Capital_Dave

Off day for the Angels today, so here is a look at the ML offensive leaderboards. Only Angel on the board is Trout, who ranks #5 in walks. Trevor Story all over the leaderboards so far, which has the potential to hold up because the Rockies have played most of their games on the road so far. (And yes, Stratomatic does include park factors to account for different stadiums' characteristics.)

I'd love to have something distinctive. Baseball's great because every stadium is different. Fenway's got the Green Monster, Camden Yards has the B&O Warehouse, Wrigley has its ivy-covered wall, Minute Maid had Tal's Hill... the RockPile just isn't in the same category. Make it bold, distinctive, and memorable.

The Angels take 3 of 4 from the White Sox and win the series. Anthony Rendon gets a breather and David Fletcher spells him, becoming the star of the game: 3 for 3, reaching base all four times he came to bat. Justin Upton has been on the come back trail after his ridiculously cold start. Today he went 2 for 4 with 4 RBIs, 3 of those on a homer in the first. Patrick Sandoval continues his strong start for the season, giving up just one earned run over five innings of work (a 3.20 ERA so far). The Angels have a quick roadie this week, with just two games this week in Seattle Tuesday/Wednesday before returning home to face the Twins on Friday.

The virtual Angels are showing some signs of life! They demolish the ChiSox, outscoring them 9-0 and outhitting them 16-2. Every member of the starting lineup contributes at least one hit, and Mike Trout preserves the shutout by robbing Eloy Jimenez of a homer to end the game.

DRIVE HOME SAFELY. Hansel Robles blows a save in the top of the ninth, but the Angels score two in the bottom of the frame to send it to extras, then Mike Trout hits a two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the 14th to win it. Rendon and Thaiss also club round-trippers for the Halos.

Jose Abreu strokes a go-ahead single in the top of the 9th off Hansel Robles, plating Tim Anderson from second, and the White Sox hold on to win 3-2. Robles takes the loss. The kids are all right for the Pale Hose... Luis Robert hits his fifth homer, now batting .330, while Eloy Jimenez is batting .376 on the season. Is it Virtual 2021 yet?

We've got to be getting close to a legit Jo Adell call up date, right @Jeff Fletcher? Ronald Acuna Jr. was called up on his team's 23rd game of the season in 2018. We just played Game 24. Wouldn't Adell's first service time cutoff be right around now? Goodwin's batting .189 and we're 8 games under .500 already. Just sayin'. Pull the trigger!

Angels with an absolute turd of a game, shut out by the O’s 7-0. Wade LeBlanc owns the Halos until he pulls up lame with a nine-game injury in the 4th, but the bullpen takes the baton and throws up zeroes in the remaining innings to complete the three-hit shutout. Justin Anderson struggles in his first game action of the year.

Dodgers GM Andrew Friedman receives a printout of today's box score with a heart around Luis Rengifo's line (2 for 4, batting leadoff, with a first-inning web gem robbing Jose Iglesias of a hit, now batting .364 with limited at-bats). The anonymous valentine is from "Marti Oreno" who asks, "Baby, can't we just give this another try?" An army of Angels fans dream of Ross Stripling in the Angels rotation and Joc Pederson on the strong end of a right field platoon. Meanwhile, back in this simulated version of reality, the Angels lose a ho-hum game to the O's, 5-2, despite outhitting Baltimore 8-4. One of those hits is a three-run bomb by Renato Nunez that provides all the runs the team would need. Bullpen's a bright spot in this one for the Halos, giving up just one hit in four innings of quality work.

Angels deliver their most convincing win of the season, smashing 5 homers (two by J-Up) en route to a 10-2 victory. Matt Andriese posts his second consecutive quality start, going 7 strong for the W. Thaiss has decided to do an Albert Pujols impersonation at the plate, not exactly seizing the opportunity.

Angels rally late to tie the game 5-5 in the 8th inning, then lose a heartbreaker, 6-5 in 11 innings. The only silver lining comes in the 6th, when the Astros lose two All Stars to injury for multiple games (Altuve, Springer). But alas, that won't help the Angels, who won't play the Astros again until August. They head home to host the Orioles and White Sox for a juicy seven game homestand. Let's see if we can beat up on some of our fellow doormats.

I'm sorry to report that the Angels won today by a final score of 2-1, and therefore missed the opportunity to clinch a World Series championship by going 6-14 to start the season. Instead, we're stuck with a win against the Astros to go to 7-13. Matt Thaiss, in his first start since Pujols was placed on the 10-day IL, went 1 for 3 and scored one of the Angels' two runs. Angels starter Julio Teheran put in the best start of any Angels pitcher this season, throwing six innings of shutout ball. Robles had a shaky appearance but still earned the save. Jarred Walsh was called up to take Pujols' spot on the roster.

Yeah, count me in as a Kendrick true believer too. Smart guy, sweet stroke, and those minor leagues numbers. Alas, didn't turn into the batting champ we hoped for. Still, a quality guy. Hope he's a future Angels manager.

Alex Bregman comes off the IL and makes up for lost time vs. the Halos, smacking two homers as the Astros win the first game of the series, 6-5. Albert Pujols hits his first home run of the season... and then promptly suffers a ninth inning injury which will keep him out of the lineup for the next 10 games. Matt Thaiss... this is your moment to shine. Go get 'em.

Another Angels off day today as they fly to Houston. Last time we had an off-day I posted the batting major league leaders. Today, I'll share the pitching major league leaders, year-to-date. No Angels here either. Don't fret about our old friend Sean Newcomb leading the league in losses. He's got a 3.22 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 9.3 K/9 over four starts. Just getting zero run support. He's doing really well, actually. Wins and losses are just dumb pitching stats.

I know how Strat works, I'm in a league myself. No one is trying to draw REAL results based on it. I only meant that a simulation provides an interesting window on whether you have the right mix of resources on your team. It is by no means conclusive. More importantly, it provides a welcome distraction during these End Days we're all living through. In our post-apocalyptic hellscape, at least there's Angels baseball to look forward to every afternoon at 2PM!

I think there's entertainment value in a day-by-day Strat simulation, and some insights to be gained by seeing how projected performance plays out in a long 162 game season. Life itself is variable. The "dice rolls and card pulls" play out every day in a real-world baseball season. We made PLENTY of fortunate rolls last year in that Tyler Skaggs tribute no-hitter! That was never "supposed" to happen.

Angels go with a bullpen day, with Barnes as the opener and Sandoval the "bulk guy." It works... to a point. The two combine to go 6 innings, giving up just one earned. But the bullpen coughs up a walk-off single by Garrett Cooper and the Marlins win 3-2 in 11 innings. Thaiss gets a start over Pujols at first, going 1-for-5. (Is this the beginning of a long-term change? Yes, please.)

Please let it be Pujols DFA'd. Please let it be Pujols DFA'd.

Angels break their six-game losing streak with a convincing 10-2 victory over the Marlins. Simmons continues driving up his contract renewal asking price with a monster day at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a homer, 3 runs and 3 RBIs, now batting .379 on the season. If you had Matt Andriese for the "who gets the Angels' first quality start of the season" pool... A.) you need to participate in more interesting betting pools, and B.) I'm guessing you got great odds, so savor your victory!

A much-needed off-day for the Angels today as they take their talents to South Beach for a brief two-game series vs. the Marlins. Given that it's an off-day, here are the Major League leader boards for various offensive categories. It won't surprise you to learn there's nary an Angel on the board so far this season. But the season is young...

Tigers complete the sweep by a final score of 12-8. The final score makes the game look closer than it was. The Angels scored 5 runs in the 9th off the Tigers' third-string relievers. (And if you're third string reliever on the Tigers... well...)

When I took on this project, I honestly thought it would be far more uplifting. Instead, it's my sad duty to report that the Angels have dropped their fifth straight. (Not-so) Fun fact: no Angels starter has notched a quality start so far this season. This is really a good simulation, as far as the "Angels Fan Experience" thing goes.

Are you guys playing any of your games out as manager? Or just simming the games and playing the role of GM?

No it must be a 2020 projection set. Luis Robert is currently hitting .426, good for second in the league to Colin Moran. And lest you think it's entirely biased toward rooks, Nelson Cruz is 4th at .421.