[ayaghmour2]

May 18th, 2018: We arrived in Atlanta and sent out our best pitcher Brian Johnson (5-3, 3.50 ERA, 1.29 WHIP) to face Luiz Gohara (2-2, 5.45 ERA, 1.58 WHIP).

Johnson was bested by Ronald Acuna in the 4th with a 2 run homer. The Braves added 2 more in the 5th to take a 4-0 lead. Johnson struggled, allowing 4 runs, 4 hits, and a walk in 4.1 innings. He did strike out. Gohara tossed 5 scorless, allowed only 1 hit, but walked 6 while striking out 9. In the 8th we got to Rex Brothers for 2 runs, but still were down 4-2. He was back in the 9th and walked Johnny Giovatella with the bases loaded, then Rafael Ortgea hit an RBI single. That was enough for Brothers, and rookie Devan Watts came into the game. Starlin Castro showed him what a veteran can do, and hit a 3 run bomb, capping off a 6 run top of the 9th. Kevin Chapman allowed a homer to Ryan Schimpf, and it became a tight 8-5 game. Drew Steckenrider came back in and pitched a perfect 9th, earning save 9. Nick Wittgren picked up the win with a perfect 8th, now 2-0 on the season with a nice 1.97 ERA.

Castro was amazing, going 4-for-5 with 4 RBI's and a run scored to go with a walk. His homer was 8 for the year. Cameron Maybin was ejected in the 2nd, and that's what lead to Ortega coming into the game. Miguel Rojas went 2-for-4 and scored twice.

I earned the achievement "Hit Machine" for Castro hitting 4 hits.

Remember opening day starter Dillon Peters? He was down in New Orleans and diagnosed with shoulder tendinitis. It would cost him 4 weeks. The 25-year-old was 1-1 with a 4.33 ERA with 23 strike outs compared to 16 walks.

The Astros Carlos Correa was 5-fo-r5 today in a 10-3 win over the Cleveland Indians. He's hitting .295/.371/.489 on the season.

Tigers pitcher Matt Boyd tossed a 2-hit shutout against the Mariners in a 2-0 win. One of the 3 pitchers recieved from Toronto in the David Price Deal, he's 3-2 this season with a 3.08 ERA for the 2nd place Tigers.

May 19th, 2018: The Red Sox will be without Carson Smith for the rest of the year. The righty tore his UCL, and will undergo Tommy John surgery. The former Mariner wasn't the best, working to a 5.33 ERA in 23 appearences.

We looked to turn two wins into three and sent Odrisamer Despaigned (2-3, 3.10 ERA, 1.00 WHIP) against the host Braves and Julio Teheran (1-5, 4.40 ERA, 1.06 WHIP). Both pitchers have faced the other team.
The bats were definitely working at SunTrust park as we topped the Braves 8-6 while outhitting them 13-11. Despaigne hurt himself pitching while finishing off the 2nd. He allowed 3 hits, but no runs in the game. The only Marlin pitcher to keep the Braves from touching home. Jorge De La Rosa, who got the win, allowed 2 in 2.1, Wittgren allowed 1 in 1 (no hits, but a walk and 3 strikeouts), Kevin Chapman allowed 2 in 2, and finally Adam Warren allowed 1 in 1.

We had offensive production from all starters except Justin Bour, who was now hitting .231. He struck out 3 times. Lane Adams was shockingly productive, with no thought of Braton Lee. He went 3-for-4 with a walk and 2 runs scored. He also recorded his 4th double and stole base 9 and 10. He's now hitting above the mendoza line. Miguel Rojas was also great, hitting a homer in a 3-for-5 outing where he scored and drove in 2. Derek Dietrich (4), Stalrin Castro (9) and J.T. Realmuto (3) hit homers.

Ryan Braun hit 3 homers as the Brewers were beat by the Twins 7-6. He now has 12 homers and 31 RBI's on the year.

Checked on Despaigne, just a DTD injury that won't cost him a start. He just has a little neck stiffness, so he should be alright soon.

May 20th, 2018: The Rangers will be without starter Martin Perez for the rest of the year. Injuries have been tough for him, and this time he partially tore his UCL. Recovery time, 11-12 months.

We looked to complete the road sweep, but I lacked confidence. Jose Urena (1-4, 7.88 ERA, 1.78) was on the mound. Brandon McCarthy (1-2, 4.44 ERA, 1.33 WHIP) isn't much better, but he shut us down earlier in the year.

The Braves put up 4 in the bottom of the 1st, Ender Inciarte and Ronald Acuna got on base for Freddie Freeman who drove in 2 with a double. Urena did settle down, but the damage was done and the Braves cruised to a nice 5-1 victory, saving themselves from the sweep.

Urena, now 1-5, allowed 5 hits and 4 runs in 4.1 innings. He did strike out 7 and only walked 2, but the 1st was very rough. Enny Romero also allowed a run in 0.1 innings off 2 hits. He did strike out a batter.

We did manage 6 hits, but we weren't really good. Martin Prado was 2-for-3 with a double. Derek Dietrich doubled as well, but also made an error.

We boarded the flight to New York to face the Mets. We were looking at Jason Vargas (2-1, 4.32 ERA), Jacob deGrom (3-2, 3.21 ERA) who had a no-hitter earlier in the year, and Zack Wheeler (1-2, 4.50 ERA). Over under 3 Mets pitchers on the DL? My bet was on over, but it was just Matt Harvey (Biceps tendinitis, returning in 7 days) and Steven Matz (torn flexor tendon, 13 months).

May 21st, 2018: Today is monday, which means power rankings! We've bounced up to 26 with a 67.5 ranking. The Cubs are back in 1st with 132.2. They've taken a 2.5 game lead over the Cardinals.

First game in Queens saw the 23-22 Mets take on the 17-29 Marlins. The Mets decided Vargas wouldn't start today, and started the series strong with Jacob deGrom (3-2, 3.21 ERA, 0.89 WHIP). Our starter, Adam Conley (0-4, 5.44 ERA, 1.51 WHIP), wasn't as strong.

Mickey Callaway's squad put up the first 4 runs of the game. Domonic Smith hit a 2 run homer in the 2nd, and solo runs were added in the 3rd and 5th courtesy of Todd Frazier. deGrom was brilliant, allowing just 2 in 7.1 innings, leading the Mets to the 4-2 victory. He allowed 5 hits and 2 walks, but sent 8 Marlins hitters to the dugout with strike outs.

Conley wasn't brilliant, allowing 9 hits, a walk, and 4 runs in 5.2 innings. He struck out a pair of Mets hitters, but so did Jarlin Garcia in a perfect 7th inning. 6 hits again, and a third were Martin Prado. He also drove in both runs in a single of Paul Sewald, who I now am familiar with. Justin Bour doubled, and Cameron Maybin and Lane Adams stole their 11th base each, giving them the team lead. We're actually 5th in the NL in steals, although Billy Hamilton (32) has more then we do (31). He's 32-for-35, we're 31-for-44, not nearly as efficient.

May 22nd, 2018: The trade happy White Sox offered me CF Joel Booker for Adam Warren. I guess they were in need for pen arms after moving Soria and Avilan. Booker wasn't bad, but Warren was much better, and I definitely could get more for him. I politely declined Rick Hahn, a GM I am a fan of.

Jason Vargas (2-1, 4.32 ERA, 1.53 WHIP) did end up getting his turn, and he dueled Dan Straily (3-3, 4.57 ERA, 1.32 WHIP) in front of nearly 30,000 spectators. With the lefty Vargas on the mound, I gave Bour a needed day off, as he was ice cold, with the ice cold, but right handed Garrett Cooper. He's down to .245/.333/.347 after hitting everything well earlier in the year. Coop hit 6th behind Realmuto and in front of Lane Adams.

Just noticed a nice new OOTP feature, in the substitutions screen, which now is seperated hitters and pitchers, you can see your bullpen pitchers roles. Very helpful.

The Mets hit Straily hard and early, 4 runs in the 1st. Michael Confronto and Adrian Gonzalez hit solo homers, and my boy Ahmed Rosario knocked one in on a single. He went 2-for-4 and is batting a really nice .348. That's good for 2nd in the NL, behind Buster Posey who was really raking, hitting .387/.435/.633 with 7 homers and 27 RBI's. Almost wasted an early pick on him as a back up catcher/starting first basemen behind Gary Sanchez.

Vargas allowed only 2 in 7, as the Mets picked up game 2 as well, 5-2. Straily did find his groove, finishing 4 more innings after the 1st. His totals ended with 7 hits, 1 walk, and 4 strikeouts. Adam Warren gave up the last run, maybe I should've traded him...

Guess how many hits we had? 6! Guess who got 2 of them? Martin Prado? No, he was 0-for-3, maybe since he hit 3rd today. Starlin Castro, are hopeful All-Star (voting starts tommorow), went 2-for-4 with a run scored, and RBI and his 10th homer on the season. He's only 2 behind Bour now.

Speaking of Castro, he's been awesome, and I love his trade value. He's under control for a realtively reasonable price (10,000,000 this year, 11,000,000 next, and a 16,000,000 team option), but that's a lot of money for us. He's on pace for a 5.7 WAR season (I hate War, but hey, why not) with currently 10 homers, 29 RBI's, and a .295/.338/.495 line. His OPS+ is 123, and his BABIP is .307, so .295 seems like an average he earned.

May 23rd, 2018: As mentioned, All-Star voting began. I never vote, but I love seeing the ballots fly in sometimes.

The Mets had us at the same spot where we had the Braves, and Zach Wheeler (1-2, 4.50 ERA, 1.45 WHIP) wanted to make it happen. I was hoping Brian Johnson (5-3, 3.91 ERA, 1.28 WHIP) wouldn't let it happen, but he hasn't been the sharpest of late. Maybe this is his real form, which is likely. Can't complain too much with a free waiver claim.

He didn't let it happen, going 7 innings and allowing 1 run, preserving a 3-1 lead. He did allow 9 hits, but struck out 6 and walked just 1. Adam Warren, however, was fine with blowing the lead. He allowed 3 runs in 0.2 innings. So my two trade acquisitions had an ERA of 8.22 and 5.56 in Miami. But guess what, even though we were now down 4-3, we put up 2 in the 9th off old fried Paul Sewald with Garrett Cooper's pinch hit solo shot and Derek Dietrich's 5th homer. Forgot to mention this earlier, Johnson, now hitting .353, hit his 1st career homer off Zack Wheeler. Dare I play him at DH in an AL game?

But wait, it doesn't end there. Drew Steckenrider came in for the save, but allowed the way too old Adrian Gonzalez to come off the bench and tie the game with a solo shot. He's hit 4 homers all year, but two this series. Anyways, Steckenrider was able to finish the inning. I need a cool nickname for him since I like and he could be an important 7th or 8th inning guy when we get good. Steck just doesn't flow right. Fast foward to the 11th and the next Marlin reliever to let me down Jarlin Garcia allowed Travis d'Arnaud to walk it off with a single. We were out hit 16-8 in game three of the sweep.

Let's see, Lane Adams was good. He went 3-for-4 with a run scored and one more driven in. He walked, stole a base, and doubled twice. Maybe he's coming around, we'll see.

May 24th, 2018: We had an off day to recover from the beating we took against the Mets. We're 17-32 right now, 13 out of 1st where the Nats and Phillies are tied with 30-19 records.

We'd get to host the Nats for 3 before heading to San Diego for 4 at Petco. We were looking at Gio Gonzalez (4-3, 3.67 ERA), Tanner Roark (4-2, 5.98 ERA), and Jeff Manship (4-2, 4.38 ERA). I thought, why Manship? But then remembered the Strasburg injury. The veteran swignman hasn't been Strasbutg, but he's bee alright, despite averaging a hair under 5 starts per inning. I think A.J. Cole would've been the better choice, but a 17-32 team can't really give advice to a 30-19 team. They were also without Joe Ross still, so maybe I could send them one of my "excellent" starters. Despaigne could actually be of help.

2018 is the year of amazing hitting performances. Kyle Seager went 6-for-6 in Seattle's 15-4 triumph over Oakland. He hit a homer off Yusmerio Petit, singled 4 times, and doubled in a run.

Not going to lie, I got bored with no game and shopped Adam Warren around. There were actually a few interesting offers. Eliezer Alvarez, Nicky Lopez, and Andrew Stevenson were three solid prospects. The first two infielders, Stevenson a centerfeilder.

I went to Alvarez, and asked for SP Tom Eshelman as well. Both were 2.5* potentials, with the latter a 2* overall, the first 1.5. GM Matt Kletnak of the Phillies wanted to think about it, so I sent it in. I gave both a scou to see how accurate their ratings were. I postponned my draft scouting to get the results hopefully before Kletnak responded.