MLB 14 The Show Franchise Progress

[NDAlum]

2014 MLB Draft - Pittsburgh Pirates pick #23 in each round




Quality guy who I am going to look to call up near the AS break if he's doing well in the minors. He's got a MLB ready bat and he can play a little 1B/3B to hit LHP. There were no outstanding prospects available at #23 so I went with a guy I felt could be an immediate impact. Obviously he has a low ceiling with 78 POT.


Debated hard between Reilly and Oh for this 2nd round pick. I went with the hard throwing Reilly who is also one year younger. He'll be an asset in our system for a few years. Quite possible 3-4 years away from the bigs.


Did not expect Oh to last to round 3. Snagged him immediately and he'll be another guy who is 3-4 years away and will simply be an asset in the system.


Intrigued by this flame thrower but he only throws FB/SL so I'm going to move him to the bullpen in the minors. He might be a young guy who is able to move up pretty quick as I don't ever see him being a SP.


I'm going to get rid of this pick as I found an exploit in the draft system. It's a pretty major bug IMO and it completely cheats the system. I have a new house rule to eliminate drafting guys like this.


He'll be a filler in the minors for a while. Doubt he steps foot in AAA let alone the MLB.

[KBLover]

Maybe just edit Estrada's potential down to like 75 or something?

That way you won't have to just throw him away. He could still be a prospect in your system.

Oh, and Ramirez was just a 2-pitch pitcher? Didn't think the game made those.

[moth to a flame]

I just did the draft in my franchise, which is a 30 team control, and I noticed that every team's scouting was horrible except mine. Also, I had to manually pick every pick. Is there a way to have the CPU auto scout in detail and to pick the other teams picks besides the one team I play as?

[NDAlum]

Quote: Originally Posted by KBLover

Maybe just edit Estrada's potential down to like 75 or something? That way you won't have to just throw him away. He could still be a prospect in your system. Oh, and Ramirez was just a 2-pitch pitcher? Didn't think the game made those.

That's a good idea, I'll knock him from 95 to 75.

Ramirez has 4SFB/2SFB/SL so technically 3 pitches

[The Chef]

Quote: Originally Posted by HozAndMoose

I technically lost. But rage quit before the last out was finished. All star hitting HoF pitching with TNK sliders. No offense at all in the 15 or so playoff games ive had.

I had the same issue when I got to the playoffs in my Dodgers franchise. I went on to win the World Series but only because of my pitching. I know I faced some solid teams in the playoffs who generally have better pitching but it felt like the playoffs were designed this way to produce nothing but pitching duels constantly.

[B Easy]

Quote: Originally Posted by NDAlum

That's a good idea, I'll knock him from 95 to 75. Ramirez has 4SFB/2SFB/SL so technically 3 pitches

ND, did you auto draft the other teams picks, or did you pick them yourself? Nice draft BTW. Enjoy reading your write ups.

[NDAlum]

They drafted on their own. I had the first three picks fully scouted and was considering all 3 in round 1. I was shocked to get all 3

[KBLover]

2014 is in the books.

The Marlins had a decent September, but were indeed relegated to playing tough spoiler - which almost succeeded.

The Nationals had an up-and-down September, but the Marlins really gave them fits to end the year. The Fish won 6 of the last 7 games against the Nats, turning the NL East race into a complete dogfight.

In the end, the Nats did hold on to the NL East crown, but the Mets made a strong final push of their own to finish just one game back.

The Braves also faltered in September to go from top NL Wild Card seed to OUT of the playoffs entirely. The Mets took the second spot.

The Marlins found themselves still in fourth place, but just six games behind. The team finished with an 83-79 record.

Final NL East Standings
Nats: 89-73
Mets: 88-74
Braves: 87-75
Marlins: 83-79
Phillies: 58-104


The optimism surrounding the Marlins was further aided by some individual award winners.

NL MVP: SP Jose Fernandez (18-6, 1.94 ERA, 250 K)
NL Gold Glove: IF Greg Dobbs (played 1B mostly)
NL Cy Young: SP Jose Fernandez (18-6, 1.94 ERA, 250 K)

Jose Fernandez led the NL in:
-Strikeouts: 250
-ERA: 1.94
-Win Percentage: .750
-Wins: 18
-Complete Games: 9
-Innings Pitched: 245 2/3

Pedro Alvarez (PIT) edged out Stanton for the HR crown. Stanton ended up with 41 home runs while Alvarez launched 43 bombs out of the park. Matt Harvey gave Fernandez a fierce run in WHIP and ERA. Harvey finished with a 2.04 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP, just 0.01 higher than Fernandez. Strasburg racked up 246 K's, just 4 shy of Fernandez's mark.


Team Top Hitting Performers
Giancarlo Stanton: .246/.331/.516, 41 HR, 101 RBI
Christian Yelich: .289/.358/.450, 18 HR, 63 RBI
Greg Dobbs: .277/.312/.462, 10 HR, 36 RBI

Team Top Pitching Performers

Jose Fernandez: 245 2/3 IP, 18-6, 1.94 ERA, 75 BB, 250 K, .248 BABIP
Steve Cishek: 49 1/3 IP, 3-3, 33 Sv, 1.82 ERA, 14 BB, 50 K, .262 BABIP
Andrew Heaney: 133 2/3 IP, 11-5, 3.10 ERA, 44 BB, 103 K, .270 BABIP


Offseason Goals:

The Marlins still need to fix the offense. Perhaps a year of Viciedo and Montero against southpaws will make a difference, and Montero might still improve into a useful everyday player, but corner infield remains an issues vs RHP at the least.

Middle infield is fine defensively and may improve even further as Didi Gregorius, Donovan Solano, and Chris Taylor all gain experience in the field. However, none of them really showed any positive signs at the plate and can the team really expect another defense-first prospect in Hechavarria to hit 10 HR again?

The rotation still needs solidification, though that will be mostly a waiting game as the Marlins have a stable of young arms just needing to round their talent into baseball skills. The upswing in September coincided with the return of Andrew Heaney, cementing thoughts that he could be a fine #2 behind Fernandez. Adam Conley also shows promise with his big fastball and flashes from his off-speed.

The bullpen might need a bit of help as well. Henry Rodriguez is fun to watch pitch, but he's prone to sudden meltdowns as well. Caminero has all the stuff in the world, and there's not a lot of people named "Arquimedes" out there, but the young reliever with a great name hasn't put it together on the field. Capps remains a strong point and Cishek is just fine. Marmol slowed down as the year went on, though he kept picking up K's, and Ramos was just a disappointment all season.


Notes:

-SP Angel Sanchez's stock has taken a tumble, perhaps exposed by the challenge of the higher levels. His major league stint was less-than-impressive, and he continued his struggles back at AAA New Orleans. As a result, scouts have lowered the ceiling on Sanchez.

-SP Brian Flynn is heading in the positive direction. He got another chance when Angel Sanchez was demoted and made the most of it. Flynn posted a solid 3.11 ERA and showed good poise on the mound. Scouts raised their projection on him, but it is hard to see him as more than a #3 if/when all the arms develop. He may be valuable as trade bait if this trajectory continues.

-3B Colin Moran got a taste of the majors in September. He showed some signs of his line drive swing but also struggled against some of the better pitchers he faced. Defensively, he was solid though harder hit balls sometimes found their way through him.

-CF Jake Marisnick is perhaps pushing Ozuna for center field. The young outfielder made some gains defensively and showed some life at the plate. It might be a position battle come next spring. Ozuna looked to have this locked up but his bat died in the second half.

-SP Steven Wright couldn't crack the 40-man roster for a September call-up, but that's not stopping his progress, according to team scouts. While optimism is still tempered, there's no denying he's getting a firm grasp of his knuckler. "Let's not get crazy, this is still a project pitcher trying to cling to the knuckleball to save his career, but he has improved his results and has a more consistent delivery, " one scout spoke.

-Is OF Christian Yelich about to breakout? He showed surprising power down the stretch, finishing with 18 HR. May have been just a good run to end the year, but it could be the sign of budding strength in his swing.

-Michael Feliz might be on his way to the majors despite a bad ending to his AA season. Feliz has been constantly improving and makes a case for being in the rotation to start the year, and likely will get a good look during Spring Training. Tyler Kolek may get a shot at AAA, though the 18-year-old may stay in AA until his command improves further as the Marlins have been careful with him after the first attempt at AAA went poorly.