Cincinnati Reds 3, Milwaukee Brewers 2 in 2020 Strat-O-Matic simulation season game 10

A three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth brought the Cincinnati Reds (4-6) from behind to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers (4-6) by a score of 3-2 in the opener of a nine-game homestand at Great American Ball Park.

That was the result today as Strat-O-Matic games of Glen Head, N.Y., continued its announced plan to simulate the entire 2020 Major League Baseball season on a day-by-day basis for as long as actual game play is on hold.

Help set the lineup, batting order for the simulated Reds:

Have you ever dreamed of your opportunity to “manage” the Reds? Now is your chance. Learn more below!

Milwaukee jumped out quickly against simulated Reds starter and winner Luis Castillo. Lorenzo Cain led off with a single, and one out later, Keston Hiura launched his second homer of the season to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. That would be all that the Brewers would score against Castillo and the Reds bullpen, however.

The sim Reds rally in the sixth came against Brewers reliever Corbin Burnes, who entered the game the inning previous when starter Brandon Woodruff suffered a simulated injury which will leave him unavailable for 30 games — a rather significant blow to a Reds divisional rival. Nick Castellanos led off against Burnes with a single, and Josh VanMeter followed with a double. Curt Casali, who entered the game after Tucker Barnhart injured himself while swinging at a Woodruff pitch and striking out in the fourth, drove in Castellanos and VanMeter with a base hit to right to tie the game, and advanced to second on an error by right fielder Christian Yelich. A passed ball by catcher Omar Narvaez sent Casali to third, from where he scored what turned out to be the winning run on a pinch-hit groundout by Phillip Ervin.

Barnhart’s simulated injury, unlike Woodruff’s, is relatively minor. He will miss only Tuesday’s game before becoming available again. (Strat-O-Matic’s simulation algorithm includes injuries, including the amount of time players miss due to injuries.)

The Reds bullpen was stellar over the final three innings, allowing no base runners while striking out five. VanMeter and Eugenio Suarez stroked two hits apiece for the winners, and Nick Senzel stole two bases.

The Reds win tied them with the Brewers in the basement of the simulated NL Central. A Pirates win over the first-place Cubs drew Cincinnati within three games of the top. Congrats to Redleg Nation commenter/”manager” Tomn for finding the key to victory with the starting lineup he submitted Sunday night!

Here is the box score, as provided by Strat-O-Matic:

C-Pinch Hit For Burnes In 7th Inning

A-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Barnhart In 5th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For Castillo In 6th Inning
D-Subbed Defensively (RF) For Castellanos In 9th Inning

Standings following the April 6 games:

The 2020 schedule as currently constituted has the Reds and Brewers matching up Tuesday in the finale of the brief two-game series, with the Reds going for the sweep. Sonny Gray will pitch for Cincinnati, and righthander Adrian Houser on the hill for the Brew Crew.

Help set the lineup, batting order for the simulated Reds:

Have you ever dreamed of your opportunity to “manage” the Reds? Now is your chance.

Strat-O-Matic has agreed to allow Redleg Nation to submit the Cincinnati Reds’ lineups for each day’s simulated game. We want all of our readers who want to participate to get involved.

Here is how it will work:

• In each wrap up of that day’s simulated game, Redleg Nation will post the opposing starting pitcher for the next game. You will know who the pitcher is and whether he is left-handed or right-handed, and you can use that information in creating a lineup for the next game, and submitting it in the comments below. “Splits” such as performance vs. left-handers or right-handers are replicated in the Strat-O-Matic game algorithm, and therefore should be considered.
• We will accept lineups from every reader who wants to submit one. The lineup that will be submitted to Strat-O-Matic each day will be the one that receives the most positive replies (in effect, “yes” votes) from readers other than the submitter. In case of ties:
  • First tiebreaker: Lineup submitted by the reader who has had the fewest number of opportunities as a “manager.”
  • Second tiebreaker: Lineup submitted earliest in the comment thread. (So get your lineup in “early” each day.)
• What is “early?” Redleg Nation posts these articles daily between 5 and 6 p.m. Eastern time. Strat-O-Matic’s deadline for us to submit a lineup for the next day’s game is midnight. On most days, we’ll do this before “bedtime,” which is typically between 10:30 and 11 Eastern time.

Have fun with this! If you have any questions, please post them in the comment string below. Here are the “managerial records” of our Redleg Nation participants to date:

About Strat-O-Matic

Strat-O-Matic has been in the sports simulation business since the 1960s. A USA Today article contained this explanation:

Strat-O-Matic and other baseball simulations use statistics from the previous season to create “cards” for each player on a roster. The team managers select the batting order and the starting pitcher. From there, a series of dice rolls and calculations determines the outcome of each at-bat.

Strat-O, as it’s known to longtime players, first gained its immense popularity as a board game. The company has since expanded to a downloadable Windows version and one that’s played online. A few years ago, it introduced Baseball Daily – a new iteration that combined the player cards from the previous season with statistics from the real season being played at the same time.

Unlike many video games, the Strat-O-Matic results are based on algorithms that account for players’ actual past performance. It’s not a game played with a joystick that relies more on the skill of the person with the video game controller in his or her hand.

The simulation software will keep comprehensive statistics for all teams for the season, so we’ll be able to track year-to-date leaders in many statistical categories. Our current plan is to provide statistical leader summaries here at Redleg Nation each Sunday. You can follow the season at Strat-O-Matic.com, where they plan to post the results from each day’s schedule at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

News/Notes from around baseball

One of the things we would have during the season in the game threads was a section comprised of news and notes for the day. While there’s a lot less going on these days in the baseball world than usual for this time of year, there still are some things that are worth highlighting. When there are, we’ll be adding them to these daily simulation threads.

More information on the funny playoff baseball

There’s more information out now on what was going on in the 2019 playoffs with the baseball and why all of a sudden it seemed like it was not the one that was being played with all season long. Dr. Meredith Wills got her hands on some playoff baseballs and dug into the differences over at The Athletic.

Al Kaline passes away

Hall of Fame outfielder Al Kaline passed away earlier this afternoon at the age of 85. The cause of death has not been announced. From the age of 18 through the age of 39 he played 22 seasons for the Detroit Tigers. In his 11596 plate appearances he hit .297/.376/.480 with 498 doubles, 75 triples, 399 home runs, and 137 stolen bases. Kaline was named an All-Star in 15 seasons, led the league in hits in 1955 when he also won the batting title (.340), led the league in doubles (41) in 1961, and led the league in both slugging (.530) and OPS (.940) in 1959.

Is South Korea the sports world’s leader right now?

Jeff Passan and Alden Gonzalez of ESPN wrote this morning about how South Korea could be a model for how the U.S. could go about returning to the playing field – even if it’s without fans in the stands.

HALFWAY ACROSS THE WORLD, in the country that thus far has stifled the coronavirus better than any, they’re playing baseball again. The games are intrasquad scrimmages. The players sometimes wear masks on the field. It is sports with a dystopian twist. And yet South Korea has pitchers throwing pitches and hitters swinging bats and fielders gloving balls, and the rest of the world doesn’t.

Right now, things are going as planned by the Korean Baseball Organization. But other leagues around the world have given thoughts to it, and one even attempted it and after several players tested positive, shut things back down. Here’s what former Red Dan Straily, who is in his first season in the KBO, had to say:

If anybody, anybody — if the No. 1 starting pitcher to the person cleaning, security, R&D — anybody gets sick in that time, we postpone two weeks,” Straily told ESPN in an interview from Busan, South Korea, a city of 3.5 million where the Giants play. “We’ve got to make sure that no one else got sick.

And that’s the big concern around the world with restarting competition – what happens when someone inevitably contracts the virus? South Korea has been one of the nations that has seemingly done well in controlling the spread of the virus. As noted in the article – leagues in all sports around the world are watching to see how this goes, hoping to be able to model their future this year in a similar way if it works. Go read the article – it’s got plenty of outstanding information in it.

The brief time that Jimmy Wynn was a Red

In case you missed it earlier today here at Redleg Nation, we took a look back at when Jimmy Wynn was with the Cincinnati Reds organization, and why it was his talent being too good that led to his exit from the organization.

Remembering when Jimmy Wynn was with the Reds