San Francisco Giants 7, Cincinnati Reds 3 in Strat-O-Matic season simulation game 16

The San Francisco Giants (6-11) scored the final five runs of the game to record a 7-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds (7-9).

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!

The Simcinnati Reds bats got started early. Shogo Akiyama, the unquestioned offensive standout so far for the sim Reds, led off with a double, and then scored an out later on Joey Votto’s double off Jeff Samardzija. In the second inning, Akiyama was again in the middle of things, plating Nick Castellanos on his second double in two innings, and then scoring himself on a Jesse Winker two-base hit to take a 3-2 lead. Later in the game, Akiyama walked twice and on defense, stole a home run from Mike Yastrzemski to end the top of the fourth inning.

Reds pitching could not hold the 3-2 lead after two innings. Trevor Bauer was shaky, and was victimized by an error by shortstop Freddy Galvis which led to two unearned runs in the top of the second inning. On what could have been a double-play grounder, Galvis kicked Evan Longoria’s sizzler into left-center field for a two-base error, and the Giants capitalized.

On the bright side for the Reds, Lucas Sims pitched two innings in relief of Bauer, striking out four and allowing no base runners.

The Reds stand alone in the NL Central division basement, four and a half games behind the first-place Cubs. The Cubs extended their divisional lead with a 2-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles today.

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

B-Pinch Hit For Cahill In 7th Inning
D-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Flores In 8th Inning
E-Pinch Hit For Gott In 9th Inning
F-Pinch Ran For Ruf In 9th Inning

A-Pinch Hit For Bauer In 4th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Stephenson In 7th Inning
G-Pinch Hit For Reed In 9th Inning
H-Pinch Hit For Winker In 9th Inning

Standings following the April 13 games:

The 2020 schedule as currently constituted has the Reds and Giants squaring off in game two of the series Wednesday. Anthony DeSclafani goes for the Reds, and old friend and righthander Kevin Gausman pitches for San Francisco.

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.

Getting Baseball Back

Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich had more this morning over at The Athletic on what’s happening behind the scenes with regards to baseball’s planning for a potential season being played. We’ve seen the league have at least three different plans over the last few weeks, but it seems “The Arizona” plan is the one that they feel warrants the most attention.

The Arizona plan is drawing support from some federal officials, and might be the only way for baseball to return in 2020. The logistics would be complicated: Players would be tested for the coronavirus regularly and exist in a sealed environment of hotels and ballparks in the Phoenix area. But over time, the quarantine might be relaxed as the nation gradually re-opens, allowing the plan to evolve.

Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball’s Commissioner, was on Fox Business Network this morning. Here’s what he said about baseball with regards to when things could return.

Baseball is not going to return until the public health situation is improved to the point that we’re comfortable that we can play games in a manner that is safe for our players, our employees, our fans and in a way that will not impact the public health situation adversely.

Marty Brennaman on the Grumpy Old Broadcasters Podcast

Dan Scott started up a podcast in early March and he’s landed some big names to join him on the aptly titled Grumpy Old Broadcasters Podcast. This week’s episode includes Marty Brennaman, now former Cincinnati Reds broadcaster. Go give it a listen. Here’s the description for the episode:

Recently retired (after 46 seasons) Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman joined Dan, Cobb and Dory for this episode. Never shy with his opinions, Marty dishes on retirement, MLB commish Rob Manfred, where he ranks the Astros cheating scandal and much, much more.