The Cincinnati Reds (18-23) lit up Great American Ball Park with an atypical offensive power surge in an 8-4 victory over the Miami Marlins (16-26).

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!

Of the sim Reds’ eight hits, four were for extra bases — a direct departure from most of the sim season. A five-run rally in the bottom of the second was the key for the home team. Josh VanMeter led off with a walk, followed by a single by Phillip Ervin and a run-scoring double by Joey Votto. Two outs later, it appeared that the rally might be one of many this season that has fallen short. But number nine hitter Freddy Galvis came through with a triple, followed by recently called up Mark Payton, who crushed a home run for his first sim major league hit. Tucker Barnhart added a two-run home run in the sixth, also his first of the year.

Trevor Bauer recorded his team-leading fifth win by pitching around five hits and five walks in six innings, allowing only one run. Lucas Sims finished the game, earning a three-inning save.

Winning commenter/manager BK now has five wins in that role, tops among Redleg Nation participants. Because he submitted a winning lineup today, he will have priority for submitting Tuesday’s lineup.

The National League Central division continues to tighten, as the Chicago Cubs continue to come back to the pack after a very hot start. The Cubs lost today to the Brewers, allowing the Cardinals to pull within one game and the Brewers to pull within three. The Reds, in fifth place, are only five and a half games behind the leaders.

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

A-Pinch Hit For Alcantara In 6th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Tarpley In 7th Inning
E-Pinch Hit For Urena In 9th Inning

B-Pinch Hit For Bauer In 6th Inning
D-Subbed Defensively (CF) For Winker In 9th Inning

Standings following the May 11 games:

The 2020 schedule as currently constituted has the Reds hosting the Miami Marlins for the second game in the three-game set. Anthony DeSclafani will pitch for the sim Reds, while right-hander Jordan Yamamoto pitches for Miami.

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.

MLB Owners approve proposal to send to the players

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic seems to be the first to report it, but at 2pm this afternoon the owners of the 30 teams voted to approve a proposal to send to the Major League Baseball Players Association for review to get a season started. There’s a lot in the proposal – much of it covered by Bob Nightengale of USA Today early this morning. The two big things are the finances that MLB is asking the players to take a cut of, and the break down of the roster and “taxi squad”. Over at RedsMinorLeagues.com Doug Gray looked into what the “50-man” organizational roster could look like and what it could mean.

MLB’s Proposal would expand Reds roster up to 50 players

There is going to be more details that come out on this plan in the next day or two, and when we get more details, we’ll write about all of that here at Redleg Nation. I (Doug Gray) specifically wanted to wait for a few more details on what was actually in the proposal, as well as begin to hear some potential feedback from the players side of things once the plan was approved by ownership.

World Baseball Classic cancelled/postponed

The World Baseball Classic won’t be played in 2021. I can’t speak for everyone else, but it’s one of the more fun events that baseball holds in my opinion and it’s a bummer to see that we will be missing out on it this year.

Source to ESPN Deportes: World Baseball Classic will not be played in 2021

— Enrique Rojas/ESPN (@Enrique_Rojas1) May 11, 2020