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Post by marstannum on Dec 5, 2023 0:01:26 GMT
Hey guys! First, thanks to the commish for running Eternal Baseball. I thought I'd do a quick team check-up and post my questions//comments/concerns.
Starting Pitching, 5.51 ERAPer the roster: Schilling, Webb, Gallen, Haren, and Kennedy, with Kelly as a spot starterGallen a concern, Kelly has been horrible. Haren and Kennedy haven’t played yet. Why are Kelly and Ray (inactive?) starting ahead of them? Patrick Corbin has come off the inactive to pitch long relief twice when Kelly got chased early. Relief Pitching, 4.05 ERAPer the roster: Valverde – CL, Ziegler – SU, Kim, Bradley, Nelson, Swindell
Swindell a concern; 7.50 ERA in 6 IP over 7 appearances
‘Pen has been decent otherwise, especially Bradley and Ziegler
Position Players, .227 Avg, .631 OPSPer the roster: Montero – C, Miller – C, Goldschmidt – 1B, Escobar – 2B/3B, Marte – SS/2B/CF, Williams – 3B/1B/SS, Durazo – 1B, Tracy – 1B/3B/RF, Bell – 2B/SS, Gonzalez – LF, Finley – CF/RF, Peralta RF/LF, Upton – LF/RF, Carroll – LF/CF/RFI would love to know what the “default” lineup is vs righties and lefties. The sim has used a ton of lineups/orders and almost never repeats. Miller has only played once. Carson Kelly has given Montero days off instead.
Marte has been great at the plate but iffy on defense (“Poor” plays and errors at SS). Can we make it so he plays 2B instead of SS when Bell plays? I get putting him in at SS if Bell is on the bench but it makes no sense for him to play SS over Bell (over 1500 career games at short) when Marte only has ~100 games at short for Arizona.
Williams has been very good but hasn’t played enough. Should play him more at Escobar's expense.
Bell has been good on defense but awful at the plate. Worth looking at 2008-2010 Steven Drew?
Finley and Carroll are swapping RF and CF occasionally. Stick them where they’ll combine best defensively? Orlando Hudson, Carson Kelly, Jake Lamb, Mark Reynolds, and Chris Young have all come off the inactive roster to play a few times. I don’t think I’ve seen any injuries, and there are subs available on the active roster.
Sorry for the comment/question dump. I’m a little bit baseball starved after going from full-on World Series run to absolutely nothing. Thanks again for keeping this thing going! |
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Post by Admin on Dec 5, 2023 15:27:26 GMT
NEVER apologize for following your favorite team closely in Eternal Baseball! We do need to update the rosters on the Eternal Baseball home page – here are the basic lineups and rotation (based on peak stats) for Arizona:
ROTATION (ERA): Curt Schilling (3.08), Brandon Webb (3.13), Zac Gallen (3.14), Dan Haren (3.54), Ian Kennedy (3.55)
Robbie Ray was in the Arizona rotation to try and get a left-hander in there to split up all those righties, and Merrill Kelly and Ian Kennedy’s stats are so close it’s pretty much a coin flip – I though tKelly might resonate with D’Backs fans more after his fine work this MLB postseason. Given Robbie Ray and Merrill Kelly’s early struggles, let’s swap them out for Dan Haren and Ian Kennedy and see if that helps.
In the bullpen, Jose Valverde has been roughed up, but he’s only pitched 2+ innings. Byung-Hyun Kim has been really good so far, but I’m not sure D’Backs fans are ready to trust him with the closer role. Brad Ziegler has been impressive. Greg Swindell has gotten pulverized, and Kyle Nelson is available as another lefty out of the pen. I could drop Swindell to inactive status if you like – possible replacements include Drey Jameson, Matt Mantei, or Josh Collmenter. Who would you call up?
LINEUP vs. LHP (OPS vs. LHP): 2B Marte (.924), RF Upton (.934), LF Gonzalez (.944), 1B Goldschmidt (1.047), SS Bell (.914), DH Escobar (.882), 3B Williams (.885), C Miller (.840), CF Finley (.792)
LINEUP vs. RHP (OPS vs. RHP): SS Marte (.917), DH Durazo (.933), 1B Goldschmidt (.915), LF Gonzalez (1.020), RF Carroll (.889), 2B Escobar (.810), 3B Tracy .862), CF Finley (.869), C Montero (.838)
This is how the AZ lineups looked on Opening Day, but the recent demotions of Jay Bell, Erubiel Durazo, and Corbin Carroll have changed things up a bit. Orlando Hudson is providing a spark (and spectacular defense at 2B), and Chris Young is off to a good start too. Carson Kelly has established himself as the top catcher too. As always, we are happy to make any changes that make sense. If Hudson keeps playing well, where does Marte play? We can get Matt Williams in for more 3B at-bats. I’ll look into Chris Young and Steve Finley’s defensive stats – I think Finley might be graded too harshly as a right fielder. Is there anything else you’d like to change up?
This is exactly the kind of interaction we love to see from fans – we always say “We’ll never know ANY team better than their die hard fans.” Thanks for your help!
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Post by marstannum on Dec 5, 2023 18:58:18 GMT
I love Merrill Kelly! I just don't love an Eternal Baseball ERA of 13.15.
Robbie Ray hasn't been terrible, I just wasn't sure why the two listed ahead of him were being skipped. Considering the batters they're facing I'll live with a mid-4 ERA and a chance to make a lefty-heavy lineup (like ours!) swap some guys out.
The pen has been pretty good, all in all. I'm fine with Valverde staying the closer (I'm also one of those Dbacks fans who remembers how fantastic Kim was that entire year, including through the NLCS, and can forgive him getting roughed up a little by the Yankees dynasty in the world series). Valverde has a tiny sample size and hasn't blown a save yet. Both runs he gave up were in a tie game.
I hate losing the second lefty in the pen but if we hold onto Ray it'll be fine. Jameson looks like a good bet, especially since he can provide some long relief if one of the starters gets chased early.
Marte is fine at short if Hudson is playing. My concern was the number of games where Marte was playing short and Bell was at 2B. He's been the best bat on the team and needs to be on the field *somewhere*.
I'd leave Carroll up as the utility outfielder instead of Peralta. I know Corbin's bat had been cold but I think he was just starting to turn it around--he had five hits in the last three games he played and was stealing at a decent clip.
Williams could slot in at DH some days too.
Not sure what Finley's rating is at RF but you'd think a guy with multiple gold gloves in center could figure it out in the corner outfield.
As far as the lineups, I'd roll with these for a few games and see how it goes.
vs LHP: 2B Hudson, CF Young, SS Marte, 1B Goldschmidt, 3B Williams, C Kelly, LF Gonzalez, DH Escobar, RF Upton
vs RHP: 2B Hudson, CF Young, SS Marte, 1B Goldschmidt, 3B Williams, LF Gonzalez, C Kelly, RF Finley, DH Escobar
You're very welcome! I can get all kinds of carried away with this stuff. Hopefully the team keeps up the recent improvements.
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Post by Admin on Dec 7, 2023 0:35:55 GMT
I entered your lineups and they will take effect starting on 12/7. Thanks for your input!
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