OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - Civil War Baseball: My 2020 sim of a 50-team league of home-state players

ChrisJNelson · 05-25-2020, 09:25 AM

Welcome to Part II of my experiment, Civil War Baseball League, where I sim the 2020 season with 50 teams—one for each U.S. state—and fill them with only active MLB and MiLB players from those states. (Including plenty of clones.) Over the next month, I’ll be simming the season and breaking down the sim here.

Previous Entries
1. Part I (Settings, Rules, Team Intros)

Reminder

Now that the league and rosters are all set up, this installment goes over the game’s Preseason Predictions. A few reminders beforehand:

50 teams, 2 subleagues (split up alphabetically—the Alabama-Missouri subleague and the Montana-Wyoming subleague)
Despite the settings being a 162-game season, it appears OOTP doesn’t like a 50-team league with two 25-team subleagues, and is giving teams between 154 and 157 teams. Oh well, who cares.
12 teams make the playoffs—six from each subleague

You can view a PDF of the full Preseason Predictions from the game here, but here’s my breakdown!

Preseason Predictions Highlights – Alabama-Missouri Subleague

As expected, the California Californians are expected to dominate this subleague with a 142-11 record. I knew they’d be good but I didn’t expect them to be quite that good. But it’s a team full of stars (15 players at 68 OVR or higher) so it makes sense. The game currently expected five of their players to hit over .335, including Nolan Arenado at .382 and Christian Yelich at .378. They also see Gerrit Cole going 30-1 with a 1.60 ERA.

Florida projects as the second-best team at 128-28. They like Howie Kendrick to hit .359 and Sale, deGrom, and Greinke combining for a 69-12 record.

In order, Georgia, Illinois, Arizona, and Alabama are projected to fill the final four postseason spots from this subleague and all win 100+ games.

On the other side of the coin, five teams in this subleague are projected to LOSE at least 100 games—Iowa, Arkansas, Idaho, Alaska, and Maine. Alaska is projected to go just 9-145 and Maine a subleague-worst 8-149. Excited to see if either team can get double-digit wins!

Preseason Predictions Highlights – Montana-Wyoming Subleague

I don’t know if it’s the difference in pitching between subleauges, but the game projected Alabama-Missouri Subleague to have ZERO players with 50+ HR, and they project this subleague to have SEVEN players with 50+ HR and four with 60+ HR. Weird.

This subleague is a lot more competitive, with 12 of the 25 teams projected to win 100+ games. Texas, unsurprisingly, is projected to win the subleague with a 131-25 record. The game likes Texas hitters to dominate, including Max Muncy (.389 AVG, 66 HR), Trevor Story (.381 AVG, 64 HR), and Anthony Rendon (.389 AVG, 55 HR).

The game likes Tennessee to finish in 2nd place at 122-35. I expected Mookie Betts to make the “Top Hitters” section of this Predictions page in the game, but it’s actually Austin Riley with a .373 AVG and 61 HR! David Price, Robbie Ray and Sonny Gray are all projected to win 20+ games, with Price going 21-7 with a 2.43 ERA. Washington was a surprising (to me) third place team at 119-38, led by Michael Conforto and Matthew Boyd.

The #3-6 postseason teams from this league are projected to be Washington, New York, Virginia, and North Carolina. Meanwhile, Oklahoma, Ohio, and Pennsylvania would be the top teams on the outside looking in.

A couple of real-life stars may not find team success along with their personal success. Nevada’s Bryce Harper projects to hit .378 with 60 homers, but the team slots in at 10th place outside the postseason picture.

But the saddest situation of all is poor Mike Trout who, as in real life, can’t single-handedly carry his team to the postseason. Despite a league-best .410 AVG and 58 HR from Trout, New Jersey is projected to go 104-52 for a 12th-place finish.

10 of the 25 teams in this league are projected to lose at least 100 games, with plenty of small or sparsely populated states like the Dakotas, New Hampshire, Vermont, Montana and Wyoming. Rhode Island projects to have the worst record of all 50 teams at 4-152. Is it because they’re truly that bad, or because I accidentally forgot to give them a full roster until I was typing this up? WHO KNOWS. (But definitely it’s because of that. Whoops.)

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Again, you can see the full preseason predictions here and I’ll be back on Thursday 5/28 with a recap of my sim through April! Thank you for reading and I welcome any feedback, corrections or requests!

05-25-2020, 09:25 AM	#8
ChrisJNelson Major Leagues Join Date: Jul 2017 Posts: 323 Infractions: 0/1 (1)	Civil War Baseball Part II: Preseason Predictions! Welcome to Part II of my experiment, Civil War Baseball League, where I sim the 2020 season with 50 teams—one for each U.S. state—and fill them with only active MLB and MiLB players from those states. (Including plenty of clones.) Over the next month, I’ll be simming the season and breaking down the sim here. Previous Entries 1. Part I (Settings, Rules, Team Intros) Reminder Now that the league and rosters are all set up, this installment goes over the game’s Preseason Predictions. A few reminders beforehand: 50 teams, 2 subleagues (split up alphabetically—the Alabama-Missouri subleague and the Montana-Wyoming subleague) Despite the settings being a 162-game season, it appears OOTP doesn’t like a 50-team league with two 25-team subleagues, and is giving teams between 154 and 157 teams. Oh well, who cares. 12 teams make the playoffs—six from each subleague You can view a PDF of the full Preseason Predictions from the game here, but here’s my breakdown! Preseason Predictions Highlights – Alabama-Missouri Subleague As expected, the California Californians are expected to dominate this subleague with a 142-11 record. I knew they’d be good but I didn’t expect them to be quite that good. But it’s a team full of stars (15 players at 68 OVR or higher) so it makes sense. The game currently expected five of their players to hit over .335, including Nolan Arenado at .382 and Christian Yelich at .378. They also see Gerrit Cole going 30-1 with a 1.60 ERA. Florida projects as the second-best team at 128-28. They like Howie Kendrick to hit .359 and Sale, deGrom, and Greinke combining for a 69-12 record. In order, Georgia, Illinois, Arizona, and Alabama are projected to fill the final four postseason spots from this subleague and all win 100+ games. On the other side of the coin, five teams in this subleague are projected to LOSE at least 100 games—Iowa, Arkansas, Idaho, Alaska, and Maine. Alaska is projected to go just 9-145 and Maine a subleague-worst 8-149. Excited to see if either team can get double-digit wins! Preseason Predictions Highlights – Montana-Wyoming Subleague I don’t know if it’s the difference in pitching between subleauges, but the game projected Alabama-Missouri Subleague to have ZERO players with 50+ HR, and they project this subleague to have SEVEN players with 50+ HR and four with 60+ HR. Weird. This subleague is a lot more competitive, with 12 of the 25 teams projected to win 100+ games. Texas, unsurprisingly, is projected to win the subleague with a 131-25 record. The game likes Texas hitters to dominate, including Max Muncy (.389 AVG, 66 HR), Trevor Story (.381 AVG, 64 HR), and Anthony Rendon (.389 AVG, 55 HR). The game likes Tennessee to finish in 2nd place at 122-35. I expected Mookie Betts to make the “Top Hitters” section of this Predictions page in the game, but it’s actually Austin Riley with a .373 AVG and 61 HR! David Price, Robbie Ray and Sonny Gray are all projected to win 20+ games, with Price going 21-7 with a 2.43 ERA. Washington was a surprising (to me) third place team at 119-38, led by Michael Conforto and Matthew Boyd. The #3-6 postseason teams from this league are projected to be Washington, New York, Virginia, and North Carolina. Meanwhile, Oklahoma, Ohio, and Pennsylvania would be the top teams on the outside looking in. A couple of real-life stars may not find team success along with their personal success. Nevada’s Bryce Harper projects to hit .378 with 60 homers, but the team slots in at 10th place outside the postseason picture. But the saddest situation of all is poor Mike Trout who, as in real life, can’t single-handedly carry his team to the postseason. Despite a league-best .410 AVG and 58 HR from Trout, New Jersey is projected to go 104-52 for a 12th-place finish. 10 of the 25 teams in this league are projected to lose at least 100 games, with plenty of small or sparsely populated states like the Dakotas, New Hampshire, Vermont, Montana and Wyoming. Rhode Island projects to have the worst record of all 50 teams at 4-152. Is it because they’re truly that bad, or because I accidentally forgot to give them a full roster until I was typing this up? WHO KNOWS. (But definitely it’s because of that. Whoops.) -------------------- Again, you can see the full preseason predictions here and I’ll be back on Thursday 5/28 with a recap of my sim through April! Thank you for reading and I welcome any feedback, corrections or requests!