Luis Castillo hurled the best game by a sim Reds pitcher to date, leading the Cincinnati Reds (15-19) to a 3-0 victory over the New York Mets (15-20) at Citi Field.

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!

Castillo pitched eight innings, allowing four hits and four walks while striking out seven Metropolitans on his way to his second win of the season in four decisions.

For five innings, the game was a scoreless “good old good one” (as Marty Brennaman may have called it) between Castillo and Mets ace Jacob deGrom. Neither team recorded an extra-base hit in the game. But the sim Reds broke through in the top of the sixth. With one out, Freddy Galvis singled and stole second base. Then, Jesse Winker delivered a clutch two-out hit to score Galvis, giving the Reds a lead they would not relinquish.

Tucker Barnhart delivered two key insurance runs in the eighth with a two-out, bases-loaded single against reliever Justin Wilson. Raisel Iglesias completed the shutout, but not without some tense moments. Two of the first three Mets batters reached against Iglesias in the bottom of the ninth, but he rebounded by striking out Amed Rosario and popping up pinch-hitter Eduardo Nunez to earn the save.

BK becomes the first Redleg Nation commenter/manager to record three wins in that role. Because his team won, he will have the priority for which Reds lineup is sent to Strat-O-Matic for tomorrow’s game, in which the Reds will shoot for three wins in a row.

With the win, the Reds climbed over Milwaukee and back into third place in the NL Central. The sim Reds are three games behind second-place St. Louis, and six games behind the division-leading Cubs, who the Reds will not face for the first time until the end of the month.

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

B-Pinch Hit For Castillo In 9th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (RF) For Vanmeter In 9th Inning
D-Subbed Defensively (LF) For Winker In 9th Inning

A-Pinch Hit For Degrom In 7th Inning
E-Pinch Hit For Gsellman In 9th Inning

Standings following the May 4 games:

The 2020 schedule as currently constituted has the Reds playing the Mets in the middle game of the three-game series Tuesday. Sonny Gray will pitch for the sim Reds, while righthander Marcus Stroman will pitch for the Metropolitans.

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.

All players’ batting stats

All players’ pitching stats

Batting and pitching player stats by team

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’ performance based on statistics that their statistical experts project for each player in the 2020 season. 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.

The Korea Baseball Organization is about to start playing

The KBO will begin their regular season on Tuesday, with ESPN broadcasting the game between the Samsun Lions and the NC Dinos Tuesday morning at 1am. Load up on that caffeine now! Or just set your DVR and watch it tomorrow. Need to know more about the KBO and how to watch the games? We’ve got you covered.

Let’s get ready for some KBO baseball!

The Daytona Tortugas lose the 2020 FSL All-Star game

In some minor league news, the Cincinnati Reds Advanced-A affiliate, the Daytona Tortugas, have lost out on the opportunity to host the 2020 Florida State League All-Star game as the league has cancelled the event.

Florida State League cancels the 2020 All-Star Game in Daytona