Season 12 (2030) Discussion: 2/18/19-2/24/19

[Izz]

4-6 start to July. Now 6 games below Pythag. Pulling the pin on the season. Aparicio will learn 2B for the rest of the season, and Fox will learn 3B and SS when Santo and Simmons are tired. Suzuki will get some proper time at CF, while McReynolds will learn the corners.

[scott1964]

Interesting

[Maddox]

Hard to get to first place when Perfect Trout has not been perfect and there is nothing thrilling about Will "The Thrill" Clark.

I feel like these guys should be doing better than this 96 games into the season in gold.

They should definitely be be getting out hit by Luis Apparicio

[Westheim]

Swannie made the All Star team …!

So did Kurt Suzuki. My… backup… catcher……?

[naterg1]

The Beverly Road Geese are struggling mightily in Silver 297. The team is 44-51, in last place in the division. The offense is generally competitive, tied for 3rd in the AC in runs scored, but the pitching staff is a disaster. My starting rotation of Sad Sam Jones (last year’s ERA leader in another Silver league), Patrick Corbin, Larry Dierker, Craig Swan, and Dennis Martinez have the 11th worst ERA in the AC, a combined 4.67. My bullpen is better, at 3.17, but Hugh Casey has an ERA of 6.39 after two very strong seasons in Silver.

The Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks have been up and down in Silver .305 this season. The team is currently 58-39, 4 games out of first in the division, and 8.5 games ahead of the 2nd place team in the Wildcard Race. They had a 15 game win streak in the 2nd half of June but have played sub .500 ball in July, including a 4 game losing streak heading into the All-Star Break. Jose Altuve had a 21 game hit streak earlier this season as well.

The Ohio Bloodbuzz are running away with things in Silver .339. They are currently 68-31, 13.5 games ahead of second place in the NC East, despite losing 4 straight games heading into the All-Star Break. After a 43-12 start, the team has gone only 24-19 in June and the first half of July. They have the best offense in the NC, but are only 7th in runs against. I may need to make a couple of adjustments, especially in my bullpen, 10th in ERA in the conference.

Right after posting this, I decided to buy a pack with some PP I had lying around and pulled a Diamond chris Carpenter for the Bloodbuzz.

[Dunzie]

Originally Posted by Maddox

Hard to get to first place when Perfect Trout has not been perfect and there is nothing thrilling about Will "The Thrill" Clark.

I feel like these guys should be doing better than this 96 games into the season in gold.

They should definitely be be getting out hit by Luis Apparicio

In all my years with my Trout, those numbers seem about on par... He isn't going to be a .300 hitter. But you get good defense, some speed, lots of patience and walks, and run production despite a less than hitting title batting average.

[Maddox]

Yeah, but I am still in Gold. It is not like Trout is facing diamond and perfect pitchers every game.

[rudel.dietrich]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Swannie made the All Star team …!

So did Kurt Suzuki. My… backup… catcher……?

My Gary Sanchez backup catcher made it last season in bronze. He did have a OPS+ of 188 when we was selected though...

[Maddox]

So my Perfect 100 ranked Trout, after 100 games, is now batting .224 in Gold League

Here are how the players are performing

85 Garry Maddox .305 (only play 24 games so far)
77 Keith Hernandez .289
64 Luis Aparicio .250
78 Ozzie Smith .242
87 Will Clark .237
78 Bob Boone .236
78 Kevin McReynolds .235
88 Buddy Bell .228
100 Mike Trout .224

Makes me wonder if I am doing something wrong in my batting order? realize that this is a defensive team but I just don't feel like the higher rated players who I got for their offense (Trout, Clark and Bell) should all be doing badly and have a lower average than a 64 player with mediocre hitting stats.

There is variance and then there is me just shaking my head trying to comprehend the unexplainable.

[Izz]

So the Hoggs went better after the defensive shuffle-around. Slightly. A 13-12 month. We're 56-51. 13 1/2 games behind in the division but still in wildcard contention, just 1 1/2 games back. We now have a run differential of +77 and continue to have the best defense and pitching, and the 2nd-best BA

I may look at upgrading my DH. Socks Seybold has hit 20 homers but is getting on-base less than 30% of the time. While he was decent last season I think he's a little outclassed at diamond, and if the guy hitting in front of him is struggling he will struggle too.

610PP for the day. 300 of those from 3 All Stars.

[Izz]

Originally Posted by Maddox

Hard to get to first place when Perfect Trout has not been perfect and there is nothing thrilling about Will "The Thrill" Clark.

I feel like these guys should be doing better than this 96 games into the season in gold.

They should definitely be be getting out hit by Luis Apparicio

Personally I would hit Trout at 2 or 5 if Ozzie Smith is a lock for leadoff and put McReynolds, despite his power, lower down the order vs RHP (I'm not especially conventional, mind you, so bear that in mind).

Overall, there's a lot of RHB in that lineup, too.

[Maddox]

Originally Posted by Izz

Personally I would hit Trout at 2 or 5 if Ozzie Smith is a lock for leadoff and put McReynolds, despite his power, lower down the order vs RHP (I'm not especially conventional, mind you, so bear that in mind).

Overall, there's a lot of RHB in that lineup, too.

I currently have Trout batting third Behind Ozzie and Hernandez although Ozzie is not performing well this season either.
Will Clark is 4th
Mcreynolds 5th


Yes, it is Right handed heavy. That is one of the reasons I added Will Clark to the lineup.

[DonkeyKongSr]

A beauty by Maddux then a giant stinker from my bullpen. 8 runs and only 2 outs from my 4 best relievers.

[DrTobiasFunke]

The Sidewinders are finishing the season strong and have pulled into a dead heat with the Briar Swampbeavers for the #1 spot in the NC West, as well as the best record in the league. Tom Tresh and Mark Belanger are now sharing a defensive platoon at SS (Bellinger has an insane 6.8 ZR in just 217 innings this season), and somehow Outfield platoon member Lonnie Smith is 3rd in the league in WPA with 3.51 in 276 at bats.

Also, this happened:

Got 3000pp just from this romp alone.

So I'm going to have some interesting decisions this offseason, foremost whether to pack or Auction house this windfall. Also likely got some end of season awards, so overall not a terrible position should the team climb up to silver.

[mrbucket]

Woo, from the 19th to the 27th, the Laser Kiwis won 7 games in a row by a single run. The final two were both of the walk-off variety in extra-innings. Would have been some nervous fans that week!

That winning streak near the end also got the team over .500 for the first time and into a wildcard spot. We're in for an interesting September to finish this off.

[Westheim]

The Raccoons enter the last month with an 11-game lead in the division. Ever since that crummy first six weeks, the team has somehow lit on fire and has mowed down most anything in its way. Despite that, with our 78-55 record we will probably only be the #3 seed.

Found the 1982 Rickey Henderson (74) in a pack right now, but I don't see how I can get him on the roster. I already have Clyde Milan there and spent a lot of time getting him going at all outfield positions (LF 72, CF 63, RF 87). And they don't give another much in terms of speed, either…

Milan and Jurickson Profar are my last two bronze cards; Profar can't hit anything, but I also had him as the utility right from the start, so he is my defensive Swiss Army knife.

Anyone know of a somewhat better player that can be used as a super utility (all seven non-battery positions?) without having to be levelled for many seasons?

Yeah, I think Henderson is not gonna make the team...

[mrbucket]

I don't have anyone like that but did find these two when searching my league's players. Looks like the Chris Taylor has been leveled up, the one I see on the auction house has 53 @ 2B, 33 @ 3B, 56 @ SS, 65 @ LF, 53 @ CF. George Davis isn't on the auction house at the moment.

[Westheim]

I am not really in the market for a historical gold card right now. … but those two look very fine. Thx!

I also found Kike Hernandez and Yandy Diaz in my random reserve detritus. Both look like somewhat solid silver options. Diaz is one of my starter pack cards, too, but I haven't used him for the last seven seasons. Diaz has no SS rating, Kike is rated 26. Not sure what his ceiling is with his IF ratings all in the 60s. I have seen players calculate that, but I don't know what the formula is for that.

Taylor sure looks like more of a finished product, though. I might be able to get that for 847 PP.

[DrTobiasFunke]

I'll put in a shoutout for my utility man of the future Tom Tresh, who starts with LF and SS already trained up. Probably not worth the time to train him at CF, but should be able to play all other positions decently, and would be above average at 2nd and 3rd. Bonus points for actually being a pretty decent hitter as well.

[DonkeyKongSr]

What's the point of having Doolittle if he throws first pitch HRs to light-hitting LHB?