"Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025 - Page 5

jksander · 04-21-2025, 04:30 PM

September 15, 2025: It can’t be a great sign that Brooks Lee’s injury is still “unknown.” We’re back in Chicago for three games against the 77-72 Orioles, with Brandon Pfaadt (9-12, 4.05 ERA, 177.2 IP, 181 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) battling Charlie Morton (3-6, 3.76 ERA, 127.0 IP, 119 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) in game one. They took the lead quickly with a run in the first and another in the third, trading runs in the fourth as we struggled to make a comeback. Martin Perez took over in the top of the seventh trailing 4-2, and in the bottom of the inning we came back with a two-run single by Vargas to tie the score at four! Perez got us through the eighth unscathed, and Merryweather took over in the top of the ninth still tied at 4-4, keeping it that way with a groundout and a pair of strikeouts ... but our bats stayed silenced and this one went into extra innings. Eduard Bazardo took over in the top of the 10th, striking out the side as our fans stayed on the edge of their seats ... but we weren’t able to get the extra runner around to score either, and this one kept going, as Bazardo struck out another pair and got us through the top of the 11th still tied! Michael A. Taylor advanced from second to third off a wild pitch, with Grenier advancing to first despite striking out ... but with one out, we walked it off with a shot into right by Otto Lopez, Taylor scoring to give us an amazing 5-4 win! Bazardo has now won back to back bullpen appearances, this time lasting two innings as he did it while striking out five batters on 27 pitches! We outhit Baltimore 10-7, led by Miguel Vargas with two hits, a walk and two RBIs, while Otto Lopez hit twice, walked twice and scored once with the game-winning RBI.

Say what you want about us, but this win officially puts us 20 wins ahead of where we finished last season and we still have games left to play. We’re still assured a last place finish in the division, but with the right moves to improve our young, inexperienced team, I don’t think we’re too far off the mark. This could quickly become a dangerous team.

September 16, 2025: Yu Darvish (10-10, 4.22 ERA, 153.2 IP, 143 K’s, 1.28 WHIP) pitched in game two against the O’s, taking on Trevor Rogers (5-3, 1 SV, 3.07 ERA, 88.0 IP, 74 K’s, 1.22 WHIP). Darvish had a great start to the game, his control suddenly back in full form, and in the bottom of the fifth we broke a stalemate with a two-run Gallo homer, adding an Otto Lopez RBI single to give us a 3-0 lead heading into the sixth! Darvish struck out a pair in the sixth, giving him 11 for the night, and got us into the bottom of the inning still leading by three, and Michael A. Taylor hit a solo shot to make it a four-run lead heading into the seventh with Shane Smith taking the ball. Perez got us through the eighth, and he stayed out in the ninth as well, doing his part to preserve the 5-0 shutout win! Darvish improved to 11-10 with a six-inning masterclass, two hits, one walk and 11 strikeouts. We outhit them 8-3, led by Gallo with two hits, a run and two RBIs, and we’ll have a chance to go for a sweep when we play here again tomorrow night ... we’ve only had a couple chances since the All Star break, and the last time we DID sweep a team was Philly back at the very end of July, so this is a burst of rarified air for our White Sox as we near the end of our season.

Brooks Lee’s season is indeed over, but it’s a sprained ankle ... he should be fine to go into the offseason development workouts after the playoffs without any delays or hinderances. So we’ll take that as a win.

September 17, 2025: Noah Schultz (7-5, 3.62 ERA, 99.1 IP, 94 K’s, 1.05 WHIP) pitched against Kevin Gausman (10-7, 4.76 ERA, 147.1 IP, 139 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) in game three of this series against the Orioles, and we gave him real run support early -- Miguel Vargas hit us into the lead with a two-run single, and Kyle Teel hit an RBI single to add on, giving us a 3-0 lead after one. All it takes sometimes is a little confidence, and he was able to pitch lights-out from there, still leading by a 3-0 margin as we went into the stretch! Noah Syndergaard took over in the top of the eighth, and Eduard Bazardo came out in the ninth to close the door ... he struck out their last two batters of the night to seal it, as we shut the Orioles out 3-0 for the win and the sweep! Schultz pitched seven innings with two hits, a walk and 10 strikeouts, and we outhit them 5-2 in a game that was even harder fought than yesterday’s! Miguel Vargas led our offense with a hit and two RBIs, as we finally seem to be clicking as a team.

We’ll have the day off to celebrate, and then it’s back to business against the 76-77 Padres in our final home series of the season, before facing the Yankees (92-61, 1st AL East) and the Nationals (69-84, 4th NL East) on the road to end the season next week.

jksander · 04-21-2025, 07:57 PM

September 19, 2025: Ryan Weber (6-10, 4.24 ERA, 144.1 IP, 79 K’s, 1.30 WHIP) pitched against the Padres’ Manuel Castro (0-3, 2.18 ERA, 20.2 IP, 21 K’s, 1.06 WHIP), as the 23-year-old got the call-up in late August. The Padres took the lead in the top of the second off a solo homer by Xander Bogaerts, but in the bottom of the fifth we tied it on a Meidroth RBI single and then took the lead when Tauchman singled in two more to give us a 3-1 lead heading into the top of the sixth. They got one of those runs back with a single by Trevor Larnach in the top of the sixth, but we piled on five more runs in the bottom of the inning to turn it into something of a rout! The Padres got a homer off the bat of Bogaerts in the top of the seventh to cut our lead to five, bringing out Martin Perez to take the mound trying to get the final out of the inning. Instead, he gave up back-to-back-to-back hits, including a single by Jorge Mateo that cut our lead to four before he did finally get that third out -- we went into the stretch leading 8-4 but still not feeling very self-assured. Our bats kept hitting, however, Yordys Valdes hitting a leadoff homer to get us back up by five, and Julian Merryweather was a calming influence from the mound in the final two frames as we held tough to win 9-4. Weber improved to 7-10, pitching 6.2 innings with four hits, four strikeouts and three earned runs, and we outhit the Padres 12-6, led by Valdes who hit four times for two runs and an RBI.

This is officially just our second four-game winning streak of the season, tying a streak of four wins across series with the Reds and Cubs on the road from May 14-18!

September 20, 2025: Sean Burke (6-14, 4.75 ERA, 142.0 IP, 157 K’s, 1.40 WHIP) faced Bryan Hoeing (2-1, 4.64 ERA, 54.1 IP, 39 K’s, 1.44 WHIP) in our second game of the series against the Padres, and their second batter of the game, Manny Machado, hit a solo bomb out of left to put them up 1-0. Burke struck out five batters in a row across the third and fourth innings, and he got another pair in the fifth to keep the game still super close. But our bats weren’t popping off today like they have the last few games, and our margin for error was thin indeed. Penn Murfee took over in the sixth to face Machado, and in the end it didn’t matter WHO faced their lineup the third time through, because they all were hitting. Machado scored off a fielder’s choice that yeilded no outs, and they picked up a third run when Giancarlo Stanton hit into a 6-4-3 double play. They added on a run in the seventh, and though we got a couple runs ourselves in the ninth to keep it respectable, we were never in this one past Burke’s five innings. San Diego beat us soundly 6-3, snapping our streak and bringing us back to earth with a bang. Burke took the loss, which really sucks since he pitched brilliantly -- five innings with three hits, a walk, a run and eight strikeouts. They outhit us 11-6, with Tauchman leading our offense with a pair of hits and a run scored.

September 21, 2025: It’s our final home game of the season, and Brandon Pfaadt (9-12, 4.12 ERA, 183.2 IP, 186 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) started against San Diego’s Derek Holland (7-7, 3.45 ERA, 128.0 IP, 113 K’s, 1.21 WHIP). The Padres got a run each in the first and second, but we tied them with an RBI single by Valenzuela to make it 2-2 heading into the top of the fifth. Tauchman hit an RBI single to give us the lead in the bottom of the fifth, and when Merryweather took over in the top of the seventh we still led 3-2. Kimbrel got the ball in the eighth, striking out the side and drawing a huge ovation from the home crowd, and he got us through the ninth as well as we shut them down to win 3-2! Pfaadt lasted six innings with three hits, a walk, two runs and seven strikeouts, Kimbrel earned his second save of the year with a two-inning effort involving four strikeouts, and we outhit San Diego 10-4. Valenzuela led the way with two hits and an RBI, while Meidroth added two hits and a run scored.

That’s our 65th win of the year, with six games remaining (all on the road) against the Yankees (93-62, 1st AL East) and the Nationals (70-85, 4th NL East) after our travel day tomorrow. The Yankees have clinched their division, while Washington has been eliminated from playoff contention. We are guaranteed a last place finish in the AL Central unless we win out and the Tigers lose all six of their remaining games, but we can finish this season on a strong note with an eye to the future.

jksander · 04-22-2025, 10:11 AM

September 23, 2025: Yu Darvish (11-10, 4.06 ERA, 159.2 IP, 154 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) got the start against Carlos Rodon (12-11, 3.75 ERA, 168.0 IP, 173 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) in game one against the Yankees, and New York had the lead less than ten minutes in thanks to an RBI single by Austin Hays. But a two-run double by Tauchman gave us the lead back in the top of the third, and we started trading runs back and forth from there. Oswald Peraza hit a two-run blast out of left in the bottom of the fourth to shoot New York back into the lead, but Otto Lopez hit an RBI single to tie it up in the fifth, so New York added on in the bottom of the inning with another two-run bomb out of left, this time by Aaron Judge for his 40th of the season. Jonathan Cannon took over trailing 6-4 with no outs and a runner on first, giving up two more runs before we could get out of the inning, and Kimbrel came out in the sixth, giving up three more as the Yanks took us apart. Steve Smith pitched the rest of the game, and though we put up four runs in the later innings, we were already too deep in the hole to dig out of it. The Yankees won easily, 12-9, outhitting us 18-8, and Darvish took the loss with 10 hits and seven earned runs in just four innings. Tauchman did what he could, but two hits, two walks, three runs and three RBIs weren’t going to be enough to win a game like this.

September 24, 2025: Noah Schultz (8-5, 3.39 ERA, 106.1 IP, 104 K’s, 1.01 WHIP) pitched against Max Fried (16-8, 2.96 ERA, 197.2 IP, 190 K’s, 1.11 WHIP), and Schultz was injured in the first bloody inning, Martin Perez taking over with one out and a runner on first. It appears to be a blister, and won’t hinder his offseason plans, but that’s a rough hit to take in a late-season game. Jonathan Cannon took over in the bottom of the fifth with the game still scoreless on both sides, and Syndergaard came out in the sixth. Finally in the top of the seventh an RBI single by Austin Slater pushed us into the lead 1-0, and Kimbrel had a great eighth inning to shut them down and keep us in control. But with a slim one run lead we brought out Eduard Bazardo in the bottom of the ninth with the entire crowd betting against us ... and with one out, Aaron Judge hit a solo homer out of left to tie the game. We managed to get out of there and into extra innings, and we loaded the bases in the top of the 10th, no outs, Chase Meidroth walking in the go-ahead run! Tauchman hit a sac-fly into deep center, driving in another run, and Miguel Vargas hit a line drive into right with two outs, contributing two more runs as we blew this one open. Leading by four runs, Julian Merryweather took over in the bottom of the inning, and though the Yanks loaded the bases, they couldn’t score even the free ghost runner as we shut them down 5-1! Bazardo blew the save, his second, but came out of it with a win, improving to 6-2 with a 2.96 ERA thanks to a two-hit, two strikeout inning with the one run against him. We matched them with seven hits, led by Lipcius who had a hit, a walk and a run scored, while Miguel Vargas added a hit and two RBIs.

Austin Slater reached out after the game and has expressed interest in extending his contract ... the 32-year-old has hit just .202 so far this year but is our most talented defender in both left and right field. But he’s basically an even proposition from a WAR standpoint, so unless we can bring him down a bit on his demands, I’m not sure we can’t find an improvement in the free agent market. We’ve made him a two year offer I think is fair, and will see where that takes us.

September 25, 2025: Ryan Weber (7-10, 4.23 ERA, 151.0 IP, 83 K’s, 1.27 WHIP) pitched in our final game against the Yankees, going up against Marcus Stroman (10-8, 4.11 ERA, 179.2 IP, 144 K’s, 1.27 WHIP). We took the lead quickly, thanks to an RBI single by Tauchman, and we added on with a two-run single by Austin Slater that gave us a 3-0 lead midway through the first. We brought out Penn Murfee to pitch in the sixth with a 6-3 lead, and Syndergaard took over with two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh, our lead still at two runs. But that was seemingly the end of our chances in this one ... pinch-hitter Luke Raley hit a grand slam and though Syndergaard got us the out, we went into the eighth inning trailing 8-6. Top of the ninth, however, and Joey Gallo hit into a fielder’s choice, driving in a run, and moments later we tied it up with an RBI single by Miguel Vargas! We hadn’t anticipated the comback, so with Merryweather warming in the pen, Syndergaard stayed out to pitch in the bottom of the inning. They didn’t waste much time, walking it off with a single into center by Austin Wells that scored Aaron Judge for the 9-8 Yankees win. Syndergaard blew the save and took the loss with a 1.2 inning effort with four hits, a strikeout and two earned runs, and we were outhit 14-6 and yet somehow were still in this one. Vargas led the way with two hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs.

September 26, 2025: We’re in Washington for our final series of the season, our 66-93 White Sox facing the 70-89 Nationals for three games. Sean Burke (6-15, 4.65 ERA, 147.0 IP, 165 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) pitched against DJ Herz (6-13, 5.33 ERA, 150.1 IP, 175 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) in game one, and we had a solid 3-1 lead when we switched horses in the sixth inning to bring out Shane Smith. Martin Perez took over in the eighth, and Bazardo got us the save in the ninth as we held tough to win 3-1! Burke will finish his season with a 7-15 record, making it through five innings today with five hits, four walks, five strikeouts and one earned run as his ERA improved to 4.56. We outhit the Nationals 7-6 ,led by Yordys Valdes with two hits, a run and two RBIs.

September 27, 2025: Brandon Pfaadt (10-12, 4.08 ERA, 189.2 IP, 193 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) pitched against MacKenzie Gore (9-10, 3.81 ERA, 177.1 IP, 194 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) in game two, and we took a quick lead in the top of the first with an RBI double by Vargas and a two-run homer by Michael A. Taylor which gives him 20 on the season, by far a career best. We had a 7-2 lead going into the bottom of the fifth, but Pfaadt gave up four runs to the Nationals and we had to bring out Jonathan Cannon with two outs and clear bases to get the final out and protect the now-slim 7-6 lead. It didn’t go well ... Cannon gave up four more runs in the seventh as the Nationals took firm control, but a shootout ensued and we did what we could to stay in it ... Michael A. Taylor hit a two-run triple in the top of the seventh to get us back within a run, and we tied it in the top of the eighth with a solo homer by Austin Slater, his 12th of the season! Julian Merryweather took the ball in the bottom of the eighth with the score knotted at 10-10, and his first batter faced, Josh Bell, unknotted it with a solo homer out of center. They sent us down quietly from there as we lost this one 11-10 in a true slugfest, the Nationals outhitting us 15-11. Taylor finished with three hits, two runs and seven RBIs thanks to his triple and homer, but Merryweather took the loss, and will likely finish his season with a 1-7 record and a 4.92 ERA through 53 innings for us and the Cubs.

September 28, 2025: Yu Darvish (11-11, 4.34 ERA, 163.2 IP, 155 K’s, 1.28 WHIP) pitched in our final game, facing Jake Irwin (2-4, 4.84 ERA, 57.2 IP, 55 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the fourth off a sac-fly by Brandon Valenzuela, and Yordys Valdes reached on an E8 error, allowing us to take a 2-0 lead midway through the inning. Craig Kimbrel took over in the sixth, still leading 2-0, and Syndergaard got us the rest of the way as we domianted the Nationals 4-1 to finish our season with a 68-94 record, a 27-game improvement on our nadir last season. Darvish got the win, allowing two hits with four strikeouts and no runs in the five innings he pitched, with Kimbrel earning his 12th hold as he improved his ERA to 5.85 through 64.2 innings, pitching his final game as a major leaguer. Syndergaard then picked up the three-inning save, his third, as we outhit the Nationals 8-7. Vargas led the way offensively with two hits, a walk and a run, while Yordys Valdes added two hits and an RBI, finishing his rookie campaign with a .218 average.

Austin Slater agreed today to his extension, which will keep the 32-year-old on the southside through the next two seasons. He’ll make $3.5 million next year and $4.25 million in 2027. Heading into the playoffs, we’ve got a handful of expring players who may warrant extensions, including Joey Gallo, bryan Ramos and Lenyn Sosa. We’re then going to have our work cut out for us when it comes to determining an offseason gameplan. What are our biggest holes, and can we make the right moves to be competitive next season in the division, or are we looking at another year in the long rebuild?

jksander · 04-22-2025, 11:32 AM

2025 Playoffs

Wildcard Round: Kansas City and Toronto both swept their wildcard series, but the Reds came back from down 1-0 in theirs to beat the Diamondbacks 2-1 and 4-3 to win theirs. Meanwhile, the Cubs won game one 5-3, but their bullpen issues plagued them the rest of the way as they blew leads in games two and three, losing their short series to the Mets. The team has not signed an extension on Kyle Tucker’s contract, so barring a miracle for Cubs fans, he’s likely to be a free agency savior for someone else ... perhaps us, if I can convince Reinsdorf to unchain his checkbook.

Divisional Round: The Dodgers certainly were the favorites from here on, with their 112-win season, and they didn’t suggest anything different when they gutted the Reds 18-0 in game one of their series. But Cincy came back in game two to win it 2-1 ... only the Mets managed to win their first two games of the divisional round to take a commanding lead on the Braves. They won game three 2-1, completing the sweep, while it took the Dodgers four games to annihilate the Reds in the end. In the Yankees vs. Royals series, it went all the way to game five, but Texas came back from losing game one to win three in a row to defeat Toronto in four games. The only series to go the distance saw Kansas City stun the Yankees with a 10-5 beatdown as Kansas City advanced to their first Championship Series in a decade.

Championship Series: So it was down to four teams, the Royals and Rangers facing off in the AL while the Mets hoped to ride Soto to a World Series appearance by beating the big money boys from Los Angeles. The Mets, with 82 wins to the 112 of Los Angeles, were huge underdogs to the Dodgers, losing their first two games in LA by 8-7 and 7-5 margins. Texas, a similarly heavily favored team in their matchup, dominated the Royals 6-0 in their first game, and then took game two as well by an 11-5 margin, neither series providing much of a ratings buzz. But the Mets got a win in game three back in New York, beating LA 6-5 in a squeaker, and the Royals won a similarly hard-fought battle in their game three, beating Texas 5-4 ... there would be no Championship Series sweeps this year! The Dodgers won game four 5-3, putting the Mets on the brink of elimination, and the Rangers curb-stomped Kansas City in their game four 12-0. The Mets wouldn’t die ... they won game five 5-0, sending their series back to Los Angeles with the Dodgers up three games to two. But Texas wasn’t having it ... they won game five of their series in a 4-3 squeaker, assuring themselves some extra rest as they watched to see who they’d face in the World Series. The Mets again were unable to be stopped in game six, shutting down Roki Sazaki as they stumped the Dodgers 5-0 and forced game seven ... and then they did it AGAIN in game seven, shutting the Dodgers out 8-0 ... that’s right, they came back from down three games to one, and swept the final three games by a combined margin of 18-0 as the New York Mets advanced to the World Series after winning just 82 games in the regular season! Juan Soto, through the 13 playoff games it took to get there, has hit .325 with three doubles and three homers, batting in nine runs and scoring 10, so they’re definitely going to need him to stay strong if they want a title.

World Series: The Mets kept it going with a huge 4-1 win on the road in game one of the World Series, a fourth-inning homer from Soto and a ninth-inning homer from Francisco Alvarez proving to be the difference-makers. But Texas fought back with a 10-inning 3-2 victory in game two, sending the series to New York tied one game to one. The Mets won game three 8-4, held on to take game four 6-4, but couldn’t manage to clinch it on their home field ... Texas scored five runs in the top of the fifth to overcome a 2-0 deficit in game five, holding tough to win 6-3 and sending the series back to Texas for a pair of must-wins for the Rangers. The Rangers were on a mission in game six, completely stumping the Mets as they romped their way to a 10-1 game-seven-forcing victory, and they won a hard-fought battle in game seven as they broke a tie in the third with an RBI single by Josh Smith putting them ahead for good, winning 2-1.

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White Sox Offseason Dealings

October 5, 2025: Lenyn Sosa signed a one year extension worth $1,450,000 to avoid minor league free agency, while Bryan Ramos, in the same situation, agreed to a one-year deal worth $1,120,000.

October 8, 2025: Joey Gallo, at age 31, has agreed to a three-year option-heavy deal to stay with our White Sox potentially through the 2028 season. He’ll earn $5,500,000 next year, with a player option worth the same for 2027 should he choose to accept it. We then have a team option on him for 2028, worth $5,000,000 if we sign it, and $3,000,000 if we choose to release him. He’s a fan-favorite power hitter, and though he was only good for a .171 average this year, he hit 21 homers and batted in 57 runs, and he’s a capable first baseman, though he is expected to play most of his games as our designated hitter.

November 1, 2025: Martin Perez, at 34, has chosen to void his final contract year, and intends to pursue free agency. He was 5-7 this year with a 4.81 ERA, throwing 110.1 innings with 82 K’s and a 1.42 WHIP, but finished with -0.2 WAR, and he was notably unhappy with our unwillingness to keep him as a starter. Craig Kimbrel followed through with his retirement, finishing with 895 games played in relief over 894 innings, with a career ERA of 2.83, 1,336 strikeouts and 442 career saves. The end of season top prospect lists are out, and Hagen Smith is now ranked 10th overall ... he finished with a 4-4 record and 3.64 ERA for AA Birmingham, striking out 65 while putting up 1.1 WAR, and we’re hoping he has a great offseason as he gets closer to the majors, though he’s unlikely to start at AAA next year unless he has a serious offseason improvement.

Jerry Reinsorf has set our budget at $205 million for the upcoming season, and he wants us to go after an MVP winner, increase attendance next year, play close to .500 ball and be on track to make the playoffs within the next four years. We have a ton of financial flexibility, with 2026 contracts so far totalling just $77.2 million, including arbitration estimates. Aside from Yu Darvish, who will be costing us $15-16 million per year through 2028 whether he plays or not, we don’t have a ton of expensive players weighing our books down, just a ton of young players with heart and grit ... we need the right pieces to help gel this clubhouse into a winner on the field and off.

Starling Marte, who earned $19.5 million for us this year, hit just .197 with 12 doubles and 33 RBI, and is not going to be signing an extension, despite his willingness at age 37 to play for close to league minimum. His negative 2.1 WAR suggests we can easily replace him on the free agent market, especially with his defensive skill now far in his past. He and Perez will be our only pending FA’s who will simply fall off our books. As for arbitration-eligible players, the only four we are making offers on will be Ryan Weber, Julian Merryweather, Andrew Vaughn and Mike Tauchman.

jksander · 04-22-2025, 12:54 PM

November 14, 2025: Tarik Skubal (15-6, 2.73 ERA, 214.1 IP, 245 K’s, 1.05 WHIP, 6.6 WAR) was named the AL’s Cy Young winner for the year, with the Braves’ Spencer Strider (12-5, 2.48 ERA, 152.1 IP, 230 K’s, 0.91 WHIP, 6.4 WAR) winning it for the National League.

November 15, 2025: Aaron Judge (.290/.409/.637, 24 2B, 43 HR, 89 RBI, 6.3 WAR) won the AL’s MVP Award, giving him his fourth overall and third in the last four seasons. Shohei Ohtani (.295/.378/.623, 32 2B, 53 HR, 132 RBI, 6.3 batting WAR) won it for the Dodgers in the NL, as he proved he could still play both ways with dominance ... pitching for the Dodgers he put up an 11-5 record with a 3.23 ERA through 161.2 innings, striking out 197 batters and putting up 4.2 wins above replacement as a pitcher. This was Ohtani’s fourth MVP as well, and he’s won in the last three consecutive seasons.

November 23, 2025: Arbitration hearings have come and gone, and the following players have received one year deals:

- Julian Merryweather ($1.6 million)
- Mike Tauchman ($5.17 million)
- Ryan Weber ($2.84 million)
- Andrew Vaughn ($7.98 million)

Our official 2026 salaries heading into tomorrow’s official FA filings have us paying out just $74 million. We have our scouting budget and development budget maxed out, at $27M and $40.5M rspectively, which leaves us about $41.5 million in budget space, with $57.5 million to work with including our cash reserves. We intend to drop ticket prices 5.1 percent this year to $32.50 to encourage more fans to come back to Rate Field to see us dig out of this rebuild.

November 24, 2025: Looking at our roster for the upcoming season as it stands now, our biggest hole is pitching -- aside from Merryweather and Bazardo, our bullpen is a giant question mark, and Schultz and Pfaadt are our most trustworthy starters, with Darvish as a very questionable option as he nears 40 ... which Yu will we see on a day to day basis? We’ve shored up our defense in the infield, with Valenzuela, Lopez / Lee, Meidroth and Valdes, but of those only Lopez, Meidroth and Lee can hit with consistency, and none of them are superstars. We definitely need to beef up the outfield ... Taylor’s a solid hitter but has been stretching to succeed at center field, where he’d be much stronger in left or right, so if we can find an excellent center fielder who fits our budget perameters, that’d be great. Beyond that, some power to go with what Miguel Vargas and Joey Gallo deliver would be great as well.

We’ll go into next year’s draft with a very solid pick, right behind the Giants at #2 in the first round. So we’ve got room to add to our farm system which is currently ranked 10th now that Schultz is fully committed to his major league role as our staff ace. How well we fill these holes with veterans who can fit with our very young and inexperienced core will determine how quickly we can continue to improve.

November 27, 2025: We’ve made our first big trade of the year, shoring up that problem in center field! We’ve sent backup catcher Korey Lee, backup shortstop Cadyn Grenier and second base prospect Brooks Baldwin to the Boston Red Sox, and in exchange we’re receiving center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela, who last year at 25 hit .260 with 18 doubles, 13 homers and 44 RBI! More important, he’s defensively a strong contributor at left and center while being able to handle multiple infield positions as well, and he’s on a contract that’s team friendly through age 31 ... right now he’ll make $2.25 million, in a deal that rises as high as $13.25 million in 2031, with a player option for $16 million in 2032 if he chooses not to rush to free agency. That’s a steal considering his defensive abilities, and we’re really pleased to have been able to pull off the deal early in the offseason, so we can focus on our other key needs.

jksander · 04-22-2025, 03:28 PM

December 9, 2025: In our first free agency signing of the season, we’re bringing Dylan Cease home to the south side. Cease had been traded by our Sox to the Padres back in the spring of 2024, and last year he went to New York at the deadline but became a free agent after the final season of his contract played out. He was 13-9 last year for the Padres and Yankees, with a 3.95 ERA, 205 K’s and a 1.24 WHIP through 184.2 innings. He gives us immediate starter depth, despite average stamina, and he put up 3.2 WAR and is locally popular. We’ve offered him a four year deal that starts at $12,750,000 for 2026, peaking at $15 million per year in 2028 and 2029, the final year being a player option. It’s not a great year for starters in free agency, but I think we were able to make a deal that’s fair for both sides, one that will help us immediately ... and if Darvish doesn’t completely fall off a cliff, we’ll have four legit starters who can help us get through more games, with Ryan Weber hanging on as a purely “control only” backend starter.

December 11, 2025: Winter meetings begin today, and we’ll get the bad news out of the way first ... we fell three spots in the draft lottery, and will now have the #5 pick behind Boston (formerly #9), Colorado (formerly #3) and Pittsburgh (formerly #4) along with Seattle, who have a comp pick at #4. But at least we aren’t San Francisco, owners of the #8 pick after plummeting from the top spot.

We’ve had two huge signings in the free agent market that should help shape our upcoming season’s trajectory:

- Ryan Helsley will be our closer for at least the next two seasons, as the former St. Louis Cardinal signed a deal worth $14.6 million this year and $15 million next year to join our White Sox. Last season in St. Louis he was 3-4 with 39 saves and a 2.72 ERA through 59.2 innings, striking out 71 with a 1.21 WHIP and 2.1 total WAR. At age 31, he was one of the top right-handers on the market, and I feel we got him at a reasonable salary without having to commit to a closer promise long term. He’s got great pitching defense and holds runners very well, and he still pitches at 98 mph or faster with ease. He’s also very popular, which is going to help our promotions department as we try and sell as many season tickets as possible.

- The other big signing was left handed reliever Jose Alvarado, who pitched last year in Milwaukee and Pittsburgh, going 6-9 with three saves, a 2.74 ERA and 82 K’s through 72.1 innings, and 1.9 WAR to go with his 1.22 WHIP. Alvarado will make $11 million this year and $11.6 million next year, and should be an immediate competitor for a late-innings setup role, along with Bazardo, who had expressed interest in getting more innings outside his closer role.

We’ve stuck with our plans thus far and have come out well ahead of expectations, so I’m very hopeful that we can make some moves at winter meetings and continue to fill holes as we get ever closer to the start of spring baseball!

December 12, 2025: We’ve made a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays that will send Yu Darvish’s albatross of a contract plus young catcher Kyle Teel to the Rays, in exchange for 30-year-old infielder Ha-seong Kim (retaining 55% on his one year deal) and 30-year-old right handed starter Drew Rasmussen, who is on a two year contract with a team option for next year that includes a $0 buyout. Rasmussen was 12-13 with a 3.67 ERA and 195 K’s through 196 innings last year for a mediocre Tampa team, and he’s a high velocity, high control pitcher who fits exactly what I love to see from a top of the rotation starter -- he’ll take some pressure off of Schultz too, so the 22-year-old won’t have to take on the role of “staff ace” in just his second season. Giving up Teel is a steep price, but we can work around potentially keeping Rasmussen around for more than his initial deal, and we don’t have to worry whether Darvish has the ability to pitch quality innings deep into a season (all our scouts are telling us he does not.) This is one of those deals that, had it come up anywhere other than winter meetings it might have wound up on the slush pile, quietly forgotten. But I’m going to go for it and take the risk, and it improves our cash situation by $3.6 million thanks to the retention on Kim’s one year deal.

December 16, 2025: In the Rule 5 draft we only took one player, Luis Sanchez from the Chicago Cubs organization. Sanchez, who is 22 years old, was an IAFA signing for Baltimore in 2019 and is still raw and untested, but he throws a mean fastball (over 100 mph according to our scouts) and he has a slider that is nearly its match. He’s something of a flyer ... either he’ll look good pitching this spring or we’ll cut him loose, but if he’s as good as I sense he could be, Sanchez could be the steal of our offseason. Edgar Quero was taken from us by the Reds, but while I think he’ll hit well for them, his ability to defend as a starting everyday catcher at age 22 is not something I’d bet on. More likely we’ll have him back at some point in the season ... it just wasn’t worth taking up a 40-man spot for him to avoid being selected.

December 19, 2025: We’ve made another move, this time with Baltimore, sending infielder Otto Lopez and minor league reliever Jake Peepers to the Orioles in exchange for outfielder Heston Kjerstad and $1,250,000 in cash. With the acquisition of Ha-song Kim earlier in the offseason, and Brooks Lee sitting behind him on the depth chart, we really didn’t need Otto in the lineup any longer ... being able to flip him for a starting left fielder of Kjerstad’s caliber was a no-brainer.

January 18, 2026: It’s the official start of the pre-season, and we signed two additional free agent deals! Gary Sanchez signed a two year deal worth $5,250,000 to be our backup catcher, and Cody Bellinger signed a four-year deal worth $70 million that includes a $17.2 million player option in 2028 and a vesting option worth $17.2 million in 2029 if he makes at least 550 plate appearances. Both deals have continued to keep our fan base happy, as fan interest is easily at a five-year high at the moment. We’re on track to sell 10,500 season tickets, an increase of more than 52 percent, and should make $300,000 more per home game this year despite lowering our ticket prices by nearly $1.75! Jerry Reinsdorf is so pleased with our progress, he’s opened his checkbook and offered up an additional $14,000,000 in budgetary space! As of right now according to ESPN we’ve had the third best offseason overall, picking up 8.6 net WAR across all our moves, and I now have very high expectations for us in the coming season.

The big offseason signing of the year, however, went to the Atlanta Braves, where 26-year-old Japanese slugger Etsuo “Sanchize” Den will earn $331 million spread over the next eight seasons. Den has an opt out after the 2030 season, when he’ll be making $46 million, after which he’ll make $36 million per year. His asks were too rich for our blood, though we did make an offer ... it just couldn’t compete with playing in Atlanta and not spending April and May freezing in the Chicago wind.

Aside from a few IAFA offers still outstanding, I think we’ve done what we can in a frenetic offseason of moves. It’ll be up to the players, under the tutelige of manager Ozzie Guillen, to find ways to put it all together and win on the field.

jksander · 04-23-2025, 11:50 AM

January 20, 2026: We’ve signed an IAFA player to a contract, sending 17-year-old center fielder Robby Garcia to our International Complex. He’s agreed to a signing bonus worth $1,750,000, and shows exceptional potential as a speedy baserunner with above-average power potential and decent, if not spectacular, outfield range.

January 21, 2026: Nobody got into the Hall of Fame this year ... only Ichiro Suzuki (74%) and Carlos Beltran (70.9%) came close. Manny Ramirez only got 41.8% in his 10th year of eligibility, so he’s been dropped from future consideration. The pressure’s going to be on Andruw Jones (51.7%), the only ninth year eligible player to get significant votes, to prove to voters next year that he’s worthy of getting the nod ... and considering he actually lost votes this year after cracking 60% in the last two years makes it highly unlikely he’ll make the cut. He’ll have to be happy with his 10 National League Gold Glove awards, unless he can get a groundswell of support. Me personally, I’m a “defense first” guy, and I think he should get in, but I’m not part of the voting press, so we’ll see what happens.

February 8, 2026: We signed 16-year-old right-handed reliever Danny Ortega from the Dominican Republic to join our International Complex, with a minor league bonus of $1,000,000. He has potentially exceptional control, thanks to a killer cutter he can already throw at 94 miles per hour, but he’s a long shot among long shots, so it may be years (if ever) before you hear of him again. We have $2 million in bonus pool remaining, but it’s looking less likely that we’ll use it all ... the pool in general was weak this year, which has encouraged teams to max-offer guys who otherwise wouldn’t have gotten a second look.

February 12, 2026: We’re sending the Los Angeles Angels 27-year-old first baseman Andrew Vaughn and 22-year-old left fielder prospect Braden Montgomery, in exchange for 25-year-old reliever Ben Joyce and $12,500,000 in cash. Joyce is still on a major league minimum contract and won’t be arbitration eligible until at least next offseason, and last year in LA he put up a 4-4 record with 25 saves and a 3.79 ERA, striking out 41 batters in 35.1 innings of work. He’ll be in the mix to compete for a key spot in our bullpen during spring training, but provides us significant added depth as well ... and though he had a couple injuries last year that kept his playing time down, we think that made the Angels willing to overpay in sending him our way. Works for me ... I like betting on players others overlook, and the cash consideration gives us significant room to wheel and deal later in the season if we need to plug a hole or two.

Reinsdorf is really pleased with what we’ve done this offseason, particularly with signing former MVP Cody Bellinger. Our fan support is up from 37% to 61%, and while it’s going to take time to determine how our team chemistry builds through the season and whether we can keep on track to play close to .500, I think we’ve got the team that can do it ... and if we do, we’re going to shock a lot of people here in the AL Central.

February 17, 2026: It felt at times like this day would never arrive, but it’s officially the start of spring training! We’ve got our invitees down in Glendale getting ready for the slate of 28 practice games, and then I will pare the roster down for our manager, Ozzie Guillen, as we prepare for opening day. The Padres and Cardinals will face off in Korea for a pair March 24-25 to officially open up the baseball season, with spring games wrapping up across the league around the 20th. We drew a horrible opening schedule, facing Cleveland on the road April 2nd, 3rd and 5th, followed by a series in Colorado April 6th through 8th and in Seattle April 10th through 12th. We then get to open our season at Rate Field by facing last year’s champs the Texas Rangers April 14th through 16th, followed by three against Cleveland the 17th through 19th.

February 25, 2026: Noah Schultz has worked hard all offseason and has improved his control significantly, to the point where he now scouts as a four-star player! His fastball and slider are his bread and butter pitches, but his changeup and sinker are good enough to keep batters guessing, and he pitches hard enough that he’s going to be tough for just about anyone to hit against this year. If those two pitches ever fully reach their potential, he’s got Cy Young future written all over him!

Down in the minors, Cody Frietas saw velocity improvement, and he’s ranked 96th nationally by the OSA among all prospects. But our scout is not as bullish on the future of our fourth rounder from last year’s rookie draft, and unless he can prove him wrong in theArizona Complex League this season, we may be better off considering trade offers later in the summer while his value is higher ... I’m not a fan of high risk high school pitching prospects anyway, and our scout Mike Shirley is excellent at evaluating players’ real tools versus their perceived “abilities.” So we’ll see what happens with him.

Brandon Pfaadt, meanwhile, put a lot of work this year into his endurance, significantly improving his ability to pitch deeper into games while also strengthening his arm to the point where our trainers feel he’ll be much more durable long term. He has at least two years left in arbitration, but if he’s able to improve on his performances from last year, we’re definitely going to be interested in potentially locking in a few of his free agency years in a contract later this season, if both sides can come to a reasonable agreement.

Hagen Smith, meanwhile, spent the offseason working on HIS endurance and had the opposite effect. Our trainers now fear he may not have as much potential as a starter, though we’re going to continue to work with the 22-year-old in AA this season to see if he can maximise his talents and reach AAA potential ... the 2024 first rounder remains a top ten prospect, and we’re in a position where we can work with him and not rush his development.

March 1, 2026: We’ve got our spring roster pared down to 32 players heading into the month of March, and cuts will come more carefully from here on, particularly among the pitching ranks, where we’re still up in the air on most of our bullpen positioning. We’re 4-6-1 so far in spring games, which of course are statistically meaningless results aside from determining who will or won’t make our final roster.

March 6, 2026: In our first bout of bad news this spring, Heston Kjerstad has suffered a knee contusion that he’s had difficulty healing from. We’re going ahead and putting him on the IL for now, as it has caused him significant issues when moving about in the outfield. We’re still hopeful he’ll be back and fully rested in time for opening day, but treating it as a “day to day” issue has not worked out so far. His absence from the roster will give Michael A. Taylor, Joshua Mears, Austin Slater and Terrell Tatum plenty of reps in left field to determine which of them are likely to be waived in the coming weeks, and who will instead make the roster as Kjerstad’s backup and our utility outfielder in general.

March 12, 2026: With a week of spring games remaining, it’s time we start making some deeper, tougher cuts. We’re 9-9-2 in spring games so far, performing slightly ahead of last-place Kansas City (10-10-1), and we’ve decided to waive Michael A. Taylor, sending Tatum down to the minors as well. All our starters are looking good so far, with Brandon Pfaadt in particular being on a real tear, with an 0.82 ERA through 11 spring innings We’ve sent Eric Adler back down to AA Birmingham, which gets us down to 29 players, but more cuts will be coming as we’re still carrying 15 pitchers on the roster, and preferably would need to cut at least three more. On the offensive side, once Kjerstad is able to come off the IL, we’ll almost certainly be waiving Austin Slater as well to get us down to our final list.

March 14, 2026: We’ve sent Ky Bush back down to the minors, waiving Tyler Gilbert as well since he’s out of options. Our final bullpen cut will either involve sending Rule 5 pick Luis Sanchez back to the Cubs or demoting Jonathan Cannon back down to the minors, but we’ll wait until the remaining spring games have been played before we make that decision. Both players have been playing well ... Cannon has a 1.72 ERA through 15.2 innings while Sanchez has a 1.80 ERA through 15 ... but we only need one long relief option, and Sanchez has stayed in the race because of his gaudy strikeout numbers (he’s fanned 25 batters in those 15 innings, by far the best of any of our pitchers). Tough decisions all around, but that’s why I’m getting paid nearly half a million dollars per year.

March 16, 2026: Michael A. Taylor cleared waivers but has refused to be demoted, so we’ve traded him and 25-year-old minor league reliever Prelander Berroa to the Pirates for $2,500,000 in cash considerations. We’ve waived Austin Slater to make room for Heston Kjerstad, and we’ll make our final pitching decision in a few days.

March 17, 2026: Tyler Gilbert cleared waivers and has been optioned to AAA Charlotte. And we’ve made the decision that keeping our talented rule five pick is more valuable than keeping Cannon at the major league level. He’ll return to AAA Charlotte to start the season, but will be available to return to the roster if we have injury issues ... the 25-year-old was 1-5 last year with a 4.50 ERA, so some time at AAA won’t hurt him in his development, and he has the potential still to be a spot starter if he puts in the work.

March 19, 2026: Austin Slater cleared waivers and will be optioned to AAA Charlotte.

March 21, 2026: We’ve finished spring training, with a record of 14-11-3, good for a third-place finish in the division behind Detroit (15-10-3) and Cleveland (18-7-3). We’ll have our official opening day roster ready to be announced on “International Opening Day” on the 24th, and will then have a week to rest everyone up in preparation for our nine-game road stretch to open the season.

jksander · 04-23-2025, 11:51 AM

March 24, 2026: It’s “International Opening Day,” and we’ve officially got our roster set for the start of the upcoming season! Jerry Reinsdorf has made it clear he expects us to continue to show significant improvement, and anything less than a .500 record is going to be seen as a disappointment considering how many critical moves we made this offseason. The folks at the Sporting News have us finishing fourth in the division with a 79-83 record, ahead of the Tigers but well behind the Twins and Royals who are expected to be pushing toward 90 wins each, with whoever doesn’t win the division expecting to be locked in a brutal battle with the teams in the East for wildcard scraps. Noah Schultz is expected to be in the Cy Young hunt as one of the top pitchers in the league, and we’re hopeful that our bullpen improvements give us a real edge in close games. The Braves and Yankees are the early favorites, with 103 wins each in the preseason predictions, and the Braves’ Japanese import, Etsuo Den, is anticipated to be one of the top hitters in either league and an MVP contender.

Here’s our opening day roster:

Lineup
C - Brandon Valenzuela (25)
1B - Michael Vargas (26)
2B - Ha-seong Kim (30)
3B - Chase Meidroth (24)
SS - Yordys Valdes (24)
LF - Heston Kjerstad (27)
CF - Ceddanne Rafaela (25)
RF - Cody Bellinger (30)
DH - Mike Tauchman (35)

Bench
C - Gary Sanchez (33)
1B - Joey Gallo (32)
2B - Brooks Lee (25)
3B - Andre Lipcius (27)
LF - Joshua Mears (25)

Starters
1 - Noah Schultz (22)
2 - Drew Rasmussen (30)
3 - Dylan Cease (30)
4 - Brandon Pfaadt (27)
5 - Sean Burke (26)

Bullpen
CL - Ben Joyce (25)
SE (8+) - Ryan Helsley (31)
SE (7+) - Jose Alvarado (30)
MR - Eduard Bazardo (30)
MR - Julian Merryweather (34)
MR - Luis Sanchez (23)
LR - Noah Syndergaard (33)

- - - - -

Division Schedule
Cleveland (H): 4/17-19, 9/14-17
Cleveland (A): 4/2, 4/4-5, 7/31-8/2,
Minnesota (H): 4/14-16, 9/18-20
Minnesota (A): 7/16-19, 8/14-16
Detroit (H): 5/4-7, 8/7-9
Detroit (A): 5/25-27, 9/25-27
Kansas City (H): 7/10-12, 9/29-10/1
Kansas City (A): 5/28-31, 9/22-24

The final month of the season is going to be brutal, and unless someone already has a huge lead, no divisional or wildcard races will be secure until the final week I'd wager. From September 14 through October 1 we'll have 16 games combined against all four divisional opponents, which should be great for late-season ticket sales!

jksander · 04-23-2025, 02:27 PM

April 2, 2026: It’s opening day on the road against our divisional rivals the Cleveland Guardians, who we get to face six times this month! Noah Schultz has been named our opening day starter, and the 22-year-old matched wits on the mound with Cleveland’s Reese Olson, 26, who last year went 7-13 for the Guardians with a 4.47 ERA through 165 innings over 32 starts. We took the lead in the top of the second with an RBI single by Miguel Vargas, and Brandon Valenzuela followed him with an RBI single to give us a 2-0 lead. But they tied it up in the bottom of the fourth when Jose Ramirez hit a two-run slam out of left. Cedanne Rafaela hit an RBI single to get us back into the lead in the top of the sixth, and Schultz got us through the sixth inning, stranding a runner on third to keep his lead. Julian Merryweather took over in the seventh inning with the one run lead still safe, but it didn’t last, as Bo Naylor hit a powerful flyball out of right field as the leadoff hitter, tying it at 3-3. But he got us through the rest of the inning and stranded two runners as we remained tied, Luis Sanchez taking over in the eighth. Sanchez was impressive, striking out two batters and stranding a walked runner on second, and with the score still tied Ryan Hensley came out in the bottom of the ninth as we hoped for extra innings. We got our wish as he got us out of the ninth with Tyler Freeman batting into a 6-4-3 double play, as this one went into the 10th inning knotted up 3-3. Unfortunately we weren’t able to score in the top of the inning, and in the bottom of the inning a sac-fly by Steven Kwan allowed the pinch-runner to score from third, winning this for Cleveland 4-3. Merryweather blew the save and Helsley took the loss despite not giving up an earned run (thanks, ghost runner!) but Schultz had a great debut, pitching six innings with three hits, a walk, two runs and seven strikeouts, throwing 88 pitches. Each team had seven hits, ours led by Rafaela, who had two hits, a run and an RBI, while Valenzuela had a pair of hits, a walk and an RBI.

April 4, 2026: Drew Rasmussen pitched his first game for us this afternoon against Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee, who won 13 games for the Guardians last year and was among their top pitchers. Rasmussen’s day did not start out well ... he loaded the bases in the bottom of the first and Johnathan Rodriguez hit a three-run triple that quickly asserted the home team’s dominance. His start has to be called a disaster, as he gave up three more runs in the inning before getting his final strikeout, digging us a 6-0 hole in less than 20 minutes. It’s too early in the year to start destroying the bullpen over a brutal first inning, so we kept him out there in the second and he settled down enough to put some actual work in. Noah Syndergaard took over in the bottom of the fifth with the score unchanged, but with one out he gave up a run off a single by Angel Genao, and a sac-fly by Brayan Rocchio continued to pile on. Our offense was abjectly terrible all day, and though our bullpen did well, it didn’t matter in an 8-0 blowout. Rasmussen’s ego definitely took a big hit, with seven hits, a walk and six runs (three earned) against him in four innings’ work ... striking out three along the way as an afterthought as he started his season at 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA. Eduard Bazardo got seven outs for us across three innings, allowing one hit with two strikeouts in a solid turn, but we were outhit 11-7, and even with 10 total baserunners we couldn’t even bother to score. Valenzuela hit twice, while Kjerstad and Vargas each hit and walked.

April 5, 2026: Dylan Cease returned to our Sox in game three against the Guardians on the road, facing Bryce Miller, who only spent a third of his season last year with Cleveland, and he’s yet to win a game in their uniform. It was cold and windy all afternoon, and offense was nonexistant for both teams early on. Cease didn’t allow a single baserunner until the bottom of the fourth when he walked Will Castro, and he allowed his first hit in the fifth, a line drive double for Jose Ramirez which accounted for the game’s first runner in scoring position. With two outs, Cleveland finally broke the stalemate with an RBI single by Derek Hill, and just like that they held a 1-0 lead. Cease got us through the seventh and into the stretch trailing just by the one run, and we started to see chinks in their armor in the bottom of the inning when both Valenzuela and pinch-hitter Brooks Lee walked to get us into scoring position. Chase Meidroth walked the bases loaded with one out, and we tied the score on a wild pitch with the count 1-0 against Kjerstad, Lee and Meidroth each advancing! Kjerstad got a hit into the outfield, singling in Brooks Lee for the lead, though Meidroth tried for home and barely missed out on scoring himself as well. Bellinger struck out swinging and we went into the bottom of the eighth in unfamilar territory ... with a lead! Ryan Helsley took the ball to start the inning, getting two quick outs before Jonathan India hit a line drive double that drove in the tying run ... but they too got greedy, and we got Steven Kwan out at home plate, keeping the game tied into the top of the ninth. Tauchman walked with one out, and Valenzuela walked him into scoring position with two outs, but Brooks Lee popped out to short and we brought out closer Ben Joyce to try and get us into extras. He got two quick outs, but then let Jose Ramirez hit a single, followed immediately by a single for Bo Naylor that sent Ramirez to third, ninety feet away from walking this off. Jonathan Rodriguez stepped up to the plate ... and struck out swinging, sending us into extras for the second time this series!

In the top of the 10th, they walked He-seong Kim, with Brooks Lee as the pinch-runner at second. A wild pitch advanced both runners, and Chase Meidroth hit one into the left corner, driving in two runs with a single! Bellinger beat out an infield hit to take first, pushing Meidroth into scoring position with one out, and Tauchman almost did the same with two outs, but he was tagged out in a photo finish, sending us into the bottom of the inning with a two-run lead. With one out, Brayan Rocchio hit into a fielder’s choice, and we took the out at second, letting their pinch-runner score. Luis Sanchez took over with one out and the runner on first, and he got two quick outs around a hit by Tyler Freeman as we escaped this one with a 4-3 victory! Dylan Cease had a wickedly good start, with seven innings and just two hits, a walk, a run and eight strikeouts, but Helsley blew his save attempt, setting up Ben Joyce for the win and 23-year-old rule fiver Luis Sanchez for the save. Our bullpen depth definitely helped us in this one, and we matched them on hits with seven each -- Kjerstad leading the way with two hits and an RBI.

jksander · 04-23-2025, 02:49 PM

April 6, 2026: We’re in Colorado now for three games at Coors, with Brandon Pfaadt set to pitch his first game against the Rockies’ lefty Jordan Wicks, who was claimed off waivers from the Cubs back in January -- he hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2024, but was 3-1 with a 4.28 ERA last year for the Iowa Cubs in AAA. The Rockies are off to a 2-2 start, and after playing two extra innings games in a four day stretch, we could definitely use a good start to help rest our bullpen. But as we all know, pitchers in Coors often make plans that the baseball gods scoff at. Case in point, Colrado got their lead in the bottom of the first when the second batter of the inning, Michael Toglia, took one out of the park to left, giving them an immediate 2-0 lead. We got on the board in the top of the third when Chase Meidroth reached on an E5 error, and we tied it up with an RBI single by Vargas moments later. In the bottom of the sixth Ezequiel Toyar hit an RBI single on two outs that got them the lead, though we got the trailing runner out to end the inning. We loaded the bases in the top of the seventh with one out, and pinch-hitter Brooks Lee subbed in and walked in a run to tie the score .. he’d take over at shortstop for Yordys Valdes, who has started this season out in a serious slump. He-seong Kim kept the rally going, beating out an infield hit to reach safely AND drive home the go-ahead run, and we went into the stretch leading 4-3! Jose Alvarado took over for Pfaadt on the mound in the bottom of the inning, and he got us through two innings without a baserunner, striking out three as we maintained the lead. Ryan Helsley took the ball in the ninth inning with the score unchanged, but with one out the Rockies tied the score with a solo bomb out of right ... thanks a lot, Zac Veen! He got us out of the inning still tied at 4-4, but for the third time in five days we were headed for extra innings.

A wild pitch that filled the count against He-seong Kim allowed the pinch-runner, Brooks Lee, to take third base in the top of the 10th, and they subsequently walked Kim to give us runners on the corners, no outs. Bellinger hit into a fielder’s choice for our second out but was able to drive Lee home to give us a 5-4 lead heading into the bottom of the inning. Julian Merryweather took over on the mound, but with one out an RBI single scored the pinch-runner and tied us up again. Eduard Bazardo took the ball with runners on first and second, and we were headed for another inning once Hunter Goodman hit into a 6-4-3 double play. With one out they intentionally walked Ceddanne Rafaela, and Vargas and Rafaela pulled off the run and hit when Tauchman swung at a strike, putting two in scoring position! Tauchman hit what we’d thought would be a sac-fly, but both runners held their spots, but Brandon Valenzuela had a real hero’s moment for us -- he hit a fastball out of the park into the seats in right, driving in three runs to put us firmly in the lead! Bazardo had only thrown two pitches in the 10th, so he stayed out in the bottom of the 11th, getting three quick flyball outs to end the game as an 8-5 victory in 11 innings! Pfaadt gave us six innings with six hits, three runs and four strikeouts, and though Helsley AND Merryweeather each blew their second saves of the season, Eduard Bazardo was lights out through 1.2 innings, no hits or baserunners as he improved to 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA through four innings. Colorado outhit us 9-7, our offense led by Valenzuela who had a hit, a walk, a run and three RBIs!

Four games into the season we’re already 2-1 in extra innings games and 1-1 in one-run games, something I never would have been able to say last season. It’s way too early to put a finger on any one thing that’s had us fighting this hard, but our pitching has been significantly more consistant in these early games. I’m hopeful we can keep this up!

April 7, 2026: Sean Burke pitched his first start today in Colorado, facing Rockies starter Nick Frasso, two power-pitchers going head to head. We took the lead in the top of the first when Cody Bellinger reached first on an E6 error, but Burke got into a tight spot in the bottom of the third and didn’t escape it ... instead, Zac Veen hit a two-run double to get them into the lead 2-1. Burke got us through the fifth, but our bats couldn’t get the lead back, so Luis Sanchez took over in the sixth trailing still by a run. He picked up two strikeouts in the sixth and struck out the side in the seventh, striking out two more for fun in the eighth before Syndergaard came out to relieve him. He got us out of the inning with the lead unchanged, our bats coming out in the top of the ninth with a chance ... Valenzuela took a leadoff walk, but Yordys Valdes hit into a U3-6 double play. We should have been dead right there, but they walked He-seong Kim and Chase Meidroth, bringing up Kjerstad who was just itching to make some contact! Unfortunately for us, their closer got the final out and we lost another tight one by a 2-1 margin despite incredible bullpen pitching. Burke lasted five innings with two hits, three walks and five strikeouts, but his two earned runs doomed us, and he started his season with an 0-1 record and a 3.60 ERA. Luis Sanchez has been as good as I expected (and better, even!) when we picked him in the rule 5 draft ... he pitched 2.2 innings tonight with one hit and seven strikeouts, and we outhit Colorado 5-3. Our bats just couldn’t deliever down the stretch, though we walked seven times and definitely had our chances. Kim led the way with a hit and three walks, scoring our one run ... he’s now hit just .167, but his eye has led to six walks against five strikeouts, so he’s getting on base 40 percent of the time.

April 8, 2026: Noah Schultz (0-0, 3.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 7 K’s, 0.67 WHIP) pitched against Colorado’s Pedro Avila (1-0, 2.84 ERA, 6.1 IP, 3 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) in a battle of aces, but it was Schultz getting dinged early, with an RBI triple by Brenton Doyle putting them up 1-0 in the bottom of the first just minutes into the start of this one. Doyle scored off a groundout by Ryan McMahon, but Schultz got two strikeouts to end the inning with us just trailing by a pair. Ceddane Rafaela hit a two-run single to tie the score in the top of the sixth, but Schultz gave up a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to McMahon, so Merryweather had to take over with clear bases and no outs, and he was the one to get us through the inning trailing now by two. Bazardo came out to pitch in the seventh, and he should have had us out of the inning except Ryan McMahon hit a ball high into the air, should have had it caught by Rafaela, but he misgauged it and the ump ruled it an RBI single, extending Colorado’s lead to three runs. Syndergaard took over in the eighth, and we didn’t make a sound as we took the 6-2 loss and headed for Seattle with a 2-4 record to start our incredibly brutal road season. Schultz pitched five innings with five hits, a walk and seven strikeouts, and had he stopped at five he would have just had two hits ... but he stayed out in the sixth and we got hammered, giving him an 0-1 record and 4.91 ERA through his first two starts. We were outhit 10-9, with Kjerstad and Bellinger each hitting twice with a run.

Next up: the Seattle Mariners, after a day off for travel. They’re off to a 4-2 start after road series against the Twins and Brewers, and they’re coming off a sweep against Milwaukee that included 8-5 and 6-4 wins in extra innings. So they’re battle tested and have a stronger overall team than us on paper. This one won’t be an easy one. We’ll then return to Chicago to face the Twins and Guardians, the two best teams in the division early on ... we’re in fourth place right now, a game up on the 1-5 Tigers.

jksander · 04-23-2025, 05:34 PM

April 10, 2026: Drew Rasmussen (0-1, 6.75 ERA, 4.0 IP, 3 K’s, 2.00 WHIP) started against George Kirby (0-0, 9.00 ERA, 5.0 IP, 5 K’s, 1.20 WHIP), and neither starter was happy with how their first game of the year went ... plenty of room for improvement. Rasmussen’s day didn’t start much better than his first one, giving up an RBI double to Julio Rodriguez before even getting a single out, and a three-run slam by Kyle Schwarber cleared the bases ... a quick 4-0 lead for the home team. By the time he got out of the inning we trailed 5-0, only a tiny improvement on his 6-0 inning in game one, and I’m starting to seriously question whether we made a mistake betting on the 30-year-old. Small sample size, I know, but a 39-pitch first inning immediately after a bad outing like the one he had in Cleveland, it’s not a great sign. He gave up a solo homer to Schwarber, his second of the game, in the bottom of the second but got out of the inning with a pair of strikeouts ... and in the name of not blowing up the bullpen in the first game of the series we let him keep pitching, but three innings was his limit. Noah Syndergaard took over in the top of the fourth with a 6-0 hole to stare out of, and the game became a rout. Luis Sanchez drew some cheers even from the home team as he struck out a pair in his mop-up innings at the end of the game, but it’s a lot easier to cheer when your team is the one winning 10-0 while being struck out. Rasmussen’s not going to get a lot more rope after two starts where he now sits at 0-2 with a 10.29 ERA, two starts totalling just seven innings. But they outhit us 15-2, so even one run was going to get a loss in a game like this. We didn’t even get any walks, finishing the game with two paltry baserunners.

April 11, 2026: Dylan Cease (0-0, 1.29 ERA, 7.0 IP, 8 K’s, 0.43 WHIP) pitched against Jackson Rose (0-0, 16.88 ERA, 2.2 IP, 3 K’s, 3.00 WHIP) in game two, and we took the lead in the top of the first when Kjerstad hit into a fielder’s choice, driving home Kim, who had reached base thanks to an error as our leadoff hitter. But we were unable to run the score up on them, just coming out of the frame with the one run, and back to back doubles for Randy Arozarena and Nick Castellanos tied us right up in the bottom of the inning. A killer throw by Bellinger from deep left got our final out in the bottom of the third, off a hit that anytime last year would have guaranteed the Mariners a lead ... instead we got Schwarber out trying for home and kept the score at 1-1. Rose was gone from the game with two outs in the fifth, but Cease did manage to get us through five full innings, with the score still knotted at one each ... and that was enough time for Tauchman to buy us the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth, batting home Kjerstad from second to put us up 2-1! Eduard Bazardo came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning, getting one out before blowing the save with a solo homer by Schwarber tying the score at 2-2. We took back the lead in the top of the eighth thanks to a two-run double by Kjerstad, Alvarado taking over in the bottom of the inning to hold it. Valenzuela reached base on an E8 error in the eighth, adding on a run when Rafaela came in to score, and with one out and nobody on in the bottom of the eighth Ryan Helsley came out to relieve Alvarado, striking out a pair to protect the three-run lead. Ben Joyce came out to close in the bottom of the ninth, facing the bottom of their lineup, but it went nothing as planned ... with one out and the bases loaded, we desperately started warming up Sanchez, our power strikeout man ... but we wound up not needing him, as Joyce got Arozarena to ground into a 5-2-3 double play as we beat the Mariners 5-2, none of their runners scoring! Cease got us through five hard-fought innings with five hits, seven strikeouts and just one earned run, and though Bazardo blew his first save of the year he also got his second win, improving to 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA with two hits, a run and three strikeouts in his inning. Alvarado and Bazardo each had holds, and Joyce saved the game in the most difficult way possible. They outhit us 10-9, but we outwalked them 5-1 and our offense was led by Kjerstad, who hit twice and walked once, scoring once and driving in three more.

April 12, 2026: One more game and we can get home to Chicago where our fans are ready to celebrate our home opener in style. Brandon Pfaadt (0-0, 4.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 4 K’s, 1.00 WHIP) got his second start of the year against Thomas Harris (0-0, 4.76 ERA, 5.2 IP, 2 K’s, 1.41 WHIP), and this became a duel of the highest order. Unfortunately for Pfaadt, his near perfect night ended with a solo homer by Yoan Moncado with one out in the bottom of the seventh that broke the stalemate and put the Mariners into the lead. Luis Sanchez took over and was immediately rung up by Cal Raleigh for another solo bomb, and with a runner on first and two outs we had to bring out Alvarado to finish things. Incredibly, our bats woke up in the top of the eighth ... Tauchman got us on the board with an RBI single, and then Brandon Valenzuela hit a grand slam homer to push us into the lead 5-2, on just the 25-year-old’s second homer of the season! Ryan Helsley took over in the bottom of the inning, getting three quick flyouts to right, and Ben Joyce came out again in the ninth, getting two outs but giving up an RBI double to J.P. Crawford, cutting our lead to two. Julian Merryweather came out to relieve him, and it was the worst possible outcome ... Arozarena hit a two-run homer to blow the save, tying the score at 5-5, and instead of going to extra innings Castellanos walked it off with a solo homer to pretty much the same goddamned spot ... unbelievable, only we could find a way to go into the frame up by three and still lose it 6-5. That’s Merryweather’s third blown save, and he took the loss as well, falling to 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA through four innings. But Seattle outhit us 11-6, so we were riding a razor’s edge, leading only because of the fluke grand slam. Valenzuela, who is now hitting .391 with two homers and nine RBIs, got four of those in one swoop to lead the team today.

We’ll head back to Chicago with a 3-6 record through our first brutal road trip. This week we’ll have three games against the 5-4 Twins, who sit in second place now in the division, followed by three against the 7-2 Guardians who already handed us two of our losses. We’re in fourth place, a game and a half back of the 5-5 Royals but still half a game ahead of the 3-7 Tigers.

jksander · 04-23-2025, 05:37 PM

April 14, 2026: Noah Schultz (0-1, 4.91 ERA, 11.0 IP, 14 K’s, 0.91 WHIP) got the start in game one against the Twins, facing Pablo Lopez (1-0, 0.93 ERA, 9.2 IP, 10 K’s, 0.83 WHIP) in front of 40,000 White Sox fans who have been awaiting their first look at this team on our own field. Heston Kjerstad hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth to give us the lead, and Schultz was perfect until Royce Lewis hit a double with one out in the top of the fifth. Unfortunately the next batter, Ryan Jeffers, hit an RBI single to tie it up, and the NEXT batter hit a two-run homer to ruin the young starter’s night as we lost the lead to the Twins 3-1. He got through the rest of the inning, but five hits did him in as it was unlikely he’d be back out for more. Eduard Bazardo took over in the top of the sixth, trailing by a pair, and in the bottom of the sixth we got it tied back up when Kjerstad hit his second homer of the game, a two-run blast to make it a 3-3 ballgame! Bazardo got us into the stretch still tied, and Luis Sanchez came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, getting two outs before Joc Pederson hit a two-run blomb out of center to shoot the Twins back into the lead 5-3. But we weren’t done yet ... Chase Meidroth got us a run back with a groundout to first that scored Valenzuela, and Kjerstad hit an RBI single to tie the score up at 5-5 heading into the top of the ninth! Jose Alvarado took the ball in the top of the inning, striking out the side as we came back up hoping to end this quickly. Ceddanne Rafaela took a leadoff walk, but Tauchman struck out swinging and Vargas hit into a fielder’s choice, the Twins taking Rafaela out at second. Brandon Valenzuela came up big with a hit into right, a single that coupled with an E9 error allowed us to put two runners in scoring position with our two outs. Brooks Lee came out to pinch-hit for Yordys Valdes, and the wind almost carried his hit out of the park, but their center fielder Byron Buxton stole it at the wall. Once again, we’re headed for extras!

Ben Joyce took the ball in the top of the 10th with their pinch-runner Ryan Jeffers on second. Rafaela made a great catch off a hit by Edouard Julien, holding Jeffers at second, and MJ Melendez grounded out to first, their number one hitter Luke Keaschall promptly striking out swinging, bringing us up with the top of our order ready to hit in the bottom of the inning, speedster Brandon Lee on second and ready to go. With one out, Chase Meidroth grounded out to first and advanced Lee to within ninety feet of a walkoff, but Kjerstad popped out harmlessly to left and this one kept going. With two outs and the bases loaded, Joyce let Matt Wallner walk in the go-ahead, and Brandon Helsley took over from there, hoping for a quick end so we could hit again. He got it, striking out Jeffers swinging, and Bellinger led off in the bottom of the 11th with Kjerstad on second. Bellinger popped out to deep left, allowing Kjerstad to take third, and Ceddanne Rafaela hit a solid bouncer into center-right, a double that tied the score up at 6-6! But Tauchman struck out swinging and Vargas grounded out to first ... we couldn’t finish them off! With one out in the top of the 12th they again took the lead, this time the pinch-runner scoring off a flyball double by MJ Melendez. They then added on with two more off a triple by Carlos Correa before Helsley finished them off with a pair of strikeouts, bringing us up to hit trailing by three. With runners on the corners and two outs, Chase Meidroth damned near tied the game, but they caught the high flyball at the wall and this one ended as a 9-6 loss in 12 innings. Helsley took the loss, falling to 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA through six appearances and 6.2 innings, and Minnesota outhit us 11-7, spoiling a two homer night for Kjerstad,who had three hits, three runs and five RBIs to bring his average up to .279.

April 15, 2026: Sean Burke (0-1, 3.60 ERA, 5.0 IP, 5 K’s, 1.00 WHIP) pitched against Joe Musgrove (0-1, 12.27 ERA, 3.2 IP, 4 K’s, 2.18 WHIP), and the Twins took the lead in the top of the first with a two-out solo homer by Joc Pederson. But we came up big in the bottom of the third, loading the bases and then shooting us into the lead with a two-run double by Bellinger! Kjerstad scored off a groundout by Rafaela, and Bellinger scored a fourth run when Tauchman reached first on an E8 error, and we went into the fourth inning leading confidently 4-1. Burke struck out the side in the top of the fourth, and Bellinger made a killer throw with two outs to peg their runner out at third from deep right field, the kind of play you rarely see! Julian Merryweather took the ball in the top of the sixth, still leading 4-1, and after he hit back to back opponents (including Joc Pederson who had to be pulled from the game with a concussion) we had to switch to Syndergaard with runners on first and second, one out -- Merryweather just cannot find his rhythm this year! Syndergaard stranded both runners, and in the seventh he got two outs before we went to Luis Sanchez with Ryan Jeffers on first. He got us into the stretch with the lead unchanged, and a sac-fly by Tauchman gave us a 5-1 lead heading into the eighth inning.

Jose Alvarado came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, but he had a total meltdown, loading the bags and letting a run score off a wild pitch. So much for our revitalized bullpen, because we keep blowing excellent leads ... this time Matt Wallner batted in two more runs with a single, and then he got himself together enough to strike out a pair, giving us time to bring out Eduard Bazardo with two outs, a man on first and a tenuous one-run lead. He got Jeffers to strike out, however, and we went into the bottom of the inning needing serious insurance. We were unable to buy any, however, even with Bellinger at the plate with two outs and loaded bases, so in the top of the ninth Ryan Helsley took over as we hoped to keep this lead safe long enough to escape with a win. It wasn’t easy, but he pitched around a pair of baserunners and did just that, as we held tough to the 5-4 win against a heated rival. Burke improved to 1-1 with the win, lasting five innings with four hits, six strikeouts and an earned run as he improved his ERA to 2.70. Merryweather, Syndergaard, Sanchez and Bazardo each had holds, and Helsley saved his first game of the year ... we outhit Minnesota 10-7, led again by Kjerstad who had four hits and two runs scored, improving his average to .333!

We claimed Minnesota starter Matt Canterino off waivers after the game, and he got told after we handed them the loss ... he packed his bags and joined our team immediately and I’m sure Miami is disappointed, knowing we beat out their initial claim to snag him. The 28-year-old has started two games for the Twins this year, putting together a 1-0 record with a 0.00 ERA thorugh 11 innings, striking out eight with a 0.73 WHIP ... that they’ve been good enough to need to waive a kid like him suggests this could be a real steal. We’re waiving Merryweather to make room for him, and Canterino will join our bullpen as a second long-reliever / spot starter alongside Syndergaard.

April 16, 2026: Drew Rasmussen (0-2, 10.29 ERA, 7.0 IP, 6 K’s, 2.57 WHIP) started his third game of the season, facing Joe Ryan (0-1, 3.38 ERA, 10.2 IP, 11 K’s, 0.94 WHIP). He got through the first inning with a pair of hits but nobody scoring, which was a huge relief and a lot of pressure off his shoulders ... two firsts in a row with five or more runs will do that to you. Too bad we gave him no run support early, so he had to really work the edges ... but he got through five scoreless innings. Matt Canterino came out in the top of the sixth, the game still scoreless, and with two on and two outs we had to go to Syndergaard, who did get the final out to keep us tied. Finally our bats woke up in the bottom of the inning, when Heston Kjerstad parted the red sea with a two-run homer out of center to put us up 2-0! Syndergaard got us into the stretch with the lead still safe, but our bullpen is absolute gassed so we were going to have to seriously play the game of our lives to hold it. Syndergaard was up to the challenge ... three quick outs in the eighth and then in the top of the ninth we met disaster as Byron Buxton hit a two-run homer to tie it up. Desperate, we had to bring out Brandon Pfaadt, who threw 88 pitches as a starter four nights ago, with nobody on and nobody out. He got a strikeout and two flyouts to get us into the bottom of the inning needing a walkoff more than ever before. Tauchman led off with a single and Valenzuela walked him into scoring position, and they had no choice but to walk Gallo too ... that brought up Yordys Valdes with loaded bases and no outs, the perfect recipe to snap him out of his hitting slump. Or, well, at least to get him to hit a sac-fly that drove in the winning run as we got out of here with a gassed bullpen and a 3-2 win!

Pfaadt only had to throw nine pitches and he got the win, improving to 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA ... he wasn’t next in the rotation, but it is definitely going to throw things off in his next-start preparations. We outhit them 8-3, led by Kjerstad with two hits, a run and two RBIs, and we had to make some moves ahead of tomorrow’s first game against Cleveland. Joshua Mears went down to the minors so we could call up Jonathan Cannon from AAA Charlotte as an extra arm. If we’re lucky we’ll be able to get a good start from Cease and let the bullpen rest some tomorrow, with Cannon then available to spot start in game two while we get our rotation rested.

Speaking of Cleveland, they’ll come into town with a sparkling 9-4 record, leading the second-place Royals by a game and a half. We’re still in fourth place but are only trailing Minnesota now by a single game, and our 5-7 record is certainly better than anyone expected with us playing our first nine games on the road.

jksander · 04-23-2025, 06:52 PM

April 17, 2026: Whatever you want to say about our White Sox this year, everybody’s earning their pay. We’re just 12 games into our season and already are 2-2 in extra innings games and 3-3 in one-run games, despite a -19 run differential that ranks third-worst in the American League, only ahead of the 3-10 Athletics and 3-10 Rangers out in the AL West. Dylan Cease (0-0, 1.50 ERA, 12.0 IP, 15 K’s, 0.67 WHIP) got his third start of the year tonight in our first game at Rate Field against the Guardians, facing Brayan Bello (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 13.0 IP, 8 K’s, 0.62 WHIP) in what was expected to be a maximum level pitching duel. Jose Ramirez hit into a 4-6-3 double play in the top of the first, driving in the go-ahead for the Guardians, and Cease struggled to get that third out ... two more runs scored when Gavin Lux hit an RBI double, and we went into the bottom of the inning trailing 3-0 -- in a game where we need Cease to get deep into the game, that was not optimal. We finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single by Cedanne Rafaela, and Cease settled in incredibly well, getting us into the stretch still trailing by just the two runs. He stayed out to finish the eighth inning as well, becoming our first starter all year to break 100 pitches, and when the ninth inning rolled around and we were still in the hole, he got three quick outs to become the first starter since I took the team over to go a full regulation nine innings. In the bottom of the ninth, Brooks Lee pinch-hit for Yordys Valdes, taking a leadoff walk, and with the count full against him, Ha-seong Kim singled him into scoring position. But we weren’t able to get either of them in to score, losing this one 3-1.

Dylan Cease did everything in his power to make up for that first inning, but even a complete game six hitter wasn’t enough ... two walks, five strikeouts and three earned runs finished his stat-line as he fell to 0-1 with a 2.14 ERA through 21 innings, and that may be the most White Sox stat-line for a pitcher ever. Worse, we actually outhit them 10-6, but they walked five times and were able to overcome the hitting disparity, our offense led by Meidroth with two hits and a run, while Rafaela added two hits and an RBI.

April 18, 2026: The good thing about Cease pitching his complete game yesterday is that our bullpen is nicely rested, which is going to allow us to rest Noah Schultz an extra day and get our rotation back onto its proper rotation. Jonathan Cannon took the bullpen start, making his first appearance for us this season after starting out 1-0 through 17.1 innings with 23 K’s and a 1.04 WHIP down in AAA. He faced off against Cleveland’s Hunter Gaddis (0-1, 9.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 6 K’s, 1.89 WHIP), and he got us through four scoreless innings before our bats awoke in the bottom of the fourth, Vargas batting in two with a line drive double to get us on the board! Brandon Valenzuela hit an RBI single to add on, giving us a 3-0 cushion heading into the fifth for Cannon to stay out there to qualify for the win. Eduardo Bazardo took over in the top of the sixth, getting three quick outfield flies to end the inning with ease. Luis Sanchez took the ball in the seventh, and we added on three more runs in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single by Meidroth, a groundout by Kjerstad and an RBI single for Ceddanne Rafaela! Sanchez struck out three in the eighth to strand David Fry on first, and former Twin Matt Canterino came out to mop things up in the ninth with a huge lead. He got two quick outs and then had to be pulled after he complained of a jammed finger. Ryan Helsley took over with two outs and a man on first, striking out Bo Naylor swinging as we completed the 6-0 shutout victory! Cannon started his season with a 1-0 record and a 0.00 ERA, getting through five innings with two hits, two walks and three strikeouts! Bazardo and Sanchez earned holds, and Sanchez was particularly impressive, pitching two innings with a hit and five strikeouts -- through his first eight bullpen apperances, the 22-year-old Dominican right-hander has struck out 19 batters through 9.1 innings, with just FOUR WALKS and seven hits against him! Thankfully the Cubs didn’t know what they had and left him unprotected ... today we outhit the Guardians 9-4, led by Miguel Vargas with two hits, a run and two RBIs.

April 19, 2026: Noah Schultz (0-1, 5.06 ERA, 16.0 IP, 19 K’s, 0.94 WHIP) pitched in game three against Cleveland’s Reese Olson (1-0, 3.72 ERA, 19.1 IP, 21 K’s, 0.93 WHIP), and in the bottom of the fourth we broke through with a run off a fielder’s choice, Ceddanne Rafaela’s hit driving in Meidroth to put us up 1-0. But a pair of weak infield squibs that each should have been outs set up Steven Kwan for what became an RBI single to tie us up on two outs, sending us into the bottom of the fifth stuck in another squeaker. With Schultz at 88 pitches and tiring fast, we brought out Noah Syndergaard in the top of the sixth, and with two outs and two men on, he let Brayan Rocchio hit an RBI double to put Cleveland up 2-1. Their next batter, Gavin Lux, hit a three-run bomb out of left and this one was suddenly not so close. Jose Alvarado took the ball in the seventh, trailing 5-1 at the time, but the game became a rout in the eighth -- with two outs and men on first and second, Luis Sanchez came out to face a 9-1 bloodbath, and though he got the four outs we needed to get through the rest of the game, our bats were completely absent as we lost by the same margin. Let’s face it, when we get crushed, we get crushed BADLY. Schultz had a solid five innings, with three hits, three strikeouts and an unearned run as his ERA improved to 3.86. But Syndergaard took the loss thanks to three hits and four runs with a walk and a strikeout in his inning, and Alvarado gave up six hits and four runs with a walk and two strikeouts in his 1.2 innings. They outhit us 12-3, Kjerstad leading the way with a hit and a walk while Rafaela batted in our only run.

Matt Canterino is a bust ... our recent waiver claim from Minnesota will spend the next three months on the IL ... his “jammed finger” actually resulted in a ruptured tendon. We’ve added him to the 60-day list, recalling Julian Merryweather, who just cleared waivers, to return to our 26-man roster. We have a much-needed day off tomorrow as we travel to face Toronto (6-10, 5th AL East) and Cincinnati (9-7, 1st NL Central) on the road. We’ll then finish out the month with three games at home against Tampa (7-8, 4th AL East). Our record currently is 6-9, half a game out of last place as we try to keep pace in a hectic AL Central.

jksander · 04-23-2025, 07:57 PM

April 21, 2026: Sean Burke (1-1, 2.70 ERA, 10.0 IP, 11 K’s, 0.90 WHIP) started in game one against the Blue Jays, facing Tomoyuki Sugano (1-1, 2.84 ERA, 19.0 IP, 18 K’s, 1.05 WHIP). Yordys Valdes hit a leadoff homer in the top of the first to get us on the board, his first homer and only his second run batted in of the entire season though his fielding has kept him valuable early on. But we aren’t used to how this domed stadium plays, and it showed quickly in the bottom of the inning, Vladimir Guerrero Jr hitting an RBI double to tie it up on one out. Good thing our bats kept popping! Brandon Valenzuela hit a two-run homer in the top of the second, his third of the season, They tied it up with a two-run single by Anthony Santander in the bottom of the third, and Ryan Ward hit a two-run blast out of right to shoot them back into the lead, digging us a 5-3 hole heading into the top of the fourth. In the top of the fifth Heston Kjerstad walked the bases loaded, and Cody Bellinger walked in a run, ending Sugano’s night on the mound with two outs as we cut their lead down to one run. But Burke got blasted in the bottom of the inning, and after Ryan Ward hit another three-run homer (his second multi-run blast of the game, we had to bring out Syndergaard, trailing 8-4 with no outs. Bazardo came out in the sixth, giving up another run, but Miguel Vargas did his part to keep us in the game, hitting a two-run homer out of right in the top of the eighth to get us back within three. Jonathan Cannon took over with one out and men on first and second in the bottom of the eighth, getting us out of the inning with at least a slim chance of a comeback. Brooks Lee took first on an E6 error, but Valdes batted into a double play to squelch the rally as Meidroth then popped out harmlessly to right, Toronto beating us 9-6.

Burke took the loss, falling to 1-2 with a 7.07 ERA after allowing eight hits, four walks, eight runs and two strikeouts in his miserable four inning start. Kjerstad’s hitting streak came to an end, but he at least walked once so his on-base streak is now at seven straight. They outhit us 12-8, and though Valdes couldn’t keep the rally going in the ninth, he did lead the team with three hits, two runs and an RBI, while Tauchman hit twice and scored two runs.

April 22, 2026: Drew Rasmussen (0-2, 6.00 ERA, 12.0 IP, 13 K’s, 1.75 WHIP) made his fourth start of the season, facing Joe Rock (1-1, 2.60 ERA, 17.1 IP, 19 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) who has had a hot run of it for the Blue Jays the last couple starts. Valenzuela hit a two-run homer in the top of the second, and Yordys Valdes hit an RBI single in the top of the fourth to add on a run. Toronto got on the board with a solo homer by Daulton Varsho with one out in the bottom of the fifth, but a sac-fly by Vargas got us that run back and an RBI double by Valenzuela put us up 5-1 in the middle of the sixth. We scored again in the seventh off a sac-fly by Vargas, and Julian Merryweather took the ball from Rasmussen with two outs and Vlad on first in the bottom of the seventh, getting a pop-fly to left to end the inning. Luis Sanchez took over in the eighth, and after another sac-fly (this one by Tauchman) added on another run in the top of the ninth, Sanchez stayed out for the final frame, pitching around a Santander walk with three strikeouts as we shut them down mercilessly, 7-1! Rasmussen got his first win of the year, improving to 1-2 with a 4.34 ERA with a 6.2 inning two hit effort, walking one and striking out five against one earned run. Sanchez continues to impress as well, finishing our last two innings with one hit, one walk and five strikeouts, giving him 25 K’s already through 12.2 innings. We outhit them 12-3, led by Kjerstad and Rafaela, who each had three hits and two runs scored. Kjerstad has been stunning so far this year, hitting .357 through his first 70 at-bats, with four doubles, three homers and 11 RBIs -- in his first three years in Baltimore he had a total of one win above replacement through 190 games, and he’s already got 0.8 WAR this season through 17!

April 23, 2026: Dylan Cease (0-1, 2.14 ERA, 21.0 IP, 20 K’s, 0.76 WHIP) pitched a complete game six days ago, and he’s up in the rotation this evening in our final game against the Blue Jays, facing Jose Berrios (0-2, 7.42 ERA, 13.1 IP, 11 K’s, 1.72 WHIP). Varsho hit himself a two-run blast out of right to give Toronto the lead in the bottom of the second, and we didn’t get on the board until the top of the fifth, when Chase Meidroth hit an RBI single on two outs to get us back within a run. Toronto got it back in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single by Andres Gimenez, and we were still in a 3-1 hole in the bottom of the seventh when Jose Alvarado took over on the mound. Bazardo pitched in the eighth, keeping us in the fight, and a sac-fly drove in a run to cut their lead to one with two outs and Gallo on second! It’s a shame that Ha-seong Kim popped out harmlessly to right, ending the game as a 5-4 loss, because we’d fought hard to the very end. Cease, who pitched six innings with five hits, a walk, four strikeouts and three earned runs, has had really bad luck this year, starting his season out with an 0-2 record and a 2.67 ERA, despite putting up a 156 ERA+ and 1.1 WAR while allowing opposing batters to hit just .239 ... he’s bound to turn it around with some wins if we can just get him run support when it counts. Unfortunately today we had six hits, same as them, led by Meidroth who had two hits and an RBI, while Kjerstad added a hit and a walk but got nowhere.

We’ll head to Cincinnati with a 7-11 record, now in last place in the AL Central, though only 4.5 games out of first. The Reds are currently 11-8 and half a game out of first in the NL Central, behind the Cubs who are on a seven-game winning streak.

jksander · 04-24-2025, 04:17 PM

April 24, 2026: Noah Schultz (0-1, 3.86 ERA, 21.0 IP, 22 K’s, 0.86 WHIP) pitched against Cincinnati’s Lance Lynn (4-0, 1.84 ERA, 14.2 IP, 16 K’s, 1.02 WHIP), who started one game this year and did the rest of his damage as a multi-innings reliever. But aside from his one start, he hasn’t thrown more than 40 pitches in a game, so he’s an interesting pitcher to face. We had him off kilter from the start, with four walks in the first two innings before we broke through with an RBI single by Valenzuela that put us up 1-0. But it was Ha-seong Kim who shut their fans up moments later, when he hit a grand slam out of left to extend that lead to 5-0. The Reds went to the bullpen with two outs in the third, while Schultz pitched us through six shutout innings. Cody Bellinger hit a two-run double in the top of the seventh, coming around to score a few minutes later off a Meidroth single, giving us an 8-0 lead heading into the stretch. Luis Sanchez took the ball in the bottom of the inning and was pretty much unstoppable through the eighth, and Ryan Helsley took over in the ninth ... with two outs he blew the shutout when Matt McLain hit a two-run homer out of left, but we got out of there with an 8-2 win anyway, which is just as good. Schultz improved to 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA, allowing just three hits with nine strikeouts, and Sanchez got through his two innings with a hit, a walk and five K’s. Hensley’s two hits, two walks and two runs were enough to spoil the shutout, but we still outhit the Reds 8-6, and our power was dominant thanks to Kim with two hits, a walk, a run and four RBIs.

April 25, 2026: Brandon Pfaadt (1-0, 2.70 ERA, 13.1 IP, 16 K’s, 0.90 WHIP) pitched against Cincinnati’s Matthew Boyd (0-0, 3.38 ERA, 13.1 IP, 14 K’s, 1.65 WHIP) in game two, and Heston Kjerstad hit a two-run homer in the top of the first to get us on the board! Bellinger, hitting right behind him, went out of the park as well with a solo blast, giving us a 3-0 lead midway through the first. The Reds scored in the bottom of the first off an RBI double by Noelvi Marte that gave them two quick runs, and a two-run homer by Edgar Quero just minutes later put them into the lead 4-3 ... it’s gonna be that kind of game. In the top of the third we tied it on an RBI double by Chase Meidroth, taking the lead back with a Bellinger double, leading 5-4 at the inning’s midpoint, and we added a solo homer by Kjersted, his second of the game, added a little cushion as we headed into the bottom of the fifth up by two runs. Three more runs scored in the sixth, and Julian Merryweather took the ball in the bottom of the inning with a 9-4 lead in hand. Bazardo took over with two outs and a man on in the seventh, keeping the lead as it was, and Valenzuela hit a solo homer in the eighth to put us into double figures scoring! Kjerstad hit his THIRD HOMER of the game in the top of the ninth, a two-run blast that gave us an even dozen, and Bazardo finished them off quietly as we won 12-4! Pfaadt improved to 2-0 with a 3.93 ERA thanks to five innings with five hits, a walk, two strikeouts and four earned runs, and we outhit the Reds 15-7 ... obviously the star of the night (and of the season thus far!) was Kjerstad, who went 3-5 with three homers and five runs batted in, improving his average to .354 with six homers already in just 20 games.

April 26, 2026: Sean Burke (1-2, 7.07 ERA, 14.0 IP, 13 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) pitched in game three against Zac Gallen (3-0, 1.90 ERA, 23.2 IP, 19 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) Yordys Valdes hit a three-run homer in the top of the third to put us on the board, and Noah Syndergaard took over with one out and men on first and second in the bottom of the sixth, striking out Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Tyler Stephenson each swinging to keep the shutout alive. He kept it that way through the seventh, our lead at 3-0 heading into the stretch, and Jonathan Cannon took over in the eighth, the inning our luck came to an end ... with one out and runners on the corners, Encarnacion-Strand hit a three-run blast out of right and just like that we were tied up 3-3. Cannon got us out of the inning without giving them a lead, and Andre Lipcius hit an RBI single that scored Tauchman in the top of the ninth to put us back in the lead! Ben Joyce took over from there, but it didn’t go well ... he gave up three hits in a row, the Reds tying the score on a double by Edgar Quero that put two in scoring position. Jose Alvarado took over in the high leverage spot, getting Spencer Steer to strike out swinging, but Jorge Soler hit a three-run homer out of the park in left to walk it off as a 7-4 Reds win. Would have been nice to have that sweep, but we played well all three games, so we’re making progress. Burke had 5.1 good innings with three hits, three walks and six strikeouts, improving his ERA to 5.12, but Cannon and Joyce each had blown saves, and it was Joyce who took the loss, falling to 1-1 with a 9.64 ERA ... he’s only played in five games, so it’s a small sample size, and he may need to get more innings as a middle reliever before trying to close out games. They outhit us 11-8, our bats led by Valdes who had two hits, a walk, a run and three RBIs ... he’s now hitting .197 and seems to be coming out of his slump at last.

We’re back in Chicago tomorrow through Wednesday as we end the month against the 10-12 Rays, who are in fourth place in the AL East. Our 9-12 record has us on track for 70 wins, but we’re continuing to show signs that we’re significantly better than last year, and I feel strongly that we should be able to stay in contention in our division if we keep our heads on right.

jksander · 04-24-2025, 04:24 PM

Any of you who are Severance fans will appreciate this Kjerstad meme I made in honor of his hot start for our White Sox in 2026 ...

jksander · 04-25-2025, 11:30 AM

April 27, 2026: Drew Rasmussen (1-2, 4.34 ERA, 18.2 IP, 18 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) has been getting into his form, and he faced Paul Blackburn (3-0, 2.86 ERA, 22.0 IP, 11 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) today, and he pitched well through the first five innings, though Tampa broke through with an RBI single by Zach Lowe to go up 1-0 on two outs in the top of the fifth. Ceddanne Rafaela hit a homer in the leadoff spot in the bottom of the inning, and Luis Sanchez took over in the top of the sixth, striking out three batters to strand Brandon Lowe who had been hit on the elbow to take his base. Julian Merryweather came out in the seventh, striking out the side as our pitchers continued to be damned near unhittable ... but he stayed out in the eighth and got rung up for a pair of hits, bringing out Eduard Bazardo with no outs, men on the corners. With one out, Brandon Lowe hit an RBI single, Josh Lowe scoring the go-ahead ... but Jonathan Aranda took third safely and we got Lowe out at second as the trailing runner, giving us two outs. Pete Alonso then hit one straight to Kim at short, ending the inning with just the one run as damage. But they added on in the ninth with another run, and our bats stayed silent as we lost this one 3-1. Rasmussen struck out nine batters with just three hits, two walks and a run against him in five innings, and we struck out 17 BATTERS in the game as a whole ... but Merryweather took the loss, falling to 0-2 with a hit, a walk, three strikeouts and a run against him. They outhit us 7-3, Rafaela leading the way with a hit and an RBI as our offense struggled, getting just four baserunners the entire game as we wasted incredible pitching all around.

April 28, 2026: Dylan Cease (0-2, 2.67 ERA, 27.0 IP, 24 K’s, 0.81 WHIP) has pitched well all year but with pretty much no run support, so he was hoping for a big night from our bats as he faced Tampa’s Taj Bradley (2-1, 3.21 ERA, 33.2 IP, 35 K’s, 1.01 WHIP). And based on his second inning, he was going to need one ... with one out and runners on the corners in the top of the second Christopher Morel hit a three-run double to put Tampa on the board in a huge way. One hit, and we’re deep in the s--- ... or something like that. They added on with a solo homer by Jonny DeLuca in the top of the third, and then we finally got on the board with an RBI single from Meidroth in the bottom of the inning to trail 4-1. Tauchman hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth to cut their lead to two, but Cease loaded the bags with no outs in the top of the fifth and his night was over. Syndergaard took the ball, a run scoring off a sac-fly by Aranda, and we felt lucky to get into the bottom of the inning trailing just 6-2. In the bottom of the sixth we loaded the bases on two outs, and Joey Gallo walked in a run to cut the lead to three ... but Brooks Lee, subbing in for Yordys Valdes, couldn’t get a hit and went down swinging to end the rally. Luis Sanchez took the ball to start the seventh, but he gave up a two-run homer to Aranda and this one was over. DeLuca hit his second homer of the night to drive in two more in the eighth, and we’d go on to lose this one 10-3. Cease fell to 0-3 with a 4.06 ERA, allowing five hits and four walks that led to six earned runs, striking out six along the way. We were only outhit 9-8, but they got five runs off homers ... Meidroth led the offense with two hits and an RBI, and Kjerstad got a hit to keep his on-base streak alive, though he got nowhere with it.

April 29, 2026: Noah Schultz (1-1, 3.00 ERA, 27.0 IP, 31 K’s, 0.78 WHIP) started game three against the Rays, facing Mason Montgomery (0-1, 6.52 ERA, 9.2 IP, 13 K’s, 1.34 WHIP). We loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth inning, but Tauchman and Vargas struck out swinging to keep this game scoreless. Schultz got out of a pickle in the fifth, two runners on and no outs, Morel grounding into a 3-6-1 double play and Everson Pereira striking out to strand Junior Caminero on third. We seemed to have left our offense in Cincinnati, but Schultz was able to get us through six in this deadlocked battle. Kjerstad took a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth, and with one out he advanced into scoring position off a single by Rafaela, and Tauchman delivered with a killer **** into center ... but Kjerstad tried to come around third for home and was tagged out at the plate, denying us a run. With Tauchman now on second and Rafaela on third with an eye on home plate, Miguel Vargas struck out swinging and we went into the seventh still deadlocked, 0-0. Jonathan Cannon took over on the mound in the top of the inning, helping to keep it that way going into the stretch. Ben Joyce took over in the top of the eighth with one out and men on second and third, and he did what seemed impossible, keeping this game scoreless, getting two efficient outs, including one on a throw to home! We came up to hit in the bottom of the ninth with this game still offensively offenseless, until with two outs and the game seemingly destined for extra innings, Miguel Vargas walked it off with a solo homer into the left field bleachers, winning this one for us 1-0! Schultz and Cannon combined for 7.1 innings with four hits, a walk and nine strikeouts, but Joyce held tough to get the win, improving to 2-1 with a 7.11 ERA, allowing just one hit with a strikeout in his 1.2 innings of work. We outhit them 7-5 in the duel, Vargas leading the way by default with his game-winning homer. But Kjerstad was solid as well, with a hit and a walk, and Rafaela, hitting behind him, added two hits and two walks.

We’ll go into the month of May with a 10-14 record, still ranked last in the AL Central, but we continue to show a lot of promise, though you have to be willing to put up with a great deal of frustration as well. We did get some great news from our scout, Mike Shirley, who was on a scouting trip in the Dominican Republic and stumbled upon an incredible young pitching prospect. Abnar Marroquin, a 16-year-old from Santo Domingo who has already earned the nickname “La Fuerza” for his powerful arm, is very raw now but shows as much upside as I’ve yet seen from an international find. Shirley thinks that Marroquin, who will turn 17 in November, might be ready for promotion to our Dominican rookie team in time for the 2027 season. For now he’ll have to stay in our international complex ... but he has our scouting department completely enthralled, calling him a future ace. I’m loathe to think too far into the future on a guy who is 16, so I’ll let them do their jobs and I’ll focus on mine for the moment. But he looks great, and he has a solid feel for the game which should bode well for his ability to reach his potentials.

jksander · 04-25-2025, 11:43 AM

Our schedule for the month of May will feature 13 home games and 16 road games, which will add to our already road-skewed record (we played 15 of our 24 April games on the road as well). We’ll open the month with three against Baltimore () and four against divisional rival Detroit (12-13, 3rd AL Central), followed by six games in New York against the Yankees (15-11, 1st AL East) and Mets (10-14, 4th NL East). A week of home games against Miami (8-17, 5th NL East) and Pittsburgh (11-14, 4th NL Central) will follow, and then we end the month with a a brutal road stretch that will include our crosstown rival Cubs (12-12, 2nd NL Central) for three, followed by three games in Detroit and four against the Royals (12-13, 4th AL Central) in Kansas City. So there’s a lot of room for us to make a name for ourselves as an improved ballclub or fall into obscurity as we have in past seasons.

jksander · 04-25-2025, 02:36 PM

May 1, 2026: Brandon Pfaadt (2-0, 3.93 ERA, 18.1 IP, 16 K’s ,0.98 WHIP) started against Baltimore’s Grayson Rodriguez (3-0, 2.84 ERA, 25.1 IP, 29 K’s, 1.03 WHIP), and this time our offense was awake from the start ... Rafaela hit an RBI single that scored Kjerstad, and then Mike Tauchman hit a three-run homer to put us up 4-0 heading into the second inning! Baltimore got on the board in the top of the second with a two-out RBI single by Jackson Holliday, and an RBI single by Samuel Basallo, also on two outs, got them to within two runs in the top of the fourth. Pfaadt got the final out, but was not going to get to qualify for the win in this one. Syndergaard took over in the fifth inning, still leading 4-2, and his first batter faced homered out of right to cut our lead to one run ... thanks a ton, Marcell Ozuna ... and Otto Lopez singled in a run as the former White Sox second baseman tied the game at four, but a sac-fly by Kjerstad in the bottom of the inning got us back on top, leading 5-4 in the top of the sixth as Luis Sanchez took over on the mound. Too bad Holliday led off in the inning with a solo homer out of left to blow the save immediately, and Julian Merryweather took the mound in the seventh, and the Orioles pounced, taking the lead off an RBI double by Enrique Bradfield Jr that put them up 7-5 as we went into the stretch. Trevor Rogers helped us load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the inning, letting Gallo single into right and then walking Valdes and Kim ... but their replacement, Joel Payamps, shut our next three batters down to strand them there. Eduard Bazardo got us two outs in the eighth but had to leave with an undisclosed injury, so Jose Alvardo got us into the bottom of the inning, and we got a run back in the bottom of the eighth with a single by Brandon Valenzuela! They walked Gallo to put Valenzuela in scoring position, and we went into the top of the ninth battling hard but trailing by a run. Alvarado got three quick outs, two via swinging strike, to get us into the bottom of the inning with a chance. Meidroth led off with a single up the middle, but no rally materialized as we went down quietly, losing a hard-fought battle 7-6. Sanchez blew his first save and Merryweather took the loss, falling to 0-3 with a 5.59 ERA thanks to three hits, a strikeout and a run in his inning. They outhit us 14-8 so it was amazing we were in this one at all ... and walks weren’t a huge factor, we had six of those to their five. Rafaela led the offense with a hit, a walk, two runs and an RBI, while Kjerstad the former Oriole added a hit, a run and an RBI.

May 2, 2026: Eduard Bazardo’s injury remains undetermined from last night’s battle against the Orioles. Sean Burke (1-2, 5.12 ERA, 19.1 IP, 19 K’s, 1.40 WHIP) got the start against Garrett Whitlock (1-0, 4.01 ERA, 24.2 IP, 27 K’s, 0.93 WHIP), and Baltimore took the lead in the top of the third with a two-run homer out of right by Colton Cowser. Burke finished the inning with three strikeouts in a row, but was wearing down quickly and would not make it into a fourth inning. Jonathan Cannon came out to throw in the fourth inning, and with two outs in the bottom of the fourth we tied it up with a two-run homer out of right by Joey Gallo! Miguel Vargas hit a two-run bomb out of center that put us into the lead in the bottom of the fifth, and Chase Meidroth quickly added on with an RBI single on two outs, and we went into the top of the sixth leading 5-2! They got two back quickly with an RBI double by Dylan Carlson in the top of the sixth, and a Holliday single drove in the tying run ... we just can’t handle having leads! Jose Alvarado took over in the top of the seventh still tied up at five each, and he got us into the stretch without losing control, though our bullpen’s tiredness was going to make getting some hits critical in this one. Noah Syndergaard came out to pitch in the eighth, still tied, and with two outs Colton Cowser hit an RBI double that put Baltimore back up 6-5. Syndergaard got us through the top of the ninth without further scoring on the Orioles’ part, and with two outs in the bottom of the inning Yordys Valdes hit a shot into right field, advancing Vargas into scoring position ... but Ha-seong Kim struck out swinging and we lost yet another game by a brutal 6-5 margin ... we’re now 4-6 in one-run games, as our bullpen is being taxed by our back end starters who can’t go at least five innings. Syndergaard took the loss, falling to 0-2 with an 8.64 ERA, and we were outhit 12-7, Bellinger leading the offense with a hit, a walk, a run and two RBIs.

Bazardo’s injury is a strained oblique, and he should be day to day over the next four days, but we need his spot in the bullpen ... I don’t want to lose him for two whole weeks on the IL, however, so we’re going to option Andre Lipcius to AAA for a few days so we can call up Ryan Weber as a long-inning relief option.

May 3, 2026: Drew Rasmussen (1-2, 3.80 ERA, 23.2 IP, 27 K’s, 1.23 WHIP) pitched in game three against the Orioles, facing Kevin Gausman (2-3, 4.97 ERA, 25.1 IP, 22 K’s, 1.34 WHIP). Ceddanne Rafaela hit an RBI single to give us the lead in the bottom of the first, and Rasmussen had a great five inning stretch, but stayed out in the sixth and gave up back to back hits ... a triple to Steven Ondina and a two-run homer for Jackson Holliday as, just like that, the lead disappeared. Colton Cowser singled, and we went to the pen without an out, Luis Sanchez taking the ball. It did not go smoothly, and another of Rasmussen’s runs scored before we were able to get out of there trailing 3-1. Cody Bellinger led off with a solo homer to get us back in this one in the bottom of the sixth, and Merryweather got the ball in the top of the seventh. Ryan Helsley came out in the ninth, still trailing by a run, and he didn’t let them score, so once again we came up in the bottom of the ninth needing at least one run to keep the game going. And this time we got it as Tauchman hit one out of left for a home run, tying it up from the leadoff spot! Emboldened, Miguel Vargas came up right behind him and homered out of right, walking this off as we won a stunner 4-3! That happened so fast the fans barely had time to absorb it before this place exploded. Helsley got his first win, improving to 1-2 with a 6.17 ERA, allowing just one hit with a strikeout in his inning, while we outhit Baltimore 9-7! Tauchman led the offense with two hits, a run and an RBI, and a hit for Kjerstad extended his on-base streak to 17 games.

Next up: Perhaps the biggest series of our season so far, a four-game homestand against the 12-16 Tigers, a series that could put us back into the Central race if we can turn this into a streak.

jksander · 04-25-2025, 07:26 PM

May 4, 2026: We’re catching the Tigers while they’re on a five-game losing streak, and Dylan Cease (0-3, 4.06 ERA, 31.0 IP, 30 K’s, 1.00 WHIP) was ready to come out and show them what he could do, facing Kris Bubic (1-3, 5.47 ERA, 24.2 IP, 21 K’s, 1.70 WHIP). After three and a half innings of very little offense, we got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI double by Cody Bellinger, going into the top of the fifth with a 1-0 lead. Cease got us through the fifth having thrown just 48 pitches, and Bubic walked in a run via Kim in the bottom of the fifth to add on! The Tigers’ bullpen has been gutted worse than ours, so despite the loaded bases and no outs, they kept Bubic out there, and a third run scored off a wild pitch, Meidroth then hitting one up the middle to drive in another with a single! They went to the pen with two outs, and Ceddanne Rafaela walked the bases loaded again, but Tauchman couldn’t get one through to run it up further so we took our 4-0 lead into the top of the sixth, Cease still going strong. With one out in the top of the seventh the Tigers got on the board with a two-run homer out of right by Matt Vierling, and an RBI single by Lane Thomas got them back within a run before we were able to get a bullpen arm warmed. Eduard Bazardo came out with two outs and a man on first, getting us out of the inning, throwing four pitches ... and Kjerstad got us a solo homer in the bottom of the inning to buy some insurance. Ryan Helsley took over in the eighth, and in the bottom of the inning Ha-seong Kim hit an RBI single to put another run on the board for us. Ben Joyce came out to close things in the top of the ninth, getting a pop-out to left and a pair of strikeouts as we won this one 6-3! Cease got his first win of the year, improving to 1-2 with a 4.06 ERA thanks to his 6.2 innings with eight hits, a walk, four strikeouts and three earned runs. Bazardo and Helsley each got holds, and Joyce saved his second game of the season. We outhit Detroit 9-8, led by Vargas, who had two hits, a walk and two runs, and Kjerstad, who homered to ensure we would keep our lead late.

May 5, 2026: Noah Schultz (1-1, 2.45 ERA, 33.0 IP, 39 K’s, 0.73 WHIP) pitched against Tarik Skubal (1-3, 3.89 ERA, 37.0 IP, 41 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) in game two against the Tigers, who got on the board quickly in the top of the second with an RBI double by Kerry Carpenter. But we tied it in the top of the fifth with no outs when Ceddanne Rafaela drove in a run with an E8 error, the Tigers’ second error of the inning, and a groundout by Tauchman a moment later gave us the lead! Vargas hit a sac-fly to drive in a third run, and Gary Sanchez scored off a wild pitch ... that’s absolutely brutal, four unearned runs against the Tigers’ ace to put us firmlyin the lead! Ryan Weber took the ball in the top of the seventh, still leading by three runs, for his first bullpen appearance of the season, and the 35-year-old was solid right out of the gate with three quick outs to get us into the stretch leading 4-1. He quietly shut them down again in the eighth inning, getting an out in the ninth before Detroit got an RBI double off Danny Carpenter’s bat, putting the Tigers within two. Power-reliever Luis Sanchez took over on the mound with runners on second and third, getting Zach McKinstry to pop out to third, and he then struck out Kody Clemens swinging as we held tough to win this one 4-2, giving us our first three-game winning streak of the season! Schultz improved to 2-1 with a six inning two-hit effort, striking out seven with one earned run. Weber got a 2.1-inning hold, and Sanchez picked up his second save as he brought his ERA down to 2.89 through 18.2 innings in his 16th appearance. We outhit them 6-4 in the duel, led by Kjerstad and Sanchez who each had a hit and a run.

May 6, 2026: Brandon Pfaadt (2-0, 4.03 ERA, 22.1 IP, 21 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) started against Brenan Hanifee (2-2, 3.90 ERA, 27.2 IP, 21 K’S, 1.27 WHIP), and the Tigers, who have been in total freefall mode, still managed to take the lead in the top of the third with an RBI single by Lane Thomas, that was coupled with an E8 error. Pfaadt struggled to get us out of that inning, giving up another run via a single by Riley Greene, and a wild pitch dug us a quick 3-0 hole before he finally got the two outs we needed. Eduard Bazardo took over with two outs and a man on first in the top of the sixth, getting us out of the inning still trailing by three, and we got on the board with a run in the bottom of the inning off a flyball double by Vargas. Syndergaard took the ball in the seventh, and Sanchez came out to pitch with one out and Colt Keith on second in the top of the eighth. He got a strikeout and then let Gabriel Arias hit an RBI single that added a run on, sending us into the bottom of the eighth trailing 4-1. We loaded the bags in the bottom of the inning but came up empty, and Merryweather gave them another run to lead by four as we came up to hit in the bottom of the ninth. Gallo reached on an E4 error to start the frame, and Brooks Lee hit one past the shortstop to drive him into scoring position, a single that brought up our top hitters and kept our rally hopes alive. With one out, Yordys Valdes hit a single into left to load the bases, and Kjerstad hit into a fielder’s choice ... they got the out at second, but a run did score as Brooks Lee advanced to third. Bellinger came to the plate with hopes for a big hit, but instead he grounded out as this one ended as a 5-2 loss. Pfaadt took the loss, falling to 2-1 with a 4.18 ERA, allowing five hits, a walk and three earned runs with seven strikeouts through 5.2 innings. They outhit us 10-7, our offense led by Vargas with a hit, two walks, a run and an RBI, while Kjerstad added a hit, a walk and an RBI.

May 7, 2026: Sean Burke (1-2, 5.24 ERA, 22.1 IP, 23 K’s, 1.48 WHIP) pitched against Nick Martinez (3-2, 4.64 ERA, 33.0 IP, 26 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) in our final game of this homestand against the Tigers. We took the lead in the bottom of the third with an RBI single by Miguel Vargas, added on with an RBI single by Ceddanne Rafaela, scored two more off a line drive double by Brandon Valenzuela, and then Yordys Valdes hit into a fielder’s choice to drive in a fifth run, sending us into the top of the fourth up big, 5-0. The Tigers got a solo homer from Kerry Carpenter to get on the board in the top of the fourth, but we added on two more in the bottom of the inning and Burke was able to get through the fifth with relative ease. Ryan Weber took over in the top of the sixth, leading comfortably by six, and though the Tigers got another solo homer in the seventh, this one off the bat of Spencer Torkelson, Weber got us into the stretch still up 7-2. Julian Merryweather got the ball in the eighth inning, and he stayed out the rest of the way as we won by the same margin, shuting them down 7-2 as we took the series three games to one! Sean Burke improved to 2-2 with a 4.61 ERA, lasting five innings with one hit, two walks, one run and seven strikeouts, and we outhit the Tigers 11-4, led by Cody Bellinger who went 5-5 with two runs and an RBI, by far his best game of the season ... he’d been slumping lately, and now has a .220 average and looks to be coming out of it. Ceddanne Rafaela got ejected for arguing a strike call, forcing us to bring in Kjerstad who subsequently failed to make it on base, ending his on-base streak at 20 games.

We’re hitting the road immediately for New York City, where we’ll play the Yankees three times this weekend and the Mets three times next week before returning home for series against Miami and Pittsburgh. Our record has improved to 14-17, and we have leapfrogged the Tigers into fourth place in the AL Central, just one game out of third, behind the Royals, and only a game and a half back of second-place Minnesota.

04-21-2025, 04:30 PM	#81
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	September 15, 2025: It can’t be a great sign that Brooks Lee’s injury is still “unknown.” We’re back in Chicago for three games against the 77-72 Orioles, with Brandon Pfaadt (9-12, 4.05 ERA, 177.2 IP, 181 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) battling Charlie Morton (3-6, 3.76 ERA, 127.0 IP, 119 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) in game one. They took the lead quickly with a run in the first and another in the third, trading runs in the fourth as we struggled to make a comeback. Martin Perez took over in the top of the seventh trailing 4-2, and in the bottom of the inning we came back with a two-run single by Vargas to tie the score at four! Perez got us through the eighth unscathed, and Merryweather took over in the top of the ninth still tied at 4-4, keeping it that way with a groundout and a pair of strikeouts ... but our bats stayed silenced and this one went into extra innings. Eduard Bazardo took over in the top of the 10th, striking out the side as our fans stayed on the edge of their seats ... but we weren’t able to get the extra runner around to score either, and this one kept going, as Bazardo struck out another pair and got us through the top of the 11th still tied! Michael A. Taylor advanced from second to third off a wild pitch, with Grenier advancing to first despite striking out ... but with one out, we walked it off with a shot into right by Otto Lopez, Taylor scoring to give us an amazing 5-4 win! Bazardo has now won back to back bullpen appearances, this time lasting two innings as he did it while striking out five batters on 27 pitches! We outhit Baltimore 10-7, led by Miguel Vargas with two hits, a walk and two RBIs, while Otto Lopez hit twice, walked twice and scored once with the game-winning RBI. Say what you want about us, but this win officially puts us 20 wins ahead of where we finished last season and we still have games left to play. We’re still assured a last place finish in the division, but with the right moves to improve our young, inexperienced team, I don’t think we’re too far off the mark. This could quickly become a dangerous team. September 16, 2025: Yu Darvish (10-10, 4.22 ERA, 153.2 IP, 143 K’s, 1.28 WHIP) pitched in game two against the O’s, taking on Trevor Rogers (5-3, 1 SV, 3.07 ERA, 88.0 IP, 74 K’s, 1.22 WHIP). Darvish had a great start to the game, his control suddenly back in full form, and in the bottom of the fifth we broke a stalemate with a two-run Gallo homer, adding an Otto Lopez RBI single to give us a 3-0 lead heading into the sixth! Darvish struck out a pair in the sixth, giving him 11 for the night, and got us into the bottom of the inning still leading by three, and Michael A. Taylor hit a solo shot to make it a four-run lead heading into the seventh with Shane Smith taking the ball. Perez got us through the eighth, and he stayed out in the ninth as well, doing his part to preserve the 5-0 shutout win! Darvish improved to 11-10 with a six-inning masterclass, two hits, one walk and 11 strikeouts. We outhit them 8-3, led by Gallo with two hits, a run and two RBIs, and we’ll have a chance to go for a sweep when we play here again tomorrow night ... we’ve only had a couple chances since the All Star break, and the last time we DID sweep a team was Philly back at the very end of July, so this is a burst of rarified air for our White Sox as we near the end of our season. Brooks Lee’s season is indeed over, but it’s a sprained ankle ... he should be fine to go into the offseason development workouts after the playoffs without any delays or hinderances. So we’ll take that as a win. September 17, 2025: Noah Schultz (7-5, 3.62 ERA, 99.1 IP, 94 K’s, 1.05 WHIP) pitched against Kevin Gausman (10-7, 4.76 ERA, 147.1 IP, 139 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) in game three of this series against the Orioles, and we gave him real run support early -- Miguel Vargas hit us into the lead with a two-run single, and Kyle Teel hit an RBI single to add on, giving us a 3-0 lead after one. All it takes sometimes is a little confidence, and he was able to pitch lights-out from there, still leading by a 3-0 margin as we went into the stretch! Noah Syndergaard took over in the top of the eighth, and Eduard Bazardo came out in the ninth to close the door ... he struck out their last two batters of the night to seal it, as we shut the Orioles out 3-0 for the win and the sweep! Schultz pitched seven innings with two hits, a walk and 10 strikeouts, and we outhit them 5-2 in a game that was even harder fought than yesterday’s! Miguel Vargas led our offense with a hit and two RBIs, as we finally seem to be clicking as a team. We’ll have the day off to celebrate, and then it’s back to business against the 76-77 Padres in our final home series of the season, before facing the Yankees (92-61, 1st AL East) and the Nationals (69-84, 4th NL East) on the road to end the season next week. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

04-21-2025, 07:57 PM	#82
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	September 19, 2025: Ryan Weber (6-10, 4.24 ERA, 144.1 IP, 79 K’s, 1.30 WHIP) pitched against the Padres’ Manuel Castro (0-3, 2.18 ERA, 20.2 IP, 21 K’s, 1.06 WHIP), as the 23-year-old got the call-up in late August. The Padres took the lead in the top of the second off a solo homer by Xander Bogaerts, but in the bottom of the fifth we tied it on a Meidroth RBI single and then took the lead when Tauchman singled in two more to give us a 3-1 lead heading into the top of the sixth. They got one of those runs back with a single by Trevor Larnach in the top of the sixth, but we piled on five more runs in the bottom of the inning to turn it into something of a rout! The Padres got a homer off the bat of Bogaerts in the top of the seventh to cut our lead to five, bringing out Martin Perez to take the mound trying to get the final out of the inning. Instead, he gave up back-to-back-to-back hits, including a single by Jorge Mateo that cut our lead to four before he did finally get that third out -- we went into the stretch leading 8-4 but still not feeling very self-assured. Our bats kept hitting, however, Yordys Valdes hitting a leadoff homer to get us back up by five, and Julian Merryweather was a calming influence from the mound in the final two frames as we held tough to win 9-4. Weber improved to 7-10, pitching 6.2 innings with four hits, four strikeouts and three earned runs, and we outhit the Padres 12-6, led by Valdes who hit four times for two runs and an RBI. This is officially just our second four-game winning streak of the season, tying a streak of four wins across series with the Reds and Cubs on the road from May 14-18! September 20, 2025: Sean Burke (6-14, 4.75 ERA, 142.0 IP, 157 K’s, 1.40 WHIP) faced Bryan Hoeing (2-1, 4.64 ERA, 54.1 IP, 39 K’s, 1.44 WHIP) in our second game of the series against the Padres, and their second batter of the game, Manny Machado, hit a solo bomb out of left to put them up 1-0. Burke struck out five batters in a row across the third and fourth innings, and he got another pair in the fifth to keep the game still super close. But our bats weren’t popping off today like they have the last few games, and our margin for error was thin indeed. Penn Murfee took over in the sixth to face Machado, and in the end it didn’t matter WHO faced their lineup the third time through, because they all were hitting. Machado scored off a fielder’s choice that yeilded no outs, and they picked up a third run when Giancarlo Stanton hit into a 6-4-3 double play. They added on a run in the seventh, and though we got a couple runs ourselves in the ninth to keep it respectable, we were never in this one past Burke’s five innings. San Diego beat us soundly 6-3, snapping our streak and bringing us back to earth with a bang. Burke took the loss, which really sucks since he pitched brilliantly -- five innings with three hits, a walk, a run and eight strikeouts. They outhit us 11-6, with Tauchman leading our offense with a pair of hits and a run scored. September 21, 2025: It’s our final home game of the season, and Brandon Pfaadt (9-12, 4.12 ERA, 183.2 IP, 186 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) started against San Diego’s Derek Holland (7-7, 3.45 ERA, 128.0 IP, 113 K’s, 1.21 WHIP). The Padres got a run each in the first and second, but we tied them with an RBI single by Valenzuela to make it 2-2 heading into the top of the fifth. Tauchman hit an RBI single to give us the lead in the bottom of the fifth, and when Merryweather took over in the top of the seventh we still led 3-2. Kimbrel got the ball in the eighth, striking out the side and drawing a huge ovation from the home crowd, and he got us through the ninth as well as we shut them down to win 3-2! Pfaadt lasted six innings with three hits, a walk, two runs and seven strikeouts, Kimbrel earned his second save of the year with a two-inning effort involving four strikeouts, and we outhit San Diego 10-4. Valenzuela led the way with two hits and an RBI, while Meidroth added two hits and a run scored. That’s our 65th win of the year, with six games remaining (all on the road) against the Yankees (93-62, 1st AL East) and the Nationals (70-85, 4th NL East) after our travel day tomorrow. The Yankees have clinched their division, while Washington has been eliminated from playoff contention. We are guaranteed a last place finish in the AL Central unless we win out and the Tigers lose all six of their remaining games, but we can finish this season on a strong note with an eye to the future. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

04-22-2025, 10:11 AM	#83
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	September 23, 2025: Yu Darvish (11-10, 4.06 ERA, 159.2 IP, 154 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) got the start against Carlos Rodon (12-11, 3.75 ERA, 168.0 IP, 173 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) in game one against the Yankees, and New York had the lead less than ten minutes in thanks to an RBI single by Austin Hays. But a two-run double by Tauchman gave us the lead back in the top of the third, and we started trading runs back and forth from there. Oswald Peraza hit a two-run blast out of left in the bottom of the fourth to shoot New York back into the lead, but Otto Lopez hit an RBI single to tie it up in the fifth, so New York added on in the bottom of the inning with another two-run bomb out of left, this time by Aaron Judge for his 40th of the season. Jonathan Cannon took over trailing 6-4 with no outs and a runner on first, giving up two more runs before we could get out of the inning, and Kimbrel came out in the sixth, giving up three more as the Yanks took us apart. Steve Smith pitched the rest of the game, and though we put up four runs in the later innings, we were already too deep in the hole to dig out of it. The Yankees won easily, 12-9, outhitting us 18-8, and Darvish took the loss with 10 hits and seven earned runs in just four innings. Tauchman did what he could, but two hits, two walks, three runs and three RBIs weren’t going to be enough to win a game like this. September 24, 2025: Noah Schultz (8-5, 3.39 ERA, 106.1 IP, 104 K’s, 1.01 WHIP) pitched against Max Fried (16-8, 2.96 ERA, 197.2 IP, 190 K’s, 1.11 WHIP), and Schultz was injured in the first bloody inning, Martin Perez taking over with one out and a runner on first. It appears to be a blister, and won’t hinder his offseason plans, but that’s a rough hit to take in a late-season game. Jonathan Cannon took over in the bottom of the fifth with the game still scoreless on both sides, and Syndergaard came out in the sixth. Finally in the top of the seventh an RBI single by Austin Slater pushed us into the lead 1-0, and Kimbrel had a great eighth inning to shut them down and keep us in control. But with a slim one run lead we brought out Eduard Bazardo in the bottom of the ninth with the entire crowd betting against us ... and with one out, Aaron Judge hit a solo homer out of left to tie the game. We managed to get out of there and into extra innings, and we loaded the bases in the top of the 10th, no outs, Chase Meidroth walking in the go-ahead run! Tauchman hit a sac-fly into deep center, driving in another run, and Miguel Vargas hit a line drive into right with two outs, contributing two more runs as we blew this one open. Leading by four runs, Julian Merryweather took over in the bottom of the inning, and though the Yanks loaded the bases, they couldn’t score even the free ghost runner as we shut them down 5-1! Bazardo blew the save, his second, but came out of it with a win, improving to 6-2 with a 2.96 ERA thanks to a two-hit, two strikeout inning with the one run against him. We matched them with seven hits, led by Lipcius who had a hit, a walk and a run scored, while Miguel Vargas added a hit and two RBIs. Austin Slater reached out after the game and has expressed interest in extending his contract ... the 32-year-old has hit just .202 so far this year but is our most talented defender in both left and right field. But he’s basically an even proposition from a WAR standpoint, so unless we can bring him down a bit on his demands, I’m not sure we can’t find an improvement in the free agent market. We’ve made him a two year offer I think is fair, and will see where that takes us. September 25, 2025: Ryan Weber (7-10, 4.23 ERA, 151.0 IP, 83 K’s, 1.27 WHIP) pitched in our final game against the Yankees, going up against Marcus Stroman (10-8, 4.11 ERA, 179.2 IP, 144 K’s, 1.27 WHIP). We took the lead quickly, thanks to an RBI single by Tauchman, and we added on with a two-run single by Austin Slater that gave us a 3-0 lead midway through the first. We brought out Penn Murfee to pitch in the sixth with a 6-3 lead, and Syndergaard took over with two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh, our lead still at two runs. But that was seemingly the end of our chances in this one ... pinch-hitter Luke Raley hit a grand slam and though Syndergaard got us the out, we went into the eighth inning trailing 8-6. Top of the ninth, however, and Joey Gallo hit into a fielder’s choice, driving in a run, and moments later we tied it up with an RBI single by Miguel Vargas! We hadn’t anticipated the comback, so with Merryweather warming in the pen, Syndergaard stayed out to pitch in the bottom of the inning. They didn’t waste much time, walking it off with a single into center by Austin Wells that scored Aaron Judge for the 9-8 Yankees win. Syndergaard blew the save and took the loss with a 1.2 inning effort with four hits, a strikeout and two earned runs, and we were outhit 14-6 and yet somehow were still in this one. Vargas led the way with two hits, a walk, a run and two RBIs. September 26, 2025: We’re in Washington for our final series of the season, our 66-93 White Sox facing the 70-89 Nationals for three games. Sean Burke (6-15, 4.65 ERA, 147.0 IP, 165 K’s, 1.38 WHIP) pitched against DJ Herz (6-13, 5.33 ERA, 150.1 IP, 175 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) in game one, and we had a solid 3-1 lead when we switched horses in the sixth inning to bring out Shane Smith. Martin Perez took over in the eighth, and Bazardo got us the save in the ninth as we held tough to win 3-1! Burke will finish his season with a 7-15 record, making it through five innings today with five hits, four walks, five strikeouts and one earned run as his ERA improved to 4.56. We outhit the Nationals 7-6 ,led by Yordys Valdes with two hits, a run and two RBIs. September 27, 2025: Brandon Pfaadt (10-12, 4.08 ERA, 189.2 IP, 193 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) pitched against MacKenzie Gore (9-10, 3.81 ERA, 177.1 IP, 194 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) in game two, and we took a quick lead in the top of the first with an RBI double by Vargas and a two-run homer by Michael A. Taylor which gives him 20 on the season, by far a career best. We had a 7-2 lead going into the bottom of the fifth, but Pfaadt gave up four runs to the Nationals and we had to bring out Jonathan Cannon with two outs and clear bases to get the final out and protect the now-slim 7-6 lead. It didn’t go well ... Cannon gave up four more runs in the seventh as the Nationals took firm control, but a shootout ensued and we did what we could to stay in it ... Michael A. Taylor hit a two-run triple in the top of the seventh to get us back within a run, and we tied it in the top of the eighth with a solo homer by Austin Slater, his 12th of the season! Julian Merryweather took the ball in the bottom of the eighth with the score knotted at 10-10, and his first batter faced, Josh Bell, unknotted it with a solo homer out of center. They sent us down quietly from there as we lost this one 11-10 in a true slugfest, the Nationals outhitting us 15-11. Taylor finished with three hits, two runs and seven RBIs thanks to his triple and homer, but Merryweather took the loss, and will likely finish his season with a 1-7 record and a 4.92 ERA through 53 innings for us and the Cubs. September 28, 2025: Yu Darvish (11-11, 4.34 ERA, 163.2 IP, 155 K’s, 1.28 WHIP) pitched in our final game, facing Jake Irwin (2-4, 4.84 ERA, 57.2 IP, 55 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). We took the lead in the top of the fourth off a sac-fly by Brandon Valenzuela, and Yordys Valdes reached on an E8 error, allowing us to take a 2-0 lead midway through the inning. Craig Kimbrel took over in the sixth, still leading 2-0, and Syndergaard got us the rest of the way as we domianted the Nationals 4-1 to finish our season with a 68-94 record, a 27-game improvement on our nadir last season. Darvish got the win, allowing two hits with four strikeouts and no runs in the five innings he pitched, with Kimbrel earning his 12th hold as he improved his ERA to 5.85 through 64.2 innings, pitching his final game as a major leaguer. Syndergaard then picked up the three-inning save, his third, as we outhit the Nationals 8-7. Vargas led the way offensively with two hits, a walk and a run, while Yordys Valdes added two hits and an RBI, finishing his rookie campaign with a .218 average. Austin Slater agreed today to his extension, which will keep the 32-year-old on the southside through the next two seasons. He’ll make $3.5 million next year and $4.25 million in 2027. Heading into the playoffs, we’ve got a handful of expring players who may warrant extensions, including Joey Gallo, bryan Ramos and Lenyn Sosa. We’re then going to have our work cut out for us when it comes to determining an offseason gameplan. What are our biggest holes, and can we make the right moves to be competitive next season in the division, or are we looking at another year in the long rebuild? __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

04-22-2025, 11:32 AM	#84
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	2025 Playoffs *Wildcard Round: Kansas City and Toronto both swept their wildcard series, but the Reds came back from down 1-0 in theirs to beat the Diamondbacks 2-1 and 4-3 to win theirs. Meanwhile, the Cubs won game one 5-3, but their bullpen issues plagued them the rest of the way as they blew leads in games two and three, losing their short series to the Mets. The team has not signed an extension on Kyle Tucker’s contract, so barring a miracle for Cubs fans, he’s likely to be a free agency savior for someone else ... perhaps us, if I can convince Reinsdorf to unchain his checkbook. Divisional Round: The Dodgers certainly were the favorites from here on, with their 112-win season, and they didn’t suggest anything different when they gutted the Reds 18-0 in game one of their series. But Cincy came back in game two to win it 2-1 ... only the Mets managed to win their first two games of the divisional round to take a commanding lead on the Braves. They won game three 2-1, completing the sweep, while it took the Dodgers four games to annihilate the Reds in the end. In the Yankees vs. Royals series, it went all the way to game five, but Texas came back from losing game one to win three in a row to defeat Toronto in four games. The only series to go the distance saw Kansas City stun the Yankees with a 10-5 beatdown as Kansas City advanced to their first Championship Series in a decade. Championship Series: So it was down to four teams, the Royals and Rangers facing off in the AL while the Mets hoped to ride Soto to a World Series appearance by beating the big money boys from Los Angeles. The Mets, with 82 wins to the 112 of Los Angeles, were huge underdogs to the Dodgers, losing their first two games in LA by 8-7 and 7-5 margins. Texas, a similarly heavily favored team in their matchup, dominated the Royals 6-0 in their first game, and then took game two as well by an 11-5 margin, neither series providing much of a ratings buzz. But the Mets got a win in game three back in New York, beating LA 6-5 in a squeaker, and the Royals won a similarly hard-fought battle in their game three, beating Texas 5-4 ... there would be no Championship Series sweeps this year! The Dodgers won game four 5-3, putting the Mets on the brink of elimination, and the Rangers curb-stomped Kansas City in their game four 12-0. The Mets wouldn’t die ... they won game five 5-0, sending their series back to Los Angeles with the Dodgers up three games to two. But Texas wasn’t having it ... they won game five of their series in a 4-3 squeaker, assuring themselves some extra rest as they watched to see who they’d face in the World Series. The Mets again were unable to be stopped in game six, shutting down Roki Sazaki as they stumped the Dodgers 5-0 and forced game seven ... and then they did it AGAIN in game seven, shutting the Dodgers out 8-0 ... that’s right, they came back from down three games to one, and swept the final three games by a combined margin of 18-0 as the New York Mets advanced to the World Series after winning just 82 games in the regular season! Juan Soto, through the 13 playoff games it took to get there, has hit .325 with three doubles and three homers, batting in nine runs and scoring 10, so they’re definitely going to need him to stay strong if they want a title. World Series: The Mets kept it going with a huge 4-1 win on the road in game one of the World Series, a fourth-inning homer from Soto and a ninth-inning homer from Francisco Alvarez proving to be the difference-makers. But Texas fought back with a 10-inning 3-2 victory in game two, sending the series to New York tied one game to one. The Mets won game three 8-4, held on to take game four 6-4, but couldn’t manage to clinch it on their home field ... Texas scored five runs in the top of the fifth to overcome a 2-0 deficit in game five, holding tough to win 6-3 and sending the series back to Texas for a pair of must-wins for the Rangers. The Rangers were on a mission in game six, completely stumping the Mets as they romped their way to a 10-1 game-seven-forcing victory, and they won a hard-fought battle in game seven as they broke a tie in the third with an RBI single by Josh Smith putting them ahead for good, winning 2-1. - - - - - White Sox Offseason Dealings* October 5, 2025: Lenyn Sosa signed a one year extension worth $1,450,000 to avoid minor league free agency, while Bryan Ramos, in the same situation, agreed to a one-year deal worth $1,120,000. October 8, 2025: Joey Gallo, at age 31, has agreed to a three-year option-heavy deal to stay with our White Sox potentially through the 2028 season. He’ll earn $5,500,000 next year, with a player option worth the same for 2027 should he choose to accept it. We then have a team option on him for 2028, worth $5,000,000 if we sign it, and $3,000,000 if we choose to release him. He’s a fan-favorite power hitter, and though he was only good for a .171 average this year, he hit 21 homers and batted in 57 runs, and he’s a capable first baseman, though he is expected to play most of his games as our designated hitter. November 1, 2025: Martin Perez, at 34, has chosen to void his final contract year, and intends to pursue free agency. He was 5-7 this year with a 4.81 ERA, throwing 110.1 innings with 82 K’s and a 1.42 WHIP, but finished with -0.2 WAR, and he was notably unhappy with our unwillingness to keep him as a starter. Craig Kimbrel followed through with his retirement, finishing with 895 games played in relief over 894 innings, with a career ERA of 2.83, 1,336 strikeouts and 442 career saves. The end of season top prospect lists are out, and Hagen Smith is now ranked 10th overall ... he finished with a 4-4 record and 3.64 ERA for AA Birmingham, striking out 65 while putting up 1.1 WAR, and we’re hoping he has a great offseason as he gets closer to the majors, though he’s unlikely to start at AAA next year unless he has a serious offseason improvement. Jerry Reinsorf has set our budget at $205 million for the upcoming season, and he wants us to go after an MVP winner, increase attendance next year, play close to .500 ball and be on track to make the playoffs within the next four years. We have a ton of financial flexibility, with 2026 contracts so far totalling just $77.2 million, including arbitration estimates. Aside from Yu Darvish, who will be costing us $15-16 million per year through 2028 whether he plays or not, we don’t have a ton of expensive players weighing our books down, just a ton of young players with heart and grit ... we need the right pieces to help gel this clubhouse into a winner on the field and off. Starling Marte, who earned $19.5 million for us this year, hit just .197 with 12 doubles and 33 RBI, and is not going to be signing an extension, despite his willingness at age 37 to play for close to league minimum. His negative 2.1 WAR suggests we can easily replace him on the free agent market, especially with his defensive skill now far in his past. He and Perez will be our only pending FA’s who will simply fall off our books. As for arbitration-eligible players, the only four we are making offers on will be Ryan Weber, Julian Merryweather, Andrew Vaughn and Mike Tauchman. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

04-22-2025, 12:54 PM	#85
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	November 14, 2025: Tarik Skubal (15-6, 2.73 ERA, 214.1 IP, 245 K’s, 1.05 WHIP, 6.6 WAR) was named the AL’s Cy Young winner for the year, with the Braves’ Spencer Strider (12-5, 2.48 ERA, 152.1 IP, 230 K’s, 0.91 WHIP, 6.4 WAR) winning it for the National League. November 15, 2025: Aaron Judge (.290/.409/.637, 24 2B, 43 HR, 89 RBI, 6.3 WAR) won the AL’s MVP Award, giving him his fourth overall and third in the last four seasons. Shohei Ohtani (.295/.378/.623, 32 2B, 53 HR, 132 RBI, 6.3 batting WAR) won it for the Dodgers in the NL, as he proved he could still play both ways with dominance ... pitching for the Dodgers he put up an 11-5 record with a 3.23 ERA through 161.2 innings, striking out 197 batters and putting up 4.2 wins above replacement as a pitcher. This was Ohtani’s fourth MVP as well, and he’s won in the last three consecutive seasons. November 23, 2025: Arbitration hearings have come and gone, and the following players have received one year deals: - Julian Merryweather ($1.6 million) - Mike Tauchman ($5.17 million) - Ryan Weber ($2.84 million) - Andrew Vaughn ($7.98 million) Our official 2026 salaries heading into tomorrow’s official FA filings have us paying out just $74 million. We have our scouting budget and development budget maxed out, at $27M and $40.5M rspectively, which leaves us about $41.5 million in budget space, with $57.5 million to work with including our cash reserves. We intend to drop ticket prices 5.1 percent this year to $32.50 to encourage more fans to come back to Rate Field to see us dig out of this rebuild. November 24, 2025: Looking at our roster for the upcoming season as it stands now, our biggest hole is pitching -- aside from Merryweather and Bazardo, our bullpen is a giant question mark, and Schultz and Pfaadt are our most trustworthy starters, with Darvish as a very questionable option as he nears 40 ... which Yu will we see on a day to day basis? We’ve shored up our defense in the infield, with Valenzuela, Lopez / Lee, Meidroth and Valdes, but of those only Lopez, Meidroth and Lee can hit with consistency, and none of them are superstars. We definitely need to beef up the outfield ... Taylor’s a solid hitter but has been stretching to succeed at center field, where he’d be much stronger in left or right, so if we can find an excellent center fielder who fits our budget perameters, that’d be great. Beyond that, some power to go with what Miguel Vargas and Joey Gallo deliver would be great as well. We’ll go into next year’s draft with a very solid pick, right behind the Giants at #2 in the first round. So we’ve got room to add to our farm system which is currently ranked 10th now that Schultz is fully committed to his major league role as our staff ace. How well we fill these holes with veterans who can fit with our very young and inexperienced core will determine how quickly we can continue to improve. November 27, 2025: We’ve made our first big trade of the year, shoring up that problem in center field! We’ve sent backup catcher Korey Lee, backup shortstop Cadyn Grenier and second base prospect Brooks Baldwin to the Boston Red Sox, and in exchange we’re receiving center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela, who last year at 25 hit .260 with 18 doubles, 13 homers and 44 RBI! More important, he’s defensively a strong contributor at left and center while being able to handle multiple infield positions as well, and he’s on a contract that’s team friendly through age 31 ... right now he’ll make $2.25 million, in a deal that rises as high as $13.25 million in 2031, with a player option for $16 million in 2032 if he chooses not to rush to free agency. That’s a steal considering his defensive abilities, and we’re really pleased to have been able to pull off the deal early in the offseason, so we can focus on our other key needs. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

04-22-2025, 03:28 PM	#86
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	December 9, 2025: In our first free agency signing of the season, we’re bringing Dylan Cease home to the south side. Cease had been traded by our Sox to the Padres back in the spring of 2024, and last year he went to New York at the deadline but became a free agent after the final season of his contract played out. He was 13-9 last year for the Padres and Yankees, with a 3.95 ERA, 205 K’s and a 1.24 WHIP through 184.2 innings. He gives us immediate starter depth, despite average stamina, and he put up 3.2 WAR and is locally popular. We’ve offered him a four year deal that starts at $12,750,000 for 2026, peaking at $15 million per year in 2028 and 2029, the final year being a player option. It’s not a great year for starters in free agency, but I think we were able to make a deal that’s fair for both sides, one that will help us immediately ... and if Darvish doesn’t completely fall off a cliff, we’ll have four legit starters who can help us get through more games, with Ryan Weber hanging on as a purely “control only” backend starter. December 11, 2025: Winter meetings begin today, and we’ll get the bad news out of the way first ... we fell three spots in the draft lottery, and will now have the #5 pick behind Boston (formerly #9), Colorado (formerly #3) and Pittsburgh (formerly #4) along with Seattle, who have a comp pick at #4. But at least we aren’t San Francisco, owners of the #8 pick after plummeting from the top spot. We’ve had two huge signings in the free agent market that should help shape our upcoming season’s trajectory: - Ryan Helsley will be our closer for at least the next two seasons, as the former St. Louis Cardinal signed a deal worth $14.6 million this year and $15 million next year to join our White Sox. Last season in St. Louis he was 3-4 with 39 saves and a 2.72 ERA through 59.2 innings, striking out 71 with a 1.21 WHIP and 2.1 total WAR. At age 31, he was one of the top right-handers on the market, and I feel we got him at a reasonable salary without having to commit to a closer promise long term. He’s got great pitching defense and holds runners very well, and he still pitches at 98 mph or faster with ease. He’s also very popular, which is going to help our promotions department as we try and sell as many season tickets as possible. - The other big signing was left handed reliever Jose Alvarado, who pitched last year in Milwaukee and Pittsburgh, going 6-9 with three saves, a 2.74 ERA and 82 K’s through 72.1 innings, and 1.9 WAR to go with his 1.22 WHIP. Alvarado will make $11 million this year and $11.6 million next year, and should be an immediate competitor for a late-innings setup role, along with Bazardo, who had expressed interest in getting more innings outside his closer role. We’ve stuck with our plans thus far and have come out well ahead of expectations, so I’m very hopeful that we can make some moves at winter meetings and continue to fill holes as we get ever closer to the start of spring baseball! December 12, 2025: We’ve made a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays that will send Yu Darvish’s albatross of a contract plus young catcher Kyle Teel to the Rays, in exchange for 30-year-old infielder Ha-seong Kim (retaining 55% on his one year deal) and 30-year-old right handed starter Drew Rasmussen, who is on a two year contract with a team option for next year that includes a $0 buyout. Rasmussen was 12-13 with a 3.67 ERA and 195 K’s through 196 innings last year for a mediocre Tampa team, and he’s a high velocity, high control pitcher who fits exactly what I love to see from a top of the rotation starter -- he’ll take some pressure off of Schultz too, so the 22-year-old won’t have to take on the role of “staff ace” in just his second season. Giving up Teel is a steep price, but we can work around potentially keeping Rasmussen around for more than his initial deal, and we don’t have to worry whether Darvish has the ability to pitch quality innings deep into a season (all our scouts are telling us he does not.) This is one of those deals that, had it come up anywhere other than winter meetings it might have wound up on the slush pile, quietly forgotten. But I’m going to go for it and take the risk, and it improves our cash situation by $3.6 million thanks to the retention on Kim’s one year deal. December 16, 2025: In the Rule 5 draft we only took one player, Luis Sanchez from the Chicago Cubs organization. Sanchez, who is 22 years old, was an IAFA signing for Baltimore in 2019 and is still raw and untested, but he throws a mean fastball (over 100 mph according to our scouts) and he has a slider that is nearly its match. He’s something of a flyer ... either he’ll look good pitching this spring or we’ll cut him loose, but if he’s as good as I sense he could be, Sanchez could be the steal of our offseason. Edgar Quero was taken from us by the Reds, but while I think he’ll hit well for them, his ability to defend as a starting everyday catcher at age 22 is not something I’d bet on. More likely we’ll have him back at some point in the season ... it just wasn’t worth taking up a 40-man spot for him to avoid being selected. December 19, 2025: We’ve made another move, this time with Baltimore, sending infielder Otto Lopez and minor league reliever Jake Peepers to the Orioles in exchange for outfielder Heston Kjerstad and $1,250,000 in cash. With the acquisition of Ha-song Kim earlier in the offseason, and Brooks Lee sitting behind him on the depth chart, we really didn’t need Otto in the lineup any longer ... being able to flip him for a starting left fielder of Kjerstad’s caliber was a no-brainer. January 18, 2026: It’s the official start of the pre-season, and we signed two additional free agent deals! Gary Sanchez signed a two year deal worth $5,250,000 to be our backup catcher, and Cody Bellinger signed a four-year deal worth $70 million that includes a $17.2 million player option in 2028 and a vesting option worth $17.2 million in 2029 if he makes at least 550 plate appearances. Both deals have continued to keep our fan base happy, as fan interest is easily at a five-year high at the moment. We’re on track to sell 10,500 season tickets, an increase of more than 52 percent, and should make $300,000 more per home game this year despite lowering our ticket prices by nearly $1.75! Jerry Reinsdorf is so pleased with our progress, he’s opened his checkbook and offered up an additional $14,000,000 in budgetary space! As of right now according to ESPN we’ve had the third best offseason overall, picking up 8.6 net WAR across all our moves, and I now have very high expectations for us in the coming season. The big offseason signing of the year, however, went to the Atlanta Braves, where 26-year-old Japanese slugger Etsuo “Sanchize” Den will earn $331 million spread over the next eight seasons. Den has an opt out after the 2030 season, when he’ll be making $46 million, after which he’ll make $36 million per year. His asks were too rich for our blood, though we did make an offer ... it just couldn’t compete with playing in Atlanta and not spending April and May freezing in the Chicago wind. Aside from a few IAFA offers still outstanding, I think we’ve done what we can in a frenetic offseason of moves. It’ll be up to the players, under the tutelige of manager Ozzie Guillen, to find ways to put it all together and win on the field. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

04-23-2025, 11:50 AM	#87
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	January 20, 2026: We’ve signed an IAFA player to a contract, sending 17-year-old center fielder Robby Garcia to our International Complex. He’s agreed to a signing bonus worth $1,750,000, and shows exceptional potential as a speedy baserunner with above-average power potential and decent, if not spectacular, outfield range. January 21, 2026: Nobody got into the Hall of Fame this year ... only Ichiro Suzuki (74%) and Carlos Beltran (70.9%) came close. Manny Ramirez only got 41.8% in his 10th year of eligibility, so he’s been dropped from future consideration. The pressure’s going to be on Andruw Jones (51.7%), the only ninth year eligible player to get significant votes, to prove to voters next year that he’s worthy of getting the nod ... and considering he actually lost votes this year after cracking 60% in the last two years makes it highly unlikely he’ll make the cut. He’ll have to be happy with his 10 National League Gold Glove awards, unless he can get a groundswell of support. Me personally, I’m a “defense first” guy, and I think he should get in, but I’m not part of the voting press, so we’ll see what happens. February 8, 2026: We signed 16-year-old right-handed reliever Danny Ortega from the Dominican Republic to join our International Complex, with a minor league bonus of $1,000,000. He has potentially exceptional control, thanks to a killer cutter he can already throw at 94 miles per hour, but he’s a long shot among long shots, so it may be years (if ever) before you hear of him again. We have $2 million in bonus pool remaining, but it’s looking less likely that we’ll use it all ... the pool in general was weak this year, which has encouraged teams to max-offer guys who otherwise wouldn’t have gotten a second look. February 12, 2026: We’re sending the Los Angeles Angels 27-year-old first baseman Andrew Vaughn and 22-year-old left fielder prospect Braden Montgomery, in exchange for 25-year-old reliever Ben Joyce and $12,500,000 in cash. Joyce is still on a major league minimum contract and won’t be arbitration eligible until at least next offseason, and last year in LA he put up a 4-4 record with 25 saves and a 3.79 ERA, striking out 41 batters in 35.1 innings of work. He’ll be in the mix to compete for a key spot in our bullpen during spring training, but provides us significant added depth as well ... and though he had a couple injuries last year that kept his playing time down, we think that made the Angels willing to overpay in sending him our way. Works for me ... I like betting on players others overlook, and the cash consideration gives us significant room to wheel and deal later in the season if we need to plug a hole or two. Reinsdorf is really pleased with what we’ve done this offseason, particularly with signing former MVP Cody Bellinger. Our fan support is up from 37% to 61%, and while it’s going to take time to determine how our team chemistry builds through the season and whether we can keep on track to play close to .500, I think we’ve got the team that can do it ... and if we do, we’re going to shock a lot of people here in the AL Central. February 17, 2026: It felt at times like this day would never arrive, but it’s officially the start of spring training! We’ve got our invitees down in Glendale getting ready for the slate of 28 practice games, and then I will pare the roster down for our manager, Ozzie Guillen, as we prepare for opening day. The Padres and Cardinals will face off in Korea for a pair March 24-25 to officially open up the baseball season, with spring games wrapping up across the league around the 20th. We drew a horrible opening schedule, facing Cleveland on the road April 2nd, 3rd and 5th, followed by a series in Colorado April 6th through 8th and in Seattle April 10th through 12th. We then get to open our season at Rate Field by facing last year’s champs the Texas Rangers April 14th through 16th, followed by three against Cleveland the 17th through 19th. February 25, 2026: *Noah Schultz has worked hard all offseason and has improved his control significantly, to the point where he now scouts as a four-star player!* His fastball and slider are his bread and butter pitches, but his changeup and sinker are good enough to keep batters guessing, and he pitches hard enough that he’s going to be tough for just about anyone to hit against this year. If those two pitches ever fully reach their potential, he’s got Cy Young future written all over him! Down in the minors, Cody Frietas saw velocity improvement, and he’s ranked 96th nationally by the OSA among all prospects. But our scout is not as bullish on the future of our fourth rounder from last year’s rookie draft, and unless he can prove him wrong in theArizona Complex League this season, we may be better off considering trade offers later in the summer while his value is higher ... I’m not a fan of high risk high school pitching prospects anyway, and our scout Mike Shirley is excellent at evaluating players’ real tools versus their perceived “abilities.” So we’ll see what happens with him. Brandon Pfaadt, meanwhile, put a lot of work this year into his endurance, significantly improving his ability to pitch deeper into games while also strengthening his arm to the point where our trainers feel he’ll be much more durable long term. He has at least two years left in arbitration, but if he’s able to improve on his performances from last year, we’re definitely going to be interested in potentially locking in a few of his free agency years in a contract later this season, if both sides can come to a reasonable agreement. Hagen Smith, meanwhile, spent the offseason working on HIS endurance and had the opposite effect. Our trainers now fear he may not have as much potential as a starter, though we’re going to continue to work with the 22-year-old in AA this season to see if he can maximise his talents and reach AAA potential ... the 2024 first rounder remains a top ten prospect, and we’re in a position where we can work with him and not rush his development. March 1, 2026: We’ve got our spring roster pared down to 32 players heading into the month of March, and cuts will come more carefully from here on, particularly among the pitching ranks, where we’re still up in the air on most of our bullpen positioning. We’re 4-6-1 so far in spring games, which of course are statistically meaningless results aside from determining who will or won’t make our final roster. March 6, 2026: In our first bout of bad news this spring, Heston Kjerstad has suffered a knee contusion that he’s had difficulty healing from. We’re going ahead and putting him on the IL for now, as it has caused him significant issues when moving about in the outfield. We’re still hopeful he’ll be back and fully rested in time for opening day, but treating it as a “day to day” issue has not worked out so far. His absence from the roster will give Michael A. Taylor, Joshua Mears, Austin Slater and Terrell Tatum plenty of reps in left field to determine which of them are likely to be waived in the coming weeks, and who will instead make the roster as Kjerstad’s backup and our utility outfielder in general. March 12, 2026: With a week of spring games remaining, it’s time we start making some deeper, tougher cuts. We’re 9-9-2 in spring games so far, performing slightly ahead of last-place Kansas City (10-10-1), and we’ve decided to waive Michael A. Taylor, sending Tatum down to the minors as well. All our starters are looking good so far, with Brandon Pfaadt in particular being on a real tear, with an 0.82 ERA through 11 spring innings We’ve sent Eric Adler back down to AA Birmingham, which gets us down to 29 players, but more cuts will be coming as we’re still carrying 15 pitchers on the roster, and preferably would need to cut at least three more. On the offensive side, once Kjerstad is able to come off the IL, we’ll almost certainly be waiving Austin Slater as well to get us down to our final list. March 14, 2026: We’ve sent Ky Bush back down to the minors, waiving Tyler Gilbert as well since he’s out of options. Our final bullpen cut will either involve sending Rule 5 pick Luis Sanchez back to the Cubs or demoting Jonathan Cannon back down to the minors, but we’ll wait until the remaining spring games have been played before we make that decision. Both players have been playing well ... Cannon has a 1.72 ERA through 15.2 innings while Sanchez has a 1.80 ERA through 15 ... but we only need one long relief option, and Sanchez has stayed in the race because of his gaudy strikeout numbers (he’s fanned 25 batters in those 15 innings, by far the best of any of our pitchers). Tough decisions all around, but that’s why I’m getting paid nearly half a million dollars per year. March 16, 2026: *Michael A. Taylor cleared waivers but has refused to be demoted, so we’ve traded him and 25-year-old minor league reliever Prelander Berroa to the Pirates for $2,500,000 in cash considerations.* We’ve waived Austin Slater to make room for Heston Kjerstad, and we’ll make our final pitching decision in a few days. March 17, 2026: Tyler Gilbert cleared waivers and has been optioned to AAA Charlotte. And we’ve made the decision that keeping our talented rule five pick is more valuable than keeping Cannon at the major league level. He’ll return to AAA Charlotte to start the season, but will be available to return to the roster if we have injury issues ... the 25-year-old was 1-5 last year with a 4.50 ERA, so some time at AAA won’t hurt him in his development, and he has the potential still to be a spot starter if he puts in the work. March 19, 2026: Austin Slater cleared waivers and will be optioned to AAA Charlotte. March 21, 2026: We’ve finished spring training, with a record of 14-11-3, good for a third-place finish in the division behind Detroit (15-10-3) and Cleveland (18-7-3). We’ll have our official opening day roster ready to be announced on “International Opening Day” on the 24th, and will then have a week to rest everyone up in preparation for our nine-game road stretch to open the season. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds) Last edited by jksander; 04-23-2025 at 02:24 PM.

04-23-2025, 11:51 AM	#88
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	March 24, 2026: It’s “International Opening Day,” and we’ve officially got our roster set for the start of the upcoming season! Jerry Reinsdorf has made it clear he expects us to continue to show significant improvement, and anything less than a .500 record is going to be seen as a disappointment considering how many critical moves we made this offseason. The folks at the Sporting News have us finishing fourth in the division with a 79-83 record, ahead of the Tigers but well behind the Twins and Royals who are expected to be pushing toward 90 wins each, with whoever doesn’t win the division expecting to be locked in a brutal battle with the teams in the East for wildcard scraps. Noah Schultz is expected to be in the Cy Young hunt as one of the top pitchers in the league, and we’re hopeful that our bullpen improvements give us a real edge in close games. The Braves and Yankees are the early favorites, with 103 wins each in the preseason predictions, and the Braves’ Japanese import, Etsuo Den, is anticipated to be one of the top hitters in either league and an MVP contender. Here’s our opening day roster: *Lineup* C - Brandon Valenzuela (25) 1B - Michael Vargas (26) 2B - Ha-seong Kim (30) 3B - Chase Meidroth (24) SS - Yordys Valdes (24) LF - Heston Kjerstad (27) CF - Ceddanne Rafaela (25) RF - Cody Bellinger (30) DH - Mike Tauchman (35) *Bench* C - Gary Sanchez (33) 1B - Joey Gallo (32) 2B - Brooks Lee (25) 3B - Andre Lipcius (27) LF - Joshua Mears (25) *Starters* 1 - Noah Schultz (22) 2 - Drew Rasmussen (30) 3 - Dylan Cease (30) 4 - Brandon Pfaadt (27) 5 - Sean Burke (26) *Bullpen* CL - Ben Joyce (25) SE (8+) - Ryan Helsley (31) SE (7+) - Jose Alvarado (30) MR - Eduard Bazardo (30) MR - Julian Merryweather (34) MR - Luis Sanchez (23) LR - Noah Syndergaard (33) - - - - - Division Schedule Cleveland (H): 4/17-19, 9/14-17 Cleveland (A): 4/2, 4/4-5, 7/31-8/2, Minnesota (H): 4/14-16, 9/18-20 Minnesota (A): 7/16-19, 8/14-16 Detroit (H): 5/4-7, 8/7-9 Detroit (A): 5/25-27, 9/25-27 Kansas City (H): 7/10-12, 9/29-10/1 Kansas City (A): 5/28-31, 9/22-24 The final month of the season is going to be brutal, and unless someone already has a huge lead, no divisional or wildcard races will be secure until the final week I'd wager. From September 14 through October 1 we'll have 16 games combined against all four divisional opponents, which should be great for late-season ticket sales! __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds) Last edited by jksander; 04-23-2025 at 12:11 PM.

04-23-2025, 02:27 PM	#89
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	April 2, 2026: It’s opening day on the road against our divisional rivals the Cleveland Guardians, who we get to face six times this month! Noah Schultz has been named our opening day starter, and the 22-year-old matched wits on the mound with Cleveland’s Reese Olson, 26, who last year went 7-13 for the Guardians with a 4.47 ERA through 165 innings over 32 starts. We took the lead in the top of the second with an RBI single by Miguel Vargas, and Brandon Valenzuela followed him with an RBI single to give us a 2-0 lead. But they tied it up in the bottom of the fourth when Jose Ramirez hit a two-run slam out of left. Cedanne Rafaela hit an RBI single to get us back into the lead in the top of the sixth, and Schultz got us through the sixth inning, stranding a runner on third to keep his lead. Julian Merryweather took over in the seventh inning with the one run lead still safe, but it didn’t last, as Bo Naylor hit a powerful flyball out of right field as the leadoff hitter, tying it at 3-3. But he got us through the rest of the inning and stranded two runners as we remained tied, Luis Sanchez taking over in the eighth. Sanchez was impressive, striking out two batters and stranding a walked runner on second, and with the score still tied Ryan Hensley came out in the bottom of the ninth as we hoped for extra innings. We got our wish as he got us out of the ninth with Tyler Freeman batting into a 6-4-3 double play, as this one went into the 10th inning knotted up 3-3. Unfortunately we weren’t able to score in the top of the inning, and in the bottom of the inning a sac-fly by Steven Kwan allowed the pinch-runner to score from third, winning this for Cleveland 4-3. Merryweather blew the save and Helsley took the loss despite not giving up an earned run (thanks, ghost runner!) but Schultz had a great debut, pitching six innings with three hits, a walk, two runs and seven strikeouts, throwing 88 pitches. Each team had seven hits, ours led by Rafaela, who had two hits, a run and an RBI, while Valenzuela had a pair of hits, a walk and an RBI. April 4, 2026: Drew Rasmussen pitched his first game for us this afternoon against Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee, who won 13 games for the Guardians last year and was among their top pitchers. Rasmussen’s day did not start out well ... he loaded the bases in the bottom of the first and Johnathan Rodriguez hit a three-run triple that quickly asserted the home team’s dominance. His start has to be called a disaster, as he gave up three more runs in the inning before getting his final strikeout, digging us a 6-0 hole in less than 20 minutes. It’s too early in the year to start destroying the bullpen over a brutal first inning, so we kept him out there in the second and he settled down enough to put some actual work in. Noah Syndergaard took over in the bottom of the fifth with the score unchanged, but with one out he gave up a run off a single by Angel Genao, and a sac-fly by Brayan Rocchio continued to pile on. Our offense was abjectly terrible all day, and though our bullpen did well, it didn’t matter in an 8-0 blowout. Rasmussen’s ego definitely took a big hit, with seven hits, a walk and six runs (three earned) against him in four innings’ work ... striking out three along the way as an afterthought as he started his season at 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA. Eduard Bazardo got seven outs for us across three innings, allowing one hit with two strikeouts in a solid turn, but we were outhit 11-7, and even with 10 total baserunners we couldn’t even bother to score. Valenzuela hit twice, while Kjerstad and Vargas each hit and walked. April 5, 2026: Dylan Cease returned to our Sox in game three against the Guardians on the road, facing Bryce Miller, who only spent a third of his season last year with Cleveland, and he’s yet to win a game in their uniform. It was cold and windy all afternoon, and offense was nonexistant for both teams early on. Cease didn’t allow a single baserunner until the bottom of the fourth when he walked Will Castro, and he allowed his first hit in the fifth, a line drive double for Jose Ramirez which accounted for the game’s first runner in scoring position. With two outs, Cleveland finally broke the stalemate with an RBI single by Derek Hill, and just like that they held a 1-0 lead. Cease got us through the seventh and into the stretch trailing just by the one run, and we started to see chinks in their armor in the bottom of the inning when both Valenzuela and pinch-hitter Brooks Lee walked to get us into scoring position. Chase Meidroth walked the bases loaded with one out, and we tied the score on a wild pitch with the count 1-0 against Kjerstad, Lee and Meidroth each advancing! Kjerstad got a hit into the outfield, singling in Brooks Lee for the lead, though Meidroth tried for home and barely missed out on scoring himself as well. Bellinger struck out swinging and we went into the bottom of the eighth in unfamilar territory ... with a lead! Ryan Helsley took the ball to start the inning, getting two quick outs before Jonathan India hit a line drive double that drove in the tying run ... but they too got greedy, and we got Steven Kwan out at home plate, keeping the game tied into the top of the ninth. Tauchman walked with one out, and Valenzuela walked him into scoring position with two outs, but Brooks Lee popped out to short and we brought out closer Ben Joyce to try and get us into extras. He got two quick outs, but then let Jose Ramirez hit a single, followed immediately by a single for Bo Naylor that sent Ramirez to third, ninety feet away from walking this off. Jonathan Rodriguez stepped up to the plate ... and struck out swinging, sending us into extras for the second time this series! In the top of the 10th, they walked He-seong Kim, with Brooks Lee as the pinch-runner at second. A wild pitch advanced both runners, and Chase Meidroth hit one into the left corner, driving in two runs with a single! Bellinger beat out an infield hit to take first, pushing Meidroth into scoring position with one out, and Tauchman almost did the same with two outs, but he was tagged out in a photo finish, sending us into the bottom of the inning with a two-run lead. With one out, Brayan Rocchio hit into a fielder’s choice, and we took the out at second, letting their pinch-runner score. Luis Sanchez took over with one out and the runner on first, and he got two quick outs around a hit by Tyler Freeman as we escaped this one with a 4-3 victory! Dylan Cease had a wickedly good start, with seven innings and just two hits, a walk, a run and eight strikeouts, but Helsley blew his save attempt, setting up Ben Joyce for the win and 23-year-old rule fiver Luis Sanchez for the save. Our bullpen depth definitely helped us in this one, and we matched them on hits with seven each -- Kjerstad leading the way with two hits and an RBI. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

04-23-2025, 02:49 PM	#90
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	April 6, 2026: We’re in Colorado now for three games at Coors, with Brandon Pfaadt set to pitch his first game against the Rockies’ lefty Jordan Wicks, who was claimed off waivers from the Cubs back in January -- he hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2024, but was 3-1 with a 4.28 ERA last year for the Iowa Cubs in AAA. The Rockies are off to a 2-2 start, and after playing two extra innings games in a four day stretch, we could definitely use a good start to help rest our bullpen. But as we all know, pitchers in Coors often make plans that the baseball gods scoff at. Case in point, Colrado got their lead in the bottom of the first when the second batter of the inning, Michael Toglia, took one out of the park to left, giving them an immediate 2-0 lead. We got on the board in the top of the third when Chase Meidroth reached on an E5 error, and we tied it up with an RBI single by Vargas moments later. In the bottom of the sixth Ezequiel Toyar hit an RBI single on two outs that got them the lead, though we got the trailing runner out to end the inning. We loaded the bases in the top of the seventh with one out, and pinch-hitter Brooks Lee subbed in and walked in a run to tie the score .. he’d take over at shortstop for Yordys Valdes, who has started this season out in a serious slump. He-seong Kim kept the rally going, beating out an infield hit to reach safely AND drive home the go-ahead run, and we went into the stretch leading 4-3! Jose Alvarado took over for Pfaadt on the mound in the bottom of the inning, and he got us through two innings without a baserunner, striking out three as we maintained the lead. Ryan Helsley took the ball in the ninth inning with the score unchanged, but with one out the Rockies tied the score with a solo bomb out of right ... thanks a lot, Zac Veen! He got us out of the inning still tied at 4-4, but for the third time in five days we were headed for extra innings. A wild pitch that filled the count against He-seong Kim allowed the pinch-runner, Brooks Lee, to take third base in the top of the 10th, and they subsequently walked Kim to give us runners on the corners, no outs. Bellinger hit into a fielder’s choice for our second out but was able to drive Lee home to give us a 5-4 lead heading into the bottom of the inning. Julian Merryweather took over on the mound, but with one out an RBI single scored the pinch-runner and tied us up again. Eduard Bazardo took the ball with runners on first and second, and we were headed for another inning once Hunter Goodman hit into a 6-4-3 double play. With one out they intentionally walked Ceddanne Rafaela, and Vargas and Rafaela pulled off the run and hit when Tauchman swung at a strike, putting two in scoring position! Tauchman hit what we’d thought would be a sac-fly, but both runners held their spots, but Brandon Valenzuela had a real hero’s moment for us -- he hit a fastball out of the park into the seats in right, driving in three runs to put us firmly in the lead! Bazardo had only thrown two pitches in the 10th, so he stayed out in the bottom of the 11th, getting three quick flyball outs to end the game as an 8-5 victory in 11 innings! Pfaadt gave us six innings with six hits, three runs and four strikeouts, and though Helsley AND Merryweeather each blew their second saves of the season, Eduard Bazardo was lights out through 1.2 innings, no hits or baserunners as he improved to 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA through four innings. Colorado outhit us 9-7, our offense led by Valenzuela who had a hit, a walk, a run and three RBIs! Four games into the season we’re already 2-1 in extra innings games and 1-1 in one-run games, something I never would have been able to say last season. It’s way too early to put a finger on any one thing that’s had us fighting this hard, but our pitching has been significantly more consistant in these early games. I’m hopeful we can keep this up! April 7, 2026: Sean Burke pitched his first start today in Colorado, facing Rockies starter Nick Frasso, two power-pitchers going head to head. We took the lead in the top of the first when Cody Bellinger reached first on an E6 error, but Burke got into a tight spot in the bottom of the third and didn’t escape it ... instead, Zac Veen hit a two-run double to get them into the lead 2-1. Burke got us through the fifth, but our bats couldn’t get the lead back, so Luis Sanchez took over in the sixth trailing still by a run. He picked up two strikeouts in the sixth and struck out the side in the seventh, striking out two more for fun in the eighth before Syndergaard came out to relieve him. He got us out of the inning with the lead unchanged, our bats coming out in the top of the ninth with a chance ... Valenzuela took a leadoff walk, but Yordys Valdes hit into a U3-6 double play. We should have been dead right there, but they walked He-seong Kim and Chase Meidroth, bringing up Kjerstad who was just itching to make some contact! Unfortunately for us, their closer got the final out and we lost another tight one by a 2-1 margin despite incredible bullpen pitching. Burke lasted five innings with two hits, three walks and five strikeouts, but his two earned runs doomed us, and he started his season with an 0-1 record and a 3.60 ERA. Luis Sanchez has been as good as I expected (and better, even!) when we picked him in the rule 5 draft ... he pitched 2.2 innings tonight with one hit and seven strikeouts, and we outhit Colorado 5-3. Our bats just couldn’t deliever down the stretch, though we walked seven times and definitely had our chances. Kim led the way with a hit and three walks, scoring our one run ... he’s now hit just .167, but his eye has led to six walks against five strikeouts, so he’s getting on base 40 percent of the time. April 8, 2026: Noah Schultz (0-0, 3.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 7 K’s, 0.67 WHIP) pitched against Colorado’s Pedro Avila (1-0, 2.84 ERA, 6.1 IP, 3 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) in a battle of aces, but it was Schultz getting dinged early, with an RBI triple by Brenton Doyle putting them up 1-0 in the bottom of the first just minutes into the start of this one. Doyle scored off a groundout by Ryan McMahon, but Schultz got two strikeouts to end the inning with us just trailing by a pair. Ceddane Rafaela hit a two-run single to tie the score in the top of the sixth, but Schultz gave up a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to McMahon, so Merryweather had to take over with clear bases and no outs, and he was the one to get us through the inning trailing now by two. Bazardo came out to pitch in the seventh, and he should have had us out of the inning except Ryan McMahon hit a ball high into the air, should have had it caught by Rafaela, but he misgauged it and the ump ruled it an RBI single, extending Colorado’s lead to three runs. Syndergaard took over in the eighth, and we didn’t make a sound as we took the 6-2 loss and headed for Seattle with a 2-4 record to start our incredibly brutal road season. Schultz pitched five innings with five hits, a walk and seven strikeouts, and had he stopped at five he would have just had two hits ... but he stayed out in the sixth and we got hammered, giving him an 0-1 record and 4.91 ERA through his first two starts. We were outhit 10-9, with Kjerstad and Bellinger each hitting twice with a run. Next up: the Seattle Mariners, after a day off for travel. They’re off to a 4-2 start after road series against the Twins and Brewers, and they’re coming off a sweep against Milwaukee that included 8-5 and 6-4 wins in extra innings. So they’re battle tested and have a stronger overall team than us on paper. This one won’t be an easy one. We’ll then return to Chicago to face the Twins and Guardians, the two best teams in the division early on ... we’re in fourth place right now, a game up on the 1-5 Tigers. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

04-23-2025, 05:34 PM	#91
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	April 10, 2026: Drew Rasmussen (0-1, 6.75 ERA, 4.0 IP, 3 K’s, 2.00 WHIP) started against George Kirby (0-0, 9.00 ERA, 5.0 IP, 5 K’s, 1.20 WHIP), and neither starter was happy with how their first game of the year went ... plenty of room for improvement. Rasmussen’s day didn’t start much better than his first one, giving up an RBI double to Julio Rodriguez before even getting a single out, and a three-run slam by Kyle Schwarber cleared the bases ... a quick 4-0 lead for the home team. By the time he got out of the inning we trailed 5-0, only a tiny improvement on his 6-0 inning in game one, and I’m starting to seriously question whether we made a mistake betting on the 30-year-old. Small sample size, I know, but a 39-pitch first inning immediately after a bad outing like the one he had in Cleveland, it’s not a great sign. He gave up a solo homer to Schwarber, his second of the game, in the bottom of the second but got out of the inning with a pair of strikeouts ... and in the name of not blowing up the bullpen in the first game of the series we let him keep pitching, but three innings was his limit. Noah Syndergaard took over in the top of the fourth with a 6-0 hole to stare out of, and the game became a rout. Luis Sanchez drew some cheers even from the home team as he struck out a pair in his mop-up innings at the end of the game, but it’s a lot easier to cheer when your team is the one winning 10-0 while being struck out. Rasmussen’s not going to get a lot more rope after two starts where he now sits at 0-2 with a 10.29 ERA, two starts totalling just seven innings. But they outhit us 15-2, so even one run was going to get a loss in a game like this. We didn’t even get any walks, finishing the game with two paltry baserunners. April 11, 2026: Dylan Cease (0-0, 1.29 ERA, 7.0 IP, 8 K’s, 0.43 WHIP) pitched against Jackson Rose (0-0, 16.88 ERA, 2.2 IP, 3 K’s, 3.00 WHIP) in game two, and we took the lead in the top of the first when Kjerstad hit into a fielder’s choice, driving home Kim, who had reached base thanks to an error as our leadoff hitter. But we were unable to run the score up on them, just coming out of the frame with the one run, and back to back doubles for Randy Arozarena and Nick Castellanos tied us right up in the bottom of the inning. A killer throw by Bellinger from deep left got our final out in the bottom of the third, off a hit that anytime last year would have guaranteed the Mariners a lead ... instead we got Schwarber out trying for home and kept the score at 1-1. Rose was gone from the game with two outs in the fifth, but Cease did manage to get us through five full innings, with the score still knotted at one each ... and that was enough time for Tauchman to buy us the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth, batting home Kjerstad from second to put us up 2-1! Eduard Bazardo came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning, getting one out before blowing the save with a solo homer by Schwarber tying the score at 2-2. We took back the lead in the top of the eighth thanks to a two-run double by Kjerstad, Alvarado taking over in the bottom of the inning to hold it. Valenzuela reached base on an E8 error in the eighth, adding on a run when Rafaela came in to score, and with one out and nobody on in the bottom of the eighth Ryan Helsley came out to relieve Alvarado, striking out a pair to protect the three-run lead. Ben Joyce came out to close in the bottom of the ninth, facing the bottom of their lineup, but it went nothing as planned ... with one out and the bases loaded, we desperately started warming up Sanchez, our power strikeout man ... but we wound up not needing him, as Joyce got Arozarena to ground into a 5-2-3 double play as we beat the Mariners 5-2, none of their runners scoring! Cease got us through five hard-fought innings with five hits, seven strikeouts and just one earned run, and though Bazardo blew his first save of the year he also got his second win, improving to 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA with two hits, a run and three strikeouts in his inning. Alvarado and Bazardo each had holds, and Joyce saved the game in the most difficult way possible. They outhit us 10-9, but we outwalked them 5-1 and our offense was led by Kjerstad, who hit twice and walked once, scoring once and driving in three more. April 12, 2026: One more game and we can get home to Chicago where our fans are ready to celebrate our home opener in style. Brandon Pfaadt (0-0, 4.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 4 K’s, 1.00 WHIP) got his second start of the year against Thomas Harris (0-0, 4.76 ERA, 5.2 IP, 2 K’s, 1.41 WHIP), and this became a duel of the highest order. Unfortunately for Pfaadt, his near perfect night ended with a solo homer by Yoan Moncado with one out in the bottom of the seventh that broke the stalemate and put the Mariners into the lead. Luis Sanchez took over and was immediately rung up by Cal Raleigh for another solo bomb, and with a runner on first and two outs we had to bring out Alvarado to finish things. Incredibly, our bats woke up in the top of the eighth ... Tauchman got us on the board with an RBI single, and then Brandon Valenzuela hit a grand slam homer to push us into the lead 5-2, on just the 25-year-old’s second homer of the season! Ryan Helsley took over in the bottom of the inning, getting three quick flyouts to right, and Ben Joyce came out again in the ninth, getting two outs but giving up an RBI double to J.P. Crawford, cutting our lead to two. Julian Merryweather came out to relieve him, and it was the worst possible outcome ... Arozarena hit a two-run homer to blow the save, tying the score at 5-5, and instead of going to extra innings Castellanos walked it off with a solo homer to pretty much the same goddamned spot ... unbelievable, only we could find a way to go into the frame up by three and still lose it 6-5. That’s Merryweather’s third blown save, and he took the loss as well, falling to 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA through four innings. But Seattle outhit us 11-6, so we were riding a razor’s edge, leading only because of the fluke grand slam. Valenzuela, who is now hitting .391 with two homers and nine RBIs, got four of those in one swoop to lead the team today. We’ll head back to Chicago with a 3-6 record through our first brutal road trip. This week we’ll have three games against the 5-4 Twins, who sit in second place now in the division, followed by three against the 7-2 Guardians who already handed us two of our losses. We’re in fourth place, a game and a half back of the 5-5 Royals but still half a game ahead of the 3-7 Tigers. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

04-23-2025, 05:37 PM	#92
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	April 14, 2026: Noah Schultz (0-1, 4.91 ERA, 11.0 IP, 14 K’s, 0.91 WHIP) got the start in game one against the Twins, facing Pablo Lopez (1-0, 0.93 ERA, 9.2 IP, 10 K’s, 0.83 WHIP) in front of 40,000 White Sox fans who have been awaiting their first look at this team on our own field. Heston Kjerstad hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth to give us the lead, and Schultz was perfect until Royce Lewis hit a double with one out in the top of the fifth. Unfortunately the next batter, Ryan Jeffers, hit an RBI single to tie it up, and the NEXT batter hit a two-run homer to ruin the young starter’s night as we lost the lead to the Twins 3-1. He got through the rest of the inning, but five hits did him in as it was unlikely he’d be back out for more. Eduard Bazardo took over in the top of the sixth, trailing by a pair, and in the bottom of the sixth we got it tied back up when Kjerstad hit his second homer of the game, a two-run blast to make it a 3-3 ballgame! Bazardo got us into the stretch still tied, and Luis Sanchez came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, getting two outs before Joc Pederson hit a two-run blomb out of center to shoot the Twins back into the lead 5-3. But we weren’t done yet ... Chase Meidroth got us a run back with a groundout to first that scored Valenzuela, and Kjerstad hit an RBI single to tie the score up at 5-5 heading into the top of the ninth! Jose Alvarado took the ball in the top of the inning, striking out the side as we came back up hoping to end this quickly. Ceddanne Rafaela took a leadoff walk, but Tauchman struck out swinging and Vargas hit into a fielder’s choice, the Twins taking Rafaela out at second. Brandon Valenzuela came up big with a hit into right, a single that coupled with an E9 error allowed us to put two runners in scoring position with our two outs. Brooks Lee came out to pinch-hit for Yordys Valdes, and the wind almost carried his hit out of the park, but their center fielder Byron Buxton stole it at the wall. Once again, we’re headed for extras! Ben Joyce took the ball in the top of the 10th with their pinch-runner Ryan Jeffers on second. Rafaela made a great catch off a hit by Edouard Julien, holding Jeffers at second, and MJ Melendez grounded out to first, their number one hitter Luke Keaschall promptly striking out swinging, bringing us up with the top of our order ready to hit in the bottom of the inning, speedster Brandon Lee on second and ready to go. With one out, Chase Meidroth grounded out to first and advanced Lee to within ninety feet of a walkoff, but Kjerstad popped out harmlessly to left and this one kept going. With two outs and the bases loaded, Joyce let Matt Wallner walk in the go-ahead, and Brandon Helsley took over from there, hoping for a quick end so we could hit again. He got it, striking out Jeffers swinging, and Bellinger led off in the bottom of the 11th with Kjerstad on second. Bellinger popped out to deep left, allowing Kjerstad to take third, and Ceddanne Rafaela hit a solid bouncer into center-right, a double that tied the score up at 6-6! But Tauchman struck out swinging and Vargas grounded out to first ... we couldn’t finish them off! With one out in the top of the 12th they again took the lead, this time the pinch-runner scoring off a flyball double by MJ Melendez. They then added on with two more off a triple by Carlos Correa before Helsley finished them off with a pair of strikeouts, bringing us up to hit trailing by three. With runners on the corners and two outs, Chase Meidroth damned near tied the game, but they caught the high flyball at the wall and this one ended as a 9-6 loss in 12 innings. Helsley took the loss, falling to 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA through six appearances and 6.2 innings, and Minnesota outhit us 11-7, spoiling a two homer night for Kjerstad,who had three hits, three runs and five RBIs to bring his average up to .279. April 15, 2026: Sean Burke (0-1, 3.60 ERA, 5.0 IP, 5 K’s, 1.00 WHIP) pitched against Joe Musgrove (0-1, 12.27 ERA, 3.2 IP, 4 K’s, 2.18 WHIP), and the Twins took the lead in the top of the first with a two-out solo homer by Joc Pederson. But we came up big in the bottom of the third, loading the bases and then shooting us into the lead with a two-run double by Bellinger! Kjerstad scored off a groundout by Rafaela, and Bellinger scored a fourth run when Tauchman reached first on an E8 error, and we went into the fourth inning leading confidently 4-1. Burke struck out the side in the top of the fourth, and Bellinger made a killer throw with two outs to peg their runner out at third from deep right field, the kind of play you rarely see! Julian Merryweather took the ball in the top of the sixth, still leading 4-1, and after he hit back to back opponents (including Joc Pederson who had to be pulled from the game with a concussion) we had to switch to Syndergaard with runners on first and second, one out -- Merryweather just cannot find his rhythm this year! Syndergaard stranded both runners, and in the seventh he got two outs before we went to Luis Sanchez with Ryan Jeffers on first. He got us into the stretch with the lead unchanged, and a sac-fly by Tauchman gave us a 5-1 lead heading into the eighth inning. Jose Alvarado came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, but he had a total meltdown, loading the bags and letting a run score off a wild pitch. So much for our revitalized bullpen, because we keep blowing excellent leads ... this time Matt Wallner batted in two more runs with a single, and then he got himself together enough to strike out a pair, giving us time to bring out Eduard Bazardo with two outs, a man on first and a tenuous one-run lead. He got Jeffers to strike out, however, and we went into the bottom of the inning needing serious insurance. We were unable to buy any, however, even with Bellinger at the plate with two outs and loaded bases, so in the top of the ninth Ryan Helsley took over as we hoped to keep this lead safe long enough to escape with a win. It wasn’t easy, but he pitched around a pair of baserunners and did just that, as we held tough to the 5-4 win against a heated rival. Burke improved to 1-1 with the win, lasting five innings with four hits, six strikeouts and an earned run as he improved his ERA to 2.70. Merryweather, Syndergaard, Sanchez and Bazardo each had holds, and Helsley saved his first game of the year ... we outhit Minnesota 10-7, led again by Kjerstad who had four hits and two runs scored, improving his average to .333! We claimed Minnesota starter Matt Canterino off waivers after the game, and he got told after we handed them the loss ... he packed his bags and joined our team immediately and I’m sure Miami is disappointed, knowing we beat out their initial claim to snag him. The 28-year-old has started two games for the Twins this year, putting together a 1-0 record with a 0.00 ERA thorugh 11 innings, striking out eight with a 0.73 WHIP ... that they’ve been good enough to need to waive a kid like him suggests this could be a real steal. We’re waiving Merryweather to make room for him, and Canterino will join our bullpen as a second long-reliever / spot starter alongside Syndergaard. April 16, 2026: Drew Rasmussen (0-2, 10.29 ERA, 7.0 IP, 6 K’s, 2.57 WHIP) started his third game of the season, facing Joe Ryan (0-1, 3.38 ERA, 10.2 IP, 11 K’s, 0.94 WHIP). He got through the first inning with a pair of hits but nobody scoring, which was a huge relief and a lot of pressure off his shoulders ... two firsts in a row with five or more runs will do that to you. Too bad we gave him no run support early, so he had to really work the edges ... but he got through five scoreless innings. Matt Canterino came out in the top of the sixth, the game still scoreless, and with two on and two outs we had to go to Syndergaard, who did get the final out to keep us tied. Finally our bats woke up in the bottom of the inning, when Heston Kjerstad parted the red sea with a two-run homer out of center to put us up 2-0! Syndergaard got us into the stretch with the lead still safe, but our bullpen is absolute gassed so we were going to have to seriously play the game of our lives to hold it. Syndergaard was up to the challenge ... three quick outs in the eighth and then in the top of the ninth we met disaster as Byron Buxton hit a two-run homer to tie it up. Desperate, we had to bring out Brandon Pfaadt, who threw 88 pitches as a starter four nights ago, with nobody on and nobody out. He got a strikeout and two flyouts to get us into the bottom of the inning needing a walkoff more than ever before. Tauchman led off with a single and Valenzuela walked him into scoring position, and they had no choice but to walk Gallo too ... that brought up Yordys Valdes with loaded bases and no outs, the perfect recipe to snap him out of his hitting slump. Or, well, at least to get him to hit a sac-fly that drove in the winning run as we got out of here with a gassed bullpen and a 3-2 win! Pfaadt only had to throw nine pitches and he got the win, improving to 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA ... he wasn’t next in the rotation, but it is definitely going to throw things off in his next-start preparations. We outhit them 8-3, led by Kjerstad with two hits, a run and two RBIs, and we had to make some moves ahead of tomorrow’s first game against Cleveland. Joshua Mears went down to the minors so we could call up Jonathan Cannon from AAA Charlotte as an extra arm. If we’re lucky we’ll be able to get a good start from Cease and let the bullpen rest some tomorrow, with Cannon then available to spot start in game two while we get our rotation rested. Speaking of Cleveland, they’ll come into town with a sparkling 9-4 record, leading the second-place Royals by a game and a half. We’re still in fourth place but are only trailing Minnesota now by a single game, and our 5-7 record is certainly better than anyone expected with us playing our first nine games on the road. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

04-23-2025, 06:52 PM	#93
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	April 17, 2026: Whatever you want to say about our White Sox this year, everybody’s earning their pay. We’re just 12 games into our season and already are 2-2 in extra innings games and 3-3 in one-run games, despite a -19 run differential that ranks third-worst in the American League, only ahead of the 3-10 Athletics and 3-10 Rangers out in the AL West. Dylan Cease (0-0, 1.50 ERA, 12.0 IP, 15 K’s, 0.67 WHIP) got his third start of the year tonight in our first game at Rate Field against the Guardians, facing Brayan Bello (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 13.0 IP, 8 K’s, 0.62 WHIP) in what was expected to be a maximum level pitching duel. Jose Ramirez hit into a 4-6-3 double play in the top of the first, driving in the go-ahead for the Guardians, and Cease struggled to get that third out ... two more runs scored when Gavin Lux hit an RBI double, and we went into the bottom of the inning trailing 3-0 -- in a game where we need Cease to get deep into the game, that was not optimal. We finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single by Cedanne Rafaela, and Cease settled in incredibly well, getting us into the stretch still trailing by just the two runs. He stayed out to finish the eighth inning as well, becoming our first starter all year to break 100 pitches, and when the ninth inning rolled around and we were still in the hole, he got three quick outs to become the first starter since I took the team over to go a full regulation nine innings. In the bottom of the ninth, Brooks Lee pinch-hit for Yordys Valdes, taking a leadoff walk, and with the count full against him, Ha-seong Kim singled him into scoring position. But we weren’t able to get either of them in to score, losing this one 3-1. Dylan Cease did everything in his power to make up for that first inning, but even a complete game six hitter wasn’t enough ... two walks, five strikeouts and three earned runs finished his stat-line as he fell to 0-1 with a 2.14 ERA through 21 innings, and that may be the most White Sox stat-line for a pitcher ever. Worse, we actually outhit them 10-6, but they walked five times and were able to overcome the hitting disparity, our offense led by Meidroth with two hits and a run, while Rafaela added two hits and an RBI. April 18, 2026: The good thing about Cease pitching his complete game yesterday is that our bullpen is nicely rested, which is going to allow us to rest Noah Schultz an extra day and get our rotation back onto its proper rotation. Jonathan Cannon took the bullpen start, making his first appearance for us this season after starting out 1-0 through 17.1 innings with 23 K’s and a 1.04 WHIP down in AAA. He faced off against Cleveland’s Hunter Gaddis (0-1, 9.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 6 K’s, 1.89 WHIP), and he got us through four scoreless innings before our bats awoke in the bottom of the fourth, Vargas batting in two with a line drive double to get us on the board! Brandon Valenzuela hit an RBI single to add on, giving us a 3-0 cushion heading into the fifth for Cannon to stay out there to qualify for the win. Eduardo Bazardo took over in the top of the sixth, getting three quick outfield flies to end the inning with ease. Luis Sanchez took the ball in the seventh, and we added on three more runs in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single by Meidroth, a groundout by Kjerstad and an RBI single for Ceddanne Rafaela! Sanchez struck out three in the eighth to strand David Fry on first, and former Twin Matt Canterino came out to mop things up in the ninth with a huge lead. He got two quick outs and then had to be pulled after he complained of a jammed finger. Ryan Helsley took over with two outs and a man on first, striking out Bo Naylor swinging as we completed the 6-0 shutout victory! Cannon started his season with a 1-0 record and a 0.00 ERA, getting through five innings with two hits, two walks and three strikeouts! Bazardo and Sanchez earned holds, and Sanchez was particularly impressive, pitching two innings with a hit and five strikeouts -- through his first eight bullpen apperances, the 22-year-old Dominican right-hander has struck out 19 batters through 9.1 innings, with just FOUR WALKS and seven hits against him! Thankfully the Cubs didn’t know what they had and left him unprotected ... today we outhit the Guardians 9-4, led by Miguel Vargas with two hits, a run and two RBIs. April 19, 2026: Noah Schultz (0-1, 5.06 ERA, 16.0 IP, 19 K’s, 0.94 WHIP) pitched in game three against Cleveland’s Reese Olson (1-0, 3.72 ERA, 19.1 IP, 21 K’s, 0.93 WHIP), and in the bottom of the fourth we broke through with a run off a fielder’s choice, Ceddanne Rafaela’s hit driving in Meidroth to put us up 1-0. But a pair of weak infield squibs that each should have been outs set up Steven Kwan for what became an RBI single to tie us up on two outs, sending us into the bottom of the fifth stuck in another squeaker. With Schultz at 88 pitches and tiring fast, we brought out Noah Syndergaard in the top of the sixth, and with two outs and two men on, he let Brayan Rocchio hit an RBI double to put Cleveland up 2-1. Their next batter, Gavin Lux, hit a three-run bomb out of left and this one was suddenly not so close. Jose Alvarado took the ball in the seventh, trailing 5-1 at the time, but the game became a rout in the eighth -- with two outs and men on first and second, Luis Sanchez came out to face a 9-1 bloodbath, and though he got the four outs we needed to get through the rest of the game, our bats were completely absent as we lost by the same margin. Let’s face it, when we get crushed, we get crushed BADLY. Schultz had a solid five innings, with three hits, three strikeouts and an unearned run as his ERA improved to 3.86. But Syndergaard took the loss thanks to three hits and four runs with a walk and a strikeout in his inning, and Alvarado gave up six hits and four runs with a walk and two strikeouts in his 1.2 innings. They outhit us 12-3, Kjerstad leading the way with a hit and a walk while Rafaela batted in our only run. *Matt Canterino is a bust ... our recent waiver claim from Minnesota will spend the next three months on the IL ... his “jammed finger” actually resulted in a ruptured tendon.* We’ve added him to the 60-day list, recalling Julian Merryweather, who just cleared waivers, to return to our 26-man roster. We have a much-needed day off tomorrow as we travel to face Toronto (6-10, 5th AL East) and Cincinnati (9-7, 1st NL Central) on the road. We’ll then finish out the month with three games at home against Tampa (7-8, 4th AL East). Our record currently is 6-9, half a game out of last place as we try to keep pace in a hectic AL Central. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

04-23-2025, 07:57 PM	#94
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	April 21, 2026: Sean Burke (1-1, 2.70 ERA, 10.0 IP, 11 K’s, 0.90 WHIP) started in game one against the Blue Jays, facing Tomoyuki Sugano (1-1, 2.84 ERA, 19.0 IP, 18 K’s, 1.05 WHIP). Yordys Valdes hit a leadoff homer in the top of the first to get us on the board, his first homer and only his second run batted in of the entire season though his fielding has kept him valuable early on. But we aren’t used to how this domed stadium plays, and it showed quickly in the bottom of the inning, Vladimir Guerrero Jr hitting an RBI double to tie it up on one out. Good thing our bats kept popping! Brandon Valenzuela hit a two-run homer in the top of the second, his third of the season, They tied it up with a two-run single by Anthony Santander in the bottom of the third, and Ryan Ward hit a two-run blast out of right to shoot them back into the lead, digging us a 5-3 hole heading into the top of the fourth. In the top of the fifth Heston Kjerstad walked the bases loaded, and Cody Bellinger walked in a run, ending Sugano’s night on the mound with two outs as we cut their lead down to one run. But Burke got blasted in the bottom of the inning, and after Ryan Ward hit another three-run homer (his second multi-run blast of the game, we had to bring out Syndergaard, trailing 8-4 with no outs. Bazardo came out in the sixth, giving up another run, but Miguel Vargas did his part to keep us in the game, hitting a two-run homer out of right in the top of the eighth to get us back within three. Jonathan Cannon took over with one out and men on first and second in the bottom of the eighth, getting us out of the inning with at least a slim chance of a comeback. Brooks Lee took first on an E6 error, but Valdes batted into a double play to squelch the rally as Meidroth then popped out harmlessly to right, Toronto beating us 9-6. Burke took the loss, falling to 1-2 with a 7.07 ERA after allowing eight hits, four walks, eight runs and two strikeouts in his miserable four inning start. Kjerstad’s hitting streak came to an end, but he at least walked once so his on-base streak is now at seven straight. They outhit us 12-8, and though Valdes couldn’t keep the rally going in the ninth, he did lead the team with three hits, two runs and an RBI, while Tauchman hit twice and scored two runs. April 22, 2026: Drew Rasmussen (0-2, 6.00 ERA, 12.0 IP, 13 K’s, 1.75 WHIP) made his fourth start of the season, facing Joe Rock (1-1, 2.60 ERA, 17.1 IP, 19 K’s, 1.10 WHIP) who has had a hot run of it for the Blue Jays the last couple starts. Valenzuela hit a two-run homer in the top of the second, and Yordys Valdes hit an RBI single in the top of the fourth to add on a run. Toronto got on the board with a solo homer by Daulton Varsho with one out in the bottom of the fifth, but a sac-fly by Vargas got us that run back and an RBI double by Valenzuela put us up 5-1 in the middle of the sixth. We scored again in the seventh off a sac-fly by Vargas, and Julian Merryweather took the ball from Rasmussen with two outs and Vlad on first in the bottom of the seventh, getting a pop-fly to left to end the inning. Luis Sanchez took over in the eighth, and after another sac-fly (this one by Tauchman) added on another run in the top of the ninth, Sanchez stayed out for the final frame, pitching around a Santander walk with three strikeouts as we shut them down mercilessly, 7-1! Rasmussen got his first win of the year, improving to 1-2 with a 4.34 ERA with a 6.2 inning two hit effort, walking one and striking out five against one earned run. Sanchez continues to impress as well, finishing our last two innings with one hit, one walk and five strikeouts, giving him 25 K’s already through 12.2 innings. We outhit them 12-3, led by Kjerstad and Rafaela, who each had three hits and two runs scored. Kjerstad has been stunning so far this year, hitting .357 through his first 70 at-bats, with four doubles, three homers and 11 RBIs -- in his first three years in Baltimore he had a total of one win above replacement through 190 games, and he’s already got 0.8 WAR this season through 17! April 23, 2026: Dylan Cease (0-1, 2.14 ERA, 21.0 IP, 20 K’s, 0.76 WHIP) pitched a complete game six days ago, and he’s up in the rotation this evening in our final game against the Blue Jays, facing Jose Berrios (0-2, 7.42 ERA, 13.1 IP, 11 K’s, 1.72 WHIP). Varsho hit himself a two-run blast out of right to give Toronto the lead in the bottom of the second, and we didn’t get on the board until the top of the fifth, when Chase Meidroth hit an RBI single on two outs to get us back within a run. Toronto got it back in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single by Andres Gimenez, and we were still in a 3-1 hole in the bottom of the seventh when Jose Alvarado took over on the mound. Bazardo pitched in the eighth, keeping us in the fight, and a sac-fly drove in a run to cut their lead to one with two outs and Gallo on second! It’s a shame that Ha-seong Kim popped out harmlessly to right, ending the game as a 5-4 loss, because we’d fought hard to the very end. Cease, who pitched six innings with five hits, a walk, four strikeouts and three earned runs, has had really bad luck this year, starting his season out with an 0-2 record and a 2.67 ERA, despite putting up a 156 ERA+ and 1.1 WAR while allowing opposing batters to hit just .239 ... he’s bound to turn it around with some wins if we can just get him run support when it counts. Unfortunately today we had six hits, same as them, led by Meidroth who had two hits and an RBI, while Kjerstad added a hit and a walk but got nowhere. We’ll head to Cincinnati with a 7-11 record, now in last place in the AL Central, though only 4.5 games out of first. The Reds are currently 11-8 and half a game out of first in the NL Central, behind the Cubs who are on a seven-game winning streak. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

04-24-2025, 04:17 PM	#95
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	April 24, 2026: Noah Schultz (0-1, 3.86 ERA, 21.0 IP, 22 K’s, 0.86 WHIP) pitched against Cincinnati’s Lance Lynn (4-0, 1.84 ERA, 14.2 IP, 16 K’s, 1.02 WHIP), who started one game this year and did the rest of his damage as a multi-innings reliever. But aside from his one start, he hasn’t thrown more than 40 pitches in a game, so he’s an interesting pitcher to face. We had him off kilter from the start, with four walks in the first two innings before we broke through with an RBI single by Valenzuela that put us up 1-0. But it was Ha-seong Kim who shut their fans up moments later, when he hit a grand slam out of left to extend that lead to 5-0. The Reds went to the bullpen with two outs in the third, while Schultz pitched us through six shutout innings. Cody Bellinger hit a two-run double in the top of the seventh, coming around to score a few minutes later off a Meidroth single, giving us an 8-0 lead heading into the stretch. Luis Sanchez took the ball in the bottom of the inning and was pretty much unstoppable through the eighth, and Ryan Helsley took over in the ninth ... with two outs he blew the shutout when Matt McLain hit a two-run homer out of left, but we got out of there with an 8-2 win anyway, which is just as good. Schultz improved to 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA, allowing just three hits with nine strikeouts, and Sanchez got through his two innings with a hit, a walk and five K’s. Hensley’s two hits, two walks and two runs were enough to spoil the shutout, but we still outhit the Reds 8-6, and our power was dominant thanks to Kim with two hits, a walk, a run and four RBIs. April 25, 2026: Brandon Pfaadt (1-0, 2.70 ERA, 13.1 IP, 16 K’s, 0.90 WHIP) pitched against Cincinnati’s Matthew Boyd (0-0, 3.38 ERA, 13.1 IP, 14 K’s, 1.65 WHIP) in game two, and Heston Kjerstad hit a two-run homer in the top of the first to get us on the board! Bellinger, hitting right behind him, went out of the park as well with a solo blast, giving us a 3-0 lead midway through the first. The Reds scored in the bottom of the first off an RBI double by Noelvi Marte that gave them two quick runs, and a two-run homer by Edgar Quero just minutes later put them into the lead 4-3 ... it’s gonna be that kind of game. In the top of the third we tied it on an RBI double by Chase Meidroth, taking the lead back with a Bellinger double, leading 5-4 at the inning’s midpoint, and we added a solo homer by Kjersted, his second of the game, added a little cushion as we headed into the bottom of the fifth up by two runs. Three more runs scored in the sixth, and Julian Merryweather took the ball in the bottom of the inning with a 9-4 lead in hand. Bazardo took over with two outs and a man on in the seventh, keeping the lead as it was, and Valenzuela hit a solo homer in the eighth to put us into double figures scoring! Kjerstad hit his THIRD HOMER of the game in the top of the ninth, a two-run blast that gave us an even dozen, and Bazardo finished them off quietly as we won 12-4! Pfaadt improved to 2-0 with a 3.93 ERA thanks to five innings with five hits, a walk, two strikeouts and four earned runs, and we outhit the Reds 15-7 ... obviously the star of the night (and of the season thus far!) was Kjerstad, who went 3-5 with three homers and five runs batted in, improving his average to .354 with six homers already in just 20 games. April 26, 2026: Sean Burke (1-2, 7.07 ERA, 14.0 IP, 13 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) pitched in game three against Zac Gallen (3-0, 1.90 ERA, 23.2 IP, 19 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) Yordys Valdes hit a three-run homer in the top of the third to put us on the board, and Noah Syndergaard took over with one out and men on first and second in the bottom of the sixth, striking out Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Tyler Stephenson each swinging to keep the shutout alive. He kept it that way through the seventh, our lead at 3-0 heading into the stretch, and Jonathan Cannon took over in the eighth, the inning our luck came to an end ... with one out and runners on the corners, Encarnacion-Strand hit a three-run blast out of right and just like that we were tied up 3-3. Cannon got us out of the inning without giving them a lead, and Andre Lipcius hit an RBI single that scored Tauchman in the top of the ninth to put us back in the lead! Ben Joyce took over from there, but it didn’t go well ... he gave up three hits in a row, the Reds tying the score on a double by Edgar Quero that put two in scoring position. Jose Alvarado took over in the high leverage spot, getting Spencer Steer to strike out swinging, but Jorge Soler hit a three-run homer out of the park in left to walk it off as a 7-4 Reds win. Would have been nice to have that sweep, but we played well all three games, so we’re making progress. Burke had 5.1 good innings with three hits, three walks and six strikeouts, improving his ERA to 5.12, but Cannon and Joyce each had blown saves, and it was Joyce who took the loss, falling to 1-1 with a 9.64 ERA ... he’s only played in five games, so it’s a small sample size, and he may need to get more innings as a middle reliever before trying to close out games. They outhit us 11-8, our bats led by Valdes who had two hits, a walk, a run and three RBIs ... he’s now hitting .197 and seems to be coming out of his slump at last. We’re back in Chicago tomorrow through Wednesday as we end the month against the 10-12 Rays, who are in fourth place in the AL East. Our 9-12 record has us on track for 70 wins, but we’re continuing to show signs that we’re significantly better than last year, and I feel strongly that we should be able to stay in contention in our division if we keep our heads on right. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

04-24-2025, 04:24 PM	#96
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	Any of you who are Severance fans will appreciate this Kjerstad meme I made in honor of his hot start for our White Sox in 2026 ... Attached Images __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

04-25-2025, 11:30 AM	#97
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	April 27, 2026: Drew Rasmussen (1-2, 4.34 ERA, 18.2 IP, 18 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) has been getting into his form, and he faced Paul Blackburn (3-0, 2.86 ERA, 22.0 IP, 11 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) today, and he pitched well through the first five innings, though Tampa broke through with an RBI single by Zach Lowe to go up 1-0 on two outs in the top of the fifth. Ceddanne Rafaela hit a homer in the leadoff spot in the bottom of the inning, and Luis Sanchez took over in the top of the sixth, striking out three batters to strand Brandon Lowe who had been hit on the elbow to take his base. Julian Merryweather came out in the seventh, striking out the side as our pitchers continued to be damned near unhittable ... but he stayed out in the eighth and got rung up for a pair of hits, bringing out Eduard Bazardo with no outs, men on the corners. With one out, Brandon Lowe hit an RBI single, Josh Lowe scoring the go-ahead ... but Jonathan Aranda took third safely and we got Lowe out at second as the trailing runner, giving us two outs. Pete Alonso then hit one straight to Kim at short, ending the inning with just the one run as damage. But they added on in the ninth with another run, and our bats stayed silent as we lost this one 3-1. Rasmussen struck out nine batters with just three hits, two walks and a run against him in five innings, and we struck out 17 BATTERS in the game as a whole ... but Merryweather took the loss, falling to 0-2 with a hit, a walk, three strikeouts and a run against him. They outhit us 7-3, Rafaela leading the way with a hit and an RBI as our offense struggled, getting just four baserunners the entire game as we wasted incredible pitching all around. April 28, 2026: Dylan Cease (0-2, 2.67 ERA, 27.0 IP, 24 K’s, 0.81 WHIP) has pitched well all year but with pretty much no run support, so he was hoping for a big night from our bats as he faced Tampa’s Taj Bradley (2-1, 3.21 ERA, 33.2 IP, 35 K’s, 1.01 WHIP). And based on his second inning, he was going to need one ... with one out and runners on the corners in the top of the second Christopher Morel hit a three-run double to put Tampa on the board in a huge way. One hit, and we’re deep in the s--- ... or something like that. They added on with a solo homer by Jonny DeLuca in the top of the third, and then we finally got on the board with an RBI single from Meidroth in the bottom of the inning to trail 4-1. Tauchman hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth to cut their lead to two, but Cease loaded the bags with no outs in the top of the fifth and his night was over. Syndergaard took the ball, a run scoring off a sac-fly by Aranda, and we felt lucky to get into the bottom of the inning trailing just 6-2. In the bottom of the sixth we loaded the bases on two outs, and Joey Gallo walked in a run to cut the lead to three ... but Brooks Lee, subbing in for Yordys Valdes, couldn’t get a hit and went down swinging to end the rally. Luis Sanchez took the ball to start the seventh, but he gave up a two-run homer to Aranda and this one was over. DeLuca hit his second homer of the night to drive in two more in the eighth, and we’d go on to lose this one 10-3. Cease fell to 0-3 with a 4.06 ERA, allowing five hits and four walks that led to six earned runs, striking out six along the way. We were only outhit 9-8, but they got five runs off homers ... Meidroth led the offense with two hits and an RBI, and Kjerstad got a hit to keep his on-base streak alive, though he got nowhere with it. April 29, 2026: Noah Schultz (1-1, 3.00 ERA, 27.0 IP, 31 K’s, 0.78 WHIP) started game three against the Rays, facing Mason Montgomery (0-1, 6.52 ERA, 9.2 IP, 13 K’s, 1.34 WHIP). We loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth inning, but Tauchman and Vargas struck out swinging to keep this game scoreless. Schultz got out of a pickle in the fifth, two runners on and no outs, Morel grounding into a 3-6-1 double play and Everson Pereira striking out to strand Junior Caminero on third. We seemed to have left our offense in Cincinnati, but Schultz was able to get us through six in this deadlocked battle. Kjerstad took a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth, and with one out he advanced into scoring position off a single by Rafaela, and Tauchman delivered with a killer ** into center ... but Kjerstad tried to come around third for home and was tagged out at the plate, denying us a run. With Tauchman now on second and Rafaela on third with an eye on home plate, Miguel Vargas struck out swinging and we went into the seventh still deadlocked, 0-0. Jonathan Cannon took over on the mound in the top of the inning, helping to keep it that way going into the stretch. Ben Joyce took over in the top of the eighth with one out and men on second and third, and he did what seemed impossible, keeping this game scoreless, getting two efficient outs, including one on a throw to home! We came up to hit in the bottom of the ninth with this game still offensively offenseless, until with two outs and the game seemingly destined for extra innings, Miguel Vargas walked it off with a solo homer into the left field bleachers, winning this one for us 1-0! Schultz and Cannon combined for 7.1 innings with four hits, a walk and nine strikeouts, but Joyce held tough to get the win, improving to 2-1 with a 7.11 ERA, allowing just one hit with a strikeout in his 1.2 innings of work. We outhit them 7-5 in the duel, Vargas leading the way by default with his game-winning homer. But Kjerstad was solid as well, with a hit and a walk, and Rafaela, hitting behind him, added two hits and two walks. We’ll go into the month of May with a 10-14 record, still ranked last in the AL Central, but we continue to show a lot of promise, though you have to be willing to put up with a great deal of frustration as well. We did get some great news from our scout, Mike Shirley, who was on a scouting trip in the Dominican Republic and stumbled upon an incredible young pitching prospect. Abnar Marroquin, a 16-year-old from Santo Domingo who has already earned the nickname “La Fuerza” for his powerful arm, is very raw now but shows as much upside as I’ve yet seen from an international find. Shirley thinks that Marroquin, who will turn 17 in November, might be ready for promotion to our Dominican rookie team in time for the 2027 season. For now he’ll have to stay in our international complex ... but he has our scouting department completely enthralled, calling him a future ace. I’m loathe to think too far into the future on a guy who is 16, so I’ll let them do their jobs and I’ll focus on mine for the moment. But he looks great, and he has a solid feel for the game which should bode well for his ability to reach his potentials. Attached Images __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- League Has Openings! WPOBL** (Cincinnati Reds) Last edited by jksander; 04-25-2025 at 11:31 AM.

04-25-2025, 11:43 AM	#98
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	Our schedule for the month of May will feature 13 home games and 16 road games, which will add to our already road-skewed record (we played 15 of our 24 April games on the road as well). We’ll open the month with three against Baltimore () and four against divisional rival Detroit (12-13, 3rd AL Central), followed by six games in New York against the Yankees (15-11, 1st AL East) and Mets (10-14, 4th NL East). A week of home games against Miami (8-17, 5th NL East) and Pittsburgh (11-14, 4th NL Central) will follow, and then we end the month with a a brutal road stretch that will include our crosstown rival Cubs (12-12, 2nd NL Central) for three, followed by three games in Detroit and four against the Royals (12-13, 4th AL Central) in Kansas City. So there’s a lot of room for us to make a name for ourselves as an improved ballclub or fall into obscurity as we have in past seasons. Attached Images __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

04-25-2025, 02:36 PM	#99
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	May 1, 2026: Brandon Pfaadt (2-0, 3.93 ERA, 18.1 IP, 16 K’s ,0.98 WHIP) started against Baltimore’s Grayson Rodriguez (3-0, 2.84 ERA, 25.1 IP, 29 K’s, 1.03 WHIP), and this time our offense was awake from the start ... Rafaela hit an RBI single that scored Kjerstad, and then Mike Tauchman hit a three-run homer to put us up 4-0 heading into the second inning! Baltimore got on the board in the top of the second with a two-out RBI single by Jackson Holliday, and an RBI single by Samuel Basallo, also on two outs, got them to within two runs in the top of the fourth. Pfaadt got the final out, but was not going to get to qualify for the win in this one. Syndergaard took over in the fifth inning, still leading 4-2, and his first batter faced homered out of right to cut our lead to one run ... thanks a ton, Marcell Ozuna ... and Otto Lopez singled in a run as the former White Sox second baseman tied the game at four, but a sac-fly by Kjerstad in the bottom of the inning got us back on top, leading 5-4 in the top of the sixth as Luis Sanchez took over on the mound. Too bad Holliday led off in the inning with a solo homer out of left to blow the save immediately, and Julian Merryweather took the mound in the seventh, and the Orioles pounced, taking the lead off an RBI double by Enrique Bradfield Jr that put them up 7-5 as we went into the stretch. Trevor Rogers helped us load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the inning, letting Gallo single into right and then walking Valdes and Kim ... but their replacement, Joel Payamps, shut our next three batters down to strand them there. Eduard Bazardo got us two outs in the eighth but had to leave with an undisclosed injury, so Jose Alvardo got us into the bottom of the inning, and we got a run back in the bottom of the eighth with a single by Brandon Valenzuela! They walked Gallo to put Valenzuela in scoring position, and we went into the top of the ninth battling hard but trailing by a run. Alvarado got three quick outs, two via swinging strike, to get us into the bottom of the inning with a chance. Meidroth led off with a single up the middle, but no rally materialized as we went down quietly, losing a hard-fought battle 7-6. Sanchez blew his first save and Merryweather took the loss, falling to 0-3 with a 5.59 ERA thanks to three hits, a strikeout and a run in his inning. They outhit us 14-8 so it was amazing we were in this one at all ... and walks weren’t a huge factor, we had six of those to their five. Rafaela led the offense with a hit, a walk, two runs and an RBI, while Kjerstad the former Oriole added a hit, a run and an RBI. May 2, 2026: Eduard Bazardo’s injury remains undetermined from last night’s battle against the Orioles. Sean Burke (1-2, 5.12 ERA, 19.1 IP, 19 K’s, 1.40 WHIP) got the start against Garrett Whitlock (1-0, 4.01 ERA, 24.2 IP, 27 K’s, 0.93 WHIP), and Baltimore took the lead in the top of the third with a two-run homer out of right by Colton Cowser. Burke finished the inning with three strikeouts in a row, but was wearing down quickly and would not make it into a fourth inning. Jonathan Cannon came out to throw in the fourth inning, and with two outs in the bottom of the fourth we tied it up with a two-run homer out of right by Joey Gallo! Miguel Vargas hit a two-run bomb out of center that put us into the lead in the bottom of the fifth, and Chase Meidroth quickly added on with an RBI single on two outs, and we went into the top of the sixth leading 5-2! They got two back quickly with an RBI double by Dylan Carlson in the top of the sixth, and a Holliday single drove in the tying run ... we just can’t handle having leads! Jose Alvarado took over in the top of the seventh still tied up at five each, and he got us into the stretch without losing control, though our bullpen’s tiredness was going to make getting some hits critical in this one. Noah Syndergaard came out to pitch in the eighth, still tied, and with two outs Colton Cowser hit an RBI double that put Baltimore back up 6-5. Syndergaard got us through the top of the ninth without further scoring on the Orioles’ part, and with two outs in the bottom of the inning Yordys Valdes hit a shot into right field, advancing Vargas into scoring position ... but Ha-seong Kim struck out swinging and we lost yet another game by a brutal 6-5 margin ... we’re now 4-6 in one-run games, as our bullpen is being taxed by our back end starters who can’t go at least five innings. Syndergaard took the loss, falling to 0-2 with an 8.64 ERA, and we were outhit 12-7, Bellinger leading the offense with a hit, a walk, a run and two RBIs. Bazardo’s injury is a strained oblique, and he should be day to day over the next four days, but we need his spot in the bullpen ... I don’t want to lose him for two whole weeks on the IL, however, so we’re going to option Andre Lipcius to AAA for a few days so we can call up Ryan Weber as a long-inning relief option. May 3, 2026: Drew Rasmussen (1-2, 3.80 ERA, 23.2 IP, 27 K’s, 1.23 WHIP) pitched in game three against the Orioles, facing Kevin Gausman (2-3, 4.97 ERA, 25.1 IP, 22 K’s, 1.34 WHIP). Ceddanne Rafaela hit an RBI single to give us the lead in the bottom of the first, and Rasmussen had a great five inning stretch, but stayed out in the sixth and gave up back to back hits ... a triple to Steven Ondina and a two-run homer for Jackson Holliday as, just like that, the lead disappeared. Colton Cowser singled, and we went to the pen without an out, Luis Sanchez taking the ball. It did not go smoothly, and another of Rasmussen’s runs scored before we were able to get out of there trailing 3-1. Cody Bellinger led off with a solo homer to get us back in this one in the bottom of the sixth, and Merryweather got the ball in the top of the seventh. Ryan Helsley came out in the ninth, still trailing by a run, and he didn’t let them score, so once again we came up in the bottom of the ninth needing at least one run to keep the game going. And this time we got it as Tauchman hit one out of left for a home run, tying it up from the leadoff spot! Emboldened, Miguel Vargas came up right behind him and homered out of right, walking this off as we won a stunner 4-3! That happened so fast the fans barely had time to absorb it before this place exploded. Helsley got his first win, improving to 1-2 with a 6.17 ERA, allowing just one hit with a strikeout in his inning, while we outhit Baltimore 9-7! Tauchman led the offense with two hits, a run and an RBI, and a hit for Kjerstad extended his on-base streak to 17 games. Next up: Perhaps the biggest series of our season so far, a four-game homestand against the 12-16 Tigers, a series that could put us back into the Central race if we can turn this into a streak. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)

04-25-2025, 07:26 PM	#100
jksander All Star Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Indianapolis IN Posts: 1,575	May 4, 2026: We’re catching the Tigers while they’re on a five-game losing streak, and Dylan Cease (0-3, 4.06 ERA, 31.0 IP, 30 K’s, 1.00 WHIP) was ready to come out and show them what he could do, facing Kris Bubic (1-3, 5.47 ERA, 24.2 IP, 21 K’s, 1.70 WHIP). After three and a half innings of very little offense, we got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI double by Cody Bellinger, going into the top of the fifth with a 1-0 lead. Cease got us through the fifth having thrown just 48 pitches, and Bubic walked in a run via Kim in the bottom of the fifth to add on! The Tigers’ bullpen has been gutted worse than ours, so despite the loaded bases and no outs, they kept Bubic out there, and a third run scored off a wild pitch, Meidroth then hitting one up the middle to drive in another with a single! They went to the pen with two outs, and Ceddanne Rafaela walked the bases loaded again, but Tauchman couldn’t get one through to run it up further so we took our 4-0 lead into the top of the sixth, Cease still going strong. With one out in the top of the seventh the Tigers got on the board with a two-run homer out of right by Matt Vierling, and an RBI single by Lane Thomas got them back within a run before we were able to get a bullpen arm warmed. Eduard Bazardo came out with two outs and a man on first, getting us out of the inning, throwing four pitches ... and Kjerstad got us a solo homer in the bottom of the inning to buy some insurance. Ryan Helsley took over in the eighth, and in the bottom of the inning Ha-seong Kim hit an RBI single to put another run on the board for us. Ben Joyce came out to close things in the top of the ninth, getting a pop-out to left and a pair of strikeouts as we won this one 6-3! Cease got his first win of the year, improving to 1-2 with a 4.06 ERA thanks to his 6.2 innings with eight hits, a walk, four strikeouts and three earned runs. Bazardo and Helsley each got holds, and Joyce saved his second game of the season. We outhit Detroit 9-8, led by Vargas, who had two hits, a walk and two runs, and Kjerstad, who homered to ensure we would keep our lead late. May 5, 2026: Noah Schultz (1-1, 2.45 ERA, 33.0 IP, 39 K’s, 0.73 WHIP) pitched against Tarik Skubal (1-3, 3.89 ERA, 37.0 IP, 41 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) in game two against the Tigers, who got on the board quickly in the top of the second with an RBI double by Kerry Carpenter. But we tied it in the top of the fifth with no outs when Ceddanne Rafaela drove in a run with an E8 error, the Tigers’ second error of the inning, and a groundout by Tauchman a moment later gave us the lead! Vargas hit a sac-fly to drive in a third run, and Gary Sanchez scored off a wild pitch ... that’s absolutely brutal, four unearned runs against the Tigers’ ace to put us firmlyin the lead! Ryan Weber took the ball in the top of the seventh, still leading by three runs, for his first bullpen appearance of the season, and the 35-year-old was solid right out of the gate with three quick outs to get us into the stretch leading 4-1. He quietly shut them down again in the eighth inning, getting an out in the ninth before Detroit got an RBI double off Danny Carpenter’s bat, putting the Tigers within two. Power-reliever Luis Sanchez took over on the mound with runners on second and third, getting Zach McKinstry to pop out to third, and he then struck out Kody Clemens swinging as we held tough to win this one 4-2, giving us our first three-game winning streak of the season! Schultz improved to 2-1 with a six inning two-hit effort, striking out seven with one earned run. Weber got a 2.1-inning hold, and Sanchez picked up his second save as he brought his ERA down to 2.89 through 18.2 innings in his 16th appearance. We outhit them 6-4 in the duel, led by Kjerstad and Sanchez who each had a hit and a run. May 6, 2026: Brandon Pfaadt (2-0, 4.03 ERA, 22.1 IP, 21 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) started against Brenan Hanifee (2-2, 3.90 ERA, 27.2 IP, 21 K’S, 1.27 WHIP), and the Tigers, who have been in total freefall mode, still managed to take the lead in the top of the third with an RBI single by Lane Thomas, that was coupled with an E8 error. Pfaadt struggled to get us out of that inning, giving up another run via a single by Riley Greene, and a wild pitch dug us a quick 3-0 hole before he finally got the two outs we needed. Eduard Bazardo took over with two outs and a man on first in the top of the sixth, getting us out of the inning still trailing by three, and we got on the board with a run in the bottom of the inning off a flyball double by Vargas. Syndergaard took the ball in the seventh, and Sanchez came out to pitch with one out and Colt Keith on second in the top of the eighth. He got a strikeout and then let Gabriel Arias hit an RBI single that added a run on, sending us into the bottom of the eighth trailing 4-1. We loaded the bags in the bottom of the inning but came up empty, and Merryweather gave them another run to lead by four as we came up to hit in the bottom of the ninth. Gallo reached on an E4 error to start the frame, and Brooks Lee hit one past the shortstop to drive him into scoring position, a single that brought up our top hitters and kept our rally hopes alive. With one out, Yordys Valdes hit a single into left to load the bases, and Kjerstad hit into a fielder’s choice ... they got the out at second, but a run did score as Brooks Lee advanced to third. Bellinger came to the plate with hopes for a big hit, but instead he grounded out as this one ended as a 5-2 loss. Pfaadt took the loss, falling to 2-1 with a 4.18 ERA, allowing five hits, a walk and three earned runs with seven strikeouts through 5.2 innings. They outhit us 10-7, our offense led by Vargas with a hit, two walks, a run and an RBI, while Kjerstad added a hit, a walk and an RBI. May 7, 2026: Sean Burke (1-2, 5.24 ERA, 22.1 IP, 23 K’s, 1.48 WHIP) pitched against Nick Martinez (3-2, 4.64 ERA, 33.0 IP, 26 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) in our final game of this homestand against the Tigers. We took the lead in the bottom of the third with an RBI single by Miguel Vargas, added on with an RBI single by Ceddanne Rafaela, scored two more off a line drive double by Brandon Valenzuela, and then Yordys Valdes hit into a fielder’s choice to drive in a fifth run, sending us into the top of the fourth up big, 5-0. The Tigers got a solo homer from Kerry Carpenter to get on the board in the top of the fourth, but we added on two more in the bottom of the inning and Burke was able to get through the fifth with relative ease. Ryan Weber took over in the top of the sixth, leading comfortably by six, and though the Tigers got another solo homer in the seventh, this one off the bat of Spencer Torkelson, Weber got us into the stretch still up 7-2. Julian Merryweather got the ball in the eighth inning, and he stayed out the rest of the way as we won by the same margin, shuting them down 7-2 as we took the series three games to one! Sean Burke improved to 2-2 with a 4.61 ERA, lasting five innings with one hit, two walks, one run and seven strikeouts, and we outhit the Tigers 11-4, led by Cody Bellinger who went 5-5 with two runs and an RBI, by far his best game of the season ... he’d been slumping lately, and now has a .220 average and looks to be coming out of it. Ceddanne Rafaela got ejected for arguing a strike call, forcing us to bring in Kjerstad who subsequently failed to make it on base, ending his on-base streak at 20 games. We’re hitting the road immediately for New York City, where we’ll play the Yankees three times this weekend and the Mets three times next week before returning home for series against Miami and Pittsburgh. Our record has improved to 14-17, and we have leapfrogged the Tigers into fourth place in the AL Central, just one game out of third, behind the Royals, and only a game and a half back of second-place Minnesota. __________________ Draft League: From the Bottom to the Bigs! -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty The Birth of Small Town Baseball in Indiana -- Ohio River Baseball League (ORBL) -- An OOTP 26 Dynasty Online Leagues Modern Baseball (Chicago White Sox) Daily Double Baseball (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) Championship Baseball League (Winnipeg Goldeye) WPORBL 55 (Chicago Cubs) WPORBL 74 (Oakland A's) WPORBL 94 (Montreal Expos) -- *League Has Openings!* WPOBL (Cincinnati Reds)