[ayaghmour2]

This one is long, the Draft took place, so I have a lot on that, and there was a super dramatic game that felt like it belonged in the World Series:

June 1st, 2018: Chase Field was the location for today's game as we started the month of June. The always inconsistent (season to season) Zack Grienke (3-5, 5.30 ERA, 1.48 WHIP) faced the always bad Adam Conley (0-5, 5.04 ERA, 1.45 WHIP). That's not totally true, as he was actually pretty good 2015-2016, but awful the past two seasons. Lane Adams was batting 4th, pushing Justin Bour to 3rd with our offensive threat Starlin Castro picking up a rest day.

We made our presence felt with 3 in the 1st and 3rd. Some highlights were Bour's 2 run shot, Derek Dietrich's solo shot, and a Hernan Perez 2 run double. Down 6-0, Arizona rallied bak for 3 more. Both teams added a run a piece, as we came away 7-4 winners.

Conley allowed all 4 runs in 5 innings off 6 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strike outs. Enny Romero and Nick Wittgren picked up holds (Romero went 2 and struck out 4) and Drew Steckenrider earned save 12.

Bour had a great game, 3-for-5 with 2 runs scored and driven in. Dietrich, Cameron Maybin, J.T. Realmuto, and Marin Prado all tallied 2 hits and every position player who started recorded a hit.

The Giants Austin Slater went 5-for-5 in a 8-7 win at home against our divisional foe Philadelphia. He hit a pair of solo homers and singles, and then finished the game with an RBI double in the 9th, a walkoff to finish a perfect day.

The "interesting" according to OOTP Brandon Guyer was on waivers and I submitted a claim. He's hitting .344/.408/.594 on the season with 3 homers and 17 RBI's for Cleveland. They rather keep Nelson Cruz (.224/.333/.379) since coming over and Lonnie Chisenhall (.215/.312/.318). Only the White Sox had a worst record then me, so they could steal him.

June 2nd, 2018: A pair of fringe big leaguers Mike Fiers and Blane Boyer's season's ended today. Fiers out 14 months, Boyer only 10.

Looking to pick up another win Dan Straily (3-5, 5.06 ERA, 1.41 WHIP) took on Robbie Ray (3-2, 3.09 ERA, 1.11 WHIP). We now had two hot hitters, the always hot Starlin Castro and Bour, who was recently cold. He's very streaky. Don't know if I've mentioned it, but I love Castro in real life.

Not in today though, as he went 0-for-4 in a 4-1 loss. Robbie Ray was pretty dominate, allowing only 2 hits and a single run in 6 innings. He did walk 4 with 5 strike outs. We only had 3 hits total, Bour, Cameron Maybin, and J.T. Realmuto. Realmuto stole his 5th base on the year.

The pen was great, only allowing 1 hit, but Straily allowed 5 and 4 runs in 5 innings. He did strike out 7, but allowed 2 homers to Ketel Marte and Paul Goldschmidt.

Another 5 hit performance, Pirates Josh Bell went 5-for-5 in an 8-5 victory over St. Louis. Ok, it's official, there are wayyyyyyyy too many 5 hit games in 19.

No one got 5 hits in this next matchup, as Garrett Richards 3 hit the Rangers in a 7-0 shutout. He's actually stayed healthy this year and has been pretty good.

June 3rd, 2018: Amateur draft eve, and Castro was now number 1 for NL 2B votes, with 335,323 ahead of D.J. LeMahieu (316,963) and former leader Kolten Wong (309,158).

Side note: The Rockies love LeMahieu as much as I do, and extended him to a 4-year, $88,800,000 extension. Don't think I would even give him 22 per year, but he's deserved it.

Two good pitchers squared off in the rubber match as Zach Godley (3-2, 3.15 ERA, 1.25) faced Brian Johnson (6-3, 3.69 ERA, 1.28). Zach Godley has the title of being the only successful pitcher selected by Theo Epstien while in charge of the Cubs. Him AND Jefferson Mejia were traded for the always wonderful, clubhouse beauty, elite defender Miguel Montero! Hindsight 20/20 I guess...

I also found a new player, Ildemaro Vargas. He appeared in 12 games last year for the D'Backs, but I think all were off the bench since he had 13 plate appearences. He got the start in his season debut.

Pitching really didn't happen, as the D'Backs pulled off the series win 10-6. Johnson was hit hard, allowing 5 runs in 3 innings. He only gave up 4 hits, but walked 2, and struck out only 1. Jorge De La Rosa allowed 4 more (3 earned) in the 4th off 6 hits and a walk.

Starlin Castro had a great game, 3-for-5 with an RBI. Bour and Miguel Rojas tallied 2 hits a piece, both scoring twice, with the former driving in two. Bout hit 2 solo shots, giving him 16 on the season. Johnson hit his 4th double and walked, a perfect offensive game, raising his average to .400 on the year.

And guess what, another 5 hit day... Cesar Puello of the D'Backs went 5-for-5 with 2 runs scored and an RBI. All 5 hits were singles.

Tommorow is just the Amateur Draft, so the 74 man GCL roster will definitely balloon. I'd probably draft a bunch of impossible guys and sign maybe 20 of the 40 picks. We'll see how much I like the pool as a whole, I just barley sratched the surface.

June 4th, 2018: Before the draft, I got the good news that Brandon Guyer is now a member of the Marlins. Capable at all 3 outfield spots, he'd be a great guy to have longterm. I didn't have to make a roster move, but I was leaning towards optioning Garrett Cooper to AAA. He was the only guy on the bench with one of those option years, and he'd been ice cold recently.

The Rangers wanted Nick Wittgren and I instantly declined (the guy the offered sucked anyways). Only 27, the 2/2.5 righty had a 1.71 ERA and 0.74 WHIP in 42 innings of work. He's also 2-0 and his ERA+ (a personal favorite stat) is a beautiful 245 (average is 100, just like other normalized stats). On to the draft!

We picked 13th in the 1st round behind my favorite team the Toronto Blue Jays. Our next pick was 53rd then 70th and 95th to rap up the top 100.

Detroit had the first pick, and grabbed 3B Kennan Pulsifier from Canada. I have him as a 3.5 and he can play every position excluding pitcher and catcher. San Fran grabbed the guy I wanted Mike Barrett 2nd, so I just simmed ahead to my pick in despair.

So there was a lot of debate in my pick. Pretty much every good guy was impossible to sign. Ethan Hankins, a 4.5* pitcher said he was unsignable, and I had very little money to work with. He was so, so much better then literally everyone else in the pool, so I just took the risk. Was it worth it? Well, he wanted more then 21 million, and I had 10,336,666 to offer... So I guess two firsts next year! Below is a list of all the picks and whether I think I can/will sign them along with potential and possible commentary:

1st Round, 13th Overall: SP Ethan Hankins (4.5) Crying about not signing him... He was the best pitcher in the draft by a mile
2nd Round, 53rd Overall: CF Max Marusak (3.5) Said he'd sign for slot, and is a speedy CF with a great eye. He can play 2B, SS, LF, CF, and RF and looks like an elite defender all ready.
2nd Round, 70th Overall: SP J.P. Gates (3) Said he'd sign for slot too. With no SP in the minors worth much, he's got a lot of promise. His fall back is 1B, but he's got great stuff and control, and is a real draftee.
3rd Round, 95th Overall: SS Jon Meola (3) Another real draftee who will settle for slot. He's got the glove to stick at SS, but may move to 3B with a nice arm. He's a solid hitter too.
4th Round, 133rd Overall: 3B Jack Filby (3). He's got great power, a real dude, and will sign for slot. He can catch, play 2B, 3B, and SS, but 3B looks like his spot. Should be a good defender there.
5th Round, 159th Overall: SP Liam Henry (2.5). Another real guy for slot. I'm literally saving every dollar for Hankins, maybe he'll be nice... He's 18 and could be a good corner outfielder too. He needs a bit more stamina, but he's set to be a middle of the rotation starter.
6th Round, 189th Overall: CF Tim Ball (3.5) Doubt he signs, but he's an amazing hitter with great speed.
7th Round, 219th Overall: C Justin Koger (3) Pretty good catcher who will join the GCL overflow.
8th Round, 249th Overall: 2B Trey Harris (3) Also in GCL, can play 2B, 3B, and the OF. Great speed and contact.
9th Round, 279 Overall: CL Josh Hiatt (3) He's got 100 stuff and will head to GCL and has dominate closer mentatlity.
10th Round, 309th Overall: SS Cal Conley (3.5) Won't sign but great hitter with no power.
11th Round, 339th Overall: SP Jonathan Gettys (2.5) Could be a steal, no movement, but his stuff rocks. Sent to GCL.

Quick intermission: I was at lunch and a spring training game was on, Red Sox-Yankees. Guess who was on the mound? Brian Johnson! I got to watch him pitch 3 innings (don't know if he threw more, but that's when I left) and he was absolutely nasty. Only 1 hit and faced the minimum with a double play and his curve was nastly. Afew warning track fly balls though as expected. Also, I write these posts ahead of time in case I get busy one day so I still have something to share, so this might get posted after the game he pitched.

Back to the draft!
12th Round, 369th Overall: SP Ernesto Estrella (2.5) Probably won't stay a starter, but has great stuff and is set to join the mess in GCL.
13th Round, 399th Overall: SP Gunnar Hoglund (2.5) He will stay a starter, and has great stuff as well. Sent to GCL.
14th Round, 429th Overall: C Erik Hoyer (2.5) Won't sign, but I've taken a lot of guys who did. Has a nice arm.
15th Round, 459th Overall: SP Sam Knowlton (2.5) I'm stacking up on average SP prospects. He's on to GCL. It's rough having only 1 local rookie league, so a lot of these starters will go to the pen.
16th Round, 489th Overall: CF Jacob Koos (2.5) The Florida native has the range for center, but will probably end up in right. Sent to GCL.
17th Round, 519th Overall: RP Pete McClean (3) Killer stuff for a futre setup man. Him and his 79/94 fastball will head to GCL.
18th Overall, 549th Overall: RF Dexter Jordan Jr. (2.5) The real life spec 'D-Train' probably won't sign, but has amazing power potential.
19th Overall, 579th Overall: 1B Justin Olson (2.5) Mega power and an ability to play the corner outfield spots. He's off to GCL.
20th Round, 609th Overall: SP Jimmy Jones (2.5) Probably not going to sign, but a toss up between #3 starter or late inning reliever. No movement, but great stuff for the lefty.
21st Overall, 639th Overall: 2B Walt Buchanan (2.5) Running out of sloid options, he's pretty average, but he could hit .270. Reported to GCL.
22nd Round, 669th Overall: RP Chris McGrath (2.5) He could be ready for A- Batavia, but will be at GCL for now. Great stuff, has a quick path to the majors.
23rd Round, 699th Overall: SS Tim Hubbell (2.5) Good hitter who can fill in all around the diamond, but wants to go to college.
24th Round, 729th Overall: C Kevin Roberts (2.5) Also looking at college, this catcher's got pop and is a great sacrafice bunter.
25th Round, 759th Overall: SP Blair Calvo (2) Another real guy, he's off to GCL. Future #4 or 5.
26th Overall, 789th Overall: RP Brett Conine (2) Felt like I needed to draft him, he's the son of famous Marlin Jeff Conine. He'll report to the GCL as well.
27th Round, 819th Overall: SP Dominic Pipkin (2) Another real draftee, he's probably off to college. He's got great control, but needs a better 3rd pitch.
28th Round, 849th Overall: 2B Luke Alexander (2) The real guys keep coming. Solid defender, alright hitter.
29th Round, 879th Overall: RP Bradley Spooner (2) Killer stuff, but impossible to sign. Won't break the bank for him.
30th Overall, 909th Overall: CF Dylan Mendoza (2) Blazing speed and should stick in center. No power, but makes contact. Sent to GL.
31st Round, 939th Overall: SP Joe Tafoya (2) He's got no movement, but his curveball is a 79 potential pitch. Will eat innings, sent to GCL.
32nd Round, 969th Overall: 2B J.D. Douglas (1.5) Won't sign, and I've signed too many.
33rd Round, 999th Overall: SS Jimmy Jacobs (2) One before 1,000! He can play 5 positions and hit's well too. Sent to GCL.
34th Round, 1,029th Overall: SP Jon Olson (2) Middle relief to #5 starter. Depends on his change up. Sent to GCL.
35th Overall, 1,059th Overall: 3B Dominic Cuoci (2) Average hitter, average fielder, off to GCL.

The draft ended early for some reason, but it doesn't matter too much. I was looking at 94 guys to fill 40 spots on the Miami (GCL) Marlins. 8 would be called up to A- Batavia. 8th Rounder Trey Harris, 16th rounder Jacob Koos, and 9th rounder Josh Hiatt were the notables.

I released 1 guy so the grand total was 85/40. I'd deal with that later. And for those wondering how I snagged 2* guys that late, it's not because the pool was super deep. With scouts, each team had 30 different views at the pool, so most of these guys are probably actually 1 stars at best (hopefully not the top 5 rounds), but our scout likes them. Most of these guys will flame out, but my scout sees things he likes. I wouldn't be surprised if I saw some 1st rounders as 0.5* potentials.

We were now on to St. Louis, but the team was already there while I was busy drafting a bunch of future Hall of Famers (let's hope).

June 5th, 2018: 2nd Rounder J.P. Gates and Jon Meola both agreed to their bonuses. I had a bunch of guys left to sign, or at least offer, money to. I submmitted an $8,446,666 offer to Ethan Hankins just so he could officially refuse my offer and lose the ace of my dreams. That figure is the rest of my budget. 10 others didn't have offers, waiting to see what Hankins did.

The generally durable Madison Bumgarner will miss 6 weeks with a forearm strain. Before last years ATV accident, he never had a DL trip. He was 4-2 with a 2.11 ERA in 11 starts. He only had 39 strikeouts, but a nice 1.00 WHIP.

I optioned Garrett Cooper to AAA to activate Brandon Guyer. Cooper was only hitting .242/.314/.371 with 1 homer and 8 RBI's. Not bad of course, but I wanted to give him more at bats. Guyer will fill in on the bench.

Odrisamer Despaigne (2-4, 3.67 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) was welcomed by Adam Wainwright (4-1, 3.44 ERA, 1.21 WHIP). Brandon Guyer got the start in LF, and we were down to one lefty (Bour) in the lineup.

Miami started off with a bang, scoring 2 off a Justin Bour 1st inning homer. 3 more were added in the 3rd. With a 5 run lead, Despaigne allowed a run in the 5th, and then left the game. Enny Romero finished 1.2 innings and earned the win in a 6-1 series starting victory!

Despaigne wasn't great, but the run he allowed was because of one of Miguel Rojas' two errors. He allowed 6 hits and a walk, while striking out only 2 in 4.1 innings. He only had 85 pitches so I don't know why he was pulled. Kevin Chapman struck out 4 in 2 innings.

Starlin Castro was a brilliant 2-for-2 with an RBI and run scored, but left the game in the 3rd sliding into second with a double. Bour was 3-for-4 with the other 4 RBI's. He hit 2 homers, so he scored twice as well. Hernan Perez doubled, while Cameron Maybin (13) and Lane Adams (16) picked up steals.

Castro's injury (thankfully) was minor, just blurred vision for two days. I guess he got sand in his eye or was poked on the tag.

June 6th, 2018: The Twins offered me last years #1 overall pick, but I just assumed they'd want my whole team for him. Meek only has him as a 2*, so I really wasn't interested in him anyways. Just barely 19 (yesterday his B-day) he was hitting .292/.365/.449 in class A Cedar Rapids. I was also offered SS Nick Allen by the A's. Another 2* I just ignored it.

Young righty Luke Weaver will miss the rest of the season with a partially torn UCL. He was having a dominate season, 7-2 with a nice 2.10 ERA.

I couldn't tell who had the better pitcher. The Cardinals used the excellent Miles Mikolas (1-6, 8.94 ERA, 1.91 WHIP) and we had the always spectactular Jose Urena (2-5, 6.67 ERA, 1.69 WHIP). I gave Castro a day off to recover, and sent Hernan Perez to 2B. Guyer was in the line up today in RF, so I feel like he's going to rotate with the 3 starters.

This game was a pitchers duel, no seriously. Only a run a piece scored in the first 6 innings. To be fair, Mikolas got hurt in the 2nd so he didn't really have a chance to allow runs. But he still did, 1 in 1.2 innings, but it was only 1 hit, a homer to leadoff the game for Cameron Maybin.

Urena was actually good, I guess? 5.2 innings, with only 3 hits and 1 run. But he did walk 4 and struck out 2. He got a no deiction since Enny Romero threw 3 pitches to finish the 6th. We then scored 3 in the 7th. Hernan Perez had an RBI single and then Starlin Castro came off the bench and delivered a 2 run double off Bud Norris. I guess he saw well enough to hit. We only had 6 hits all game, but we earned a 4-3 victory. The usually strong Nick Wittgren allowed 2 in 2 with 3 hits, but he still got hold number 8. Drew Steckenrider finished off the game and picked up save 13. It wasn't pretty, he walked 2, but got a ground out and pop out to go with a strike out.

J.T. Realmuto earned stolen base 6 and was the only player in the game to record more then 1 hit (2) with both teams recording only 6 in total.

Remember Cesar Puello? Just had a 5 hit game off of us? Well, he was on waivers. So I felt obligated to claim him. But I was carying 6 outfielders and only LA Swiftness had a reason to be designated for assignment. But I loved his 16 steals which was good for third in the NL. Speaking of 3rd, Bour was 3rd for homers (techinically tied for 2nd but Arrenado comes before Bour), but had the longest active hitting streak at 14 games. Maybe I'd shop an outfielder around and then grab Puello who was hitting .353/.389/.353. Someone was bound to claim him.

June 7th, 2018: Matt Barnes of the Red Sox was diagnosed with a torn labrum and will miss 4-5 months. He was a solid 7th inning guy leading up to Joakim Soria and Craig Kimbrel.

Sad news in our nations capital, Ted Lerner passed away after succumbing to a lengthy illness. His sod, Ted Jr. would take over the ownership duties, but he was already a big part of the organization, so there should be a smooth transfer after he mourns the loss of his father. The Nationals announced they would where special "TL" patches on home games to honor the late owner.

In less sad measures, we were looking to complete a sweep of the 34-26 Cardinals. Who would of thought? But wait, we're facing ace Carlos Martinez (6-2, 3.29 ERA, 1.22 WHIP)? And not ace Adam Conley (1-5, 5.22 ERA, 1.46 WHIP) is our pitcher? Well, we won with Urena who knows anyways... Jose Martinez is hitting .153/.236/.248, so maybe the 29-year-olds 2017 was a fluke, like I assumed. Still, he's great defensively.

Remember Justin Bour's hitting streak? Well, you can forget about it, he went 0-for-3. But now time for some over dramatization (spelling?) of the series finale.

The Marlins started hot even if Bour wasn't. Miguel Rojas had a 2-run single in a 3 run 1st. But the generous Conley let the hometown Cardinals score 2 in the bottom half. What a nice guy. It gets better, he gave them 1 more in the 3rd and 4th to give up the lead. That 4-3 lead was shortlived, as Martinez let us tie it up in the top of the 5th. These pitchers are so nice. Conley got one out in the 5th, but then turned the game over to Jorge De La Rosa, who continued the trend of generosity, and let the Cardinals take the 5-4 lead. But fear not Marlin fans! Enter Bud Norris! He still felt bad about our record, and served up a meatball to Martin Prado that might still be going, his 3rd homer of the year.

After the 6th ended, it was 5-5. But then the pitchers realized they weren't supposed to give up runs, and the pens were near perfect, putting up scorless 7th, 8th, and 9th. The Cards did get a hit in each inning, but Brian Ellington, Chapman, and Romero did enough to get out of it. Luke Gregerson pitched the top of the 9th, and then started the 10th. He left with 2 outs, but before out 2 Hernan Perez took him deep to give the Marlins a 6-5 lead! No way, we're half an inning away from a sweep! And we'd be holding the brooms! And the Cardinals are good! Pinch me, I'm dreaming...

10th inning time, enter 27-year-old righty Drew Steckenrider. I guess he has a catchy nickname I didn't know, 'Steckasaurus' which is amazing, but hard to type. I love Steckasarus and it's going to steck (see what I did there). Anyways, the closer entered this game 13-for-16 in save opportunities. Not bad, not great. He had to face the earlier mentioned Martinez, Jedd Gyorko, and Paul DeJong. 1-2-3 in the order.

Steckasaurus had the pitches working, getting Martinez to a 1-2 count. He fouled off a pitch, but eventually the Steckenrider fastball was too much, and he struck out swining. 1 out.

Enter Jedd Gyroko. The power hitter who made his debut with the Padres was 2-for-5 on the day. Actually, all three guys were before the inning started. Steckasaurus thought the best strategy to Gyorko was throwing three straight balls. Great. The 3-0 pitch was called a strike, then Gyorko gouled off the next pitch behind home plate. The 3-2 delivery was popped high in the air, drifting towards the shortstop Rojas who made the catch. 2 outs.

The nerves were flowing as Paul DeJong stepped up to bat. The power hitting shortstop was a homer threat and former Marlin Marcell Ozuna was on deck. Gulp. The first pitch, called strike. Next, a ball, and then a swinging strike. One. More. Strike. The 1-2 was low, a ball, and DeJong evened the count. Steckasaurus looked cool and composed, but the 7 Marlins fans in Busch Stadium were sweating bullets. 2-2. Signature fastball. Boom. Crap. Uh oh. No, please no. The ball was rocked off DeJong's bat to straight away center. It looked like it could travel for 500 feet. Cameron Maybin wasn't in center, it was Rafael Ortega who entered in the 5th after Maybin got hurt making a catch. Ortega had 66 speed, Maybin had 83, so it wasn't too big a deal. But man, this ball was crushed. Ortega raced back like he was playing for his life (which techincally was, because I've definitely considered designating for assingment) and leapead near the wall! There was a quick pause as all 30,742 who stayed the whole way gasped. A second later, a hand was raised, and inside it was the ball! Ortega made the catch and the Marlins won the World Series!!! The players are jumping for joy!!! Bryan Holaday tackles Steckasaurus and the Marlins bench clear celebrating the amazing win!

Wait, it's regular season game number 62? And it's June 7th not November 7th? Well, a sweep felt like a World Series win when the Marlins can't really win.

I was so happy that I think I jumped up and down. I didn't, but I considered it. My roomate would've looked at me weird so it's a good thing I didn't...

This was a crazy game filled with twists and turns, and ended with a miraculous sweep of the playoff bound Cardinals. It's the little things that keep you going in a rebuild.

So Maybin was injured, and I debated claiming Puello. I had one more chance to grab him tommorow, so hopefully Maybin's diagnosis will be revelaed before I am forced to make a decision. I was so happy though, we went to Busch Stadium and swept the Cardinals!

Anyways, can't enjoy it too much, we had more baseball to play! We head home for 7, 3 against San Diego then 4 against the Giants. San Diego projeted to send out Tyson Ross (6-5, 4.57 ERA), Dinelson Lamet (1-7, 4.37 ERA) and Clayton Rihard (3-6, 5.68 ERA). Pretty sure we faced this exact same allingment in San Diego.

Another important day in the future, June 18th. That's when I had to make decisions on the 84 players chilling on the GCL roster. More then half would be gone on Opening Day where we faced the Yankees team.

Quick farm look, all four teams in season had more wins then us. New Orleans was in 1st, 36-25. Jacksnoville was 4 out and in 3rd at 31-29. Jupiter was in the same situation as Jacksonville, but were a bit better at 33-27. Greensboro was also in 3rd, but 6 back with their 32-28 record. All four over .500, as opposed to the 23-39 Marlins. The future looks a lot nicer then the present. Although Starlin Castro and Justin Bour were great.