MLB 14 The Show Franchise Progress

[NDAlum]

Franchise choice: Baltimore Orioles

I was born in Baltimore and I like the composition of their roster. Clearly their pitching needs some major help but they have a few nice pieces in their organization and I'm really excited to see how they turn out for me.

Some of my settings:

All-star hitting with TIMING
No guess pitch, automatic base running
No strike zone

HOF pitching with CLASSIC
No strike zone on but I did cave and use the ball marker
Auto fielding but I make the throws

I really want the player ratings to make a big impact in my franchise. I like to have this mixed input so I'm doing some of the work but there's no way I could will a terrible team to dominance.

___________

Opening day lineup:

1. RF - Nick Markakis
2. 3B - Manny Machado
3. CF - Adam Jones
4. 1B - Chris Davis
5. LF/DH - Nelson Cruz
6. C - Matt Wieters
7. DH/LF - Delmon Young/Nolan Reimold
8. SS - J.J. Hardy
9. 2B - Jonathan Schoop

I love this lineup. We're going to put up runs and we're going to hit a bunch of HR's. A couple nice veteran bats and a few young promising players. Defensively we're ok too. I really need Schoop to develop quick because I'm throwing him into the fire.

Pitching rotation:

1. Chris Tillman
2. Ubaldo Jimenez
3. W. Chen
4. Miguel Gonzalez
5. Kevin Gausman

This rotation is pretty weak...I don't have a true #1 and quite honestly nobody should probably be above #3 in this group. I want to see what Gausman can do for me and he took the spot of Bud Norris who I put in a long relief slot.

Bullpen:
Hunter (CL), O'Day, Britton, Norris, Meek, Matusz, Webb

There's a good chance I try to acquire pitching at some point during this season if I'm in a spot to fight for the playoffs.

_____________

Game #1

Well the season could not have started any worse for Chris Tillman as I gave up 5 earned runs in 1/3 of an inning with him and then he took a line drive off the face and suffered a concussion. He's out 3-4 weeks. On a positive note: the ball that hit him in the face bounced right to Schoop and he threw the batter out. Bud Norris came in and threw 5 1/3 shutout innings against a potent Red Sox offense. I was down 5-1 and then I gave up 5 runs in the 7th inning with Matusz out of the pen. The CPU AI did a terrible job with Lester and left him in way too long. He threw 7 great innings and they ran him out there for the 8th where I lit him up. He was gassed and I hit a couple 2-run HR's that inning. I made it close but still lost 10-7 on Opening Day. Cruz, Davis, and D. Young hit HR's in the game. There were close to 30 hits in the game.

I put Tillman on the 15-day DL and called up Patton to be a long reliever. Bud Norris will take over Tillman's spot in the rotation.

Game #2

I lost a hard fought 3-2 battle. After getting shelled in the first game of the series I was anticipating another big offensive game for the Red Sox. Jimenez actually did pretty well. He threw 6 innings and gave up 3 ER but only 3 hits. I walked 3-4 guys and struck out a few. David Ortiz hit a 2-run shot in the 1st and after that they didn't do much. Offensively I couldn't get any big time hits and Clay Bucholz carved me up. He tossed 6 innings and struck out 9. I had a cool play where Markakis hit a ball in the gap into right center and had an easy triple...then he decided to run through the stop sign and try for the inside-the-park home run...and yea he was hosed at the plate. I really enjoy auto base running and it was cool to see that aggressiveness.

I'm loving QC's and I'm really excited to start playing some more games with this.

[KES8514]

Started my St Louis franchise last night. I use spring training to get my timing down and settings where I want them for the season. I'm only one game in on spring training.

I usually start by playing every game the first month of the season, and then switch to pitching with 2 guys and sim the other 3. This year it'll be Waino and Wacha I pitch with. (Can't believe how bad Wacha looks in the game, very disappointed in that).

Can't wait to get further in the season, bring Taveras up, look into trading Jon Jay, etc.

[3fiddy]

Quote: Originally Posted by HozAndMoose

Cain is the only person i can hit with consistently through 3 games. As long as he doesnt get hurt every month like in real life he is pretty good.

Thanks man. That's my cousins team he liked the input. BTW welcome back man. I hope everything goes well this year. I'll be looking forward to your posts

[3fiddy]

Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers update:

We each completed ab 2-3 trades. They were a little uneven but all the teams were stocked with older players and needed positions we traded so this should be set for awhile.

Minnesotas first trade was to complete my reign of OFs I have used the past 2 years. Yes I nabbed young talent int the draft but that's wht makes these trades fair.

#1 Javier Baez and Carlos Correia to the Washington Nationals for Bryce Harper. Hard trade to make but their Middle Inf was Ciricao and some other scrub. Now they have a middle if for 10+ years and I have a guy with god given hand speed and not much else to show for it.

#2 More of a Free Agent Signing. I unloaded any extra mlb ready pitching for Mishiro Tanaka. Again I'm not one for blockbusters but I needed a good #2. Zach wheeler , James Paxton , and Kyle Zimmer.

The last 2 were swaps that I took the age hit.

#3 Nick Castellanos for Dayan Viciedo. They needed a 3 baseman so Castelanos can go back to his position and Viciedo can man 1st for me.

#4 was between the 2 user teams. We swapped my Slade Heathcott for his Jorge Soler. It helped both of out lefty / righty matchups.


The Brewers completed 3 trades including our user trade.

#1. Ok yes this wouldn't happen but it's the one guy he couldn't get. Mark Trumbo , Dylan Bundy , and 1 more for Yasiel Puig.

#2 I don't think he realizes how good the talent was he was trading but considering the last trade this evens the scales. Archie Bradley , kris Bryant, Rick porcello for Gio Gonzalez and Scott Sizemore.

#3. User trade.



That's all the roster changes we made. Prolly 1 more. Maybe. I'm content. I'll post up our final line ups , rotations , and what's stashed in the minors on my next post. Also give a slight glimpse at the 1st games.

[chitown1-23]

After losing my first 5 games and struggling to score I put up 10 runs in a 10-3 victory over Cliff Lee and the Phillies. Castro went 4-5 with a triple two doubles a single and a couple RBI Bonofacio also had 4 hits including a two run double. Hit my first homerun with Mike Olt a two run home run to center, Samardzija pitched 8 innings two runs eight strikeouts, now onto the 5-1 pirates Edwin Jackson vs Lirano.

[bwoodring9]

How are you guys doing 30 team control? I obviously have the different settings to use for the teams I won't be controlling, and as far as what to put on auto and what to put on manual I have everything on auto except for trades. The only thing that bothered me about the trades was that if I have them on manual I have to initiate CPU trades as well. Regardless, I'm running with the Phillies as usual. About to get started now.

[chitown1-23]

I am now 3-6 offense is starting to come around my bullpen is a lite shaky I seem to give up a lot of hits but then again cubs don't have very many arms I like pitching with rondon though he's a 65 ovr rizzo had a 2 run bomb in a 4-2 victory jose Vera's picking up his first save as a cub. Quick counts is awesome I just started playing with it on I don't think I will switch back as I am not a patient hitter so I tend to be a free swinger and don't get to see very many good pitches but thank god for quick counts that's probly why my offense is coming around these last 4 games

[PhilliesFan13]

I can't remember a time when I've ever struggled this badly to hit in The Show. It's not rust either as I played MLB 13 pretty much all year long up until release of MLB 14. I don't know what the problem is. I know it's baseball and losing streaks occur and such, but I'm really beginning to get frustrated to the point I don't want to play anymore, and I've been a Show veteran since MLB 07. I play with timing hitting and classic pitching all on All-Star difficulty.

I am doing a double franchise with the Phillies and Rays and it hasn't been pretty in the first week of the season. The only positive I can take so far is the pitching and that I have been drawing way more walks than I used to.

I currently have an 0-4 record with the Phillies to start the season.

Phillies hitters:

.206 team batting average
9 runs scored
1 double (Kyle Kendrick of all people)
0 triples
3 home runs
14 walks
40 strikeouts (this is driving me nuts)
.282 SLG%
.281 OBP
.563 OPS
5 errors
.120 AVG/RISP

My best hitter so far for the Phillies has been Domonic Brown with a .357 batting average.

Phillies pitchers:

4.68 ERA
17 earned runs
4 home runs allowed
15 walks allowed
30 strikeouts
1.29 WHIP

I currently have a 2-3 record with the Rays to start the season.

Rays hitters:

.168 team batting average
10 runs scored
3 doubles
0 triples
4 home runs
21 walks
51 strikeouts (completely annoying me)
.265 SLG%
.266 OBP
.530 OPS
3 errors
.179 AVG/RISP

My best hitter for the Rays so far has been James Loney with a .467 batting average followed by David DeJesus at .300. Evan Longoria and Wil Myers have been non-existent for me so far with batting averages of .095 and .150 respectively. I have struck out 10 times in 21 AB with Longoria and 7 times in 20 AB with Myers.

Rays pitchers:

1.91 ERA
10 earned runs
4 home runs allowed
16 walks allowed
40 strikeouts
1.00 WHIP

Sorry, I just needed to vent there. I think my frustration is starting to make me play bad as I am constantly worrying about little things that could go wrong. I just really want to get in a good groove. My last game with the Rays didn't help as I was shut out by Martin Perez of the Rangers 2-0 and struck out 10 times.