SBa goes OOTP: Week 1

Alright, week 1. Finally getting this thing off the ground. For those not in the know, this is an OOTP based simulation of our league. 88 games with rosters filled with players from draft day. I have edited the schedule to accommodate the schedule set for the league. Should be a fun one to see how these teams would shake up if it were more like the MLB instead of just a single season based piece of paper. Let's get things started with week one.

Florida Flamingos @ Jakarta Jaguars

This series will be a true test of youth for Florida. Jakarta is stacked from top to bottom, with their only weakness being the depth of their bullpen.

G1: Florida 1, Jakarta 8

W: Hyun-Jin Ryu

L: Tanner Houck

PotG: Hyun-Jin Ryu

Things started off well with two scoreless innings a side. Houck started to show his control struggles early, getting the bases loaded in the second with two walks and a single. None would score thankfully. Top 3 Florida would strike the first run with a single by Fletcher, an error by Rios would let another man on. Mondesi would deliver the RBI single. Jakarta would answer shortly with a double from Trout, a walk by Kirk, and an RBI single from Ian Happ. Another walk to Nelson Cruz would load up the bases. Teoscar Hernandez would hit a sac fly to take the lead and would eventually be the winning run. Everything really fell apart in the 4th. Schoop single, Urias strikeout, Trout single, Kirk walk, Happ walk, Rios single, Cruz strikeout, Hernandez 3-run homerun, and finally a flyout by Anderson to end the inning of death.

G2: Florida 2, Jakarta 6

W: Walker Buehler

L: Sonny Gray

PotG: Yadier Molina

First start for the old man Molina and he delivers a stunning 3-4 day with 3RBI and a run with 7 total bases. Florida tried to come back with a late game 2-run homerun by Gio Urshela but they couldn’t muster any other runs. The screams of pain could be heard in VC as Jack keeps wondering why the sim chose to pitch Mychal Givens.

G3: Florida 1, Jakarta 4 F/10

W: Giovanny Gallegos

L: Kenley Jansen

PotG: Kwang-hyun Kim

A brutal extra innings loss for Florida who wasted a gorgeous performance by Kim. The bullpen really blew this one. Kenley gives up a single to Schoop, a double to Anderson, and a final 3-run blast by Ian Happ. Jack is stunned by the destruction a Cubs player is doing to him. Kenley bad.

G4: Florida 1, Jakarta 2 F/11

W: Brusdar Graterol

L: Kenley Jansen

PotG: Deivi Garcia

Lol did I mention Kenley bad? He blew another one in extras off a Dylan Carlson solo shot. At least he got outs this time having pitched 1.1 before giving up the aforementioned bomb. Deivi goes 5.1 with 10 strikeouts to deservedly earn the player of the game nod. Maybe bench Jansen for a few games and make him think about what he’s done. League repeats itself as Jakarta sweeps the first series.

Vatican Angels @ Yukon Moose

A split series IRL by these two teams that are just kind of trying to figure things out. Both have good potential but struggle at scoring timely runs.

G1: Vatican 4, Yukon 5

W: Wade Miley

L: Blake Taylor

SV: Drew Pomeranz

PotG: Jake Noll

A back and forth game at its finest. The Vatican take a late 4-1 lead but squander it as big man Jake Noll booms a grand slam to put the Moose ahead in the bottom of the eighth. Pom comes in to shut the door for the first save of the season. The Angels just couldn’t capitalize the THREE errors by Yukon including two by Miguel Rojas.

G2: Vatican 6, Yukon 10

W: Tyler Mahle

L: Cristian Javier

PotG: Max Kepler

27 total hits by both rosters this game. Only two players were unable to get a base knock, those being Manuel Margot and Mauricio Dubon. Jake Noll hits another home run but it is Max Kepler who takes the player of the game title with a 2-4 3RBI performance. Victor Gonzalez thinks about blowing it late but Moose legend Aaron Bummer seals the deal.

G3: Vatican 4, Yukon 5

W: Wade Miley

L: Ryan Sherriff

SV: Drew Pomeranz

PotG: Jose Abreu

Hey look, Wade Miley. He gets his second win as the Moose take the lead in the bottom of the 7th. Jose Abreu smashes two home runs and collects 3RBIs. Bad news for the Vatican as Brandon Belt pulls a hammy on a double in the top of the 9th. A huge blow for them as the star first baseman will be out 5 weeks.

G4: Vatican 1, Yukon 8

W: Matt Andriese

L: Tyler Glasnow

PotG: Michael Pineda

The Moose are a team of late inning scoring as they score 7 total runs in the 7th and 8th innings of the game. Pitching explodes for the Vatican as they struggle to get any kind of runners late. Pineda gives the Moose a 6.1IP 1ER performance. Jeff McNeil is sacrificed for the win as he exits the game with a twisted ankle on a double in the 5th. He won’t be out for long but that is a huge blow for the Moose. The Vatican get the sweep treatment. Come back when you want to actually play.

Tokyo Kaiju @ West Virginia Black Bears

Hey look, it’s the team we all love to hate. It truly is a shame that people keep handing him wins and good players because holy fuck is this OOTP team stacked. Should be a very tough series for the Kaiju who are relying heavily on players with not much to their name.

G1: Tokyo 4, West Virginia 9

W: Dinelson Lamet

L: Shane Bieber

PotG: Dinelson Lamet

Game started off perfectly fine I assure you. Just ya know Trea Turner notching 3 doubles and Cody Bellinger only having one official at bat because he walked three times. Perfectly fine. Also Lamet hit a batter in each of the first three innings. The crowd was calling for his removal but the umpires were like “lol it was an accident” and let him continue. Only the second hit of the game came from Ramon Urias in a lead slightly destroying grand slam off of Chasen Shreve. I sure hope this isn’t a sign of things to come.

G2: Tokyo 0, West Virginia 3

W: Rich Hill

L: Luis Castillo

SV: Emilio Pagan

PotG: Rich Hill

Good ol Dick Mountain shows up big time on the mound. Big 2-run double by Eloy Jimenez seals the deal as Tokyo can only manage 4 hits, only coming from Juan Soto and Ramon Urias. Another hit batter by West Virginia certainly is keeping tension high in this series.

G3: Tokyo 9, West Virginia 6 F/10

W: Yimi Garcia

L: JB Wendelken

PotG: Ramon Urias

A game simply dominated by the Japanese long ball as the Kaiju go deep 4 times in the game including the game winner by Ramon Urias in the top of the 10th. Alex Cobb goes down in his start after only 53 pitches. No diagnosis yet.

G4: Tokyo 4, West Virginia 5

W: Anthony Bass

L: Mark Melancon

PotG: Mike Brosseau

West Virginia scores in bunches early with a pair of 2-run shots by Acuna and Brosseau off of Alec Mills. Randal Grichuk shows he has some power of his own as he hits two solo shots of his own. A tie game going bottom 9, Melancon leaves one hanging on a 1-2 count that Brosseau waves bye-bye to as they walk off the Kaiju and take a series win. I really hope Domo wasn’t involved in any of this.

Big Sky Snow Geese @ Glasgow Unicorns

Haha I’m in danger. This Glasgow team is filled with depth all around and has the potential to be significantly better than their paper league counterpart.

G1: Big Sky 4, Glasgow 10

W: Kyle Cody

L: Kenta Maeda

PotG: JaCoby Jones

Pain… Just pain. Big sky scores first with two big flies from Austin Barnes? Am I reading that correctly? Oh and Michael Conforto. With a 3-0 lead heading bottom 5, all falls apart for the Geese as Glasgow scores 4 and never looks back. The runs start coming and they don’t stop coming until there is a very padded lead. Thank you to Lourdes Gurriel for causing pain with a dropped ball error.

G2: Big Sky 5, Glasgow 6 F/11

W: Nick Anderson

L: Alex Colome

PotG: Hunter Dozier

Great team effort by both squads as hits are aplenty. Glasgow just manages to get the upper hand with a run scoring single by Hunter Dozier in the bottom of the 11th to win the game. Plesac is removed from the game in the 4th with a sore shoulder. People are dropping like flies out here. Send help. Yastrzemski makes his second error of the season just to break my heart.

G3: Big Sky 2, Glasgow 8

W: JA Happ

L: Jose Berrios

PotG: Joey Wendle

Glasgow good? Well it appears so. This group kept hitting ding dongs off of the Big Sky staff so safe to say they are on their way up. Four players hit a bomb in this game and Joey Wendle deservedly wins player of the game with at 2-4 3RBI performance to bring home the bacon.

G4: Big Sky 0, Glasgow 4

W: Aaron Nola

L: Dustin May

PotG: Aaron Nola

Who saw this coming? The sweepers become the swept when you yeet rosters into a simulation engine. Three solo shots by Glasgow highlight the night as they all come off of Dustin May. The bullpen of Glasgow lock things up behind a great performance by their starter Aaron Nola. This team is bad and it should feel bad.

Philadelphia Birds of War @ South Burlington Black Diamonds

A really tough matchup as OOTP does not like the roster of SBB all that much. The stupid good pitching staff of PBW gets a chance to shine in the first series.

G1: Philadelphia 6, South Burlington 2

W: Jacob deGrom

L: John Means

SV: Josh Hader

PotG: Jacob deGrom

All’s well that starts well for the Birds of War as Big Schmeetus Peetus launches a piss missile into the stands off of John Means. deGrom does deGrom things and pitches a strong and deep game. Nate Pearson comes into the 9th with 2 outs and promptly gives up a double. A swift pull to Hader who notches the final out and the save. Lucas Sims gets beat up because the other pen arms found out he was Val’s favorite.

G2: Philadelphia 7, South Burlington 5

W: Clayton Kershaw

L: Sandy Alcantara

SV: Josh Hader

PotG: Mookie Betts

A struggle of a game as the Black Diamonds get singled to death. The part that didn’t help is starter Sandy Alcantara going down with a strained back after only two innings of work. The pen had to find ways to work but an untimely error by Sam Haggerty eventually leads to their demise. Nate Pearson tried to blow it again by giving up a single late into the game.

G3: Philadelphia 2, South Burlington 3

W: Liam Hendriks

L: Sergio Romo

SV: Brad Hand

PotG: Zach Davies

Hey look a win without someone dying and falling apart. Getting nicked for 3 double plays, Philly can’t get much going. Bryce Harper still stands without a hit and good defense actually means something. A clutch pinch hit single from Yoan Moncada [val yelling about how much she loves this man] puts in the winning run making Wheeler’s good day meaningless.

G4: Philadelphia 8, South Burlington 3

W: Adam Wainwright

L: Elieser Hernandez

PotG: Bryce Harper

Just when I was ragging on him about not having a hit, he goes out and gets himself player of the game. Waino looking like his old self and pitches deep into the game with 7.2IP. Elieser gives up 12 whole hits and 0 walks in his 5 innings while giving up 6 earned runs. Yikers. Pearson tried to blow it again but the defense said “no please, we need these with our division”.

Quezon City Questants @ Wichita Wonder Wolves

A matchup of small ball versus three true outcomes. Both squads are eating butt in the actual league but they get a chance to start all over with their first series.

G1: Quezon City 4, Wichita 8

W: Daniel Bard

L: Brandon Leibrandt

PotG: Whit Merrifield

A game that came with quite the pitching matchup as notable haters of each other Trevor Bauer and Gerrit Cole faced off. Turns out neither of them mattered as they each surrendered 2 runs in their respective outings. Once the bullpens were called upon things fell off the rails for the Questants with Leibrandt surrendering a 6 run inning to the Wonder Wolves in the bottom of the 8th. Quezon only scores off of the homerun, having hit 3 in the contest.

G2: Quezon City 1, Wichita 3

W: Dallas Keuchel

L: Steven Brault

SV: Edwin Diaz

PotG: Dallas Keuchel

A true gem by pitcher Keuchel as he throws 6 innings of shutout ball though he exits the game with a supposed injury. Quezon City got their only run off of a Bregman solo shot per usual. Edwin Diaz decides to not blow things up and records the save, striking out three and walking two.

G3: Quezon City 6, Wichita 2

W: Pablo Lopez

L: Blake Snell

PotG: Jesse Winker

The Wonder Wolves strike first but Quezon City hit back even harder with a two-run double and three-run home run against Blake Snell in the following two innings. Jesse Winker decides to add on to the lead with a solo shot in the 6th. Whit tries to bring the team back with a home run in the 8th but his team can’t back him up.

G4: Quezon City 0, Wichita 6

W: Marco Gonzales

L: Mike Soroka

SV: Daniel Bard

PotG: Marco Gonzales

Gonzales throws 7 innings of shutout ball and Bard backs him up with two more innings to secure the save. Rowdy Tellez chases Soroka with a solo bomb and delivers him the loss and gives the Wonder Wolves the series win. For a team the has branded themselves as an offensive powerhouse, Quezon City needs to get their bats under the heat lamp before their next series.

Sao Paulo Parrots @ Dallas Drillers

Ah yes. The much awaited battle between Derek and Kalin. Once managing together, they now have to face each other. Both have been hit hard by the evil domo but this is OOTP.

G1: Sao Paulo 3, Dallas 8

W: Dylan Bundy

L: Yu Darvish

PotG: Dylan Bundy

Darvish gets eaten alive by timely hitting featuring a bases clearing double by Isiah Kiner-Falefa. The bullpen doesn’t do much else to help them come back and to make matters worse, Santiago Espinal is injured in a collision at second base and will be out with an oblique strain.

G2: Sao Paulo 1, Dallas 6

W: Kyle Hendricks

L: German Marquez

PotG: Kyle Hendricks

Another fantastic pitching outing for the Dallas squad as Kyle Hendricks is actually a good pitcher. As a not very wise man once said “you can take a pitcher out of Coors but you can’t take the Coors out of a pitcher” as Marquez gets beaten up for all six earned runs.

G3: Sao Paulo 5, Dallas 4

W: Jake McGee

L: Daniel Hudson

SV: Pete Fairbanks

PotG: Miguel Cabrera

Mild slugfest here as the Brazilians finally get the bats out. Lynn gives it a good run and McCullers is bailed out by a late 2-run blast by Miguel Cabrera. Dallas staff find themselves owners of two blown saves in the game on route to a loss.

G4: Sao Paulo 11, Dallas 6

W: Cam Bedrosian

L: Jarlin Garcia

PotG: Charlie Blackmon

Ok so the bats have really woken up here. Only one long ball to be seen on the side of the Parrots in their 11 run win. Very timely hitting as they nab 11 on 16 hits and 4 walks. The pen comes in clutch as Julio Urias comes out of the game with only 9 pitches thrown. Medical personnel say he should only miss a week. Dallas’ pen falls short and will likely struggle. Oh did I forget to mention Mark Canha, Tyler Duffey, and Andrew Miller also left the game with injuries?

Las Vegas Bandits @ Milwaukee Bovines

A highly contested matchup as these two slugging teams battle it out. Imagine if there was a shutout in this matchup. Would be pretty funny now wouldn’t it.

G1: Las Vegas 5, Milwaukee 2

W: Brandon Woodruff

L: Dakota Hudson

SV: Adam Kolarek

PotG: Brandon Woodruff

Well these teams hit dongs and especially with runners on. Daniel Robertson knocks a 2-runner and Jason Heyward gets himself a game winning 3-runner. Woody puts together a solid 7 inning outing with 11 strikeouts while Milwaukee ponders their next follower game after Dakota Hudson gets rocked for 5 runs. Sean Murphy got hit by a pitch in the hand and will miss 4 weeks with a broken thumb. Kind of need that as a catcher.

G2: Las Vegas 4, Milwaukee 6

W: Dovydas Neverauskas

L: Ian Anderson

SV: Raisel Iglesias

PotG: Mike Tauchman

A lot went down in this game. First Jordan Montgomery goes down with a tired arm after completing the first. Neverauskas pitches 2.1 scoreless before Watson botches his appearance by giving up a bomb to Andrelton Simmons. It didn’t matter because Anderson explodes for 5 runs in 6 innings. Tauchman casually goes 2-3 with 3RBIs to earn player of the game.

G3: Las Vegas 6, Milwaukee 9 (nice)

W: Freddy Peralta

L: Jose Cisnero

SV: Raisel Iglesias

PotG: Anthony Rendon

Cows hit dongs. Simple as that. 4 big flies for the Bovines including two from the aforementioned Rendon. Cisnero is in mid season form, giving up two home runs in his appearance and taking the loss. Watson needs a day off because he nearly blew the game again. Good thing the rest of the pen locked it all down.

G4: Las Vegas 1, Milwaukee 4

W: Chris Bassitt

L: Dane Dunning

SV: Greg Holland

PotG: Mike Tauchman

So close to getting that shutout that was hinted to in the intro. An rbi single by Jason Heyward will break up the shutout and end Bassitt’s day. Holland records 4 outs to get the save on only 13 pitches and Tauchman hits a stellar 4-4 in the series finale.

Denver Zephyr @ Los Muertos de Monterrey

Both teams are heavy on the slugging and light on the pitching. How do bullpen games shake up in the line of things? Well I can tell you one thing, they were hard to make work properly.

G1: Denver 3, Monterrey 4

W: Jesse Hahn

L: Devin Williams

SV: Chris Martin

PotG: Eric Hosmer

Los Muertos start things off with a 3-run home run from Hosmer in the second inning. A little lefty lefty crime off of Fried there. Denver answer with three of their own in the 6th and 7th innings. Williams comes in to shut things down but Hosmer said no and hit a single to give his boys the lead and earn player of the game.

G2: Denver 5, Monterrey 6

W: Erasmo Ramirez

L: Nabil Crismatt

SV: Chris Martin

PotG: Tommy Pham

I heard you like home runs because there were a lot of them. Four on the side of Denver but they come a little too late as Los Muertos ride off to victory on a Dom Smith sac fly. Merryweather can actually get outs it seems as he throws 2 innings only giving up 1 run. Erasmo is a beast and gives his team 5.2 in relief earning the win.

G3: Denver 1, Monterrey 9

W: David Peterson

L: Yusei Kikuchi

PotG: David Peterson

Have a day David Peterson. 6.1IP of one run ball gives him the win. Kikuchi is hit early giving up.. Ahem.. 7 earned runs off 4 home runs in 1.0 inning pitched. Talk about yikes. A game score of 6 isn’t something you write home about. The pen quiet things down but it is way too late for a comeback.

G4: Denver 4, Monterrey 0

W: JT Brubaker

L: Aaron Slegers

SV: Oliver Drake

PotG: JT Brubaker

The bats suddenly go quiet as Denver finally shush them and pull out a shutout win. Slegers gets hit hard with 3 earned off two home runs. Did you know Aaron Slegers is a staggering 6 foot 10 inches tall? Crazy. Well at least you took home one game and in convincing fashion. Better figure out that whole pitching situation seeing as you play in a hitters ballpark there Denver.

Well that is week 1. A wild time of results that no one saw coming. This series will be updated frequently whenever I can reliably sim and do this big whole write up thing. Tons of injuries so far so those reserve rosters are coming in handy already. How bout that?

Division standings:

Standout Performances:

Marco Gonzales

7.0 IP 0ER 4H 6SO 0BB 0.57 WHIP

Mike Brosseau

8-14 5R 4RBI 3HR .571/.600/1.286