[BennyTheJett]

Welp, I’m back with the second rendition of the PBE weekly recap thread! It was a busy week in the PBE, with spring training occupying the week of simulating. Spring Training gives rookies a chance to meet and play with their team, and for managers to test new lineups and game plans. Like with real life Spring Training, there are always a couple of surprises across the league, which will be covered in this post. Let’s get into another week of PBE action!

This post will cover:

• Spring Training Results and Takeaways (sorted by Minors and Majors)
• The Standout performances of Spring Training (sorted by Minors and Majors)
• The Broadcast Schedule for Opening Week
• Other Pertinent Information (Quick-Hitters)

Spring Training Results:

I am going to list off the standings and records of Spring training for every PBE team, then discuss takeaways I had from spring training in each conference. The majors played 24 spring training games, and the minors played 20 spring training games. Team records are in parentheses.

Majors:

Legends East:

• Providence Crabs (14-10)
• Outer Banks Aviators (12-12)
• Buffalo Surge (12-12)
• New York Voyagers (9-15)

Legends West:

• San Antonio Sloths (13-11)
• Vancouver Vandals (13-11)
• Boise Raptors (12-12)
• Maui Makos (11-13)

Legends Takeaways:

• Providence continues to have a strong team, finishing with the best record in the Legends conference coming off their world series loss.
• Outer Banks is on the rise! The Aviators have been mired in rebuilding for what feels like forever, however a .500 spring training could indicate that that rebuild could be ending in the next season or two.
• The same can be said for the Maui Makos, who have yet to make the playoffs in their existence. A team that feels like they are always rebuilding, the Makos have a strong core that is just starting to hit its prime. It may not be the breakthrough year for the Makos yet, but their future looks bright.
• What happened to the New York Voyagers? They are a team always picked to make the playoffs and perform well every season, however they registered an abysmal 9-15 Spring Training record. They have to make significant strides if they want to contend this season.

Champions East:

• Detroit Demons (16-8)
• Nashville Stars (14-10)
• Lunar Base Space Rangers (13-11)
• Indianapolis Apex (11-13)

Champions West:

• Seattle Sea Serpents (15-9)
• Death Valley Scorpions (12-12)
• New Orleans Rougarous (12-12)
• Cancun Toros (3-21)

Champions Takeaways:

• Similarly to last season, the Detroit Demons won a lot of games. Will they be able to translate a high winning percentage to postseason success? We’ll see in season 38.
• Nashville, similarly to Providence, had a good spring training. There are a couple new additions to the Stars in Cookie Monster and Apollo Summerville, who appear to have meshed with the existing team well. Look for them to continue contending this season despite having an aging core of players.
• Lunar Base is blasting off. A franchise that has struggled recently, and rebranded just a couple of seasons ago, Lunar Base is desperate for some success. This might not be the year they win it all, but look for them to at least threaten to make the postseason as they march into the regular season with momentum.
• The Toros have a ways to go. They have a lot of draft picks in past and upcoming drafts, so there will be a young core that should be able to lead them back to the playoffs. Right now that core just isn’t close to being able to contend yet. Trust the process, Toros fans.

Minors:

East:

• Florida Flamingos (11-9)
• State College Swift Steeds (11-9)
• Puerto Rico Ranas (11-9)
• Chicago Kingpins (10-10)
• Louisville Lemurs (6-14)

West:

• Amarillo Armadillos (12-8)
• California Firehawks (11-9)
• Anchorage Wheelers (10-10)
• Kansas City Hepcats (10-10)
• Brew City Bears (8-12)

Minors Takeaways:

• The Chicago Kingpins and Kansas City Hepcats each had a relatively poor spring training, as each finished .500 and are projected to have the best season records in the minor leagues.
• DILLO DILLO: The Amarillo Armadillos dazzled to a league-best 12-8 spring training record. One of the more recent powerhouses, look for Amarillo to continue being a force in the minors.
• How mighty have fallen: The Brew City Bears, who won the world series just two seasons ago, finds themselves with the second-worst record in the minors. They have to make a turnaround in the regular season if they want to contend for titles any time soon.
• The Lemurs may have had the worst record in the minors, but they are under new leadership, as Sory just recently stepped into the GM chair for Louisville. They should be trending upward in a couple seasons. It will take time though.

Now that we’ve discussed the teams’ spring training, let’s look at some standout players!

Standout Players of Spring Training:

This section of the post will highlight players that had particularly strong preseasons, and those that might have turned some heads in the process.

Minors:

• JewThe TheJew (1B, Amarillo Armadillos): TheJew led the minor leagues in batting average (.386), slugging percentage (.719), and OPS (1.174). He was also second in OBP (.455). He was the best bat on the best team throughout spring training. Look for JewThe to find his way into the MVP conversation if he can continue this production into the regular season.
• Allison Chainz (1B, California Firehawks): Chains was largely overshadowed by his cold corner counterpart JewThe TheJew, however, he too had a statistically stellar spring training. He led the league in home runs (8), total bases (55), and isolated power (.333). He was second in slugging percentage (.679) and OPS (1.068). Chainz most likely won’t be in the minor leagues much longer, but they will continue to rake until they leave.
• Chicago Kingpin Relief Pitchers: Beeg Yosh and Ouro Kronii led the way for Chicago’s bullpen. Coming into this season, both were regarded as depth pieces, however, they each had fantastic training, and did well in limited spring action. Yosh led the minors in saves (4), and K/9 (14.2). Ouro Kronii was second in BB/9 (a perfect 0.0), and Bauer Bottom was third in the league in wins (3).
• Anyone that plays for the Armadillos: They had an awesome spring training record, and featured the best offense and pitching in the league. They could do no wrong, so the entire roster collectively gets a shoutout here.

Majors:

• Matt Dubson (RF, Lunar Base Space Rangers): Turning in the best statistical spring training I’ve ever seen, Dubson led the PBE in nothing short of seven categories. He was top of the boards in batting average (.359), slugging percentage (.826), OPS (1.261), RBIs (35), OBP (.435), isolated power (.467), and extra-base hits (21). If it was possible to win the MVP from a spring training performance, Dubson would’ve been the one to do it. Lunar base has to be ecstatic to get this type of performance out of their Right Fielder.
• Hayden Andrews (DH, Nashville Stars): largely overshadowed by the heroics of Matt Dubson, Hayden Andrews quietly had an excellent spring training for the Stars. He led the league in home runs (13), was second in slugging percentage (.734), third in OPS (1.093), second in RBIs (27), fourth in extra-base hits (16), and second in isolated power (.447). As Andrews hits his peak TPE and is barely regressing, look for him to be one of the best statistical hitters the PBE has to offer.
• Acheoar Hippocrites (RP, Indianapolis Apex): Hippocrites led the PBE in spring training saves (4) and batting average against (.098). He was also third in ERA (1.02) and second in BABIP (.167). While the elite Apex defense might play a factor in these stats, Hippocrites has a very bright future in the Apex bullpen, and will look to be one of the elite PBE closers this season.
• Parker Parton (SP, Nashville Stars): Parton stepped over the regressing Glenallen Mixon to become the ace of the Stars roster in the last offseason. Spring training was nothing but positive signs for Nashville. Parton led the league in innings pitched (41.2), strikeouts (52), and wins (4). He did all this to the tune of the fourth-best ERA (1.30), second-best BABIP (.147), and the most quality starts (4). Look for him to be in the running for the pitcher of the year for a team that is contending for its second franchise title.

Opening Week Broadcast Schedule:

• Tuesday (2/14): Opening day stream with LegallyBlindGamer, myself, and Hummus God at 6 pm EST.
• Wednesday (2/15): LegallyBlindGamer and Bauer bring PBE action at 6pm EST.
• Thursday (2/16): Ajay887 and an unknown cohost bring PBE action at 6pm EST.
• Saturday (2/19): Distillation and Lumosityfan feature in a PBE matinee at 2pm EST.

Other Information:

• All minors and majors teams successfully signed their rookie classes to contracts!
• The San Antonio Sloths trade 1.75 million in cap space for season 40 to the Cancun Toros for 1.75 million in cap space for season 39.
• The Vancouver Vandals traded 200k in cap space for season 40 to the Maui Makos for 200k in cap space for season 38.
• The Vancouver Vandals traded 150k in cap space for season 40 to the Cancun Toros for 150k in cap space for season 38.
• The Nashville Stars and Florida Flamingos are reigning champions, and their quest to repeat starts Tuesday.
• We stream all our sims live on twitch! Search “pbesim” to find us.