I know we're only a day after launch, but lets see what the DD squads look like so far? I played 8 online games yesterday (6-2) and ran into teams that were loaded up with diamonds already (clearly players who had bought excessive stubs).
C - Wilson Ramos (I picked him up last night, I only played a single conquest with him. He's painfully slow, but his hitting is great and his defense is alright.
1B - Anthony Rizzo (I just picked him up last night and moved him in, I have not used him yet. However I needed a few more leftie bats in my lineup. Miggy was killing me with 4 overall speed as well.)
2B - Matt Carpenter (I was really struggling with Carpenter when I first got him, that's really changed. I've been able to absolutely destroy right handed pitching with him. I've got him hitting lower down in my lineup (I believe 6-7) and I don't know if that helps, but any mistake a pitcher makes seems to end up in the bleachers. I've got him playing second base, because for whatever reason I don't see alot of balls hit to second. He's played much better defensively at 2nd than he did for me at third.)
SS - Cal Ripken Jr (This was my diamond preorder. To me it was a choice between he or Steve Finley, as they are the most well rounded options. I went with Cal because there are far fewer SS. Great decision, he plays really well, solid contact with a bit of pop. But the stand out thing is his defense, if the ball is hit anywhere near him, it's an out.
3B - Josh Donaldson (He's done well. He is absolutely no problem at the plate, I've got him hitting right in the middle of my lineup. On defense he's looked fine for me as well, I had one throwing error that cost me a game (threw the ball into the stands with one out in the 8th) but aside from that, he's been great. I also have pretty strong feeling that if JD stays healthy this year, he's going to go diamond again.)
RF - Charlie Blackmon (I've struggled with Blackmon thus far but I like his contact ratings and he makes for a solid top of the order guy. His defense is serviceable, aside from his throwing, I haven't found my timing with him just yet.)
CF - Lorenzo Cain (I picked him up because defense was supposed to matter... I haven't seen a difference between he and Pollock. In fact Cain dropped a routine fly ball late in a game that turned into a triple. He's alright at the plate, great leadoff option, I don't think I've had an extra basehit with yet, but he has the ability to hit and run and steal he also gets on alot.)
LF - Marcell Ozuna (He's solid. Similar to Pollock but will cost you a bit more. Good power, good contact, speed is OK and so if the defense. I think the cost of his card is climbing, I got him for around 2300. At that price he's a steal.
Bench - Miguel Cabrera - Great in pinch hit situations, the down side is his speed is TERRIBLE.
Ben Zobrist - Good versatility, decent contact rating against both righties and lefties.
Jeff McNeil - Really high contact rating against righties. I don't think I've ever even swung and missed with him. Great guy if you need to hit and run etc.
Ken Griffey Sr - Great contact (especially against lefties) and can run quite well.
Logan Forsythe - Another guy with a ton of versatility, decent in the field, decent contact.
1P - Carlos Carrasco (I've yet to have him pitch.. so I can't really say much)
2P - Jameson Taillon (He's solid. He feels like a pitcher who won't win or lose me the game. His stuff is good enough to keep you in the game, but he's not going to shut down many lineups.)
3P - Mike Clevenger (He's alright, nothing to write home about.)
4P - Madison Bumgarner (Great control. You can really paint the corners and he has a wide array of pitches. The problems seem to occur when he leaks over the plate, combine that with him being a leftie and if you make a mistake you're going to get punished)
5P - Dennis Eckersley (It really depends on your opponent. I think if the windup messes with the timing of your opponent, you're going to be able to toy with them. However if your opponent makes you bring pitches into the strike zone you're going to get hit around. He doesn't have swing and miss stuff in the zone. The slider needs to leave the zone to be effective and his fastball is only mid 90s.
Closer - Dellin Bettances (Absolute beast. He's yet to allow a baserunner. 100 Mph fastball, combined with lethal breaking stuff. He makes opponents look silly.)
SU - Will Smith (Solid lefty to come out of the pen, reasonable price, great breaking ball)
SU - Kirby Yates (He's better then I expected. He actually has done pretty well for me thus far.)
Notables - Jeremy Jeffries (this player is going to climb in rating.)
Chris Sale - (79 Silver rookie card, a great option as a lefty to come out of the pen)
Brad Hand - I actually prefer Sale as my leftie out of the pen, but Hand is good as well, he an inexpensive strong leftie relief option.
Some of the cards that I've run into that look good.
Joey Gallo - This card is stupid. Like honestly stupid. Half the teams I run into have him. I played a guy who hit 3 HR's with him, not once was the pitch in the zone, or hit by an on time swing. It basically looks like if you make contact with the ball, it's going to go.
Whit Merrifield - I've had a hell of a time getting this guy out. He's a really intriguing card for me (great speed, versatile and solid contact) as he fits my play style.
Aaron Judge - This card is stupid OP. I've played against him twice and both times guys were pulling low and away sliders (out of the zone) over the fence in left. They were early and only getting 'OK' contact. I strongly dislike this card, simply because I don't have him.
Joey Votto - If you strike out with Joey Votto you should just give up. He seriously makes contact with everything. I've had 12 pitch at bats against him, where the opponent was clearly just normal swinging on directional and still managed to foul everything off. I sometimes will just walk him.
*****
Feel free to post up your thoughts, I feel like my team is decent enough that I should be able to compete in most games. The unfortunate thing for me is I'm now starting to run into the try hards who spend hundreds of dollars chasing diamonds. My second last game last night I ran into a guy who had 5 (yes 5!) diamonds already....
C - Wilson Ramos (I picked him up last night, I only played a single conquest with him. He's painfully slow, but his hitting is great and his defense is alright.
1B - Anthony Rizzo (I just picked him up last night and moved him in, I have not used him yet. However I needed a few more leftie bats in my lineup. Miggy was killing me with 4 overall speed as well.)
2B - Matt Carpenter (I was really struggling with Carpenter when I first got him, that's really changed. I've been able to absolutely destroy right handed pitching with him. I've got him hitting lower down in my lineup (I believe 6-7) and I don't know if that helps, but any mistake a pitcher makes seems to end up in the bleachers. I've got him playing second base, because for whatever reason I don't see alot of balls hit to second. He's played much better defensively at 2nd than he did for me at third.)
SS - Cal Ripken Jr (This was my diamond preorder. To me it was a choice between he or Steve Finley, as they are the most well rounded options. I went with Cal because there are far fewer SS. Great decision, he plays really well, solid contact with a bit of pop. But the stand out thing is his defense, if the ball is hit anywhere near him, it's an out.
3B - Josh Donaldson (He's done well. He is absolutely no problem at the plate, I've got him hitting right in the middle of my lineup. On defense he's looked fine for me as well, I had one throwing error that cost me a game (threw the ball into the stands with one out in the 8th) but aside from that, he's been great. I also have pretty strong feeling that if JD stays healthy this year, he's going to go diamond again.)
RF - Charlie Blackmon (I've struggled with Blackmon thus far but I like his contact ratings and he makes for a solid top of the order guy. His defense is serviceable, aside from his throwing, I haven't found my timing with him just yet.)
CF - Lorenzo Cain (I picked him up because defense was supposed to matter... I haven't seen a difference between he and Pollock. In fact Cain dropped a routine fly ball late in a game that turned into a triple. He's alright at the plate, great leadoff option, I don't think I've had an extra basehit with yet, but he has the ability to hit and run and steal he also gets on alot.)
LF - Marcell Ozuna (He's solid. Similar to Pollock but will cost you a bit more. Good power, good contact, speed is OK and so if the defense. I think the cost of his card is climbing, I got him for around 2300. At that price he's a steal.
Bench - Miguel Cabrera - Great in pinch hit situations, the down side is his speed is TERRIBLE.
Ben Zobrist - Good versatility, decent contact rating against both righties and lefties.
Jeff McNeil - Really high contact rating against righties. I don't think I've ever even swung and missed with him. Great guy if you need to hit and run etc.
Ken Griffey Sr - Great contact (especially against lefties) and can run quite well.
Logan Forsythe - Another guy with a ton of versatility, decent in the field, decent contact.
1P - Carlos Carrasco (I've yet to have him pitch.. so I can't really say much)
2P - Jameson Taillon (He's solid. He feels like a pitcher who won't win or lose me the game. His stuff is good enough to keep you in the game, but he's not going to shut down many lineups.)
3P - Mike Clevenger (He's alright, nothing to write home about.)
4P - Madison Bumgarner (Great control. You can really paint the corners and he has a wide array of pitches. The problems seem to occur when he leaks over the plate, combine that with him being a leftie and if you make a mistake you're going to get punished)
5P - Dennis Eckersley (It really depends on your opponent. I think if the windup messes with the timing of your opponent, you're going to be able to toy with them. However if your opponent makes you bring pitches into the strike zone you're going to get hit around. He doesn't have swing and miss stuff in the zone. The slider needs to leave the zone to be effective and his fastball is only mid 90s.
Closer - Dellin Bettances (Absolute beast. He's yet to allow a baserunner. 100 Mph fastball, combined with lethal breaking stuff. He makes opponents look silly.)
SU - Will Smith (Solid lefty to come out of the pen, reasonable price, great breaking ball)
SU - Kirby Yates (He's better then I expected. He actually has done pretty well for me thus far.)
Notables - Jeremy Jeffries (this player is going to climb in rating.)
Chris Sale - (79 Silver rookie card, a great option as a lefty to come out of the pen)
Brad Hand - I actually prefer Sale as my leftie out of the pen, but Hand is good as well, he an inexpensive strong leftie relief option.
Some of the cards that I've run into that look good.
Joey Gallo - This card is stupid. Like honestly stupid. Half the teams I run into have him. I played a guy who hit 3 HR's with him, not once was the pitch in the zone, or hit by an on time swing. It basically looks like if you make contact with the ball, it's going to go.
Whit Merrifield - I've had a hell of a time getting this guy out. He's a really intriguing card for me (great speed, versatile and solid contact) as he fits my play style.
Aaron Judge - This card is stupid OP. I've played against him twice and both times guys were pulling low and away sliders (out of the zone) over the fence in left. They were early and only getting 'OK' contact. I strongly dislike this card, simply because I don't have him.
Joey Votto - If you strike out with Joey Votto you should just give up. He seriously makes contact with everything. I've had 12 pitch at bats against him, where the opponent was clearly just normal swinging on directional and still managed to foul everything off. I sometimes will just walk him.
*****
Feel free to post up your thoughts, I feel like my team is decent enough that I should be able to compete in most games. The unfortunate thing for me is I'm now starting to run into the try hards who spend hundreds of dollars chasing diamonds. My second last game last night I ran into a guy who had 5 (yes 5!) diamonds already....
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