Photo: Doug Gray

New York Yankees 10, Cincinnati Reds 1 in Strat-O-Matic 2020 season simulation game 19

04/17/2020

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	1
Yankees	0	2	2	2	1	0	0	3	X	10	14	1

Luis Castillo was battered early and often by the New York Yankees (12-8) offense, as the Cincinnati Reds (8-11) fell 10-1 in the opener of a three-game weekend series at Yankee Stadium.

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 actually drew first blood in this one, as Aristides Aquino (making his first appearance of the sim season after being recalled from Class AAA) drew a walk from winning pitcher Garrit Cole to lead off the second inning. Aquino then stole second, and was driven in on a base hit by Nick Castellanos.

New York responded immediately in the bottom of the inning, when Gary Sanchez led off with a single, and Mike Ford followed with a two-run big fly to give the home team a lead they would not relinquish.

Trailing 7-1, the Reds had a chance to cut the lead in the top of the sixth when, with two out, Aquino doubled and Mike Moustakas followed with a walk. But Castellanos struck out against Cole, ending what was Cincy’s last chance to get back into the game.

Cole showed why he would make $36 million if a full actual 2020 season was being played. In six innings, he struck out nine and lowered his ERA to 1.95.

The Cubs continued to put distance between themselves and the rest of the NL Central. They defeated the Washington Nationals today, 8-3, to improve to 14-6 overall. Second-place St. Louis is four games back, followed by the Brewers and Pirates at five games back, and the Reds in the cellar at 5.5 games behind the leaders. In the early going, the Cubs are being led by the one-two punch of Javier Baez and Kris Bryant, who have OPS numbers of .906 and .927, respectively. On the mound, lefty Jon Lester is 3-0 with a 1.85 ERA.

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

Standings following the April 17 games:

NL Central	WON	LOST	PCT	GB
Cubs	14	6	.700	0
Cardinals	10	10	.500	4
Pirates	9	11	.450	5
Brewers	9	11	.450	5
Reds	8	11	.421	5.5

The 2020 schedule as currently constituted has the Reds playing the middle game of the three-game series at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. Sonny Gray gets the chance to exorcise some of the demons that plagued him during his brief stay in the Bronx before a trade to the Reds revitalized his career. Righthander Masahiro Tanaka pitches for New York.

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.

If you are planning to submit a lineup for Friday, remember that because the game is an interleague game in an American League park, the Reds will have the DH in their lineup.

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:

Commenter/ “Manager”	WON	LOST	PCT
Peter Onte	2	1	.667
BK	1	1	.500
Doug Gray	1	1	.500
Redfan4life	1	1	.500
Tomn	1	1	.500
Mark Moore	0	1	.000
Melvin	0	1	.000
VaRedsFan	0	1	.000
Tom Mitsoff	0	1	.000

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.

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

Standings following the April 17 games:

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

About Strat-O-Matic

Share this:

16 Responses