OOTP 21 Sim of 2020

[Heads22]

I just downloaded the pre-release yesterday.....thought I would run a sim and post some stuff here. I plan to set the opening day roster to about what I think it will be and then sit back and we can see how the team was mismanaged.

[Heads22]

The roster I went with is as follows and goes with what my best guess about what the opening day roster would look like.

SP: Giolito, Keuchel, Lopez, Cease, Gonzalez

RP: Colome, Bummer, Cishek, Cordero, Fry, Fulmer, Herrera, Marshall

Catcher: Grandal, McCann

IF/DH: Abreu, Encarnacion, Garcia (IF/OF), Mendick, Moncada, Cuthbert

OF: Mazara, Robert, Engel, Jimenez

--

That's literally the only thing I'm setting. I'm gonna do a post for each month after that....it's a boring spring break 'round these parts, so why not.

[Heads22]

March 11: Looks like virtual Hahn is more antsy to get some value out of James McCann than some of the posters here. He's shipped McCann north of the border to Toronto for outfielder Derek Fisher.

March 20: Another favorite Soxtalk topic has found a home. Puig to the Padres for a one year deal, $5.3 million.

March 26: An Opening Day trade? Sure. Kansas City sends Trevor Rosenthal and Jackson Kowar to the Brewers for catcher David Freitas, for some reason.

Whats our Opening Day Sox look like? Well, the rotation is unchanged. Fulmer has been sent to Winston-Salem (!) and Jimmy Cordero to Birmingham. Jaycob Brugman has also replaced Adam Engel on the roster, while Ian Hamilton and Zack Collins have joined the active roster.  Luis Robert is also back in AA for some reason, with Palka taking his place. I'm starting to worry about Robo-Hahn.

March 26: White Sox 7, Royals 2. Lucas Giolito absolutely eviscerates the Royals (7 IP, H, 2 BB, 9 K) and the Sox start out with six runs in the bottom fo the first, chasing Brad Keller after 2/3 of an inning. Encarnacion went deep for the first time. 1-0

March 28: White Sox 5, Royals 3. Keuchel nearly matches Giolito. (8.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, BB, 7 K) Bummer gives up two runs in the ninth, but the Sox hold on. Edwin goes deep again. The Brugman as starting CF experiment isn't going as hot. (0-4, 3K, 5 LOB). Soxtalk is also not sure how to feel about Renteria's lineup today (Anderson SS, Enarnacion DH, Jimenez LF, Abreu 1B, Grandal C, Fisher RF, Moncada 3B, Mendick 2B, Brugman CF). But, whatever, it worked. 2-0

March 29: White Sox 5, Royals 2. The Sox start out the year with a sweep. Cease isn't quite as sharp as the first two starters (4.2 IP, 3H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K) but 4.1 innings of relief from Hamilton, Marshall and Colome (two hits allowed total) shuts the door on the Royals. Eloy gets his first two home runs of the year and Grandal also gets on the board with a solo shot. Encarnacion continues his strong start with a 1-3 performance and his second (!) stolen base of the year. 3-0

March 30: Indians 4, White Sox 3. Looks like 162-0 is out of the question, but not because of Reynaldo Lopez. (5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K). Rather Kelvin Herrera coughs up a 2-0 lead in the sixth, and Jace Fry allows two runners to score and the Sox fall behind 4-3 and cannot come back. Moncada is only hitting .077, and Abreu isn't doing much better at .154. Thank God Danny Mendick is hitting .500 (7-14, 1 HR, 6 RBI). 3-1

March 31: White Sox 6, Indians 4. What about Yoan? He gets going with a 2-5 performance, but it means nothing compared to March MVP Edwin Encarnacion (3-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI). It looked like the Sox were headed to another loss, down 3-2 after the sixth inning, but Edwin stepped up to the plate in the seventh and brought in Moncada to take the lead with a two run dong. He then tacked on an insurance run with a solo shot in the ninth. It's not all roses, however, as Gio Gonzalez' long awaited Sox debut lasts just four pitches before being removed with an injury. Seven Sox relievers cover the full nine innings as we await the news on Gio. 4-1

Sox leaders in March 

Jimenez (.421 avg) Encarnacion (10 RBI, 4 HR, 0.6 WAR, 1.435 OPS, 2 SB...)

Oh, and we heard back from Gio. He's day to day with strained abdominal muscle. Robo-Hahn has also apparently gone rogue, as Jace Fry and Steve Cishek have been optioned to AAA, replaced with Matt Foster and Codi Heuer.  Cishek had pitched two perfect innings, while Fry carried a 2.70 ERA thru 2.1 IP.

 

[Soxbadger]

Heads is the hero we need!

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

2 hours ago, Heads22 said:

March 11: Looks like virtual Hahn is more antsy to get some value out of James McCann than some of the posters here. He's shipped McCann north of the border to Toronto for outfielder Derek Fisher.

March 20: Another favorite Soxtalk topic has found a home. Puig to the Padres for a one year deal, $5.3 million.

March 26: An Opening Day trade? Sure. Kansas City sends Trevor Rosenthal and Jackson Kowar to the Brewers for catcher David Freitas, for some reason.

Whats our Opening Day Sox look like? Well, the rotation is unchanged. Fulmer has been sent to Winston-Salem (!) and Jimmy Cordero to Birmingham. Jaycob Brugman has also replaced Adam Engel on the roster, while Ian Hamilton and Zack Collins have joined the active roster.  Luis Robert is also back in AA for some reason, with Palka taking his place. I'm starting to worry about Robo-Hahn.

March 26: White Sox 7, Royals 2. Lucas Giolito absolutely eviscerates the Royals (7 IP, H, 2 BB, 9 K) and the Sox start out with six runs in the bottom fo the first, chasing Brad Keller after 2/3 of an inning. Encarnacion went deep for the first time. 1-0

March 28: White Sox 5, Royals 3. Keuchel nearly matches Giolito. (8.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, BB, 7 K) Bummer gives up two runs in the ninth, but the Sox hold on. Edwin goes deep again. The Brugman as starting CF experiment isn't going as hot. (0-4, 3K, 5 LOB). Soxtalk is also not sure how to feel about Renteria's lineup today (Anderson SS, Enarnacion DH, Jimenez LF, Abreu 1B, Grandal C, Fisher RF, Moncada 3B, Mendick 2B, Brugman CF). But, whatever, it worked. 2-0

March 29: White Sox 5, Royals 2. The Sox start out the year with a sweep. Cease isn't quite as sharp as the first two starters (4.2 IP, 3H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K) but 4.1 innings of relief from Hamilton, Marshall and Colome (two hits allowed total) shuts the door on the Royals. Eloy gets his first two home runs of the year and Grandal also gets on the board with a solo shot. Encarnacion continues his strong start with a 1-3 performance and his second (!) stolen base of the year. 3-0

March 30: Indians 4, White Sox 3. Looks like 162-0 is out of the question, but not because of Reynaldo Lopez. (5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K). Rather Kelvin Herrera coughs up a 2-0 lead in the sixth, and Jace Fry allows two runners to score and the Sox fall behind 4-3 and cannot come back. Moncada is only hitting .077, and Abreu isn't doing much better at .154. Thank God Danny Mendick is hitting .500 (7-14, 1 HR, 6 RBI). 3-1

March 31: White Sox 6, Indians 4. What about Yoan? He gets going with a 2-5 performance, but it means nothing compared to March MVP Edwin Encarnacion (3-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI). It looked like the Sox were headed to another loss, down 3-2 after the sixth inning, but Edwin stepped up to the plate in the seventh and brought in Moncada to take the lead with a two run dong. He then tacked on an insurance run with a solo shot in the ninth. It's not all roses, however, as Gio Gonzalez' long awaited Sox debut lasts just four pitches before being removed with an injury. Seven Sox relievers cover the full nine innings as we await the news on Gio. 4-1

Sox leaders in March 

Jimenez (.421 avg) Encarnacion (10 RBI, 4 HR, 0.6 WAR, 1.435 OPS, 2 SB...)

Oh, and we heard back from Gio. He's day to day with strained abdominal muscle. Robo-Hahn has also apparently gone rogue, as Jace Fry and Steve Cishek have been optioned to AAA, replaced with Matt Foster and Codi Heuer.  Cishek had pitched two perfect innings, while Fry carried a 2.70 ERA thru 2.1 IP.

 

I'm just ready for the end of year stats... 

Edited March 18, 2020 by Squirmin' for Yermin

[Donny Lucy's Avocado Farm]

I played my first game last night. I skipped ST and went straight to opening day. I beat the Royals 11-0. Gio threw a one-hit 79-pitch SO with 17 Ks.

[chitownsportsfan]

I just won the Championship title with Wolves in FM 16.  We are going to struggle to stay up but with the right transfers we will.

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

29 minutes ago, Charlie Haeger's Knuckles said:

I played my first game last night. I skipped ST and went straight to opening day. I beat the Royals 11-0. Gio threw a one-hit 79-pitch SO with 17 Ks.

Sounds like someone needs to up the difficulty

[Jack Parkman]

I'm having a difficult time with the new throwing while fielding mechanics.

[Heads22]

Thinking I'll sim another half month or month later tonight.

[Donny Lucy's Avocado Farm]

6 hours ago, Squirmin' for Yermin said:

Sounds like someone needs to up the difficulty

What fun is that? If I want hard I'll play a Souls game.

[Heads22]

April 1: White Sox 13, Indians 7. The run continues. But at a cost. The Indians rocketed out of the gates to a 5-0 lead before Giolito (1.1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) was pulled due to injury. Codi Heuer (3.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, K) and Matt Foster (2.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, K) didn't provide much relief, but thankfully the bats did. Home runs from Abreu (1), Anderson x 2 (2), Collins (1) and Encarnacion (5) paced the Sox on the day. Nomar Mazara is also playing in his first game for some reason, going 3-6 with 2 RBI. Every Sox starter with exception of Eloy gets a hit on the day. 5-1

April 4: Bad news on Giolito. He's got a sprained ankle and will miss 5 weeks. Sox purchase the contract of Alex McRae from Charlotte.

April 4: Red Sox 5, White Sox 3. Red Sox 4, White Sox 2. A rain out leads to a double header and a pair of losses for the Sox. Cease (3.2 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) and Keuchel (5.1 IP, 12 H, 3 ER, 6 K) both get hir around a bit in Fenway Park. Abreu goes 2-4 in the opener and Encarnacion goes 1-2 with 2 BB. Moncada's average is sitting at .147 while Danny Mendick is hitting .360. Time to shuffle the lineup? 5-3

April 5: Red Sox 5, White Sox 4. A four hit day out of Jose Abreu (.351, 2 HR, 7 RBI on the season) isn't enough, nor are two hit games by Anderson, Brugman and Mendick (.379). A pedestrian effort by Lopez (5 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, K) and another mediocre outing by Aaron Bummer (2.1 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 K; 7.71 ERA) allow the Red Sox to get the sweep. 5-4

April 6: Mariners 7, White Sox 5. The slide continues. Alex McRae debuts and gets rocked, allowing six runs on eight hits in 3.2 IP. Despite the bullpen allowing just one run on three hits the rest of the way, the lead was too much to overcome. Yoan Moncada has his first three hit game (.214 on the season), but it seems Encarncion is coming back to Earth (1 of his last 12, hitting .289). Mendick is still hitting .375 - should he be moved up in the lineup? And how long are we going to let Derek Fisher (1-4, .188 on the season) look like this with Luis Robert waiting in the minors? For that matter, Leury has had to play center with Brugman not playing well. Without Edwin and Mendick, this team is below .500. 5-5

April 7: White Sox 5, Mariners 1. Gio Gonzalez is back. In his first full start for the team that drafted him, he struck out 10 Mariners in 5.2 IP, while allowing just one run on six hits. Herrera, Hamilton and Marshall allow just two hits the rest of the way. The Sox did all their damage in the fifth, scoring all five runs off of Mariners starter Marco Gonzales. Eloy's third home run of the year paced the Sox on a rare Mendick off day. 6-5

April 8 results in a slew of moves for the Sox. Michael Kopech is prompted to replace Alex McRae. A number of Sox farm hands are released including Tayron Guerrero, Jacob Lindgren, John Parke, Blake Battenfield, Vince Arobio, Craig Dedelow, Danny Dopico, Zach Thompson, Caleb Frare and Victor Diaz. And, hey, Fulmer was promoted from Winston-Salem to Birmingham.

April 8: Mariners 4, White Sox 1. Alas. Michael Kopech makes his debut for the 2020 Sox and throws 5.1 hitless innings, but spotty control (four walks, HMP) end his day in the sixth. Codi Heuer gets lit up in the seventh, allowing three runs on home runs by Dan Vogelbach and Kyle Lewis. Yusei Kikuchi scattered seven hits through eight innings. Derek Fisher is still hitting .189. Will the Sox make a change? Or maybe play Mazara more? 6-6

April 10: White Sox 9, Twins 7. Maybe Derek Fisher read the criticisms, as a three hit day helped pace the Sox against Homer Bailey and the Twins. Mendick added three hits as well (.375) and Moncada and Abreu peached knocked in a a pair. Cease allowed three runs on three hits in 5 innings, but the Sox bullpen remains questionable. Alex Colome was chased in the ninth after allowing a run on three hits, but Aaron Bummer was brought in to slam the door for the save with two runners on.  The Sox are currently one game out of first, behind the Royals (!). In other news around baseball, Avisail Garcia goes deep three times as the Brewers beat the Mets 31-3. Garcia finished the game with 12 RBI, and Robinson Cano and Jed Lowrie both allowed five runs in relief for the Mets. Matt Adams, Jake Marisnick and Rene Rivera also surrendered runs in relief. 7-6

April 11: White Sox 9, Twins 3. The Sox rock Kenta Maeda off of an Ecarnacion three run shot (6) and three hits from Tim Anderson (.370). Danny Mendick remains the teams best hitter (.372) and Nomar Mazara plays in his second game (2-5) for some reason. At least Ricky is optimizing his appearances I guess. Moncada commits 3 (!) errors in the game, but it does matter as Keuchel goes 7 strong, allowing three runs. Bummer picks up a win in relief (4.50 ERA on the year) as the Sox score six in the bottom of the eighth. 8-6

April 12: Twins 6, White Sox 0. The Sox manage just two hits (Abreu, Fisher) against Matt Wisler in 8.2 IP. Lopez allows just one earned run and lasts into the sixth, but a three run shot by Nelson Cruz against Kelvin Herrera in the seventh (15.00 ERA on the year) pushes the game out of reach. But moves are happening! The Sox sent down Palka (of the one at bat on the year Palka's) and recall Luis Robert. Lets see if he debuts in the lineup. 8-7

April 13: Royals 4, White Sox 2. Luis Robert does debut in CF, but the Sox can't get any offense out of him or anyone else. A solo shot by Tim Anderson (.373, 3 HR, 14 RBI) and a single by Danny Mendick (.370) are the only hits for the Sox. Robert goes 0-3 in his first game for the Pale Hose. Kopech's command remains spotty (4 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, HBP, 2 K) as the Royals continue their terrifying run to the top. 8-8

April 14: Royals 7, White Sox 6. Can we get Danny Mendick some help? He gives the Sox an early lead with a three run shot in the second (2-4 on the day, .380 average on the season) and Jose Abreu adds a solo shot to push the Sox lead to 6-1 in the third, but Gio Gonzalez does not escape the third and the Royals pull to within 6-5. Matt Foster and Aaron Bummer both allow runs in relief and the Sox bats fall silent after the third. 8-9

April 15: Bad news from Birmingham. Andrew Vaughn has broken his foot and will be out 3-4 weeks. In lighter news, Robo-Hahn has switched out Jaycob Brugman for Adam Engel. Will it make any difference? 

April 15: White Sox 5, Royals 0, Lets say the Engel move did make a difference. Or maybe it was the 4 hit day out of Tim Anderson (.397 on the season). Or maybe those three walks by Grandal (who is only hitting .157 on the season). In reality, a well balanced effort out of the Sox lineup with thirteen hits paced the Sox. Oh, and Edwin stole his third base of the year. Dylan Cease was masterful (6 IP, 2 H, BB, 5 K) and the Sox bullpen only allowed two hits over the final three innings. The Sox finish the first half of April at 9-9.

[Colinski]

Are the players rated appropriately in your opinion ? 

[bmags]

This is definitely an OOTP season for me. Start off reasonably hot, get excited, by July I'm like 20-55 and all my star players are trash and prospects failed.

(i.e. I'm very good at OOTP)

[SonofaRoache]

3 hours ago, Colinski said:

Are the players rated appropriately in your opinion ? 

Yeah I wanted to know as well. Online people said we got screwed outside of Grandal's 90. I may not buy the game if they think we suck. 

[Heads22]

The game certainly doesn't think we are winning big this year unless things go sideways. Sure seems to like Mendick so far though. I'll get the second half of April up later today.

[mqr]

20 hours ago, chitownsportsfan said:

I just won the Championship title with Wolves in FM 16.  We are going to struggle to stay up but with the right transfers we will.

How is FM compared to OOTP?

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

Okay... So what is OOTP??? I've played the Show.. OOTP is just some simulation thing, not even a game?

[mqr]

16 minutes ago, Squirmin' for Yermin said:

Okay... So what is OOTP??? I've played the Show.. OOTP is just some simulation thing, not even a game?

Pretty much. It's incredibly detailed and you could get lost in it for hours. Not for everyone though I guess.

[Jack Parkman]

17 minutes ago, Squirmin' for Yermin said:

Okay... So what is OOTP??? I've played the Show.. OOTP is just some simulation thing, not even a game?

Yes. 

[Jack Parkman]

1 hour ago, SonofaRoache said:

Yeah I wanted to know as well. Online people said we got screwed outside of Grandal's 90. I may not buy the game if they think we suck. 

In the Show... go to "edit player" and make your own ratings. I usually only adjust the Sox ratings to make them what I think they should be. 

Also, need to mess around with player potential because the Sox got screwed there. Andrew Vaughn as a 88/100 potential kiss my ass. 

 

Also what sucks is that I can't make Heuer throw a 98 mph 2 seam fastball like he's supposed to be able to do in real life. 

Edited March 19, 2020 by Jack Parkman

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

20 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

In the Show... go to "edit player" and make your own ratings. I usually only adjust the Sox ratings to make them what I think they should be. 

Also, need to mess around with player potential because the Sox got screwed there. Andrew Vaughn as a 88/100 potential kiss my ass. 

 

Also what sucks is that I can't make Heuer throw a 98 mph 2 seam fastball like he's supposed to be able to do in real life. 

That seems like a good potential score.. Not everyone can be A+ potential!

[Donny Lucy's Avocado Farm]

54 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

In the Show... go to "edit player" and make your own ratings. I usually only adjust the Sox ratings to make them what I think they should be. 

Also, need to mess around with player potential because the Sox got screwed there. Andrew Vaughn as a 88/100 potential kiss my ass. 

 

Also what sucks is that I can't make Heuer throw a 98 mph 2 seam fastball like he's supposed to be able to do in real life. 

I think the pitch type you want is "Running Fastball"

 

5 hours ago, Colinski said:

Are the players rated appropriately in your opinion ? 

No. I spent at least an hour editing player attributes before even playing a game. Also, most of the minor league relief pitchers all look like Yermin. Maybe I missed something but I don't think Zach Burdi is Dominican. 

[Jack Parkman]

3 minutes ago, Charlie Haeger's Knuckles said:

I think the pitch type you want is "Running Fastball"

 

No. I spent at least an hour editing player attributes before even playing a game. Also, most of the minor league relief pitchers all look like Yermin. Maybe I missed something but I don't think Zach Burdi is Dominican. 

Yeah I noticed that. 

[Jack Parkman]

5 minutes ago, Charlie Haeger's Knuckles said:

I think the pitch type you want is "Running Fastball"

 

No. I spent at least an hour editing player attributes before even playing a game. Also, most of the minor league relief pitchers all look like Yermin. Maybe I missed something but I don't think Zach Burdi is Dominican. 

No, it's a 2 seamer. It has sink. 

Like for Cordero I change his sinker to a 2 seamer because sinkers max out at 96mph in the game and both Cordero and Heuer have turbo (97-99 mph)  sinkers. 

Edited March 19, 2020 by Jack Parkman