Ok, fine. Embarrassed to be trying to lay out a draft strategy in front of all these legends of WIS. I am good at this game. Y'all are great. But here goes.
League 1, pick 17. I'm only in the league due to the schwarze's largesse, and as such have the choice of 17 or 18. Take 17 because..you guessed it, my lucky number. Gonna need all the luck i can get.

First Round -- Orval Overall. Like him at this approximate cap level (130 useable salary +/-), lots of bench $) and seems to perform better for me than some of the remaining selections. Gotta get my deadballers before they are all gone, and assuming/hoping there will be offense to be had later.
Second Round -- Watching in horror as Foxx, Speaker, Mantle, Dimaggio (all times two) go off the board and decide that i need to go all in on pitching. Chief Bender has two good seasons at this cap and now i have 3 SP with 3 hrs allowed in 835 innings. ERC# of 2.07, 1.96 and 2.11. Feel good about starting pitching. Wish i had contemplated Boudreau though. Too focused on pitching.
Third Round -- Gotta get some O going here. Would have taken Mays had he gotten to me. Decided on Duke. yes, I know, HRs with all the deadballers wont translate well. But his D is great and he has three almost identical seasons ($/PA of 13607, 13116, 12772). And even more amazing in real life, 1953 and 54 are almost carbon copies Lets hope it works in WIS.
Fourth Round -- Thats a long time between picks. Want to cement my infield. Weighing Runnels, Pesky and Schoendeist. Red can playh three positions and I have yet to be turned on to the "draft one great guy and the other three be damned". Go wth Red. Immediately feel validated or remorseful that I didnt take either of the other two when they are drafted right after me.
Fifth Round and I need relievers and IP. A few good picks with one or two seasons are out there but I am looking for lots of IPs and decide on Red Ames, another remarkably consistent dead baller, with three seasons of zero HRS and WHIPs around 1.03--110. i may not have a closer yet but i have innings and wont be giving up homeruns.
Round 6 Need a first base/DH/maybe big hitting OF type. Eyeballing Manush (and will play one of his seasons out of position at 1b) or Bottomley. Both go in the picks ahead of me. So I take a shot on another consistent, good D type in Baby Doll. Bats RH and now i have some balance and pinch hitting if I am facing lefties. If anything, I will have best defensive team in the league.
Round 7 -- the run on catchers has decimated the options (wally, chief, bubbles, wilson). I like O'Farrell cause of the OBP and his arm. I also have no other choice, so I make myself like him, and he has two good seasons that I can platoon.
Round 8 -- I am noticing the lack of lefties on my staff. Was literally waiting all round for Pollett. Two really good seasons. But redcped sniped him, which hurt. Just shows how hard it is to be in a draft with all these great players. Took Jack Harshman. One good RP year. One meh starting season. Gives up HRs but no one else on my staff does. Dont like that pick put i will have to live with it.
Round 9 -- last pick. Eyeballing another lefty to close, Al Grabowski, who also doesn’t give up HRS. But i cant help noticing that my offense sucks and i have no true deadball high AVG+/OBP+ hitter. Waiting waiting waiting and finally get one of my top picks in George Stone. Sad when that's the highlight of your draft but hey, if anything, I will go .500 and not make a fool of myself...

GL all!

Posted by schwarze on 10/25/2023 3:38:00 PM (view original):
League 1, Pick 2
Walter Johnson & Associates
It's easiest if I list the picks first, the positions that I currently have the slotted to play, then go into details on what my thinking was at the time I drafted them. An asterisk means I am playing a guy out of position.

1.02 - Walter Johnson (SP)
2.23 - Hal Newhouser (SP, RP)
3.23 - Jackie Robinson (2B, 3B*, DH vs LH)
4.02 - Earl Averill (OF, OF, OF, DH vs RH)
5.23 - Mickey Cochrane (C)
6.02 - Dolf Luque (SP, RP, RP)
7.23 - Vern Stephens (SS, def at 3B)
8.02 - Jim Hearn (RP)
9.23 - Stan Spence (1B)

In round #1, ronthegenius chose Ed Walsh at pick 1. I would've' taken Walter Johnson at 1.01 so I'm happy to get him at 1.02. I'm going with his 1913 season (364 ip, 0.78 whip). Now the long wait to see who gets back to me.

Before round #2 started, I was hoping to get another SP to lock up my starting rotation. I though maybe Hubbell might slide, but he went to pedrocerrano at 2.01. A total 15 pitchers went in round 1. By the time it got back to me, another 9 pitchers were selected. I was happy to grab one of my sim favorites, Hal Newhouser. His 1945 season has been great for me two rounds in a row. As it turns out, I plan on using his best (1946) season in relief since I have no other lefty pitchers on the roster.

Round #3 saw 14 hitters get taken, including 11 OFs, which makes sense since you can lock up 33% of your starting lineup. I had a couple of OFs in mind and would get to pick again pretty quickly, so I figured I would try and find an impactful middle infielder. That's when I landed on Jackie Robinson. He's got three very good seasons (1949, 1951, 1952). Although I didn't roster any of his 3B-eligible seasons, I do plan on playing one of his seasons at 3B. I figured the other season will be my DH.

The two outfielders I was looking at last round are still here in round #4. So I grab the one who's a bit better defensively - Earl Averill (1931, 1932, 1934, 1936). I realize that 1930's batters don't normalize well, but his raw stats are just too good to pass up. In all four seasons I rostered, he's over 700 PAs, so I will probably platoon his worst season at DH, with Jackie. Through 4 rounds, I have 1000 innings (3 SPs) and 6 starting lineup positions filled. I just need C, 1B, SS. And I need some pitchers to pitch in relief. I have 5 rounds to go - three will be the 3 batting spots, which leaves 2 for pitchers.

In the middle of round 4, barracuda3 did something that was a bit shocking. He grabbed Bill Dickey, a one-position 4-season player. Then in round 5, he grabbed Dave Davenport, a one-season stud, with 4 wasted seasons. This opened my eyes to the fact that it's pretty much impossible to draft a player in round 5 without wasting 3-4 seasons. One of my other teams used it's round 5 pick on Gabby Hartnett. So this team followed suit and grabbed Mickey Cochrane. Any other player I would have taken here would have also wasted 3-4 seasons, so why not take one of the best catchers available.

It's round #6 now, and just about every decent pitcher who has multiple seasons have been drafted. I can fill 1B and SS much later. I decided on a pitcher who I have had success with in the past and has multiple usable seasons. His whips aren't sub-1.00, but Dolf Luque normalizes well and doesn't give up HRs. I decided to use his 1923 season in the starting rotation, while using his next best seasons (1920 & 1925) in long relief.

I have enough innings now and can grab a stud setup/closer next round, so I want to lock up either SS or 1B here. I've had my eyes set on Dolph Camilli as he performs well in the sim (at least in my experience). But toysboys grabbed him just four picks ahead of my next turn. That hurt. I will wait and grab Ripper Collins later. I have compiled a list of shortstops that I can live with. But with Jackie Robinson playing out of position, I want a shortstop who also has a 3B season that I can use as a defensive replacement. Vern Stephens (1949) was the perfect fit and is a solid hitter (.930 ops), although I am not thrilled about his average defense (B/C+). But his 1951 season (.865 ops) is an A/B at third base.

Picking at the end of the draft, I knew any pitcher with one great short-inning season would get snatched up before it got all the way back to me, so in round #8, I selected Jim Hearn. As you all know, I have a love-hate relationship with him. He often disappoints, but I just can't pass up those gaudy numbers (0.88 whip in 132 ips). Now just hoping Ripper Collins makes it back to me.

Damn it! Barracuda3 grabbed the Ripper in the middle of round 8. Jim Hearn better be worth it. There is a big drop off offensively among the remaining 1B, so I decided to grab the best left-handed bat who is a great fielder (11.49 range factor at 1B) - Stan Spence. As my team's worst hitter (.316, .391, .486), he'll bat 9th and hopefully make 35 + plays.

Batting stats (most often used 9-player lineup): .330, .418, .540 ($69.9 million)
Pitching stats (best 1450-1500 innings): 1475 ips, 1.01 whip, .205 oav, 0.22 hr/9 ($63.1 million)

Record thru 58 Games: 36-22, .621
Expected Winning%: .605
Record in 1-run Games: 9-5
Offense Rank: 11th
Pitching Rank: 2nd
Defense Rank: 5th in fielding, 16th in range

Comments:
This is my only team that's been on the lucky side of 1-run game luck and the only team who's actual winning% > expected winning%. Of course, things tend to normalize quickly. This team was sitting as the top team overall, until it's current 2-8 run (including 1-4 vs below-500 teams).

My top pick, '13 Walter Johnson has been a disappointment. The team is 14 games over .500 and yet Walter is only 8-7 with an ERA (4.21) well outside of the top 25. Nice #2 overall pick. So how is my team ranked 2nd in pitching? '23 Dolf Luque (12-2, 3.32) is 2nd in the Cy Young race. Ace reliever Jim Hearn (2-5, 4.47) is pi**ing me off again, blowing 3 straight games in this recent 2-8 run. My two Hal Newhousers have been fine (combining to go 13-7 with 7 saves and both with ERAs under 4).

On the hitting side, the offense is led by three Earl Averills and two Jackie Robinsons. '49 Robinson leads the team at .363, .410, .496. '31 Averill leads with 48 RBIs but is hitting terribly (.275, .302, .349). My other two Averills are better (.336 & .309). Looks like I need to move guys around in the lineup. I drafted 5 Mickey Cochranes and it's been a challenge to figure out which one to use. Three of my Cochranes are hitting .208, .208 and .143. I finally settled on '31 Cochrance who is now at .321. Playing '51 Jackie Robinson at 3b (unrated) has had mixed reviews so far. He has only 1 error (leadig the league in fielding% at 3B) but he has 6 minus plays in 54 games (4th most). Gonna try '51 Stephens (rated A/B at 3B) for a bit.

Overall, I'm not going to complain about a team that is currently ranked 2nd in overall record, but I do wish Walter Johnson would at least make his #2 overall pick pay off.

Posted by schwarze on 10/25/2023 4:37:00 PM (view original):
League 1, Pick 5
Christy Mathewson & Associates

1.05 - Christy Mathewson (SP)
2.20 - Jack Pfiester (SP, RP)
3.20 - Fred Toney (SP, SP, RP)
4.05 - Goose Goslin (OF, OF, OF, DH)
5.20 - Gabby Hartnett (C)
6.05 - Al Rosen (1B, 3B)
7.20 - Cecil Travis (SS)
8.05 - Nick Maddox (SP, RP)
9.20 - Jim Gilliam (2B)

Ironically, this roster build is very similar to my Walter Johnson team. Basically, I flipped the 3rd and 6th rounds. In round #1, I took the best dead-ball SP available, Christy Mathewson. I decided to use his 1908 season (411 ips, 0.84 whip).

In round #2, I was hoping Joe Jackson would make it to me, but he went to redcped two picks before my turn, So instead, I grabbed the best lefty dead-ball SP available. Jack Pfiester was the call (over Doc White). His 1906 and 1907 seasons are very similar, but based on who I ended up drafting in the later rounds, I decided to use his 1907 season in relief.

I really wanted Ken Williams in round #3, but pedrocerrano crushed my soul by taking him just three picks in front of me. Instead, I decided to be the first team in League 1 to take three pitchers in the first three rounds (ronthegenius, picking after me, would also take three pitchers). I wanted a pitcher who had 3 usable seasons of which one was really strong. Fred Toney was the perfect fit. I will also point out that barracuda3 grabbed Ferdie Schupp last round, and if he got his hands on Toney too, his team would be unbeatable with a lead in the late innings. We couldn't allow that. Toney's two 200+ inning seasons (1915, 1919) aren't dominating but are acceptable. I plan on using both in two different tandems.

It's now time to grab a hitter in round #4. I was returning home from a show that I went to go see with my daughter and her fiancé, while visiting her in Pittsburgh. I was in the backseat, on my phone, trying to find the best hitter with 3-4 solid seasons. I landed on Goose Goslin. Like Earl Averill, who my other team just drafted, Goslin racked up stats in the live-ball era of the late 1920's and 1930's which probably means gross underperformance. His defense is pretty bad too, but he does have one season of C/A-, so that season will play CF. Considering my first three picks were pitchers, at least I have some offense now.

As mentioned previously, any player I take here will result in 3-4 wasted seasons. Since my OF/DH consists of four left-handed bats, I wanted a right-handed-hitting catcher and decided on Gabby Hartnett. Besides catcher, I will also use him to platoon at DH with Goose's short-PA season. It was fun watching the catcher run in rounds 6-7.

It's round #6 now. I have over 1400 innings. I have C, OF & DH filled. I still need 1B, 2B, 3B, SS and have four rounds to go. I'd like to add one more impactful pitcher late, which means I need a multi-position player with this pick. It came down to two options for me. The one I went with was the obvious choice of Al Rosen (1B/3B). His $12M season wasn't going to last any longer. But I also considered going with Dolph Camilli and playing one of his seasons out of position at 2B or 3B. I really like Dolph. Anyway, Rosen's 1B season isn't great offensively, compared to the rest of the league, but you can't argue with his offense at 3B. This begs the question... Which position combination is better defensively? In his '53 season, he's A+/C+ at 1B and B+/A- at 3B. In his '52 season, he's A/D- at 1B and B/D+ at 3B.

In round 7, I am looking at either 2B and SS. More teams need SS than 2B at this point and since I plan on saving the position I don't fill for round 9, I need to make sure I get a guy with 700 PAs in that round. I determine that I prefer the 2B options later than the shortstop options. I could go with a defensive specialist that doesn't hit much or grab the big bat instead. Since I have Hartnett and Rosen, I wanted the lefty who also happens to have the big bat. That's why I selected Cecil Travis. As an added bonus, in his 1935 season, he's rated B/B in the OF, which will be used as a defensive replacement for one of my bad-fielding Goslins.

I will just repeat what I wrote for my other team, since it also applies here. Picking at the end of the draft, I knew any pitcher with one great short-inning season would get snatched up before it got all the way back to me, so in round #8, I selected Nick Maddox. Not only can I use his 1907 season as my closer, but his 1909 season (1.04) is usable, and will be part of one of my two tandems. So I'm basically going with Mathewson (SP1), Maddox/Toney (Tandem 1), Toney/Pfeister (Tandem2) which will leave me Pfeister (LongA), '18 Toney (Setup) and '07 Maddox (Closer) in the bullpen.

It's time to grab my last starting position player, a second baseman. I decide on the good fielding (B/A) switch hitter with a .399 OBP... Jim Gilliam. He'll bat last.

Batting stats (most often used 9-player lineup): .333, .408, .552 ($65.3 million)
Pitching stats (best 1450-1500 innings): 1508 ips, 0.93 whip, .204 oav, 0.08 hr/9 ($59.5 million)

Record thru 58 Games: 29-29, .500
Expected Winning%: .507
Record in 1-run Games: 12-14
Offense Rank: 24th
Pitching Rank: 3nd
Defense Rank: 10th in fielding, 20th in range

Comments:
I guess when you draft pitchers in the first three rounds, one would expect to be ranked poorly in offense, especially, when your offensive players played in the poorly-normalized 1930's and 1950's. Let's start with the bad. '53 Al Rosen ($12M+ salary) is at .240, .326, .342 with 3 HRs. That is roughly 100 points worse in average and onbase% and nearly 300 points worse in slugging. On pace to finish with less than 10 HRs. Brutal. '30 Goose Goslin is at .224, .279, .310 - roughly 400 OPS worse than actual. '31 Goslin .247, .314, .326 is marginally better at only 350 OPS points worse than actual. In fact, the only batters that are not awful are my only two guys that played in the 1920's or 1940's. '41 Travis is at .347, .398, .495 and '26 Goslin is at .305, .348, .432. Note to self... avoid 1930's and early 1950's hitters.

On the pitching side, after a horrific start (6.25 ERA thru 7 starts), my ace Christy Mathewson is at 10-7, 4.01 ERA. He's not close to being in the Cy Young discussion yet, and he just barely cracks the top 25 in ERA, but considering how he started, I'll take it. The other starters have rotated between '06 Jack Pfeister, '19 Fred Toney and '09 Nick Maddox. Toney and Maddox have ERAs over 5 so I'm probably going to move one of them to mop-up role. I drafted two stud pitching cookies to be my main setup guy and closer. '18 Toney has been solid, with a 1.47 ERA, while '07 Nick Maddox started off fine, but has 3 losses (blown saves) in his last 7 appearances and his ERA has gone from 2.79 to 4.86 over that stretch. I recently moved him from "Closer" status to "Setup B", because I'd rather have Toney finish the game as long as he hasn't reached his pitch count. We'll see if that resolves the late game blown leads issue.

Generally speaking, I think this team should be better than .500. Grossly underachieving batters combined with late game blown leads can't continue forever, right?

Posted by schwarze on 10/25/2023 8:10:00 PM (view original):
League 1, Pick 20
Babe Adams & Associates

1.20 - Babe Adams (SP)
2.05 - Mickey Mantle (OF, OF)
3.05 - Doc White (SP, SP, RP)
4.20 - White Wyatt (SP, RP)
5.05 - Augie Galan (1B, 3B, OF, OF)
6.20 - Wally Schang (C, C)
7.05 - George Davis (SS, def at 3B)
8.20 - Bobby Avila (2B)
9.05 - Elmer Steele (RP)

During the "draft slot" draft, I picked #20 instead of #21 because I wanted to avoid being in the division with those drafting 24, 23, 22. Then picks 19 & 16 went before my next turn. Since pedrocerrano took 19, I decided it would be fun to have my second team in this league be at pick 21, so I'd have back-to-back picks, increasing the odds of me sniping pedro during the draft. Anyway, during the early stages of round 1, I pretty much agreed with nearly all of the picks that went ahead of me. With only pedrocerrano to go, I was hoping to get either Babe Adams or Honus Wagner with this pick. Pedro took Cy Young, so now I have both players available. I know I will get both players on these back to back picks, but which to take on this team? I figured the pitching would be weaker with the AL West, so I would take Babe Adams here and Wagner with the next team.

There are some really great players that will be available in round #2. I just have to wait for picks 22-23-24 to make their two picks each. I was hoping to get either Musial, Mantle or Speaker on this team. The next six picks were Musial, Vaughan, Bernhard, Hubbell, Foxx & Speaker. I can't believe that Mickey Mantle is still available. I know his HRs will be muted, but he should still get on base a lot and he's a good defensive player and he is a switch-hitter. I feel like I won the lottery. Plus, I know pedrocerrano wanted him.

In round #3, I went with a very strong 3-season pitcher, Doc White. I actually considered White in round 2 with my various teams. His best season has a 1.95 ERC# and his other two seasons, he's under 2.50#. Combined with Babe Adams, I have 1000 innings of strong starting pitching.

A long wait until my round #4 pick. I honestly don't recall why I didn't take a hitter here. I just felt that a guy like Whit Wyatt shouldn't have been sitting here this late. On my other team, I drafted my fourth hitter (Johnny Mize) with zero pitchers taken. In retrospect, this team should've taken Mize and my other team should've taken Wyatt. Now I have 1400 good innings on this team, with Mantle as my only hitter. Not sure what I am doing.

The only negative about of drafting an OF in round 2 is that I still need another player who can play OF. Now it's round #5 and in this moment, I felt like I needed a hitter that can play a lot of positions. So I took Augie Galan. I love Galan.... he crushes $80M and $100M leagues, but I am not sure he will be all that great in this league. I'm a sucker for OBP though and he's got seasons of .451, .426, .423, .412 and .399 obp. I plan on playing him at first base (B+/A+), third base (C-/D+), outfield (B/B) and DH. His 362-PA season (.451 obp) will sub in as needed. The one advantage of drafting a guy who can start at four positions is that I have a free pick later in the draft.

In round 6, I was on the wrong side of the catcher run, which I partially started with my other two teams. I kind of like my team full of switch-hitters, so I am going with another favorite of mine, Wally Schang. With Mantle, Galan and Schang, I may lead the league in OBP. I will also probably lead the league in men left on base.

With three picks left, I have plenty of pitching. I have my C, 1B, 3B, OFs and DH. All I really need is middle infielders. Since I have three picks left, my last pick can be the best RP left. So, in round #7, I go with George Davis. He's certainly not the best SS left, but I chose him because one of his seasons, he has a decent fielding 3B season, which can replace Galan at the end of games. Also, he is a switch hitter. I'm putting an all-switch hitting team together.

In my mind, I kind of planned on settling on switch-hitter Jim Gilliam as my team's everyday second basemen, but when my pick comes up in round #8, Bobby Avila is still on the board. Two people behind me still need a 2B, so I can't pass on him, even though I also wanted Niggeling, The difference in offense between Avila and GIlliam is too great, so I won't have the all-switch-hitting team.

Not surprsingly, footballmm11 took Niggeling. But my consolation prize is Elmer Steele. I really like this team's pitching staff. I have 1100 innings with starters '19 Adams, '06 White, '41 Wyatt & '05 White. Then the bullpen includes 500 combined innings of '09 White, '43 Wyatt & '08 Steele.

Batting stats (most often used 9-player lineup): .326, .430, .504 ($74.7 million)
Pitching stats (best 1450-1500 innings): 1442 ips, 0.96 whip, .213 oav, 0.14 hr/9 ($54.1 million)

Record thru 58 Games: 32-26, .601
Expected Winning%: .552
Record in 1-run Games: 5-10
Offense Rank: 4th
Pitching Rank: 6th
Defense Rank: 9th in fielding, 10th in range

Comments:
In theory, this should be my best team. Being ranked in the top 6 in both offense and pitching is pretty strong. The poor record in close games has muted the overall win-loss record. Here are the margin of wins (+) or losses (-) in my team's last 11 games.... +6 -1, +11, +8, +5, +7, -2, -1, -1, +3, +6. Ironically, this team and my Honus Wagner team (5-12) have the two worst 1-run records in the American League.

Offensively, the team is led by my two Mickey Mantles. I didn't expect them to hit HRs, but I wanted high average and high onbase. '56 Mantle is at .325, .399, .483 with a team high 8 HRs and 47 RBIs. '57 Mantle is at .333, .424, .435. My Augue Galans are doing fine, with '44 Galan at .319, .426, .441 and '46 Galan at .302, .383, .431. Mantle, Galan & Schang are why this team is ranked 3rd in the league in most walks. I may need to do something with '45 Galan though. He is rated as C-/D+ at 3B and his offense (.255, .335, .328) isn't making up for his defense (9 errors, 6 minus plays).

On the pitching side, I have four pitchers pitching well, including 1st round pick, '19 Babe Adams (8-5, 3.27 ERA). '06 Doc White (8-2, 4.02) has been much better than '05 Doc White (4-7, 6.06). '41 Whit Wyatt was terrible (1-3, 10.65 ERA), then I benched him. Since returning to the rotation, he's gone 5-2 with a 3.53 ERA. '09 Doc White is my main long reliever and has been good (4-1, 2.66 ERA). Elmer Steele has been as good as could hope for as my closer (9/10 in saves, 2.78 ERA).

It wouldn't surprise me if this team moves past my Walter Johnson team as my best team. You can't even blame the bullpen for the close losses. The 1-run losses aren't due to blown leads. Maybe I need better pinch hitters to pull out some games late. Need to review my pinch hitting settings.

Posted by schwarze on 10/25/2023 8:59:00 PM (view original):
League 1, Pick 21
Honus Wagner & Associates

1.21 - Honus Wagner (SS)
2.04 - Frankie Frisch (2B, 3B)
3.04 - Chuck Klein (OF, OF, OF)
4.21 - Johnny Mize (1B, DH)
5.04 - Warren Spahn (SP, SP, RP)
6.21 - Carl Mays (SP, SP, RP, RP)
7.04 - Art Wilson (C, C)
8.21 - Cy Blanton (RP)
9.04 - Barry Latman (RP)

In round #1, I didn't have any pre-draft strategy with this team. Just pick the best player available and adjust from there. I was very happy that I got Honus Wagner this late. I have made the decision to go hitters early on this team, since all my other teams have focused on pitching.

Having the back-to-back picks is a huge advantage as I can decide which player I want on which team. If there was somebody else picking in between my two teams, I for sure take Mantle here. but I wanted a more traditional deadball-hitting team. It's probably a bit too early to take this guy, but I don't think Frankie Frisch would have lasted to me in the third round. I got the rate 2B-3B-SS combo covered with my first two picks. Plus great defense and two switch-hitters.

In round #3, I am looking at the best OF available. Chuck Klein should provide tons of offense, which is good since my pitching might be the worst in the league. Wait, I'm told pedrocerrano wanted Chuck Klein here.

I made a mistake in round #4. For some reason, I had assumed that Bill Terry was already taken, so I went with another great offensive first-basemen, Johnny Mize. Only when pedrocerrano drafted Terry a few picks later did I realize my mistake. Oh well, Mize has some great OBP seasons. This offense is going to crush. I only need a catcher.

Well, I hear there is a rule in baseball that requires a team to send somebody to the mound to pitch. In retrospect, I should have taken Frank Owen. But I wanted to make sure I got a pitcher that had 3-4 usable seasons (with at least one stud season), so I grabbed Warren Spahn. I am only using his two best seasons in my rotation. A third season will be used as long relief / mopup. Bad pick.

The catcher run was in full swing in round #6 and I really wanted to taken Bubbles Hargrave here because he was clearly the best catcher left and I knew pedroerrano would take him (which he did). But I had my sights set on another SP, one who had four seasons that I could use. Carl Mays is a very underrated pitcher. He's got 4 seasons (950 IPs) with ERC# between 2.40 and 2.55 and he doesn't give up HRs... He's the perfect compliment to Warren Spahn

It's round #7 and eight other teams still need a catcher, so I needed to get a catcher with this pick and then my last two picks can be "best player available". I honestly don't recall if I've ever used Art Wilson before. In his best season, he's got a .447 OBP. His second best season, he's at .875 OPS with an A+ arm. He and Honus Wagner are the only right-handed hitters on my team.

Since I have everything I need on offense, these last two rounds will be "take the best pitcher available". Cy Blanton is probably the best 200+ inning pitcher available, but I plan on using him as my main "setup" guy. With a DH in use, hopefully, he'll pitch 3-4 innings in every appearance.

Round #9, I was looking at taking Johnny Niggeling, but ronthegenius took him two picks in front of me. But Larry Batman is a fine alternative... Wait, I meant Barry Latman.

Batting stats (most often used 9-player lineup): .346, .412, .577 ($75.3 million)
Pitching stats (best 1450-1500 innings): 1428 ips, 1.06 whip, .218 oav, 0.16 hr/9 ($51.0 million)

Record thru 58 Games: 25-33, .431
Expected Winning%: .494
Record in 1-run Games: 5-12
Offense Rank: 16th
Pitching Rank: 9th
Defense Rank: 21st in fielding, 9th in range

Comments:
Well, I did not expect this team's offense to be in the bottom half of the league, not with Wagner, Frisch, Mize and Klein. Why is this team not scoring runs? Wagner (.305) is fine. The Frisches (.284 & .277) are fine. Two of three Kleins (.315, .294) are fine. But Johnny f*cking Mize??? Most of his seasons have underachieved. His 1938 season (.337, .422, .614 in real life) was benched due to hitting a robust .159, .288, .182. WTF? Nothing like being almost 600 OPS points worse than real life. 300 points behind is bad, 400 points behind is atrocious. 600 points is f*cking ridiculous. 1939 Mize (.349, .444, .626) is hitting .246, .325, .374, only 371 OPS points worse. I didn't expect the HRs, but Mize's poor OPS is killing me. The team is ranked 20th in the league OBP.

I also didn't expect this team's pitching to be in the top half in run prevention. I've been using '35 Cy Blanton as a Tandem B and he has been outstanding (7-2, 2.38 ERA). Sadly, the first half of his tandem ('56 Spahn) has not been good and there have been a bunch of games were the team is down by 4-5 runs thru 5 innings and then Blanton comes in and pitches 4 scoreless, but our offense can't catch up. '53 Spahn has been disappointing as well. He was my first pitcher taken and my three Spahns have combined to go 3-15 with a 5.15 ERA. My second pitcher drafted, Carl Mays hasn't been any better. '18 Mays has been ok (8-4, 4.11), but '17 and '19 Mays are my main two long relievers after the tandems and they are a combined 7-11, 6.92 ERA. My closer, Barry Latman has been decent (11/13 saves, 1.50 ERA).

When I missed out on Deacon Phillipe (whom I had targeted) and drafted Warren Spahn as my first pitcher, I just knew this team was doomed. I thought my team defense would help the pitching, and I guess it has a little (since I didn't expect the pitching to be top 10), but I just don't have the pitching depth. I thought maybe I could this team could be around .500 if my offense was top 10 and my pitching wasn't in the bottom 5. If my offense stays in the bottom half of the league, this team has no chance.

Posted by schwarze on 10/26/2023 10:30:00 AM (view original):
League 2, Pick 03
Bob Gibson & Associates

1.03 - Bob Gibson (SP)
2.22 - Joe Torre (3B, C)
3.22 - Bret Saberhagen (SP, SP, SP)
4.03 - Bernie Williams (OF, OF, OF, DH)
5.22 - Robb Nen (RP, RP, RP, RP, RP)
6.03 - Joey Votto (1B, 2B*, DH)
7.22 - Carlos Guillen (SS, def at 3B)
8.03 - Matt Harvey (SP/RP)
9.22 - Dave Righetti (SP/RP)

When I selected draft slot #3, I was hoping maybe Maddux or Pedro would fall here, but I should have realized footballmm11 and pedrocerrano would not let that happen. It was between Gibson and Koufax for me, and I much prefer the RHP with fewer HRs allowed. So in round #1, I went with Bob Gibson. It is my hope that he leads the league in complete games as my bullpen is not very strong.

I was hoping that Chipper Jones would fall to me in round #2, but ybjsports took him (he also sniped me on a few other picks as apparently, he likes switch hitters as much as I do). I didn't see a SP that I really wanted here, so it really comes down to finding an infielder who can play two different positions. I considered Mike Schmidt (he fell all the way to redcped at pick 3.20). When I came across Joe Torre, it seemed like the obvious choice. The problem is that there are so many *better* hitters available. His defense is poor at 3B and his best catching season only has 614 PAs. So I kept searching for a better alternative. I went to sleep thinking about this pick. Arriving at the airport early the next morning, I learned that I was up. I kept searching... there must be somebody I am missing. Larry Walker was sitting there, but I hate using a round 2 pick on an OF, when round 3 (or 4) provides more utility for that position. I actually considered Bret Saberhagen or Felix Hernande here, but that just seemed to be a reach. So, I finally settled on Torre. At least I have two tough positions out of the way.

The third round reversal meant that I had another long wait for my next pick. All the stud OFs were getting taken, including Larry Walker, Willy Mays, Mike Trout, Carl Yastrzemski, Albert Belle, Frank Robinson and the guy I was hoping would make it back to me, Tim Raines (damn it, ybjsports!). When barracuda3 grabbed Felix Hernandez one pick before me, I remembered that I had considered him last round, which reminded me that Bret Saberhagen was still available. He's got that great 1989 season (1.90 ERC#), plus he has three other seasons with ERC# between 2.45 and 2.48. Grabbing three Saberhagen seasons actually completes my starting rotation, so I was relatively satisfied with this pick.

Now that I have my starting rotation all set, it's time to add some offense. I know that in round 5 will have to take a reliever. I can add 1B, SS, 2B later. It's time for the outfield. You all know I love switch hitters. Had I not already had Torre, I probably would've taken Pete Rose here (I like his 3B season way better than his 2B season). Most people would jump at the chance to add Ken Griffey Jr. here. But there's one guy I absolutely love and wasn't going to pass on him --> switch-hitter, Bernie Williams. He's almost too good a fielder to waste at DH, but in two of his four seasons I am rostering, he's under 600 PA, so I will probably grab somebody else to play a lot of DH.

As expected, a bunch of RPs went in round #4, and since I'm picking at the end of the round, I am stuck with the leftovers. I wanted a guy who I could use all 5 seasons and a guy with IP/G > 1. Some pitchers I considered (who ended up not getting drafted) had 3-4 useful seasons, such as Rollie Fingers, Doug Jones, Dick Hall and Dave Smith. But the guy I drafted, Robb Nen, has 4 seasons with ERC# below 2.00 and his fifth season is at 2.26. And his HR rate is very low. And he walks less than 2.5 batters per nine. Seems like a steal this late. I was thrilled to get him. A few rounds later, I looked at his performance history... Wow... he kind of sucks in the sim. Damn, now what?

It's round #6 and I really want in impactful hitter. I had already made up my mind that I was drafting a 1B who could hit a ton and field reasonably well enough that I could play one of his seasons as my starting 2B. It was between Freddie Freeman, Paul Goldschmidt, Mark McGwire and the guy I eventually selected, Joey Votto. Joey in an on-base machine and I am rostering seasons with OBP = .454, .459, .424 and .474. I am using his A/B- season to play 2B.

It's round #7 and I still need a SS. Going strictly by numbers, there are better choices than Carlos Guillen, but Guillen always does well for me, he's a switch-hitter, and he has a third season that can play defense at 3B (C/A+), to replace Torre late in the game.

I have my entire offense set, with Torre, Votto, Votto, Torre, Guillen, B.Williams, B.Williams, B.Williams, Votto. It's time to help out the pitching staff. I considered taking Rollie Fingers or Dave Smith, but i wanted a guy with a few more innings that could pitch 3-4 innings in relief. And when I discovered his 2nd best season isn't too bad (2.46 ERC#), I selected Matt Harvey. I will use Harvey's 2013 season (1.83 ERC#) as my main long reliever / setup guy, and only use the Robb Nen seasons in the 7th inning or later, so I can keep his pitch count low.

It's the last round. I have enough innings, I have my offense set. What now. The advantage of grabbing a guy like Torre is that it allows for this type of "free pick". I can upgrade somewhere. The obvious move that most normal people would make is to draft a 2B, but that would remove one of Votto's impactful hitting seasons to the bench. Nope - one cannot ever have enough pitching. And since my entire rotation is right-handed, I wanted a lefty. B.J. Ryan was the best stud RP left. I considered him, but I'd rather have a SP that I could use against a team like barracuda3, who has Barry Bonds & Billy Williams x4. Dave Righetti was the perfect choice for what I was looking for. He will share long-relief duties with Harvey and spot start against certain teams.

Batting stats (most often used 9-player lineup): .331, .425, .550 ($66.5 million)
Pitching stats (best 1450-1500 innings): 1477 ips, 0.96 whip, .209 oav, 0.41 hr/9 ($62.4 million)

Record thru 58 Games: 30-28, .517
Expected Winning%: .539
Record in 1-run Games: 7-7
Offense Rank: 6th
Pitching Rank: 13th
Defense Rank: 17th in fielding, 9th in range

Comments:
I was expecting a bit more from my first round pick, '68 Bob Gibson. A 5-5 record with a 4.63 ERA is not really worthy of the #3 overall pick. Brett Saberhagen is the other 75% of my rotation. '89 Sabes is at 4-6, 4.85 ERA and '91 Sabes is at 4-3, 3.79. But the '94 version is at 5-7, 6.96 on a pace to allow 60 HRs (he only allowed 19 in 255 innings).. Of course, the bane of my existence is the short-inning closer. I already don't like Robb Nen because of the way he spells his name. It should be Rob Nenn. Was his mother on drugs or something when she signed the birth-certificate? So of course, I drafted five of him - that's ten B's instead of five. His best season (0.85 whip) is 2000 and he is 13/16 in saves with a 3.21 ERA - more than acceptable. After that, it gets ugly. His 2nd best season (1998, 0.95 whip, .180 oav in real life), the one who has pitched the most innings for me (23 ips in 31 games), has the following opponent's slash... .327, .408, .500. That equates to a 9.26 ERA. '96 and '01 Nen have ERAs over 6. I've been trying to use '13 Matt Harvey and '81 Dave Righetti more as my main long relievers, to avoid having to use Nen. But I may have to use one of these guys to replace '94 Saberhagen in the rotation.

The team's offense is doing well, as expected. Joey Votto x3, Bernie Williams x3, Joe Torre x2 and Carlos Guillen are all performing within reasonable parameters. Playing '17 Votto (A/B- at 1B) out of position at 2B hasn't been great defensively. He has 17 errors and 5 minus plays. I could try '08 Carlos Guillen there (B/A- at SS) but it's such a huge downgrade on offense.

This team was sitting pretty at 23-15, then a 1-8 run hit and everything was going wrong. We're 8-5 since then, so maybe that losing streak was a blip. If Votto ends up making 50+ errors at 2B, then this team doesn't really deserve to be .500. Need to monitor that and maybe switch to Guillen, regardless of his offense.

Posted by schwarze on 10/26/2023 11:29:00 AM (view original):
League 2, Pick 11
Ron Guidry & Associates

1.11 - Ron Guidry (SP)
2.14 - Gaylord Perry (SP SP)
3.14 - Jason Giambi (1B, 2B*, DH)
4.11 - Dennis Eckersley (RP, RP, RP, RP)
5.14 - Troy Tulowitzki (SSx2, 3B)
6.11 - Fred Lynn (OF, OF, OF)
7.14 - Jorge Posada (Cx2)
8.11 - Chris Carpenter (SP, RP)
9.14 - Jose Fernandez (RP)

With eight teams in this league, I kind of wanted to take an offensive player here, just to be different, but the three guys I would have considered (Mantle, Morgan, Brett) all went with the three picks right in front of me. So in round #1, I went with the obvious best SP available, given the innings difference, with Ron Guidry.

Round #2 is kind of where this team went off the rails. I was hoping Marichal would fall, but he went to darthdurron at 2.06. I thought maybe Tom Seaver would slide, but he went at 2.10. Maybe I should have taken Chipper Jones here. That would've made more sense and been more fun than who I actually took. FOr some dumb reason, I drafted Gaylord Perry. No, we all know about his '72 season and 356 innings (2.18 ERC#). I've had moderate success with that season. But his second best season (323 IPs, 2.27 ERC#) isn't too shabby either although he does allow HRs. I gotta love the 8.71 IP/G though. Also, I have 950 innings of SP locked up in only 2 rounds, which should allow some flexibility with my remaining picks.

In round #3, I need to get some offense, so I went with the best hitter available, Jason Giambi. I hate using a 3rd round pick on a guy who plays just one position, but I plan on playing him at 1B, DH and out of position at 2B (or 3B), so I get to use all three of his stud seasons (1.000 OPS+).

So, it's round 4 and I still have a lot of positions to cover, but I have a plan for that next round. I feel as if the RP run is going to start soon. Gagne is already gone (in round 3), but Dennis Eckersley is still available, so I can't pass him up this late. He's got 4 really strong seasons.

And my plan for round 5... the guy that makes all of this possible is still on the board. Give me Troy Tulowitzki! He obviously fills SS, but I can also use him to play 2B and/or 3B, depending on what I do with Giambi. He's basically an A/A (or better) in every season so I'm not worried about his defense at 2B or 3B. Now the roster is coming together. I only need to fill C, OF and some long relief.

It's round #6 and I have my eyes set on one specific player and I am really hoping he makes it back to me. There are only a few people that need an OF. barracuda3 takes Billy Williams (nice pick, I would have considered him), DougsDawgs takes Kenny Lofton. There is one person left in front of me that needs an OF. toysboys selects Sammy Sosa. I get my guy! --> Fred Lynn. He's got two really strong seasons (1975, 1979). His third best season (1978) is a bit weak so I could move Giambi from 2B to RF and play Tulo at 2B, 3B and SS. Not sure what I'll end up doing.... may need to see a few games before I start tweaking the lineup.

So now, the only lineup position I really need is catcher. I suspect the catcher run is coming in round 8, so I will go a round early and grab one of my favorite switch hitting catchers, Jorge Posada.

Guidry and Perry provide 950 starting innings. Eckersley provides 285 quality setup/closer innings. It's round 8 and I need some pitching to bridge the gap and maybe even upgrade at SP. Again, I consider guys like Fingers, D.Smith, D.Jones, but again, I decide I want more SP innings. I narrow down my choice between Peavy and the guy I end up taking, Chris Carpenter. It was a close call, but I wanted the guy with the lower HR allowed. I plan on using his best year (2.06 ERC#) in the rotation as a spot starter and LongA, and his second best year (2.37 ERC#) as a LongB..

With my last pick, I decide to add another LongA reliever to the staff. Jose Fernandez has 173 innings of 1.92 ERC# and will be the primary long-reliever bridging the gap between the SP and Eckersley. Remember that Perry's IP/G are 8.36 and 8.71 and Guidry is at 7.82, so I won't necessarily need to use Fernandez that frequently.

FYI - I was very tempted to upgrade my third OF spot with 1985 Willie McGee, but that seemed like overkill. I also considered taking Adrian Beltre and having one fewer out-oof-position player. But I just can't pass up improving the pitching staff, when an obvious choice was available.

This is a weird team. I'm not sure if I like it or not, and it wouldn't surprise me if it fails miserably. I don't recall ever managing a team where I'm playing two guys out of position.

Batting stats (most often used 9-player lineup): .325, .424, .585 ($74.8 million)
Pitching stats (best 1450-1500 innings): 1601 ips, 0.95 whip, .199 oav, 0.50 hr/9 ($66.9 million)

Record thru 58 Games: 27-31, .466
Expected Winning%: .488
Record in 1-run Games: 7-8
Offense Rank: 11th
Pitching Rank: 17th
Defense Rank: 10th in fielding, 2nd in range

Comments:
Here is another team where my first round pick, '78 Ron Guidry (5-6, 6.05 ERA), sucks. It's really hard to win when you are spotting every other team in the league a first round pick. It's also hard to win when you think you drafted a really good bullpen only to realize 3 of your 4 Eckersleys are dog sh*t. '90 Eck is fine (10/10 saves, 3.31 ERA). The other 3 Eckersleys are a combined 0-for-7 in saves with a combined ERA of 5.26. '72 Gaylord Perry is doing fine (7-6, 4.67) but '74 Perry (3-4, 7.36 ERA) has been relegated to mop-up, which means I need to use both Chris Carpenters to start.

The offense is barely above league average. I was so excited to be able to start three Jason Giambis. None have a good batting average (.260, .250, .236), but all three are walking enough to have a decent OBP (.372, .386, .445). Three of my five Tulowitzkis have been benched due to poor hitting (.226, .192, .171 averages). '79 Fred Lynn is the team's best hitter (.282, .376, .545 w/14 HRs). Interestingly, playing '00 Giambi at 2B hasn't hurt too much (9 errors, 1 minus play in 52 games). Playing '13 Tulowitzki at 3B has been fantastic (only 1 error & 1 minus play in 40 games). '09 and '14 Tulo have also started a bunch of games at 3B and have 0 errors and 1 minus play. Final answer: Troy Tulowitzki can play 3B without penalty.

My guess is that '78 Guidry won't be this bad all season. My Eckersleys should improve a bit too. I only use '90 Eck in the 9th, but the other Ecks keep blowing leads in the 7th and 8th, so '90 Eck has only pitched 16 innings. I may have to open him up to pitch earlier so he gets all his innings in. Even if Guidry improves, '72 Perry might get worse. The starting pitching just may not be good enough to get back to .500.

90-game-or-so Update

Seven Edds and The Babe

This team has been flirting with the top record in the entire round, but mostly due to some fortunate 1-run luck (18-8) and extra innings magic (10-1). The .545 Exp% is still solid but the actual best team this round is also in our division and I fully expect emanes10's Ash Burning on the Sisler to run away from us. With a 23-game cushion above .500 and still-solid run differential numbers, this team should comfortably advance even after the regression hits.

Babe has been awesome, 3rd in the league in RC, as expected. But the Edd Roushes and Sherry Magees have held their own as well, putting this team easily in the top third of the league in scoring. The double-play versions have been very good--20 Roush is 5th among 2B in OPS and 14 Magee is 4th. 10 Magee has been our 2nd-best hitter and a very reasonable DH. And the other 3-4 versions that have held down CF and LF have mostly performed well also. At catcher, I've mainly relied on 3 of the 4 Earl Smiths and they have a colletive RC around 40, which is respectable. The only semi-disappointment has been my two Jimmy Sheckards. 03 Sheckard has been ok manning RF, but not great, and 01 Sheckard has been pretty poor at 3B. They've been my two worst regulars, with only 19 Roush (splitting time in CF, since relegated to backup duty) and my worst Earl Smith in the vicinity.

The pitching has been above-average as well. 15 Eddie Plank has been just ok (4.90 ERA), but the McQuillans and Orths have been better than expected. My starter 08 McQuillan is 13-5 with a 3.26 ERA, while his closer clone 07 McQuillan has 10 saves with a 1.26 WHIP (the 3rd McQuillan has not been as good, sporting a 7.26 ERA and getting demoted). 01 Orth has been okay as a starter (10-10, 4.87 ERA) and 08 Plank has been arguably better than his clone with a 4.00 ERA in 117 innings of long relief. Finally, my last pick, 44 Joe Berry has been very good in his 65 innings of setup relief, with a 3.43 ERA and 1.05 WHIP.


Jimmies, Willies, Eddies, and an Arky

Early on, this team had a bonkers Exp% but couldn't win a close game. That run differential has come back to earth, though we're still a bit behind it with a .506 w% and .547 Exp%. We've also benefited from being in one of the weakest divisions. We're jsut 1 game above .500 but the other 3 teams are all below .500 in both actual and Exp win%. Doubt the eventual division winner ends up below .500 but I guess it's somewhat possible it is and that winner advances based on that criteria.

Arky Vaughan disappointed early with an OPS barely above .500 in his first 20 games. Since then he's been much better and is up to .741 OPS. My 35 Foxx has been disappointing as a catcher, just middle of the pack with his .740 OPS and 32 Foxx has been just okay with an .838 OPS. My best clones have been my Willie Mays. 57 Mays is crushing it, leading my team in both OBP (.411) and SLG (.495). Both 54 and 55 Mays habe been very good as well hitting in the middle of the lineup. Unfortunately, the expected Eddie Mathews disappointment has happened. My BEST Mathews has an RC27 of 4.02 and every other player of mine except my 22 Fonseca is at 4.71 or higher. I've dropped Mathews from everything but 3B meaning 29 Fonseca is full-time 1B (shifting Foxx to DH) and he's been very good, 3rd on my team in RC27. That just leaves 3B for Mathews and 2B where 22 Fonseca hasn't hit but can at least field (11 + plays) and just needs to be spelled by Mathews against some righties.

Pitching has been pretty good with one each of Falkenberg, Brecheen, and Nehf starting--both 14 Falkenberg and 48 Brecheen have been better than league average in ERA, while 17 Nehf has a league-average WHIP but 11 HR in 119 innings have hurt his ERA (6.05). The strenght of the staff, however, has been the bullpen, where 19 Nehf (3.03 ERA), 15 Falkenberg (1.53 ERA), and 43 Niggeling (3.24 ERA, 9 saves) have been very good.


Vote for Pedro

After underperforming our Exp% for most of the season, this team is now almost an exact match for actual vs expected win%. That came after a stretch after the All-Star Break when we won 5 straight games by a total of 6 runs. The division is mostly out of play since pedrocerrano's Paint It Black team has been really good, but a wild card and/or advancement are in play.

My two Larry Walkers have been very good, especially 97 Walker who leads our team in RC and is slashing .320/.393/.562. My Beltrans and LeMahieus have been a mixed bag. 20 LeMahieu is the hitting stud and has been pretty good, with a .784 OPS. 16 LeMahieu is more of a fielder (A/B+ at 2B) but has been my worst-hitting regular. Beltran has held down all 3 outfield spots (Walker plays 1B and DH) with some versions (03) performing much better than others (08). Napoli's main season has been fantastic, slugging .555, just behind 97 Walker for the team lead, but I've needed about 1/3 of the playing time to go to his 08 version who is hitting just .192. Finally, Tony Fernandez has been about what you'd expect from the last pick in the draft--just a .672 OPS but hasn't needed a sub all year and has a .978 fielding % with 6 + plays (and 0 - plays).

The pitching staff has required much more of a dance, as I opted to roll with just 1400 innings so fatigue has been right on the precipice all year. My three Appiers all have ERAs in the 6s but have gobbled up 360 innings. My Jake McGees haven't been great--one has a 10.20 ERA, three have ERAs in the 5s, and my one good one has a 2.70 ERA. But my four Kimbrels and Pedro have been really good, all with ERAs better than 5.00 and all but one Kimbrel are south of 4.00. Pedro has given up 19 HRs but otherwise has been exemplary, with a 1.02 WHIP and 154 Ks against just 26 BBs. Hopefully can keep the fatigue in check and get enough out of Appier to maintain an overall above-average staff.


Big Hurts and a Dinelson

Up until recently, this was a very disappointing team. Through 57 games, we were around .400 in both actual and expected win%. Since then, we are 23-13 with a +54 run differential and are now up to .495 win % and .483 Exp%.

Offensively, the biggest issue has been most of my Frank Thomases. 94 Thomas has been great, with a .439 OBP and .584 SLG, but his 00 and 96 clones have been quite underwhelming, OPSing well under .800. 92 Thomas has been mostly playing only against lefties but has been worse than either of them. My Molitors have been a bit better relative to expectations but still mostly can't hit. 87 Molitor started out slowly but has been fantastic the last 50 games or so and has a .766 OPS. The other three Molitors, however, are OPSing under .700 and mostly just soaking up infield innings with reasonable defense and a bit of offense. Bobby Murcer has struggled both his 71 and 72 seasons that are getting regular playing time. Darrell Porter has been the main bright spot offensively, with an .808 OPS that's 2nd on the team and just as importantly doesn't need any rest.

The pitching has been the biggest disappointment after I spent my first 3 picks on pitchers. Lamet has a 6.64 ERA while 20 Burnes is right there with him at 6.60. 21 Burnes has been bettter, with a 4.36 ERA though he's slumped lately with an ERA over 6 as well. The Gagnes have been amazing, pitching 120 innings combined and all three ahve ERA under 3.00. Chapman, as expected has a couple solid seasons despite astronomical walk totals--he has one version with a 2.91 ERA, three versions with ERA in the 4s, and then a 6.20 ERA with 8+ walks per 9 innings. Finally, Peavy's best season, 2007, has been pretty good--better than my two of my three supposedly stud starters! His 05 seasons is mostly just an innings eater though and has a 7.26 ERA. Hopefully Lamet and Burnes can right the ship and we get a little more production from the Big Hurt to continue this hot streak that has us back in contention for advancement.