MLB 14: The Show

[Toe]

I play a stretch of 5-10, then sim 10-20 until I hit a match up I want to play.

[Your Mom]

Oh I for sure play quick counts I just would hate seeing my pitcher get a loss and thinking man I bet I could have won that one! Of course with my .500 record right now I probably couldn't have but still

[Meacon Keaton]

I usually try to play the middle game of a three game series, and the middle two games of four game series. If I have more time, I'll play more, but that's what I aim for.

[Draevyn]

I have a No Sim rule for all sports games. With the amount of games for a season of Baseball, I might amend that rule but I'm another person who feels weird simming a game.

[Meacon Keaton]

I don't play Quick Counts or Player Lock in my seasons, though. I may only play 50-60 games out of 162, but those games are played completely.

[Your Mom]

I can't go back now. It may screw me on occasion but I love quick counts too much to go back

[Gabriel]

When I was younger I wouldn't sim anything. But now, with work, a fiancee, and trying to balance a social life, it's impossible to get through a season in a sports game if I don't.

My rule with The Show is that I play a game and sim the amount of runs I get. So if I score three runs, I sim three games, and play the next. I also like to play the minors to keep an eye on which guys I should be looking at for the future and who is expendable... so with AAA I have the same rule, but multiply my runs by two and sim that many games. With AA I multiply by three and sim that many.

I'm more into the managerial aspect of sports games anyways, so I'd rather get through multiple seasons than just play every game and not even get a chance to finish my first season before the next game comes out.

[Your Mom]

But Seasons carry over now. You can savor it!

[Gabriel]

But Seasons carry over now. You can savor it!

Just means I can get that much farther into my franchise now. I've always wanted to get to the point where there are no more original roster players left in the league.

[Toe]

I ended my first season with the Cubs. Went 78-84, which is better then I expected at the start of the year. Kept nearly everyone, with Oswaldo Arcia and Josh Willingham platooning in left, Adam Eaton in centre, and Will Myers (who is now 87 overall) in right. I have a lot of good depth here too, with Matt Sczur, Nate Schierholtz, Avisail Garcia, and Jorge Soler on the bench or in Triple A.

I lost Darwin Barney because I forgot to offer him arbitration, but Javier Baez was ready to take over at second anyways. He is not nearly as good with the glove, but should be one of the best offensive players at second in the NL. Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo, and Matt Dominguez all return after strong seasons. I'm a bit thin on the bench for the infield though, and most of the players I targeted to help out chose less money to go to other teams. I do have Luis Valbuena who is ok, but that's it. Everyone else in the organization are prospects who I want playing every day in the minors still.

I debated bringing back Wellington Castillo. He's great defensively, but his bat is mediocre and he hit .238 in 2014 for me. However, the free agent group behind the plate was terrible, with most available players being over 35, so Castillo returns. I did pick up Gerald Laird to back up, which is better then what I had in Jon Baker last season.

Shelby Miller and Marco Gonzales (who I also got in the trade with St Louis) lead my rotation. Jose Quintana is solid as a 3-4 starter, but the back of my rotation is a bit weak. Jake Arrieta returns as my 4th starter and 23 year old rookie Mike Foltynewicz is my 5th starter. He can throw 99 but doesn't have great stamina. I did bring in Jeff Francis to be a long reliever and he can replace Foltynewicz if he struggles.

My bullpen sucks. I was hoping to add some help in the off season but the best player available for the pen was Pedro Strop, and I was letting him walk. I have Christian Martinez, Wesley Wright, Neil Ramirez and Jose Veras returning. I added Joakim Soria on a one year deal to be my set up man, but his numbers last year were brutal. I did bring in Ryan Madson last season to close, and he was awesome, posting 42 saves and a 2.08 ERA. I had an option on him and since his skills didn't drop at all, I decided to bring him back. If he does start to struggle, I have Soria who I can try out there.

Overall, since the free agent market sucked, I was able to save a ton of money. Really though, not bringing in free agents might be a blessing in disguise and now I've got some good prospects stepping in to the major league line up. I don't think my rotation or bullpen are good enough to compete, but I'm confident in my line up. Maybe a few trades will put me into a position to push the Cardinals and Pirates (who now have Pujols...) for the division. If not, I've got the cash to spend on pitching in the offseason. Just need some good pitchers to get to free agency.

[Draevyn]

My team is doing horrible on simming. Not doing that hot when I'm actually playing either I guess. I lost to Washington 3-2 but managed to pull off a 7-1 win against the Phillies but then went 2-4 on the Sim.

[The Buscher]

I'm doing ridiculously well as Dillon Gee. His offspeed stuff is just killer for whatever reason, especially the Vulcan Change. Had a ridiculous 0.44 ERA with him through 13 starts. I got him a 5-0 lead against the Yankees and cruised through 8 innings. His energy bar was completely drained in the 9th but I figured I'd leave him in to give the bullpen a breather since he'd get an extra day of rest before his next start. But of course Teixeira and Soriano hit back to back HRs on 2 pitches and then I frantically got Bobby Parnell up before giving up a 3rd solo shot to McCann. Went from a potential shutout with 8 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 HR which oddly is probably his worst start of the year. Those massive Yankee bastards. At least I won.

His ERA ballooned to a ridiculously high 0.88 only 16 points lower than the runner up, Eric Stults of all people.

[Toe]

I remember last season when I played as the Mets, I always played better with Gee and Niese than Harvey.

Just played against the Yankees with my Cubs, and got 12 strikeouts with Shelby Miller. His cutter and circle change were unhittable.

[Meacon Keaton]

I'm in a fantasy draft online franchise and I took Felix Hernandez with my first pick and traded him about halfway through the season. I mentioned earlier in the thread that there are just some hitters that I can't hit with regardless of how good their numbers are and vice-versa. And I'm finding with this years edition, it's the same with pitchers. I couldn't pitch worth a lick with King Felix, but if I start Chris Tillman, you don't stand a chance.

[Toe]

Same with me. I struggle with some of the sinker ball pitchers, and R.A. Dickey.

[thatshortguy]

That's very reminiscent of when I played MLB '06 (the last one where I would play *every single game* in a season). I was downright nasty with change-ups, sliders, and sinkers. Fastballs would get cranked almost every stinking time.

[Your Mom]

I had Cespides on my team and was batting under .200. Traded him for Yan Gomes a pitching prospect and a Rookie LF who is rated 15 points lower than Cespides but I hit way better with that guy

[Toe]

Cespedes is one guy I would just never hit well with. I'd get some home runs, but hit around .200 and hit into a lot if double plays.

[Your Mom]

Me too! That is exactly what happened. I had like 8 homeruns and 20 something RBIs but was hitting .198. Does this happen to everyone with him?

[Meacon Keaton]

That's what we call the "Adam Dunn Effect".