This was certainly an unlucky team. Mike S’s Ball Four averaged 89 wins in the resim, 89 wins in the Opening Day resim, and 85 wins in the Balanced Resim. They made the playoffs 16 times out of 20 chances and owned the best offense in the game according to the resims. In the regular season? Just 82 wins and they had to watch the playoffs from the grandstands.
Looking down the resim standings, there is a steady, gradual climb from around the 74 win mark until yesterday’s #5 ranked team with 85 wins, Ball Four jumps into another tier of quality with the 6th overall rank. It’s not only the jump in win total, with a net difference of 105 runs Ball Four also triples the previous best Run Differential.
Due the imbalanced schedule they played in a tough division, suppressing their win total compared to tomorrow’s franchise, therefore one can further argue Ball Four is the 5th best team overall. They bested this team in Run Differential and Balanced Resim Win Average, but the 20 resims rankings are based purely on the results of the actual league structure used in the regular season and 6th ranking stands.
Mike relied heavily on his lineup which scoring 864 runs per season. Three times in the resims they cracked 900 and in resim #16 they topped out at a whopping 946 along with a just as potent +241 Run Differential. Six regulars recorded an OPS over .800, here was the lineup:
.268 / .385 / .426 – Joe Morgan (38 2B, 110 R, 41 SB
.296 / .372 / .383 – Roger Connor (31 2B, 115 R)
.341 / .393 / .662 – Heavy Johnson (64 2B, 44 HR, 129 R, 170 RBI)
.327 / .368 / .532 – Bill Dickey (35 2B, 24 HR, 90 R, 104 RBI)
.245 / .342 / .507 – Jim Edmonds (38 2B, 38 HR, 111 R, 119 RBI)
.309 / .361 / .413 – George Stone (99 R)
.278 / .341 / .517 – Fred Lynn (40 2B, 35 HR, 112 R)
.273 / .349 / .464 – Pedro Guerrero (20 2B, 17 HR in a platoon)
.229 / .341 / .266 – Candy Nelson
Across in the resims, Johnson averaged 52 doubles, 17 triples, and 35 home runs.
The issue with this team, and it is a large one, was the pitching staff. Home games were played in the Ballpark at Arlington, inflating offense, but it was no excuse for 19th ranked pitching staff. Ball Four drafted two closers ahead of their first starter and were mildly indifferent to defense (Pedro Geurrero and his Fr range at third comes to mind). The result was below average.
A new Lefty Grove (5.21 ERA, 1.50 WHIP) was tried but was among the worst starting pitchers on any team with a winning record. Much of the rest of the rotation struggled too – Kevin Millwood, Joe Horlen, and Justin Duchscherer combined for a 4.70 ERA and 1.45 WHIP.
Ball Four’s pen had some bright spots (see below) but even Craig Kimbrel (3.30 ERA, 1.28 WHIP) could be said to be a disappointment. Not that he isn’t very good, but drafted in the 7th round Mike was hoping for elite results.
To leave on a higher note – this is the 6th ranked team out of 24 after all – Ball Four has the 2nd best resim offense of all time. The only better was the Hathsin Survivors of ATB 13 that squeaked out 7 more runs.
800 OPS Batters:
.927 – Heavy Johnson
.808 – Bill Dickey
Sub 4.00 ERA Starters
None
Sub 3.25 ERA Relievers
2.84 – Mariano Rivera
3.12 – Al Grabowski
Best Value Draft Pick
No particular standouts, but George Stone is good production (.304 / .352 / .421 with 28 doubles) for Round 10
Bust Draft Pick
Rd 12 – Lefty Grove (5.21 ERA, 1.50 WHIP)
20 Resim Results
24) 64 wins, Downsouth Brews
23) 66 wins, Colorado Green Sox
22) 72 wins, Lancaster Pretty Ladies
21) 69 wins, Detroit Tigers
20) 74 wins, Platte County Burnt Ends
19) 75 wins, Leesburg Snowhole
18) 77 wins, Planet 10 Red Lectroids
17) 78 wins, Rochester Beau Brummels
16) 79 wins, Otherton Fishbiscuits
15) 79 wins, North Valley Bears
14) 81 wins, Niagara Frontier Blackbirds
13) 81 wins, Rusty Kuntz Traveling All Stars
12) 80 wins, Shamokin Miners
11) 81 wins, Helena Handbasket
10) 83 wins, Carlisle "Mechanics"
9) 82 wins, Puerto Cabellas Pandas
8) 83 wins, DC Chips
7) 85 wins, Wildlings of the Wall
6) 89 wins, Ball Four
No comments:
Post a Comment