MLB mirror league

[Orcin]

I am playing the MLB "majors" quickstart as GM/MGR of my favorite team (Cardinals). I started with the exact opening day 25-man and 40-man rosters (only had to make a few minor adjustments to the v17.5 setup). I have been playing each game on the day after the real game was played, using the same lineup and starting pitcher (my Cards are 3-4 with a rainout as opposed to the real team at 4-4).

I mimic every roster move and use real injuries for the Cardinals. As an example, I disabled Marco Gonzales and assigned him a "partially torn UCL - Tommy John surgery" injury (14 months) yesterday. To accomplish this, I turn off the game simulation in the background during my game and disable injuries. After playing my game, I re-enable injuries and sim the rest of the games.

I let my assistant GM (I hired MLB commentator Jim Bowden) run my minor league rosters and the minor league managers make the lineups, except that I have locked everyone on the 40-man roster to their proper level and position. Of course, other teams are being run by the AI so you will not be playing with real rosters except your own.

I am finding this to be a fun way to follow my team. I am more up to speed on the roster and injury news than I have ever been. I plan to continue this league all season, and then play on with the off-season and subsequent years under my control.

I post this only to give others the idea. It's not too early to catch up, and it only requires one game per day to keep up. People are always wanting to play the off-season with real rosters at the end of the year, and this is a way to get it done for your team at least.

[jpeters1734]

Yo I just started this too!! I've been having a blast. I even swept the cards just like irl though I only won 1 against cincy and lost all my games against Detroit

[Orcin]

Pittsburgh would be a fun team to follow. They are in first place in my league and the Cubs are 1-7.

[Orcin]

I am still playing this league. I will post a summary of the results from my league compared to the actual team. It's pretty close overall.


Through June 17 (66 games):

[Orcin]

I have done some things as GM/MGR already that would not have occurred if I were not trying to do a mirror league. I am playing Johnny Peralta out of position at third base, but he is rated at shortstop and doesn't seem to be having much trouble at third. Carpenter is rated at second base, so that's not an issue. Diaz is hitting .200 in my league, but so be it. I don't mind this game being out of my control as a GM, but today's roster move by St. Louis leaves me in a tough position.

The Cardinals have demoted my best hitter (Randall Grichuk) to AAA, and they are replacing him in center field with 2B Kolten Wong. The OOTP version of Wong has outfield ratings of 20 range, 0 error, and 0 arm, which is quite logical since he has never played there. So, I lose my best hitter AND I am forced to play a very poor fielder in a key defensive position. Wong is unlikely to get a better rating with experience, given that he starts with zero raw OF skills.

I would like to stay reasonably close to the real team's record, in order to make the future moves (trading vets or acquiring vets, promoting prospects or trading prospects, etc.) more realistic. I hate to make a move that significantly weakens the OOTP team, but I also hate to leave the mirror.

So, I have three options:
1. Disregard the Cardinals roster move and leave Grichuk in the lineup in my league.
2. Promote Wong to play CF and demote Grichuk. Maybe it won't be so bad, or the experiment won't last long.
3. Option 2, but edit Wong's ratings to have a decent (45 on 20-80 scale?) rating in CF.

The Redbirds may be working on trading Grichuk and then I would lose him anyway. Or, the whole thing might be designed to make Wong more valuable in a trade to somebody that wants him to play the outfield. Or, Grichuk might be back in a week after Wong makes a few errors and fails to hit.

Gotta decide today!

[Orcin]

Does OOTP17 accurately model injuries? I am using the Normal (OOTP Classic) setting for my league, and that was a mistake. I need to bump it up to HIGH in order to properly reflect the number of injuries in real baseball. The real Cardinals have more players on the DL than any other team in my league currently, and it is not close. I always thought OOTP overdid the injuries, but I have learned otherwise with this experience.

By the way, I chose option 3 above. Even with the ratings bump, Wong was bad in CF and Peralta has been less than desirable at third. However, this result closely resembles the current team, whose overall defense is poor (they lead MLB in errors). Now Wong has returned to 2B, where he is somewhat over-rated in the game, because Grichuk is back and Carpenter is out. Who knows what will be done when everyone is healthy again. Who knows if everyone will ever be healthy again?

[BigRed75]

It used to be (maybe still is) that High is labeled "MLB Modern Day" or some such, so I think that is what you need to do, yes.

Can you post another side-by-side comparison when you have a chance?

I would have gone with option 3, too...

[Ruwisc]

Do you use the real-life starting lineups as well? I'd be tempted not to, as a Cards fan myself I find Matheny's lineup construction pretty bleh.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Ruwisc

Do you use the real-life starting lineups as well? I'd be tempted not to, as a Cards fan myself I find Matheny's lineup construction pretty bleh.

I wanted to play the same players that he plays in order to have the total plate appearances and pitching appearances by each player be realistic. I use his lineup for the game most of the time, except that Carpenter bats second in my lineup (or did until this week) with Matheny's #2 hitter batting first.

I don't always face the same opposing starter that he did, so I might not use Gyorko at first in place of Adams/Moss if I am facing a RHP. I try to make up for that at a later date if it works out and I remember to do it.

With Carpenter's injury, I am going to use Matheny's exact batting order until Carp comes back (please hurry). I try to use the same pinch-hitters and relievers for the game too, but that doesn't always work out.

My starting rotation is slightly off from his. I had a rainout early in the season that was made up as a double-header. I started Matt Bowman in the second game of that DH, creating a one day delay in my rotation.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by BigRed75

Can you post another side-by-side comparison when you have a chance?

This is as of today. My offense is not as good, but otherwise pretty close.

[Ruwisc]

Originally Posted by Orcin

I wanted to play the same players that he plays in order to have the total plate appearances and pitching appearances by each player be realistic. I use his lineup for the game most of the time, except that Carpenter bats second in my lineup (or did until this week) with Matheny's #2 hitter batting first.

I don't always face the same opposing starter that he did, so I might not use Gyorko at first in place of Adams/Moss if I am facing a RHP. I try to make up for that at a later date if it works out and I remember to do it.

With Carpenter's injury, I am going to use Matheny's exact batting order until Carp comes back (please hurry). I try to use the same pinch-hitters and relievers for the game too, but that doesn't always work out.

My starting rotation is slightly off from his. I had a rainout early in the season that was made up as a double-header. I started Matt Bowman in the second game of that DH, creating a one day delay in my rotation.

Gotcha. I do agree that Diaz-Carpenter would be a better top than Carpenter-Diaz, because it's a waste to bat Carpenter right behind the pitcher. I was hoping that this injury might be a catalyst to getting Diaz to the leadoff spot, but with Garcia in the leadoff spot yesterday I'm not optimistic.

[rjl518]

check out my Mets season!