JosephC

So, would the exchange between the players and the owners be for the owners to get the expanded playoff format, and the players get a return to a 154 game regular season schedule? If the TV money from adding 6 teams and a full playoff round exceeds the revenue generated from 8 regular season games, then I think this could be a pretty likely outcome.

Panic scale - 1 = no concern whatsoever 5 = hit the panic button, we have a major problem Urias against MLB right-handed pitching- 2018 = 40 plate appearances, .114/.200/.200/.400 2019 = 189 plate appearances, .177/.312/.259/.572 2020 = 78 plate appearances, .214/.295/.243/.538 Total = 307 plate appearances, .179/.293/.247/.540 Over 300 plate appearances now and the early returns are very poor. Still only 23 years old. Time to move the slider on the panic scale from 1 to 2?

Can't wait to see the "2023 NL 7th place Champion!" t-shirts that Attanasio will be trying to sell us a few years from now.

I've got the Europe version of Strategic Command. Reasonably easy to play wargame. I think events are a bit too "canned" in this game. I don't care for how Denmark and Norway are automatically taken as the game goes. Also, if you don't attack the Russians, they'll declare war on you by 1942, which is ahistorical. I play a lot of War in the Pacific - Admirals Edition. A truly monster wargame. I have an opponent in Australia and Austria for both my games. Probably the best Pacific War game out there. Thanks for taking the time to reply. One of the things that interest me about Strategic Command: WWII World At War is that is the triggering of certain events AND the fact that some scenarios play out contradicting history...I can understand why that is a big turnoff for many but it seems like it would add to replay value which is something I'm interested in. I'll have to check out some video for the War in the Pacific game and see if I might be interested in switching and getting that one instead. Thanks again.

Speaking of the players, I wonder if this will turn out to be a bad thing for them. After all, if I own the Yankees, and I know the 8th best team in the AL still makes the playoffs, it would definitely give me more incentive to put more money in my pocket and less money into the player's pocket. And I really don't know why that attitude would be any different in Milwaukee than in New York. Do I see major, across-the-board payroll reductions? No. But could I see big market teams being content to spend 180 million instead of 200 million, and maybe Attanasio telling Sterns we really don't need that extra bullpen arm for another 5 million? Sure. If it averages out to 10 million per team across the league...it might not be that noticeable at first, but that's 300 million less for the players. If this has to go through the union, the players should demand they get a fixed percentage of any revenue generated by expanded playoffs. If the owners can just push it through now, next CBA the union should insist they go back to the old playoff system or they get a fixed percentage of playoff revenue. And I'm not talking about the small bonus the players in the post-season receive. I'm talking about what would probably be some pretty big chunks of cash that the MLBPA can distribute to players across the league.

But in this case the $$$$$$$$$'s could easily end up saving hundreds of jobs in athletic departments across the Big 10, this isn't just a case of institutions building up billion dollar slush funds. Not to mention that this could get now unmotivated boosters and alumni to donate some money to help the academic side of things as well. One could easily argue the original postponement was even more dollar driven than the decision to play. Do you think when school presidents voted not to play in the fall, that they were looking at empty stadiums in October/November but also were thinking of a vaccine and the potential of playing in front of packed stadiums in March/April/May? Quick search shows that the Big 10 share of college football playoff money last year was 90 million. On average a Big 10 game has an attendance of 65,000 at say $50 a pop (actual figure way, way, way higher when adding in the PSL's and an additional donation on top of that)...revenue from tickets alone would be way, way north of 200 million. And with the SEC, ACC and Big 12 out of the picture, they lose out on the college football playoff money but could possibly make a big chunk back by selling more games for big network broadcast since there wouldn't be the option of showing SEC, ACC and Big 12 games in the spring. This has been the heavy speculation in Madison since the original postponement. Why play in front of empty stadiums now when you might be able to play in front of fans in March? Delay the decision as long as you can and play when the finances say it makes the most sense to play. No doubt the problems they've encountered with re-openings campuses, in addition to more questions regarding the availability of an effective vaccine, has convinced them that live attendance in March/April/May is a long shot so they've made the decision to jump in and try to net that 100 million in college football playoff money.

Anybody ever play Strategic Command WWII : World at War? https://www.slitherine.com/game/strategic-command-wwii-world-at-war I'm thinking about getting this as I have a bunch of vacation time coming up. I'm not much of a gamer, but have always wanted to try one of these strategic turned-based war games. Interested in this one because it doesn't seem to be so objective-driven, but pretty much opens up the world and allows the player to strategize on the global stage. Being able to play as the Allied Powers or the Axis Powers seems like a pretty cool feature that would add a lot to replay value. Any comments on this game or any other strategic war games would be appreciated.

https://www.press-citizen.com/story/sports/college/columnists/chad-leistikow/2020/08/21/leistikow-ripple-effects-no-fall-football-big-ten-conference-iowa-4-sports-eliminated-hawkeyes/3408170001/

Big deal. Who cares about non-essentials like this?

So I take it since it's too dangerous to play football, and 1000 cases a day just show that the virus is still running crazy through society, that we all can have a consensus agreement that the NFL needs to cancel their season or at least delay it until next spring. Here is a pretty good article about how NFL team's are dealing with myocarditis issue- https://www.pennlive.com/baltimore-ravens/2020/08/will-myocarditis-heart-condition-linked-to-covid-19-affect-nfl-ravens-doctor-says-its-a-concern.html

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/college/uw/2020/08/11/big-tens-decision-shut-down-football-2020-costly/3342888001/ I don't feel a bit sorry for Alvarez and the fat cats that sit atop of the athletic department, but I do feel sorry for the "insignificants" in the athletic department that will lose their jobs, athletes that could end up losing a scholarship (and those athletes will no doubt be the deserving athletes as the football players with an IQ of 60 need not worry) and all the folks on the peripheral that will be impacted by this (construction workers who don't have a job because of the delay of the Camp Randall upgrade). But remember, 1000 positive tests a day in Wisconsin but only about 350 people in the whole state hospitalized due to the virus (out of 5.822 million people). Fear-mongering media and government strikes again!

Still wondering why, since the very beginning, the government/media keeps taking the seemingly worse number and runs wild with it? How serious is the situation in Wisconsin, really? On April 9th, when Wisconsin was having about 150 positive tests per day- https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/data.htm There were a total of 446 people in the state that were in the hospital because of the virus- https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2020/07/19/wi-daily-45-day-covid-19-hospitalization-high-but-only-one-death/ Lately the number of positive tests per day has ballooned to about 1000, and yet the number of people hospitalized in this state on August 9 has dropped to 355. https://wkow.com/2020/08/09/sunday-covid-statistics-2/ So the number of positive results has increased approximately 6.67 fold, yet the number of those who are seriously ill is slightly less than 80% of what it was in April. The population of the state is over 5,822,000 people. 355 in the hospital. Are these types of facts being stressed to the general public? If so, then I am completely missing them as every headline I read talks about a 1000 new positive tests and the percent of positive test is approximately 8%.

I don't follow recruiting like I once did, but looking at Penn State's signings plus the guys they are still after in 2021, it appears like there is a good chance that they won't be signing a TE in 2021. So if they told Cross that he would be the only TE they would recruit in 2022, then he goes in as the only tight end in 2022, with no 2021 tight end ahead of him. Wisconsin tight end numbers, 2019 = 2, 2020 = 2, 2021 = 1. Penn State, 2019 = 1, 2020 = 2, 2021 = 0 (not finalized). Playing time could have been a pretty significant factor in this. Sucks as a Badger fan. Bucky may have legitimate numbers at the position now (they sure didn't last year), but the fact remains that there isn't one pass-catching tight end on the roster that has done anything of note in a Big 10 game once you get past Jake Ferguson.

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 29 - Brewers 5, Cardinals 4 Justin Smoak has a ruptured medial collateral ligament and is out for the season, estimated recovery time of 7 months. Smoak has been placed on the 60-day DL and has been removed from the 40-man roster. Ryon Healy has been called up and, quite oddly, been given the starting 1B job over Ryan Braun. Healy had a .309/.368/.579/.947 slash line in AAA with 23 home runs and 80 RBIs. Right handed pitcher Jesus Castillo has also been placed on the 26-man roster. J.P. Feyereisen has been optioned to AAA. Castillo had the best numbers of the AAA pitchers and definitely earned this opportunity. 39 2/3 innings pitched, 1.36 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 3.25 FIP, 0 home runs allowed, 2.5 BB/9, 7.7 K/9. Pitching matchup in today's game was Carlos Martinez versus Corbin Burnes. The Cardinals claimed an early 2-run lead in the first inning when Tommy Edman doubled in Kolten Wong and Edman later scored on a Paul Goldschmidt ground out. The Cardinals pushed it to a 3-run lead in the third inning when Wong doubled, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on an Edman single. The Brewers cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the third when Yelich hit a bases loaded double that scored Corbin Burnes and Lorenzo Cain (both had reached base on singles). The Cardinals scored an insurance run in the seventh off of Jesus Castillo. Wong hit a one-out triple and then scored on an Edman sacrifice fly. So the Brewers were down 4-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth. Yusmeiro Petit was on the hill for St. Louis. Keston Hiura led off the inning with a single. Petit was pulled and Andrew Miller was brought into the ballgame. Christian Yelich flew out to left. Omar Narvaez came up and singled, advancing Hiura to second base. Ryan Braun pinch-hit and struck out. Then the key point in the ballgame occured. Next two batters were lefties Eric Sogard and Brock Holt, but Cardinal's manager Mike Shildt pulled lefty Andrew Miller and inserted righty John Brebbia into the game. Sogard drew a walk to load the bases and then Holt doubled to score all three baserunners and give the Brewers a 5-4 lead. Josh Hader came into the ballgame to start the ninth. He struck out Paul DeJong, struck out Yadier Molina, walked pinch-hitter Rangel Ravelo and then struck out Wong to end the game. The Brewers have now won five straight. Cardinals in first place, the Pirates are 2 games back, the Brewers are 3 games back and the Reds are 3 1/2 games back. There has been two trades made: Cardinals get RHP - Alex Colome (37 innings, 5.35 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 5.25 FIP) White Sox get 3B - Brendan Donovan (23 years old, in A+, 325 plate appearances, .247/.308/.366/.674, 6 HR, 32 RBI), RHP - Orlando Romero (23 years old, in A, 53 2/3 innings, 4.02 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 4.61 FIP) Colome makes big money, isn't having a very good season, neither Donovan or Romero are very highly regarded, so this looks like the Cardinals taking a flyer on Colome and not having to give up much because they are taking on the rest of his salary. We'll see if Colome can get it turned around with a change of scenery. Royals get 1B - Jake Burger (24 years old, in A+, 312 plate appearances, .244/.314/.435/.749, 12 HR, 40 RBI) White Sox get LHP - Foster Griffin (25 years old, in AA, 70 innings, 3.21 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 3.34 FIP) Burger goes into the Royals top prospect list at #24 and Griffin goes into the White Sox top prospect list at #57. Burger was well thought of in 2017 but suffered a pair of Achilles injuries that cost him 2018 and 2019. His slash line in 2020 is rather ordinary. I want to say Griffin was in the Royals top 10 at one point but subpar seasons in 2018 and 2019 have dropped him down the list. But he's been used mostly in relief and has been pretty good in 2020. I don't think these players are as far apart as the #24 and #57 rankings would lead one to believe. Interesting trade. [attachment=2]7_29_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_29_batters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_29_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]

https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-chicago-lori-lightfoot-wisconsin-quarantine-20200729-xoetk4vc2vcmlfz5lewjmwy5ia-story.html Professional baseball players exempted. Shame on Major League Baseball for risking Grandma's life! Nice to know the government will be monitoring those Facebook accounts so they can issue tickets! I'm sure that's pretty likely to stop the flow of FIB's into and out of Wisconsin. At least now we know what the contact tracers are doing, I was under the impression that up until now they were basically doing nothing.

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 28 - Brewers 16, Cardinals 5 2B-Casey Martin, the Brewer's second round pick, signed a contract with a 1.06 million dollar signing bonus. Pitching matchup for today's game was Dakota Hudson against Brandon Woodruff. Hudson is a Cy Young candidate. He entered the game with an 11-3 record and a 1.97 ERA and this one figured to be a tough one for the Brewer bats. As it turned out, the Brewers had this one wrapped up by the end of the second inning. Not only did Hudson have a bad, bad day, but the entire Cardinals team played like a pee-wee team. Errors, walking in runs, passed balls allowing strikeout victims to reach first base....you name it, the Cardinals did it in this game. Hudson retired the first two hitters he faced. Keston Hiura singled, stole second and then scored on a Christian Yelich single. Luis Urias doubled to score Yelich, and then Justin Smoak singled to score Urias. Eric Sogard reached on an error by Matt Carpenter, but the inning ended when Manny Pina flew out to centerfield. The Brewers had the 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the second. Woodruff was the leadoff hitter and drew a walk. Lorenzo Cain came up and struck out swinging. Avisail Garcia flew out and it looked like Hudson might be on-track after the leadoff walk to the pitcher. Hiura came up and drew a walk. Yelich came up and struck out, but a passed ball on Yadier Molina allowed Yelich to reach first base when it should have been the third out of the inning. Urias came up and drew a walk to score the first run of the inning. Smoak singled to score a second run, and was injured on the play (Ryan Braun was the pinch-runner). Eric Sogard came up and cleared off the bases with a triple. Andrew Miller came into the game and struck out Pina to end the inning. Brewers were up 8-0 and the game was effectively over at this point. The Brewers ended up scoring seven unearned runs in this game, needless to say a complete embarrassment for the Cardinals. Hiura with another three hit game, Urias with a three hit game. The offense seems to have done a complete 180 since Yelich came off the disabled list. Also worth noting that Alec Bettinger made his second MLB appearance and threw a scoreless seventh inning. There was no news on the extent of Smoak's injury. He has been given the dreaded "info pending" which could be bad news. He's already been on the DL twice this year. The Pirates move to within 2 games of St. Louis. The Brewers are 4 games back and the Reds are 4 1/2 games back. Another kind of goofy trade today: Cardinals get - LHP - Christian Friedrich (11 2/3 innings, 4.63 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 5.72 FIP), RHP-Kaleb Roper (24 years old, in A ball, 61 innings, 5.16 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 4.59 FIP) White Sox get - 1B - Luken Baker (23 years old, in AA, 57 plate appearances, .173/.246/.327/.573, 2 HR, 3 RBI), SS-Carlos Arcia (18 years old, in rookie ball, 97 plate appearances, .241/.351/.301/.652, 0 HR, 7 RBI) Christian Friedrich had a 25 inning stint in AAA this year and was just awful (ERA over 10, WHIP over 2). The Cardinals have put him on the 26-man roster and he doesn't look like a good add for a first place team. Roper has poor ratings and doesn't appear to be anything more than organizational filler. Baker's AA numbers don't look that great but he had a much better run in A+ (.958 OPS in 191 plate appearances). He enters the White Sox top prospect list at #47 and has good enough power and eye ratings to be interesting. Arcia looks like a marginal lottery-ticket type. But the big MLB news of the day is that Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco no hits the Kansas City Royals. Carrasco faces 31 batters, walks 5 and strikes out 11. [attachment=2]7_28_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_28_batters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_28_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]

I read through the quarantine order earlier today. Essential workers have an exemption but the scope is very narrow, much narrower than the Evers stay-at-home order in Wisconsin which made pretty much made everyone an essential worker if their workplace was allowed to open. The exceptions to Chicago's quarantine order are..."a person who works in critical infrastructure as designated by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. “Essential worker” includes any state, local, and federal officials and employees traveling in their official capacities on government business, including military service." I saw nothing in the order that remotely hinted that a baseball player or any entertainment professional would be considered an exemption. Looks like any baseball team (including the Cubs or the White Sox) will not be able to play baseball in Chicago if they are travelling in from California, Arizona, Texas, Missouri, Florida, Georgia or Wisconsin according to this order. How much tax revenue makes it from MLB to local governments, obvious that could carve out an exemption (although to me it sure seems like the flow of money mostly goes in the other direction!)? Or a few palms could be greased, this is Chicago we are talking about. But if baseball is allowed to be played in the city, right after the Marlins outbreak, it sure would be a bad look for the Chicago officials that came up with this order.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2020/07/27/wisconsin-added-chicago-quarantine-order-what-to-know/5521773002/ Even if your test comes back negative, you still have to complete the 14-day quarantine. I don't understand how something like that can be legal. It just amazes me that the ACLU was so quick to jump all over the Kaci Hickox case when it involved ebola, which kills nearly 50% of the people after they start showing symptoms, and they sit silently while quarantines are ordered for people who have a negative test in hand. Fear has destroyed justice and science. I have viewed the details of the Chicago order and it states that the exceptions to the order are...a person who works in critical infrastructure as designated by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. “Essential worker” includes any state, local, and federal officials and employees traveling in their official capacities on government business, including military service. Looks like any baseball team (including the Cubs or the White Sox) will not be able to play baseball in Chicago if they are travelling in from California, Arizona, Texas, Missouri, Florida, Georgia or Wisconsin.

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 27 - Brewers 9, Cardinals 3 We have a trade- Brewers get - RHP - Andrew Cashner (in AAA, 75 2/3 innings, 4.28 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, 4.76 FIP, 0.8 HR/9, 3.9 BB/9, 8.1 K/9) Marlins get - LF - Oswel Leones (19 years old, at Arizona Gold, 129 plate appearances, .295/.388/.393/.780, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 5 SB) Cashner has not thrown an inning in the majors this season. Leones is a pretty decent lottery ticket-type and goes into the Marlin's top prospect list at #50. It looks like he has good speed and a strong arm, and profiles as a plus defender in both left and right. Doesn't look like he'll ever hit for much power, so the contact aspect probably determines if he makes it to the majors or not. Cashner has initially been assigned to the Arizona Blue team. I wouldn't just assume that he will be in a Brewer's uniform a week from now. This has more of the look that Cashner will go to AAA and serve more as an insurance policy. Kind of a strange move after picking up Wade Miley to probably serve in a similar role just a few days ago. I don't like the move, but I'm not going to sit and belly-ache about it after getting Daniel Lynch for free in an earlier deal. The Brewers also signed fifth round pick Cade Cavalli, the signing bonus was 370k. Today's game figured to be a tough one. Alex Reyes for the Cardinals and Josh Lindblom for the Brewers. Reyes entered the game with a 2.41 ERA and put up a 6 1/3 inning, 0 runs, 10 strikeout performance the last time he faced Milwaukee. Lindblom entered the game still with pretty bad season numbers, but had put together four good starts in a row and his arrow has been pointing up. The Cardinals are in first place, but I'm not convinced that they should be considered a favorite for the division. The pitching and defense have been excellent (2nd in starter's ERA, 4th in bullpen ERA, 1st in defensive efficiency and zone rating, all NL ranks), but they have had trouble scoring runs (11th in NL). There are only two players in the regular lineup with OPS's over .800 (Matt Carpenter, Tommy Edman), and they are getting no offense out of the catcher position and Tyler O'Neill hasn't been an offensive force either (.681 OPS). So Reyes stepped on the mound and it was obvious right from the get-go that he had nothing today. The first four men reached and two runs were on the board before Reyes even recorded an out. Keston Hiura doubled to knock in Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich singled to knock in Avisail Garcia. But the big blow was in the second inning when Garcia stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and hit a 379 foot grand slam to left to put the Brewers up 6-0. The game was basically over at that point and the Brewers cruised to an easy victory. Paul Goldschmidt hit a 2-run home run in the sixth inning, it was the only blemish on another good start by Lindblom. Hiura hit a solo home run in the seventh off of Tyler Webb. It was really noteworthy as it was Hiura's first home run since June 7. That's right, not July 7, June 7. Hiura had 3 hits on Friday and 3 more hits in this ballgame, maybe he's finally breaking out of the dreadful slump that he has been in. Lindblom's last five starts = 30 innings, 24 hits, 7 runs (all earned), 4 home runs allowed, 8 walks, 24 strikeouts, 2.10 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 3-1 record. The Brewers move ahead of the Reds with today's win. Cardinals in first place, the Pirates are 3 games back, the Brewers are 5 games back and the Reds are 5 1/2 games back. [attachment=2]7_27_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_27_batters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_27_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 26 - Brewers 6, Pirates 0 Easy win for the Brewers today. The Brewers are now 7-2 against the Pirates, and it's hard to believe that the Pirates are ahead of the Brewers when watching these head-to-head matchups. The pitching matchup was Hector Noesi against Freddy Peralta. I've talked about Noesi's hot start in a prior post, but since then he's cooled off considerably. He allowed 8 runs in 2 1/3 innings against San Diego his last time out, and his July ERA will likely be north of 10. Peralta looked good his last time out, and has allowed 2 runs or less in 5 of his last 6 starts. Noesi allowed 5 runs in the first inning but was really hurt by two errors (he committed one of them). Lorenzo Cain singled and stole second base, Avisail Garcia was hit by a pitch and then Keston Hiura reached on an error by shortstop Kevin Newman. Christian Yelich hit into a fielder's choice at second base that scored the first run. Luis Urias came up and hit a tapper back to Noesi that he botched for an error, allowing Garcia to score. Omar Narvaez came up and singled to score Yelich for the team's third run. Justin Smoak flew out for the second out of the inning. Eric Sogard came up and got what looked like the unintentional intentional walk to bring the pitcher to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. Peralta came through with a single to score two runs. That was the end for Noesi. Geoff Hartlieb came into the game and Cain lined out to end the inning. Five runs for the Brewers, four of them unearned as Milwaukee takes full advantage of the Pirate errors. Christian Yelich smashed a line drive, opposite field home run in the second inning to conclude the game's scoring. Peralta threw six innings and did not allow a run. Alec Bettinger made his major league debut and pitched the seventh inning. He struck out Victor Caratini. Kevin Newman was the next batter and he singled. Jarrod Dyson hit into a fielder's choice at second base, and then stole second base. Pablo Reyes pinch-hit and ended the inning on a pop-up to Keston Hiura. One piece of bad new, hopefully not too bad. Lorenzo Cain made a diving catch and strained a hamstring on the play. His status is listed as day-to-day for 1 week so hopefully he won't miss any games. The Cardinals are now solidly in first place. The Pirates are 4 games back, the Reds are 5 1/2 games back and the Brewers are 6 games back. One pretty significant piece of MLB news. The injury that Dodger second baseman Gavin Lux suffered in the June 22 game against Milwaukee turned out to be a torn MCL. He will be out the next 8 months. Lux was having a great rookie season. .296/.370/.497/.867 with 12 home runs, 42 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Finishes at 3.1 WAR, was on pace for a 4.9 WAR season. [attachment=2]7_26_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_26_batting.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_26_pitching.jpg[/attachment]

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 25 - Brewers 3, Pirates 0 The 8-game losing streak comes to an end. Roster move made- Alex Claudio placed on the 60-day DL and removed from the 40-man roster, Alec Bettinger placed on the 26-man roster The word is back on Alex Claudio, torn UCL and out for 11 months. Considering he'll miss half of next year, it's pretty likely that Claudio's time as a Brewer has come to an end. Guess he just couldn't keep up the ridiculous pace of his usage in the game (68 appearances in 101 games, was on pace to appear in 109 games). Claudio finishes the season with 53 innings, 5.09 ERA, 1.72 WHIP, 3.93 FIP. Surprise move that Alec Bettinger is the pitcher that gets the call to the majors, I figured it would be Chris Lee as the lefty would replace another lefty. Bettinger's numbers in AAA = 19 starts, 94 2/3 innings, 4.37 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 4.85 FIP, 16 home runs, 21 walks, 100 strikeouts. That home run number is troublesome, but the BB/K ratio is pretty good. He has been installed as the long reliever, and the last time he pitched was July 22. Josh Hader is the only lefty in the bullpen. As far as today's game, Mitch Keller versus Brent Suter. Keller has shifted into high-gear and is looking like the real deal for the Pirates. He had an ERA of 9 after his fifth start which happened on May 2. His May ERA was 4.05, his June ERA was 0.92 and his July ERA is 2.45. After this game his season numbers are: 3.15 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 3.56 FIP. Brent Suter's last start may have been the best start for the Brewers all year, so this one had the look of being a pretty good pitching matchup. And that's exactly what it was. Christian Yelich hit a 2-run homer off of Keller in the fourth, and Luis Urias hit a solo home run off of Richard Rodriguez in the seventh. That was it for the scoring. Suter was masterful. This may be the first time all year that I was upset to see Hader come into the ballgame. There didn't appear to be any reason for it. Suter was only at 88 pitches are rolling right along, would have loved to see him throw a complete game shutout and it certainly looked like he was going to do it. Suter retired the last seven batters he faced and the Pirates never even got a runner to second base. Looks like Freddy Peralta has legitimate competition for the title of "team's number one starter." Cards lose. The Pirates are 3 games back, the Reds are 5 1/2 games back and the Brewers are 6 games back. In other league news, Reds relief pitcher Cody Reed has suffered a torn flexor tendon in his elbow and will miss the next 14 months. Reed was having a pretty good season- 36 2/3 innings, 3.68 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 3.32 FIP. The Reds pitching staff has become a complete mess with injuries and trades. Rotation is now Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle, Lucas Sims (follower), Tejay Antone (follower, has thrown 1/3 of an inning in major league career), Packy Naughton (has never pitched in the majors). Bullpen is Raisel Iglesias (closer), Michael Lorenzen (setup), Joel Kuhnel (setup), T.J. McFarland (middle), Amir Garrett (middle), Ryan Hendrix (middle), Jesus Reyes (long), Sal Romano (long). [attachment=2]7_25_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_25_batting.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_25_pitching.jpg[/attachment]

So it's time to figure out what to do with this now that real baseball is here. I'm planning on going for at least one more week to see where things stand after the trade deadline. Note that the trade deadline in the game isn't like the trade deadline in real life, at least not in past versions of the game. There probably won't be a huge flurry of activity in the last couple of days, but it will probably be like 5 trades spread over the final seven days. I know I will continue to do a daily sim, but not sure if it's really worth posting anything at that point and waste the time and bandwidth when doing so. July 24 - Pirates 16, Brewers 9 Adrian Houser has a strained oblique, has been put on the DL and is expected to miss five weeks. Drew Rasmussen has been recalled from AAA. Rasmussen got one appearance in while in San Antonio but that was on the 19th so he was available for today's game. Chris Lee has cleared waivers and been assigned to AAA. I was anticipating a big bounce-back after the terrible west coast trip. Christian Yelich is back, and the Brewers had a 5-1 record against Pittsburgh. And frankly the Pirates have looked like last place quality in those six games. Then four games against the Cardinals, I would have predicted a nice little 5-2 run to get the Brewers to just 1 game under .500 heading into a three game series against a terrible Cub team. However, as you can see by the final score, the Brewer pitching was a complete disaster. The pitching matchup was Trevor Williams, who has really struggled recently (9.15 ERA in July), against Corbin Burnes. Williams allowed 6 runs in 2 2/3 innings, but was still the better starter on this day. As far as my statement that almost anybody would be better than Houser...well Rasmussen was his replacement...Rasmussen entered this game with the bases loaded, allowed all three of those guys to score and then surrendered another three runs on top of that. The last four Brewer relievers that were used combined for 4 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball, which just gives you an idea of how bad the pitching was during the first five innings. And to top it all off, Alex Claudio, who hasn't pitched very well but at least can (or previously had been able to) pitch pretty much everyday, had to be removed from the ballgame after the trainer examined his elbow. No word on the injury after the game but there could be a DL stint coming in the near future. At least the Brewer offense looked good. Yelich had 2 doubles in his return. Keston Hiura had 3 hits and the ball seemed to be jumping off his bat, it was his first three-hit performance since June 17. Even Keon Broxton hit a pinch-hit home run. He's been with the club for over 2 months and this is only his second hit in those 2+ months (only was his sixth plate appearance). The Cardinals win again. The Pirates are now 3 games back, the Reds are 6 1/2 games back and the Brewers are 7 games back. At 5 games under .500, and seemingly no way to fix this pitching staff, have to wonder if the Brewers can sell off some pieces with the trade deadline only 1 week away? In other league news, White Sox ace pitcher Lucas Giolito has a minor shoulder problem and is listed as day-to-day for one week. Giolito has been even better than he was last season - 94 2/3 innings, 2.66 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 2.93 FIP, 11.5 K/9. [attachment=3]7_24_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=2]7_24_batting 1.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_24_batting 2.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_24_pitching.jpg[/attachment]

Just noticed that I forgot to sim through the Thursday games before posting these. The Cardinals and Reds both played and won, so the Brewers are 6 games back and have dropped a 1/2 game behind the Reds and are in fourth place. I'm too lazy to go back and post new screenshots. [attachment=3]7_23_NL Standings.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=2]7_23_AL Standings.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_23_NL Wild Card.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_23_AL Wild Card.jpg[/attachment]

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 23 - scheduled day off Roster move made- Christian Yelich activated from the DL and put on 26-man roster, Ben Gamel optioned to AA The Brewer offense has been so mediocre lately that they are not going to waste Yelich at-bats on a rehab assignment. Keon Broxton was called up on May 14th. So he's been with the club for over 2 months and has only gotten into 7 games and has a total of 5 plate appearances. Yet he stays, likely only because of centerfield defense, and the guy with the .998 OPS gets sent to AAA? 26 man roster- Rotation = Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, Brent Suter, Freddy Peralta, Josh Lindblom Bullpen = Josh Hader (closer), Adrian Houser - injured, information pending (setup), Devin Williams (setup), Alex Claudio (middle), Ray Black (middle), David Phelps (middle), Ian Kennedy (middle), J.P. Feyereisen (long) Catchers = Omar Narvaez, Manny Pina Infielders = Justin Smoak, Keston Hiura, Eric Sogard, Luis Urias, Brock Holt, Jedd Gyorko Outfielders = Christian Yelich, Lorenzo Cain, Avisail Garcia, Ryan Braun, Keon Broxton DL = Corey Knebel (torn ucl, out 12 months) Other 40 man roster players (35 players)- Pitchers = Drew Rasmussen, Chris Lee (on waivers), Eric Yardley Infielders = Orlando Arcia, Ryon Healy, Ronny Rodriguez (elbow strain, out for 2 weeks) Outfielders = Ben Gamel, Tyrone Taylor In other league news, Baltimore reliever Hunter Harvey has shoulder inflammation and will be sidelined for 4 months, bringing his season to an end. Harvey had 18 2/3 MLB innings this year, and had posted a 4.82 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 3.82 FIP. He missed a couple months earlier in the season with elbow tendinitis. Pretty disappointing for the Orioles as his potential ratings, and status as a former first round pick, make him one of the team's building blocks for the future. [attachment=2]7_23_team stats.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_23_batters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_23_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 21 - Dodgers 5, Brewers 2 Pitching matchup for today's game was Brandon Woodruff versus Clayton Kershaw. I thought Kershaw showed signs of age last year, but his BB/9 (1.4) and K/9 (11.5) have improved this year, resulting in a 3.47 FIP. With Woodruff pitching much better lately (2.74 ERA in July), this one had the look of being a close, low-scoring game. Dodgers chipped away at Woodruff and scored a single run in the first and second inning. Corey Seager singled to score Gavin Lux in the first, and Chris Taylor scored an a Austin Barnes sacrifice fly in the second. Meanwhile, the Brewers were getting runners on base but couldn't push any across the plate. 7 runners left on base in the first 5 innings with no runs scored. The Brewer offense finally broke through in the sixth inning. Omar Narvaez led off with a single. Kershaw was at 98 pitches, so Dave Roberts went to the pen and put Addison Reed in the ballgame. Luis Urias singled, and then Justin Smoak walked to load the bases with nobody out. Jedd Gyroko hit a weak fly ball to shallow right field for the first out. Brandon Woodruff came up and hit a fly ball to centerfield, deep enough to score Narvaez and advance Urias to third base. Lorenzo Cain was the next batter and walked, once again loading the bases. Avisail Garcia then singled to score Urias and tie the game at 2. Keston Hiura was the next batter and he struck out to end the inning. Hiura didn't come through here, but he finished the game with a double and 2 walks and it's the best offensive day he's had in awhile. The game was still tied at 2 entering the bottom of the eighth inning. Counsell decided to start the inning with the man with the 8+ ERA, Adrian Houser. Cody Bellinger was the first batter and he walked. Mookie Betts came up and singled, advancing Bellinger to second base. Corey Seager struck out swinging for the first out. Houser then left the game with an undisclosed injury, the information was listed as "Pending..." after the game which can be a bad sign. Counsell decided to go with Devin Williams. The first batter to face Williams was Will Smith, and he walked, loading the bases. Chris Taylor came up and walked, scoring Bellinger and giving the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. Enrique Hernandez came up and walked, putting the Dodgers up 4-2. A.J. Pollock pinch-hit, watched 4 straight balls go by him as Williams walked in this third run in a row. David Phelps came into the ballgame, got Austin Barnes to hit into a force play at home and then struck out Justin Turner to end the inning with no further damage. Kenley Jansen came into the ballgame in the ninth and logged his 29th save of the season. Another frustrating ending. IMO the talk should be about Devin Williams and exactly why he has been on the roster over the last two months? He does have a pretty remarkable, eye-popping 14.2 K/9 which is probably what saves him. But his BB/9 is a laughable 9.3, which is more bad than the K/9 is good. He also hasn't avoided giving up the base hits, and now has a WHIP of 2.02. One of the more interesting team statistics is that the Brewer pitchers have totaled 1001 strikeouts this season, which is second in the NL. But as we all know, overall the pitching has been bad. 12th in runs allowed and 13th in ERA. I haven't talked too much about pitcher win/lose this year. Williams is the obvious goat in this game but Adrian Houser is the pitcher credited with the lose. That puts his season W-L at 2-12. We'll wait to see the seriousness of the injury, but frankly just about any replacement would figure to be an upgrade. 8.68 ERA, 1.86 WHIP, 5.87 FIP, opponent slash line of .325/.403/.573/.976...it doesn't get any worse than that. Thankfully this 6 game west coast trip is over. It figured to be tough, but 0-6 and getting outscored 31-15 was even worse than anticipated. Offense is pretty much dead at this point. Thankfully Christian Yelich's injury time is only listed as 1 more day, so he could be back on Friday or a couple games later if he has a short rehab assignment. At least the schedule is looking better. Day off tomorrow and then the next 16 games all come against NL Central opponents and there is obviously no great team in that bunch (and the three games after those 16 games comes against the Marlins). A good chance to make up a bunch of ground. Cardinals in first place, the Pirates are 3 games back and the Reds have moved into a third place tie with the Brewers at 5 1/2 games back. Trade made- Rays get C - James McCann (77 plate appearances, .294/.377/.544/.921) White Sox get - RHP - Caleb Sampen (23 years old, in AA - 35 1/3 innings, 2.29 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 3.49 FIP), 3B - Kevin Padlo (24 years old, in AAA - 273 plate appearances, .286/.401/.551/.951), RHP-Alexis Pichardo (17 years old, in R - 28 innings, 4.82 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 3.56 FIP) Sampen goes into the White Sox top prospect list at #10, Padlo is listed just outside the top 30 (#34) and Pichardo seems like an alright lottery ticket type. Mets starting pitcher Marcus Stroman has suffered a flexor-pronator strain and will miss 2 weeks. Fortunately for the Mets, Jacob deGrom has just about finished his rehab assignment and will be back on the 26-man roster within the next couple of days. [attachment=2]7_22_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_22_batters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_22_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]