Strat-O-Matic Simulates the Season: The Official Thread (Angels 83-79, 3rd in AL West, 7 GB Wild Card) ** SEASON ENDED, DODGERS WIN WORLD SERIES

[Capital_Dave]

Very light schedule today, with just two games on the docket and the Angels have the day off.  They're headed home to Angel Stadium for a juicy five-game homestand against the Marlins and Mariners. 

Here's a look at the standings, including the Wild Card standings where, don't look now, but the Angels are ahead of the Yankees and Red Sox and just 3.5 games out.

 

[Chuck]

Damn @Capital_Dave did you have a closed door meeting or something? Nice turnaround! 

[Angel Oracle]

Look at who the worst pretend team in baseball is.

 

 

Yep, the JeDis

[Capital_Dave]

2 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

Damn @Capital_Dave did you have a closed door meeting or something? Nice turnaround! 

Credit where credit is due: Manager @Jeff Fletcher

I'm just the journalist who reports the news.  Hey I guess that makes me the @Jeff Fletcher of this scenario.

[Capital_Dave]

Hean-Dog has a sterling game, going 7 scoreless frames, striking out nine Marlins to earn the win.  Hansel Robles with the save.  Ho hum.  Angels win again, 2-0.  Jo Adell continues his hot streak and goes 2-for-3, as Manager Jeff Fletcher moves him above Albert Pujols in the lineup (for the first time this season?)  This Angels team is on a roll.

 

[Slegnaac]

2.5 Games out of the Wild Card!

[Angel Oracle]

Pretend 15-2 since pretend 19-30, NOICE!

Pretend Undertaker is finally = real Undertaker. 

 

Edited June 9, 2020 by Angel Oracle

[ScottT]

Are players getting theirs in the pretend season?

[Slegnaac]

10 hours ago, ScottT said:

Are players getting theirs in the pretend season?

Let's just pretend that they are.

[Capital_Dave]

You won't see this every day.  (Has it EVER happened before?)  The National League team used the DH on today's game, and the American League team did not. 

The Angels' hot streak continues as they rack up yet another win, this time a Shohei Ohtani-pitched 5-1 drubbing of the Miami Marlins.  Manager @Jeff Fletcher continues to bat Ohtani cleanup on his start days (usually giving him a day off around the starts).    Ohtani pitched into the seventh, giving up just one earned run and recording 9 K's.  He earned his third win.  Mike Trout hits his 20th homer of the season, a three-run shot, and Jo Adell's hitting streak continues, today with a sixth inning double.  This team sure is fun to (virtually) watch right now.  They've won 16 of their last 18 games.

 

[Slegnaac]

2 games behind MIN for the 2nd Wild Card position.

[Capital_Dave]

Another day off for the Angels, who are getting some rest after a brutal three-week stretch without any days off at all.  Here's a look at the Angels team stats so far this season.  The Angels bullpen is a strong suit in this simulation, with Barnes and Buchter surprisingly effective contributors.  Starting pitching has rebounded sharply over the last few weeks, sparked by Griffin Canning and Shohei Ohtani's return to the rotation.  The Angels offense has underperformed expectations, particularly Upton and Ohtani.  But Trout, Rendon, and Simmons are all well north of .300 and contributing all over the stat sheet.

 

[fan_since79]

On 6/10/2020 at 12:34 PM, Slegnaac said:

2 games behind MIN for the 2nd Wild Card position.

Typical Angels season. Start off horribly then claw their way back into the middle of the pack, teasing us for months by staying in the wild card hunt. Then the late season collapse.

The computers know...

[Jeff Fletcher]

Wait till you see what happens today.....

[fan_since79]

What is Stassi still doing on our roster?!

And Heaney's ERA. Yikes. 

[Slegnaac]

1 hour ago, fan_since79 said:

What is Stassi still doing on our roster?!

And Heaney's ERA. Yikes. 

Heaney had a rough start to the season.  His last start, after coming off a 15 day rest on the DL, was very solid.

[Capital_Dave]

There are certain moments that you dream about as a Little Leaguer.  And as he looked around him, Jo Adell realized that he was living one right now.  This had already been an emotionally exhausting game.  Five lead changes, a combined 24 hits between the two teams, and now he and his fellow Angels were down 8-6 in the bottom of the ninth.

But there was hope.  And some magic in the air.  He looked down at third base and saw David Fletcher, who had led off the bottom of the ninth with a double to electrify the crowd.  He looked to second and saw his mentor Mike Trout, who had moved Fletch to third with his own bloop single to shallow right, becoming the tying run.  And down at first was Shohei Ohtani, who had drawn a white-knuckle walk to become the winning run on first.  

Oh, and up on the jumbotron?  That Rally Monkey was jumping around.  It was time to jump up, jump up, and get down.

Adell low-fived Justin Upton as Upton headed back to the dugout, having struck out on a nasty Carl Edwards slider for the second out of the bottom of the ninth.  Upton had certainly done his part tonight: he had gone 2-for-5 and had 4 RBIs.  But baseball is a team sport, and Upton's strikeout set Adell up for his moment.

And so it was on a 2-1 inside fastball, Adell found his pitch.  A mighty crack of the bat was met with a momentary stunned silence, then a deafening roar, as Mariners left fielder Mallex Smith drifted back, back, then turned and watched as Adell's two-out, bottom-of-the-ninth, WALK OFF GRAND SLAM sealed the win for the Angels!  The final score was 10-8.

As he rounded third and headed toward the mob at home plate, amidst the fireworks and 43,000 screaming fans, Jo Adell realized his boyhood dream, and the Angels had delivered an iconic moment in their make-believe season.

Your Pretend Angels have now won 17 of their last 19 games, and are within 1.5 games of the Wild Card.

[fan_since79]

I remember David Eckstein's walk-off grand slam against the Blue Jays in the 14th inning. At least that was real.

But yeah, I guess imaginary wins are all we have right now. I hate COVID, and politics, and greedy players and owners. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH9jhpPoroA

[Junkballer]

I'm simulating being stoked!

[fan_since79]

Another Eckstein walk-off grand slam, from 2005 with the Cardinals.

Start at the 11:25 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5bjsqWn_kk

[Capital_Dave]

Angels rally in the bottom of the ninth, but fall just short, losing a slugfest to the Mariners 11-10.  Albert Pujols claims 5th place in the all-time HR leaderboard, passing Willie Mays with his 661st career HR. 

[Capital_Dave]

Kind of a bummer of a game for the Angels.  Julio Teheran gives up four first-inning runs, so the home crowd never had a chance to get into it.  Those four runs would end up being the margin of victory as the Mariners win 6-2.  Jo Adell's hot streak comes to an end.  He's been moved up to 6th in the lineup.  Pujols (justifiably IMHO) has been dropped to 8th in the lineup, batting after Adell and Simmons.  Felix Peña gets called up and goes 2.2 effective innings.

Big mini-roadie coming up, as the Angels head to Oakland this week for three games against the Wild Card leaders.  Rotation is well aligned for an important series.

[Glen]

It's been at least a week since I checked in on the strat-o-matic Angels.  All I'm gonna say is I'll check in again in another week.

[Capital_Dave]

Athletics get three hits apiece from their leadoff (Semien) and 9-hole (Murphy) batters, and run roughshod over the Angels to a final score of 8-3.  Andrew Heaney has another forgettable outing, giving up 5 runs (4 earned) over 5 innings.  Jo Adell Lineup Watch™ has Adell now batting 5th, contributing a double today to go 1-for-4.  Albert Pujols Lineup Replacement Watch™ has Matt Thaiss going 1 for 3, batting ninth, still not giving Manager @Jeff Fletcher much incentive to sit Pujols more often.

[Capital_Dave]

All the runs in this game were scored with one swing of the bat.  Unfortunately, that bat belong to an Oakland Athletic.  Sean Murphy's three run homer did in the Angels, as the good guys lost 3-0.  Mike Fiers shut down Angels hitters, as he combined with Soria and Hendriks on a two-hit shutout.