Long Way to Go, But Gotta Brag on my Pitching

[redranger]

I have been playing OOTP since the beginning.....ran many seasons across many leagues.

I gotta say the current fictional league I am in is in year two and has started to be one of my most enjoyable. My first inaugural season was pretty successful (up until post season) I finished 99-63, won my division, home-field, had the best record in the USBL.

First round playoffs, I am hosting my in division rival Nashville. We came down to the wire at the end of the season and I only won the division by 1 game with us winning on the final day and Nashville losing.

Nashville has to play the one game Wild Card to get in and wins. Now I have them in the first round playoffs where they proceed to sweep me in three straight (2-5, 2-3, and 3-4) All gut wrenching losses.

Game 1 tied 2-2 until top of seventh and they get 3 against my ace Andretti
Game 2 early scoring and could not recover. Last 5 innings went scoreless
Game 3 loss in bottom of the ninth on a solo homerun


So in the off season I pondered what to do. I have a solid team that finished best in the league but sent packing early and just not good enough. After review of the season and much reflection, the one area that Nashville and my team scrapped back and forth on was pitching. As good as ours was, theirs was better. Even to the point my ace Andretti 21-4, 2.41 ERA, 205 IP, 223 K) was a clear Golden Arm candidate (and in most any other season would have clearly won) but finished second to Nashville's Chris Fullwood (23-5, 1.98 ERA, 254 IP, 262 K)

I knew I needed to add to my roster. But where? My lineup was pretty solid....good leadership where I needed it, solid durability and consistency. I was not wanting to shake it up too much there. When I look back and as good as my pitching was , it finished second fiddle ( and in division none-the-less) I needed to make changes there....but not too much, but the right ones.

I had made a late season trade for a starter last year and decided my four of my five was pretty solid, which after the trade all three began to falter a bit and was inconsistent Going into the new year, my 1-2 was set. I just needed to add a solid #3 and shift my #4 and trade away the #5 I had. I felt like that would set my rotation pretty well.....my bullpen is where I felt the most need. I had a star reliever go down in spring training and missed the entire year....with him back healthy and adding a couple of arms, it could make a huge difference. I went out and signed a solid lefty and righty (Moraye and Turk) to fill in with the injured Hyepock

In season two, I am only 44 games into the season. I know a lot can change....but my pitching has been dominate to a degree I have rarely seen. First and foremost, everyone is healthy. Rotation is getting very deep into games. Bullpen is lights out!

Take notice of my team K/BB as well as team ERA and opp Avg in comparison to the rest of the league....Even Nashville, who has a very solid staff is quite a few strides behind.

Time will tell, and looking forward to continuing to push on. I will follow up on how things progress and turn out.

[redranger]

Adding the individual pitching stats for the current season.