Neat Stuff, Post-Sim Thread: 2035, Season 29

[Borealis]

Noticed something neat from our latest sim? This is the place to post it!

Please use this thread for post-sim discussion only.

If you're having a technical problem with a new league file, do not post it here!
Post your tech issues in this thread. We will be monitoring it and will respond ASAP

[Borealis]

Not a game has been played, but it's still Neat to have the last wave of youth making it to Spring Training with a chance of playing ML ball this season.

- Tony Munoz is expected to grab the CF spot - shifting Dean Walden to left and Rodriguez to right. 'Litterbug' will have to pick it up if he's expecting the playing time he's had in the past.
- Angel Silva is probably a year away, but it'll be exciting to see him get a full spring of AB's.
- Jose Aleman is hoped to grab the reins at short - despite Montoya's arrival, and if he can hit .260-70, al the better!
- Pedro de la Cruz is no longer listed as a top prospect, but he's a member of the wave nonetheless - and the expectations are pretty high for a quality offensive year.
- David Simmons. The fact that I am talking about Simmons is surprising, as so often he seemed to have BUST written all over him. Instead he was a slow-learner-grower. He's probably the man at 3rd in '36, but in Aurora, the infield is a work in great flux...

[Nigel]

The neatest thing of all this sim is my return to PEBA I know I haven’t always done myself justice here and I’ve now got a lot of people’s trust to live up to, but I can do it.
Thank you to everyone who has believed in me

[Hitmen]

New Jersey is excited for 2035. I think we are the only team out of the WIL taking the riskier approach of trying to compete right out of the gate and having the perfect storm to do so. It’s either going to work or I have delayed a rebuild a few seasons in trying to do so.

We put together what I feel is a WIL all-star team with players from two of the top WIL franchises at the time, and most are young enough to make this a longer term run if it works out. So I am excited to see how the guys translate into the PEBA world.

It will be nice to be back in the IL finally.

[Arroyos]

Tops among Neat Stuff this sim is Yuma's promotion of the woman behind the scenes, Roberta Tipitina, former Front Office Manager, now officially Assistant General Manager. But keep an eye on her, further news expected soon.

[DrewV]

Unable to make much use of our extra cash this FA. Still an exciting FA to watch.

[Arroyos]

Yuma defeats Madison in 17 innings. Shouldn't we get a day off after playing, essentially, 2 games? Everyone is tired, including the scoreboard kid who puts up the score each inning in the old wooden scoreboard. He ran out of zeroes!

[KenH]

Great opening sim for the Farstriders... 5-2 with some great pitching from our young guys and a freaking grand slam by Edgardo Acosta -- the man just shuts his eyes and swings and you gotta appreciate that.

I'm very happy with how our coaches spaced out the at-bats... everyone had at least 3 ABs despite a pretty large roster.

Now we are scaling back a bit for Friday's sim and making some more fun updates -- I'm giving vito van wondel and michael roberts "spring projects" where they will man their left side infield equivalents to see hwo they can hold up. If I can make van Wondel and Roberts our starting 3B and SS, I will be a happy man.

Next week we will also see our first rotation of our slightly reimagined "big five" -- Luppe van Dam, George Moss, Edgardo Trevino, Juan Acosta, Ramon Gonzales -- will be getting their spring debuts. I usually leave this to my second week. I dont know if it helps but its kind of tradition at this point.

[Reg]

3-4 start. Not too bad, but a bit of an up-and-down week.

We won in 11 innings against the Hitmen, so that was alright, but we were then shut out two days in a row after that... managing just 4 hits against Manchester and 3 hits against Kentucky...

But then we finished off the week with 4 pitchers combining for a no-hitter against Amsterdam so,

Other than individual stats, I've learned absolutely nothing so far

Bring on more box scores!

[Borealis]

One week in and the Not So Neat is the obvious - a 1-6 week for the Borealis - all six losses by just a run, two in extra innings: 1-0 (11), 2-1 (12), 2-1, 3-2, 3-2, and 4-3. Not a lot of O in week 1.

But in true Aurora fashion - only one homer - thank you Matchbox.

- Juan Rodriguez, battling for a back-up spot on the infield was 4-10, while Wynn Berry was 3-10 and Ed Madore 2-9. Madore had a pair of doubles...
- Tony Munoz was 5-16 in his campaign for the starting CF spot - though 6K was a bit of a bummer. Good news, career-wise, he's been good at keeping the K's down. Stewart Arundale - the guy who would be odd man out, line-up wise, was 3-16 - with a 2B and 3B.
- Also seeking a roster spot (though not likely this year) 'Otter' Silva was 4-15... other 2036 hopefuls: 3B David Simmons 1-13; Yen-ti Yi was 1-6; Lan-quing Qing was 1-7...
- FA Signee SS Francisco Montoya managed a 3-14, but his position battle with Jose Aleman (3-12) is a toss-up... C Pedro de la Cruz - not battling anyone but himself, was 2-10...
- On the mound, the one interesting battle is between Ryan Tate and Man Sim - with the Big question being, Does Tate remain in the rotation or head back to the 'pen - having been successful in both locales. Man Sim, in his one start allowed 2 H and no runs, while Tate allowed 3 H and 2 R. Tate faced The Evil Evas and Sim faced Okinawa - for what it's worth...

[Nigel]

Three wins from seven games wasn’t a bad start, more than I was expecting, especially as I gave plenty of game-time to our Rule 5 gang.

I'm not sure if it’s the first big league camp for the PEBA‘s #11 prospect, Bartolo Mojica, but he made a great impression in week one - two starts, eight innings pitched and just one hit, a solo homer, given up. Just one walk too with seven batters struck out.

[Underground]

Went 2-5, which is whatever during ST. Weirdly the two wins were both shutouts - including one vs West Virginia.

Top rookie watch:
Rocky Nichols: .276/.364 - 1 HR - 4 RBI
Jose Cruz: .250/.312 - 2HR - 7 RBI
RP Dennis Bauer: 4.0 IP - 2.25 ERA - 9.0 K/9
RP Dave Robertson: 7.1 IP - 3.68 ERA - 3.7 K/9

FA acquisition watch:
CLOGGER: .158/.238 - 1HR - 2 RBI
Ju-Chan Park: .182/.250 - 0HR - 1RBI
Gilberto Valdez: .500/.500 - 0HR - 0RBI

My excitement around Nichols continues unabated. I'm hoping for a real Wunderkid contender there.

[Ghosts]

1-6 sim. Bleh.

The Good:
Harold Stowe looks like a player. He was hitting everything HARD, and ended up with a .468 wOBA for the week.
Ramon Guzman, one of the more reliable players for Niihama last year, continues to return the investment: 2 3Bs and 3 SBs contributed to a .388 wOBA.
Garry Charron no longer looks lost and hit several baseballs fairly hard.
P/LF/1B John MacVurich might have gone just 2 for 10 hitting, but pitched two scoreless innings, striking out two.

The Bad:
CF Jose Rivera went 2 for 11 with no XBHs.
3B Roberto Tall looks overmatched, striking out 4 times in 11 PAs.
Connor Leith looked eminently hittable, allowing a 1.179 OPS to opposing batters in his start.

The UGLY:
Shohei Murakami got absolutely blasted in the 4th inning of his start against Duluth. He gave up the following sequence: 2B, SB/BB, 2B, 1B, 1B, BB, grand slam HR. His perfect game turned into a perfect nightmare: 3 IP, 8 ER.
Franchise Insta-Hero Christian Webb went 0 for 15.
Presumed starting 3B Noburo Kimura went 1 for 9.
Franchise prodigy Esteban Rodriguez went 1 for 11.
The Ghosts scored just 16 runs in 6 games.

[Alleghenies]

It's a 4 man race for backup catcher for me this year as I decided to let Mr. Parsons leave via FA. Tony Jarvis, Luo-Shan Lin, Jorge Martinez and Tomas Rubio. I would say Jorge Martinez has the inside edge, only because of his long-term history with me going back to 2023. Though I wouldn't be surprised if Rubio wins out in the end.

Also nice to see Lew do well in the first week as a NRI, but he has little chance of making team out of spring this year unless we start playing with 10 guys on field + DH.

[Arroyos]

Finally, something NEAT to report: every sim, I get this message: "Your owner is angry at the moment." But he isn't. For several weeks he was busy hunting down the GM, visiting in the hospital, getting committed, and then escaping from the hospital. For the last week, he has been happy as a clam. (Are clams really happy? Has anyone asked them?)

So not only do I ignore those mindless messages, but I make fun of them. Slummings couldn't be happier.

Or, well, couldn't HAVE BEEN happier.

Today, the message arrived with the new sim, as usual, only today it was spot on. Slummings is furious. He has just been arrested for murder.