB) and Jameson Tallie (3-2, 3.62 ERA, 32.1 IP, 36 H, 18 K, 5 BB) are doing their best to show they're ready to move up a level this year. Newly converted closer Stetson Allie (1.93 ERA, 14 Saves) has been simply lights out.


Injuries
SS Jordy Mercer - Injured Shin, 15-day DL, returning in 1-2 months
RF Nick Evans - Pulled Hamstring, 15-day DL, returning in 2-3 weeks
1B Jeff Clement - Broken Collarbone, 60-day DL, returning in 1-2 months


Trades
4/25 - Traded SS Chase D'Arnaud (B Potential) and SP Michael Colla (C Potential) to the New York Mets for CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis (C Potential). Nieuwenhuis was hitting around .300 on the year and will provide the putrid Pirates offense a much-needed bat. D'Arnaud could challenge for SS as soon as next year for the Mets.


Around the League
Padres - Carlos Quentin on 60-day DL for Torn MCL, could miss most or all of the season.
A's - Coco Crisp on 60-day DL for Broken Leg, out a couple more months.
Nationals - Chien-Ming Wang on 60-day DL for Torn Groin, out a couple more months.
Nationals - Bryce Harper on 15-day DL for Broken Hand and will miss another month or two. Hitting .232/.280/.406 at time of injury.
Nationals - Jordan Zimmerman suffered a fractured head and will miss the rest of the season.
Cubs - Alfonso Soriano on 15-day DL for Broken Collarbone, out at least one more month.
Cardinals - Adam Wainwright on 15-day DL for Finger Contusion, out another week or two.

[NiceSlacks]

Quote: Originally Posted by ravellron

which sliders do you use?

TNK.All-Star pitching and hitting.

Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using Tapatalk

[franch1se]

looks I'm going to have to start over. I finished year 1, lost in the NCLS and now every team is screwed up. I have 30 control rosters but with a different profile assigned to every team but mine. Teams have -200 mil in salaries, every superstar on 1 team (MLB-A) teams having all sorts of problems, only having 10 people on a roster etc. Seems like WAY to much work to fix every single thing wrong with every team. I think I'm just going to have to do a single franchise.

[DJ]

Scrapped my Rockies franchise and decided to go as the Mets (had a pre-patch Franchise going but had to abandon it b/c of freeze issues).

I'm off to a 2-1 start after the opening series against Atlanta. Won the first game 3-2, lost game two 11-0 (Dickey had to leave in the 2nd with an arm injury; thankfully it wasn't serious but Miguel Batista got lit up) and won the final game, 6-0.

Playing on pretty much All-Star default with Timing/Classic/Buttons setup.

[Heroesandvillains]

Quote: Originally Posted by DJ

Scrapped my Rockies franchise and decided to go as the Mets (had a pre-patch Franchise going but had to abandon it b/c of freeze issues). I'm off to a 2-1 start after the opening series against Atlanta. Won the first game 3-2, lost game two 11-0 (Dickey had to leave in the 2nd with an arm injury; thankfully it wasn't serious but Miguel Batista got lit up) and won the final game, 6-0. Playing on pretty much All-Star default with Timing/Classic/Buttons setup.

What a relief!!! You won 6-0 DJ!!! God, I bet you needed that after how the last few weeks have treated you.

Congratulations!

[franch1se]

simmed a year to get to year 2 in a start over franchise...Time to go young with the Padres. Signed a couple of the veterans from last years team as bench only since starters are young.

Depth Chart

C - Yasmani Grandal/Nick Hundley
1B - Yonder Alonso
2B - Alexi Amarista
3B - Chase Headley/James Darnell/Jesus Guzman
SS - Everth Cabrera
LF - James Darnell/Kyle Blanks/Mark Kotsay
CF - Cameron Maybin
RF - Jesus Guzman/Chris Denorfia/Mark Kotsay

SP

Tim Stauffer
Edinson Volquez
Corey Luebke
Joe Weiland
Casey Kelly

RP
Anthony Bass
Miles Mikolas
Brad Brach
Joe Thatcher
Luke Gregerson
Dale Thayer
Andrew Cashner


I really wanted Jedd Gyorko to be my opening day 2B and Brad Boxberger in the pen but they had just horrible springs and I put Gyorko in AAA as he was only in AA last season + learning a new position it made sense. Box will close in AAA.

I am thinking of re simming from a point i had saved because Albert Pujols retired due to injury.

I tried to re-sign Quentin but he signed with the Mets instead. LF is looking pretty weak as is RF. Guzman and Kotsay most likely will platoon, as will Grandal and Hundley.