MLB The Show 21 Franchise Discussion Thread

[Itsma806]

2021 Baltimore Orioles All Star Break Update

Overall Record:50-40
Record Since Last Update:17-17

Series Results:

Spoiler

Vs. Cleveland 1-2
Vs. New York Mets 1-1
@ Tampa Bay 3-0
@ Cleveland 2-2
Vs. Toronto 1-2
Vs. Houston 1-2
@ Toronto 2-2
@ Houston 1-2
@ Los Angeles Angels 2-1
Vs. Toronto 1-2
Vs. Chicago Whitesox 2-1

Standings

Spoiler

AL EAST
1.New York Yankees 51-40
2.Baltimore Orioles 50-50
3.Boston Red Sox 48-44
4.Toronto Blue Jays 41-48
5.Tampa Bay Rays 37-53

AL CENTRAL
1.Cleveland Indians 51-40
2.Minnesota Twins 50-42
3.Chicago White Sox 46-45
4.Kansas City Royals 35-55
5.Detroit Tigers 35-57

AL WEST
1.Houston Astros 60-31
2.Oakland Athletics 53-39
3.Los Angeles Angels 43-48
4.Texas Rangers 37-53
5.Seattle Mariners 35-56
AL Wildcard
1.Oakland Athletics 53-39
2.Baltimore Orioles 50-40
3.Minnesota Twins 50-42
4.Boston Red Sox 48-44
5.Chicago White Sox 46-45

NL EAST
1.Atlanta Braves 55-35
2.New York Mets 48-42
3.Washington Nationals 47-43
4.Philadelphia Phillies 44-45
5.Miami Marilns 42-49

NL CENTAL
1.St. Louis Cardinals 49-42
2.Chicago Cubs 48-43
3.Cincinatti Reds 44-47
4.Milwaukee Brewers 40-52
5.Pittsburgh Pirates 31-59

NL WEST
1.Los Angeles Dodgers 64-27
2.San Diego Padres 50-43
3.Colorado Rockies 46-45
4.Arizona Diamonbacks 42-50
5.San Francisco Giants 40-49
NL Wildcard
1.San Diego Padres 50-43
2.New York Mets 48-42
3.Chicago Cubs 48-43
Washington Nationals 47-43
Colorado Rockies 46-45

Orioles In Tight Race With Yankees

The Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees split time at the top of the AL East throughout June and the early part of July. The Orioles have played exactly .500 ball (32-32) since the season got off to an impressive 18-8 start after april.

The team continues to struggle at home (17-27) but continues to play well on the road (33-13). If they want to stay in the playoff race, something is going to have to change.

The offense has had a few bright spots as Freddy Galvis (.281), Ryan Mountcastle (.274) and Rio Ruiz (.274) continue to play well. The team as a whole however have struggled at the plate. Trey Mancini (.215), Austin Hays (.203) and Pat Valaika (.221) just cant get it going. The team ranks 26th in team batting average (.242). Rio Ruiz has been the best hitter on the team since replacing Maikel Franco as the starting third basemen early in the season. He is leading the team in home runs (24), RBI (53) and OPS (.943). In the teams last series before the break, he hit two grand slams. Unfortunately, the team lost the last game of the series after Jorge Lopez imploded which he has consistently done since he led the league in ERA earlier in the season.

On the mound, the pitchers have been ok. Connor Green was sent back down to Norfolk once Dean Kremer returned from his injury. Kremer has been solid since he returned. Matt Harvey has been acting like his old self and currently leads the starters with a 9-3 record. He also has the second most strikeouts (82) behind only Keegan Akin (90).

Rio Ruiz was invited to Colorado to participate in the All Star festivities in the homerun derby, but he lost in the first round to the Indians Framil Reyes. Cesar Valdez was the loan Oriole on the all star team but did not see any action. He has performed well in his closing role as his 27 saves ranks him third in the American League.

The team needs to play better than .500 baseball if they want to stick with the Yankees who could get hot any moment.

[countryboy]

Cardinals sweep the Nationals

The Cardinals (11-4) swept the Nationals over the weekend as they continue to hold the top spot in the NL Central.

Max Scherzer started the series opener on Friday night, but for the 3rd consecutive start, Scherzer would get a no decision as the Cardinals rallied from behind in the 7th to win the game. Scherzer left after 6 down 3-1, but the Cards offense would put up 7 runs in the 7th to blow the game open and win 8-4. Paul DeJong was the catalyst with a grand slam in the 7th.

Kwang Hyun Kim got the easy win on Saturday as the Cardinals blitzed the Nats in the first inning with 5 runs, 3 more in the 2nd, and 4 in the 3rd in route to a 16-1 win over the Nationals. Paul DeJong again had a day with 2 homeruns and 6 RBI's.

The series finale saw Strasburg dominate the Cardinals through the first 4 innings recording 10 strikeouts on the 12 outs recorded. The Cards would get one in the 5th on a Paul Goldschmidt homerun to cut the lead to 2-1. In the 7th Yadier Molina's lead off double and then a Starling Marte single would tie the game at 2.

In the bottom of the 9th, Tyler O'Neill who was back in the lineup for the first time after returning from the IL would do this:



The Cards would walkoff with the 3-2 win and series sweep of the Nationals.


The Cardinals are off on Monday, but then host the Marlins for a 3 game mid-week series. Jack Flaherty, Carlos Martinez and Max Scherzer are the projected starters.

[countryboy]

Cardinals claim Tyler Lyons off waivers from the Yankees

The Cardinals have claimed veteran LHP Tyler Lyons off waivers from the Yankees.

The now 34 year old spent 6 seasons with the Cardinals where he appeared in 147 games and pitched to a 4.09 ERA. The Cardinals are in need of LH veteran bullpen depth to serve as backup should Tyler Webb and/or Genesis Cabrera become injured or ineffective.

Lyons will be assigned to Memphis.

[Itsma806]

Orioles take two of three from Royals, trade Austin Hays to Astros.

In Baltimore's first series since the All Star Break, the offense continued its struggles. These struggles were highlighted by a 2 for 12 performance by Austin Hays who has struggled throughout the year. His two hits did come in the first game which effectively won the game for the Orioles as the whole offense struggled tallying only four total hits. Luckily, a solid pitching performance by John Means (7.2 IP 6 H 0 R 5 SO) made up for the team's offensive woes in the 2-0 victory.

In game two, the offensive struggles continued as the team again amassed just four more hits. Two of these hits came in back to back home runs from Anthony Santander and Rio Ruiz in the top of the 9th to make the score 3-2 in favor of the Orioles. Cesar Valdez would close the game for his 28th of the year.

The third game saw Dean Kremer struggle as he gave up seven earned runs in just three innings of work. The Oriole's offense would be a bit better (8 hits) but still could only muster three runs in the 10-3 loss.

Immediately after the game, the Orioles began to shop Austin Hays (25 YO 76 OVR B POT CF) as his struggles finally fed up the front office enough. The team sent Hays to the Astros. In return, the Orioles got veteran outfielder Michael Brantley (33 YO 81 OVR B POT LF) and Ryan Stanek (29 YO 72 OVR C POT RHP).

The move left the team with one to many players on the MLB squad. RP Shawn Armstrong was sent down to Norfolk, RP Michael Baumann was sent down to AA Bowie and RP Cole Sulser was sent down to single A Delmarva.

The Orioles have exceeded expectations so far this year and with that, they are in the race for the playoffs. The team hopes a veteran like Brantley can inspire a mostly young roster. Stanek gives the team a power arm in the pen.

Next, the Orioles travel to Tampa to take on the Rays in a three game set.

[whiterattle11]

Now that I have a more realistic roster set I decided to start a franchise with the Seattle Mariners. I like their Farm System with Kelenic, Rodriguez, and the three young pitchers of Gilbert, Hancock, and Kirby. Throw in Noelvi Marte and I think they have some great young potential. I play with a few house rules just because getting through a whole season would take a crazy amount of time. I only pitch with one player through a complete rotation, but I take every at bat and I pitch every save opportunity. I use quick count and play on legend. 3-3 through the first six. Going to play 50 games before I bring up kelenic and Gilbert. Looking forward to seeing where Im at after the all star break to see if trading Haniger or Seager will be an option.

[HozAndMoose]

Draft Day - 2023

Slightly less than 1/3 of the season is in the books and the Royals sit at 28-22. Tied with the Twins for first in the division and half a game ahead of the White Sox. So far we have been alternating good and bad stretches. We started the season 2-6 against the Rangers, Angels, and Indians. We then went 8-1 playing the Indians, Twins, and Blue Jays. We followed that up with a 5 and 11 stretch against the Blue Jays, Twins, A's, and White Sox. And we are now in our best stretch so far going 13-4 against the Indians, Tigers, Orioles, Brewers, and Rays. The Astros are Dodgers are the best teams in their leagues. Both on pace for 100+ wins at 33-19 and 33-17. While once again the Orioles and Pirates are bringing up the rear at 20-30 and 15-34 respectively.

Team Transactions

Spoiler

The offense has been pretty mediocre at best so far. We are 21st in AVG at .249, 29th in OBP at .309, and 15th in SLG% at .426. We are 15th in Runs with 226, 3rd in Doubles with 94, Tied for 10th with 10 Triples, and Tied for 14th in Home Runs with 66. We have the best Stolen Base % in the league at 79.5%. But we only have 31 Stolen Bases so far good for a 4-way tie of 15th. Meanwhile, the team as usual continues to not take walks with only 150 so far putting us in a tie for 28th and our 357 strikeouts are good for 7th overall.

After 2 disappointing seasons back to back Whit Merrifield has not only returned form but looks better than he ever has. Hitting .298/.373/.543 with 10 HR his .917 OPS would be the highest of his career by over 100 points. The oldest player on the team is joined by the youngest as the next best hitter. Bobby Witt Jr has lived up the high expectations so far. In 45 games at the end of last season, he hit .266/.309/.462 with 6 HR and 18 runs. In 45 games this season he is hitting .303/.351/.440 with 5 HR and 29 Runs. We made the move to call up Carlos Mitre on May 1st. After struggling to adjust in his first week or so he has bounced back strong now hitting .275/.333/.500 with 5 HR in 102 AB while winning Rookie of The Month for May. It hasn't all been good. I would continue to talk about Adalberto Mondesi being a colossal letdown. But his .659 OPS is currently better than 5 of his teammates. Ryan O'Hearn is hitting .152/.253/.288. Andrew Benintendi is at .238/.278/.333. And Salvador Perez is at .214/.274/.364.

The pitching has carried the team so far putting up an ERA of 3.82 good for 8th in the league. We are tied for 9th in HR allowed with 62, 7th in Walks allowed with 161, and 15 in Strikeouts with 379. We are tied for the most Blown Saves with 10, And our 1 shutout is better than only 3 teams.

7 players have started a game for us so far. Brady Singer has bounced back to lead the team. In 55.1 IP he has a 2.77 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP after putting up an ERA of 5.02 last season. Zach Davies has pitched the most innings for us so far with 59 while putting up a 3.20 ERA. Ohtani only has 37.1 IP so far but has a 3.38 ERA with a 12.29 K/9. Duffy rounds out the good guys with a 3.78 ERA in 55 IP. The not so good guys have been very not good. Jonathan Bowlan was optioned to AAA on May 22nd. He put up a 6.51 ERA in 37.1 IP. Just behind him is Brad Keller with a 5.24 ERA in 55 IP. Big change from the 3.14 ERA he has put up over 442 IP his last 3 seasons. Asa Lacy took the spot vacated by Bowlan. Has only made 1 start so far but it was a success giving up 1 ER over6 IP.

The bullpen has been very similar so far. 7 players in the pen at the moment. Only 1 has an ERA over 3.38. Holden Capps has the lowest so far at 1.42 but has only pitched 12.2 innings. Kyle Zimmer and Nick Wittgren sit at 2.54 and 2.73 in 28.1 and 26.1 IP. While Josh Staumont has struggled with a 6.11 ERA in 28 IP. He lost his closer role on May 5th after blowing a save and bringing his ERA to 7.90. Cal Quantrill was optioned to AAA on May 1st. He had a 5.79 ERA in 9.1 IP. Colin Poche took his spot after pitching 6.1 innings in AAA with no runs allowed and a 0.32 WHIP with 10 strikeouts. So far he has a 3.38 ERA in 10.2 IP.

MLB Players of the Month

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League Injuries

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MLB Draft

Spoiler

With the #8 pick in the draft, we took 22-year-old reliever, Caden Cooke. He throws a 4-seam fastball in the mid to upper 90s and compliments it with a Slider, Splitter, and Changeup. Should be relatively quick to the Majors with an ETA of 2025. Won't give up a lot of free bases and does a good job of limiting hits but has a tendency to miss over the plate at times and with not a ton of movement he can get punished for it.

With our 2nd round pick, we took prep catcher Darren Hopson. Lower ceiling guy but he possesses a floor that's not much lower. Solid fielder with the potential to hit .270 with 15-20 HR. At just 18 he projects to be a fast riser and could join Cooke on the major league team as early as 2025.

With our 3rd pick coming in the Competitive Balance Round we took 23-year-old 1B Henry Ayala. Much more of a project compared to the 1st 2 picks. Has above-average power but that's about it. Doesn't lay off many pitches, couldn't get his glove on a ball if it was floating in front of him. And runs almost as slow as his grandma. But when he hits the ball it does go far. ETA 2027.

We went outfield with our 3rd round pick taking 20-year-old RF Amos Silva. Above-average fielder and runner. His bat though not so much. Swings for the fences at every single pitch he sees. If you walk him you should probably quit baseball. Could be a solid bench player but will probably spend the vast majority of his career in the minors. ETA who knows.

We went back to the outfield with our 5th pick taking 21-year-old RF Noah Wyatt. Like Silva, his ceiling probably puts him as a 4th outfielder but probably has a slightly better chance of sticking on a team. He won't hit for much power but has a good approach at the plate with the ability to steal 15-20 bases. Glove needs some work but should end up being average defensively. ETA 2028.

With our 6th pick, we selected 20-year-old SP Joel Castro. He has a 4-seam Fastball that he throws in the mid-90s with a Curve, Changeup, and a Slurve. He can throw quite a few pitches before getting tired and it's a good thing cause he gives up his fair share of hits and walks. Has the lowest chance to make the majors out of our picks and should probably make sure he goes back to school and gets his degree. ETA none.

And rounding out our draft we stayed in the rotation and took 21-year old, pitcher Connor wade. He has a full repertoire of pitches throwing a 4-seam fastball in the mid to upper 90s and compliments it with a Slider, Cutter, Change, and Sinker. Can give up a few more hits than you would like but can limit the long ball and strike out guys when needed. Should be a solid #5 at worst and could be up rather fast with an ETA of 2026.

Only 41 until we hit the all-star break. We will play 20 of those games in the division with 10 of them against the 3rd place White Sox. 20 at home, 21 on the road with 22 against teams over .500. Ohtani should be back within the next week so hopefully we can keep the current hot stretch going and keep up or surpass the Twins. The Wild Card race is crowded with us or the Twins currently in control of the 1st spot and 8 other teams within 5 games.

[MindBeats]

Is this the new thread for trading discussion or is there another? Can someone link me?

[MattyIce]

Unfortunately I have been forced to restart on multiple occasions due to corrupted files and realizing I was also playing on settings not fit for me. I have finally settled in and I am committed to try and finish this thing out. I will not be putting as much time into editing and posting game highlights because I simply do not have the time to do so. I really wish I did because of how much I enjoy it. I may start posting just box scores only with maybe one photo and headline.

That being said, we are currently sitting at 9-7 on the season and have won 4 of our last 5. We just took the first of three on the road vs Strasburg and the Nats 7-0. We are 2-0 vs Strasburg this season and have outscored the Nats 14-1 in those games. I would like to post a few updates later on tonight when I get home which will contain stats and league updates.