[ayaghmour2]

May 4th, 2018: The reigning World Series champion Astros offered me 18-year-old Carlos Diaz for Odrisamer Despaigne. Don't know why everyone wants him, but Diaz is pretty uselss so it was an easy no. I could get value from him eventually though, an interesting topic to think about.

I also found out the catcher the Dodgers offered me Keibert Ruiz is ranked #40 in Baseball America's top prospect list in real life. Stan Meek, my head scout, would disagree, but I kept him in mind.

On to the Reds game, Jose Urena (1-3, 6.92 ERA, 1.65 WHIP) took the mound for the Marlins and the Reds countered with Tyler Mahle (2-3, 4.41 ERA, 1.47 WHIP). The Reds were a shocking 19-13. They were in third place though, even though they'd lead the NL East.

The Red scored 2 quick runs in the bottom of the 1st, but the Marlins answered back with 4 in the 2nd, including a three run homer by Cameron Maybin, his 2nd on the year. Up 4-2, we pushed it to 5-2 with another run in the 3rd, but the Reds added one in the bottom. Then came the 4th. The Reds rallied for 4, taking a 7-5 lead. Jose Peraza had a 2 run single, and Urena left mid-inning. They added another run in the 6th, making it 8-5. But the Marlins weren't ready to give up. Justin Bour took Wandy Peralta deep in the 7th for his 11th homer run. It tied up the game as three runners including Bour scored. Tied 8-8, Drew Steckenrider came in for the 9th and Tucker Barnhart (another fantasy player of mine) was ready to end the game. Already 2-for-4, the catcher plated a home a run with a single, as the Reds walked off. For those asking why I have him, I forgot to draft a backup catcher for Gary Sanchez, and he was an interesting free agent available. OOTP has him hitting .322 with 2 homers and 7 RBI's, so hopefully he replicates that in real life.

Obviously, the pitching was bad today in the 9-8 loss. Urena sucked, allowing 7 runs (only 4 earned) off 7 hits, a walk, and added only 2 strike outs. And guess who made the error? Him... So I don't have too much sympothy for him. The 26-year-old is out of options so I'm sort of force to keep him. He has talent, so I don't want to risk losing him, but a few more bad outings and I shouldn't have to worry. The only other reliever to give up a run was Junichi Tazawa who allowed 1 in 0.1 innings. Jorge De La Rosa, Heath Hembree (near perfect since the claim), and Kevin Chapman did what Urena, Tazawa, and Steckenrider couldn't do, kept the Reds from scoring.

J.T. Realumto was the only starting position player who failed to record a hit, but he was only 0-for-2 with a walk and a sac fly, so he played well. He scored and drove in a run. Martin Prado was awesome, 3-for-4 with a run scored and driven in. Maybin added a double to his homer and drove in 3 while scoring twice. Derek Dietrich had 2 hits and a walk in 5 plate appearences.

Other then Barnhart, Billy Hamilton and personal favorite Joey Votto had 3 hits a piece, Hamilton scoring 3 times and Votto driving in 2. Scott Schebler drove in 3 in a 2-for-4 game where he scored on his 14th homer of the year. He's got the MLB lead by two, especially since Bour had a homer break before today.

May 5th, 2018: The draft pool was revealed, so I'll give a brief look at who OSA has as the top 10 to look at. Players will be listed in the following fashion: Position Name (OSA Stars,My Scout Stars).

1. RHP Christopher A. Reynolds (0.5/4, 0.5/2.5) (Not sure why he's number 1)
2. RHP Ethan Hankins (0.5/4, 0.5/4.5) (He's who I want, but won't get)
3. 1B Damani Cephus (0.5/4, 0.5/3.5)
4. RHP Casey Mize (0.5/4, 0.5/2) (Maybe OSA has no 5* prospects...)
5. 3B Kennan Pulsifer (0.5/4, 0.5/2)
6. RF Jeff Swanson (0.5/3.5, 0.5/3)
7. SS Brice Turang (0.5. 3.5, 0.5/5) (Okay, maybe Turang is who I want)
8. CF Jeremy Green (0.5/4.5, 0.5/0.5) (I wonder who's right)
9. CF Brad Duffield (0.5/3.5, 0.5/0.5) (Same here)
10. SS Nolan Gorman (0.5/3.5, 0.5/2.5)

Fun Fact: I've seen Ethan Hankins, Brice Turang, and Nolan Gorman play in realy life at the Under Armor All-American game at Wrigley over the summer. This pool has a mix of real and fake players, I'm rooting for the real ones.

So OSA doesn't like this pool too much, 1 4.5*, and only 7 4* prospects (RHP Igone Perfect and RHP Juan Romero weren't in top 10. Don't know why Perfect wasn't, but Romero is a relief pitcher).

Stan Meek isn't too fond of the pool, just the 1 5*, impossible Ethan Hankins and SS Osiris Johnson are at 4.5. Then a pair of 4* and not much else. A decent amount of depth though, but I will scout the pool heavily.

Side note: I heard that star ratings formula have been updated, less high star, more middle stars. Something to keep in mind.

Now on to the game, Adam Conley (0-1, 4.88 ERA, 1.30 WHIP) faced off against lefty counterpart Brandon Finnegan in his season debut. The game sucked, as the Reds shut us out 6-0.

Conley wasn't bad, but he allowed 10 hits in 7 innings which turned into 4 runs (3 earned). He walked 2 and struck out 1. Lane Adams made the error. Enny Romero pitched the 8th and gave up 4 hits including a 2 run shot. He's looking like Joe Thatcher. But he struck out 3, the same as Thatcher did in a Marlin uniform, so I guess there is some difference.

The Reds had a trio of three hit performances; Eugenio Suarez, Adam Duval, and Scooter Gennett. Billy Hamilton boosted his steal total to 23 with two swipes and Duvall hit 2 homers, giving him 5 on the year.

We were outhit 14-5. Adams and Justin Bour struck out 4. Adams has been awful since coming from Atlanta, hitting a meek .162 with a homer and 2 RBI's. His speed is nice, but I'll be looking to replace him.

Best option to replace him in the minors? Bring back Lewis Brinson. He was hitting .245/.297/.445 with 2 steals, 3 homers, and 13 RBI's. Obviously better, but not enough to warrant a promotion. He looked overmattched earlier in the year as well. Top prospect Braxton Lee looked decent, and was hitting .321/.317/.411 (1 walk in 56 at bats, but he had 4 sacrafices). He stole 5 bases and drove in 12 runs, but he had no experience in RF. His arm is just average, but I'm going to see how he can do in right.

May 6th, 2018: Alex Cobb was finally healthy, and I sent him to AAA to rehab. I was hoping to get him at leaset 2 starts, but performance could make a difference. He's also listed as 'Fragile' now, which is a concern.

A pair of pitchers are out for the year. Nationals Ace Stephen Strasburg and A's relief pitcher Liam Hendricks. Maybe the Nationals would be interested in Despaigne...

We finally had the pitching advantage, with Dan Straily (2-2, 3.38 ERA, 1.19 WHIP) going against Scott Diamond (2-2, 5.40 ERA, 1.43) who shouldn't really be a big league pitcher anymore. My scout likes him more then Straily for some reason though.

We looked to avoid the sweep, but were unsuccessful as the Reds won a close one 5-7. We had a nice 5 run 4th, but they answered back with 3 and tied the game next inning (they had 1 in the 3rd).

Straily gave up 5 off 5 hits and 2 walks in 4.2 innings. He did struck out 5. Tazawa and Kevin Chapman allowed a run a piece later in the game, as Tazawa picked up the loss. Rasiel Igelsias gently closed the door earning his 11th save. He walked 3, but no one scored or hit his flaming pitched.

Billy Hamilton stole 2 more bases and him, Jose Peraza, and Jesse Winker had 2 hit games. The Reds only had 8 hits compared to our 9.

Lane Adams bounced back, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and 3 steals. I think he heard he could be replaced. Miguel Rojas had a 2 run triple and ended up scoring. J.T. Realmuto picked up 2 hits in 5 trips while scoring once. Cameron Maybin was 2-for-4 with a walk and his 9th steal of the season.

The plane ride to Chicago wasn't fun, as we were swept earlier in the year. The Cubs are now in 2nd though, but a remarkable 22-12. St. Louis is leading the pack at 23-10.

May 7th, 2018: Power rankings published, and back all the way to the bottom. Kansas City has 61.7 in 29th, we have 54. St. Louis is leading the pack with 133.5, followed by the red hot Reds at 126.1.

The opener should be a good one, Brian Johnson (4-2, 3.03 ERA, 1.21) took on opening day starter Jose Quintana (5-1, 2.44 ERA, 1.10 WHIP) for the opener at beautiful Wrigley Field. This should be our last series with the Cubs. The Cubs have former Marlin Ichiro starting in LF.

The hometown Cubs flew the W in this 4-2 victory. Johnson was roughed up for 4 in 5.1 innings. He struck out 5, but walked 2 and allowed 7 hits. He was the only Marlin to allow runs. Quintana went 7, allowing 2 runs off 8 hits while walking 3 and striking out 7. Brandon Morrow left the 9th adter allowing a hit, leading way to Carl Edwards Jr. picking up save number 2.

Speaking of Ichiro, he went 3-for-4 with an RBI and is hitting .667 in what I can only assume is a limited sample. It's only 6 at bats for the 44 year old.

Offensively, Johnson lead the charge with 2 hits in 3 trips and an RBI. Every other starter had a hit except Lane Adams, who earned himself a day off if a righty would pitch tommorow. Johnson and Bour both doubled.

May 8th, 2018: Odrisamer Despaigne (1-2, 3.71 ERA, 1.29 WHIP) was back on the mound to face the struggling Drew Smyly (1-1, 6.35 ERA, 1.41 WHIP). Smyly is a lefty so Adams lucked out...

Only 1 run was scored all game, and Miami has now lost 6 in a row. Chicago improved their record to 24-12 with the shutout. Smyly stopped struggling, going almost all the way, 8.1 innings. He struck out 9 and walked 2 and allowed 2 hits. Justin Wilson finished the game with 2 outs, earning his 2nd save in what looks like a closer by committe.

Despaigne was brilliant, allowing only 1 run off 3 hits while striking out 3. His only mistake was Kris Bryant's solo shot in the 4th, the 8th homer of the season.

So since we only got 2 hits, guess who got one of them? Yep, Lane Adams. He was 1-for-3 with a walk. Maybe I should threaten him every day. The other was the solid 3B Martin Prado. Realmuto worked a walk but was instantly caught stealing. Why would he run on Wilson Contreras?

Heath Hembree strained his hamstring, and will miss 5 weeks. Brad Ziegler would be back in 2 days, but I called up Brian Ellington from AAA in the meantime so Ziegler could still rehab.

The Giants were sick of the Panda, and waived Pablo Sandoval.

May 9th, 2018: So I guess everyone loves Odrisamer (oh wait, it's Chris? Not in this world). The Angels offered me 24-year-old centerfielder Kyle Survance for him. He was alright, 1.5 star potential, but it really wasn't worth it. A tough no.

Two trades were completed, however, as the White Sox kept busy. This time they moved RP Luis Avilan to Arizona for top prospect Jon Duplainter. What were the D'Backs thinking. My scout had him as a 1.5/3*, still pretty solid as a SP, and Avilan as a 3* RP. Duplainter is the #61 prospect in all of baseball as well.

The next trade was the Indians sending LF Tyler Nawuin and LHP Yeffersson Yannuzzi to the Mariners for LF Nelson Cruz and $780,000. Naquin is a 0.5/1.5, Yannuzzi 0.5, and Cruz a 2. 1.5+0.5=2, so maybe a good deal? Not quite how it works. The M's did unload most of Cruz's $14,000,000 contract which is nice. And calling Cruz a LF is generous, he's basically a DH only. Way to go Jerry!

Now time to get swept by the almost first place Cubs (1/2 game out now). Star Yu Darvish (2-2, 2.16 ERA, 0.72 WHIP) was taking on better star Jose Urena (1-3, 7.28 ERA, 1.72 WHIP). The game looked good for about 3.5 innings, where we actually were up 1. Then Urena gave up 3 in the 4th and 2 more in the 5th, and we took our 7th straight defeat in another sweep from an NL Central team. We are 0-7 against the Cubs, please end the misery. We did score 3, but gave up 9.

Urena allowed 5 in 5 while Jorge De La Rosa was lit up for 4 in 0.2 innings. He was solid untill this game, and his ERA balooned to 6.00. Brian Ellington pitched today, allowing a walk and a hit in an inning, but he did record 2 punch outs.

Cameron Maybin and Justin Bour went 2-for-4. Maybin scored twice, drove in two, and hit two solo shots, bringing his total to 4 for the year. Bour hit his 7th double. We only had 5 hits and the last one was courtesy of Derek Dietrich. Realmuto did have a sac fly where he drove in Starlin Castro who was hit by a Darvish pitch. Castro loved facing the Yankees, but only went 1-for-11 in his old home stadium Wrigley Field.

Good thing the road trip was over, as we finished 0-6. Next we got 4 at home against Atlanta followed by an off day, and the we would host LA for 3.

Quick check on Braxton Lee who is supposedly not ready for AAA. He's got 13 rating in RF now, and is hitting .380/.412/.451 with 13 RBI's. If that's not ready, I can't imagine what is. I guess his ratings aren't too great (48/34/6/54/36) and there a little away from his potentials (54/50/10/64/48). I just know he'll probably never hit a homer (3 total, all in 2017).

Back to the upcoming series, it looks like we'd see righty Brandon McCarthy (0-2, 6.12 ERA), and lefties Sean Newcomb (1-2, 4.96 ERA, remember that name, he's got solid upside), and Luiz Gohara (2-1, 5.14 ERA). We were home so maybe we could steal this series and break the little rut we were in. The Braves were only 15-22, but we are 11-25. We've got a 2 game lead on the first pl--wait, first pick...

I kid, but I am having fun so far. I know there's going to be a lot of losing, but I've got hope for the future at the helm of this crippled organization.