Cincinnati Reds 2, San Francisco Giants 1 in Strat-O-Matic season simulation game 17

Nick Castellanos’ double with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning scored Mike Moustakas from first base to give the Cincinnati Reds (8-9) a thrilling 2-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants (6-12).

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!

Marty Brennaman would have described this game as a “frog strangler.” Starting pitchers Anthony DeSclafani and ex-Red Kevin Gausman were on top of their respective games. San Francisco’s Evan Longoria touched up DeSclafani for a solo homer in the top of the sixth inning in what turned out to be his team’s only run. The Simcinnati Reds responded instantly. In the bottom of the sixth, Josh VanMeter pinch-hit for DeSclafani and tripled. Shogo Akiyama, the Reds’ clear offensive star of the early sim season, followed with a double to score VanMeter and tie the game.

Akiyama’s .365 batting average is 11th best of all qualifying players in the sim league. His seven doubles are tied for fourth best, and his .405 batting average against righthanded pitching is seventh best.

In the bottom of the ninth, Joey Votto led off with a single off Giants lefthander Tony Watson. But the southpaw then induced a double-play grounder from Eugenio Suarez and it appeared that the game may be headed to extra innings. However, Moustakas and Castellanos followed with their two-out heroics, allowing the Reds to once again draw within one game of .500.

The win, combined with a Milwaukee loss to the Phillies, allowed the Reds to climb out of the NL Central basement, one-half game ahead of the Brew Crew. The Reds also got some unexpected help, as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Cubs, 7-5, allowing Cincinnati to move within 3.5 games of the top spot in the division.

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

A-Pinch Ran For Crawford In 5th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Garcia In 7th Inning

B-Pinch Hit For Desclafani In 6th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Lorenzen In 8th Inning

Standings following the April 15 games:

The 2020 schedule as currently constituted has the Reds and Giants squaring off in the final game of the three-game series on Thursday. It’s also the final game of a nine-game homestand on which the sim Reds are currently 5-3. A rare matchup of lefties will occur: Wade Miley for Cincinnati, and Drew Smyly 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.

Congratulations to Redfan4life, who submitted the lineup which won today’s game. Therefore, he has the priority for Thursday’s lineup if he chooses to submit one. 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.

Jackie Robinson Day

Today is April 15th. And in Major League Baseball that means that it’s Jackie Robinson day. Unfortunately we don’t get to celebrate it as we normally would. What we did do earlier today, though, was look back at the first time that Jackie Robinson visited Crosley Field to take on the Cincinnati Reds and all of the lore around what may or may not have taken place in that 2-game series.

Jackie Robinson’s first trip to Cincinnati to play the Reds

Bradford William Davis wrote about Jackie Robinson today for the New York Daily News. While Robinson did great things on the field, Davis writes about many of the things he did off of the field that improved the lives of so many.

As the vice president of the coffee and food service company Chock Full O’Nuts, Robinson was credited with improving the quality of life of its employees, even while they already received a full suite of benefits, including generous insurance and pension plans. In 1964, when black Americans were even more discriminated against by banking institutions than they are now, Robinson co-founded Freedom National Bank to ensure that black individuals and black-owned businesses would receive a crucial line of capital. The Jackie Robinson Construction Company, which he founded in 1970, built thousands of low- and middle-income homes for minorities.

And finally, we’ve got Amir Garrett talking about Jackie Robinson, via the Reds twitter account.

.@Amir_Garrett recognizes the difficult path Jackie Robinson took to open the door for players like himself. #Jackie42 pic.twitter.com/Vjqti6UMIE

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 15, 2020

Major League Baseball Draft

The crew at Baseball America released their most recent mock draft and it’s got the Cincinnati Reds selecting a high school outfielder with big power potential. At RedsMinorLeagues.com earlier today we looked at Austin Hendrick and talked about his upside, as well as some of the concerns in his game as we head towards the draft.