| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cubs | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 0 |
| Reds | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
Four home runs powered the Chicago Cubs (34-30) to a 7-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds (31-32) in the opener of a four-game series at Great American Ball Park.
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!
Sim Reds pitchers could not contain the Chicago bats on this day. Each Reds pitcher who appeared in the game surrendered at least one run. Starter Wade Miley allowed three solo homers in the first two innings. On offense, the top three in the batting order — Michael Lorenzen, Shogo Akiyama and Phillip Ervin — combined for five of the team’s six hits and three of the team’s four RBIs. Lorenzen and Akiyama both hit long balls as well, but they had next to no help from the rest of the batting order.
Akiyama continues to make a strong argument as the team’s MVP in the early going. He had two more hits today, a homer and a double, making him 5-for-9 in two games since coming off the injured list. He is batting .371, leads the sim league in batting average vs. righthanded pitchers (.414), has an on-base percentage of .423, and an OPS of 1.052. The team has certainly missed him in his 20 total games on the injured list.
The Reds’ second straight defeat dropped them under .500 for the first time in quite awhile.
Here is the sim Reds box score, as provided by Strat-O-Matic:
C-Pinch Hit For Jeffress In 8th Inning
A-Pinch Hit For Miley In 5th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For Stephenson In 7th Inning
Standings following the June 4 games:
Division-leading St. Louis remained hot as a firecracker, defeating division rival Pittsburgh. The Reds, who had been as close as 1.5 games back recently, have slipped to six games back due to their recent slide.
| NL Central | WON | LOST | PCT | GB |
| Cardinals | 37 | 26 | .587 | 0.0 |
| Cubs | 34 | 30 | .531 | 3.5 |
| Brewers | 32 | 30 | .516 | 4.5 |
| Reds | 31 | 32 | .492 | 6.0 |
| Pirates | 26 | 36 | .419 | 10.5 |
The 2020 schedule as currently constituted has the Reds Friday hosting game two of the four-game set with Chicago, with Luis Castillo pitching for the Reds, and righthander Tyler Chatwood pitching for the Cubs.
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.
Projecting the “Taxi Squad” for the Reds
Today over at The Athletic, C. Trent Rosecrans projected the Cincinnati Reds roster of 30 active players, and then the “Taxi Squad” that would include an additional 20 players. The article has been updated since it was first published, so if you happened to see it earlier but haven’t checked back in, you may want to do that. And if you just haven’t seen it at all, be sure to check it out (if you have a subscription to The Athletic, of course).
All of the anniversaries
Today is the anniversary of 10 cent beer night. Drunk fans ultimately led to the forfeiture by Cleveland to Texas on June 4th, 1974. Paul Jackson of ESPN wrote the perfect piece on it over a decade ago.
I’m a day late on this one, but on June 3rd, 1888, Casey at the Bat was first published in The Daily Examiner – now known as The San Francisco Examiner.
How are the simReds performing?
The Hitters
The Pitchers
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.
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:
| Commenter/ “Manager” |
WON | LOST | PCT |
| Jon Davis | 6 | 1 | .857 |
| Peter Onte | 2 | 1 | .667 |
| BK | 7 | 4 | .636 |
| James Owens | 3 | 2 | .600 |
| Gonzo Reds | 3 | 3 | .500 |
| Redsfan4life | 3 | 3 | .500 |
| Doug Gray | 1 | 1 | .500 |
| RedsEuphoria | 1 | 1 | .500 |
| Tomn | 1 | 1 | .500 |
| Melvin | 1 | 3 | .250 |
| Don | 1 | 4 | .200 |
| AirborneJayJay | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Jeff | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Mark Moore | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| VaRedsFan | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Tom Mitsoff | 0 | 2 | .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’ 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.
Aikyama CF
Winker lf
Suarez 3b
Moustakis 2b
Ervin rf
Castellanos 1b
Galvis ss
Barnhart c
Castillo p
Reason I sit Lorenzen we cant play him everyday. As bad as he has been as a pitcher we can’t leave the pen a man short day after day.
It was a very good lineup Tom. The pitching mainly let you down. Offensively what it comes down to is the outfield and the top of the order did pretty good and the infield and the rest of the order pretty much stunk today. Not your fault of course and any time you want to submit another lineup I’ll support it.
Tough loss again. barely adequate starting pitching, lack of timely hitting and usually ineffective relief pitching is for the most part is what is dooming the Sim Reds, All but the poor starting pitching the results are pretty much the same as the 2019 real Reds.
Go with Redsfan4Life lineup as I cannot think of anyone else on the roster that should be used over whom is in the lineup.
I agree that Lorenzen should not be played everyday on offense since there seems to be a need for 3 or 4 relief pitchers every game, no starter seems to be able to ever get into the 7th inning.
I had a private sit-down with Derek Dietrich afterward to ask him what went wrong. He was very honest and told me that the players like all of the other commenter/managers better. 😉
Oh?!?! So much disrespect! I am thinking an immediate group of roster moves to show we aren’t messing around. I got your back Tom. Just tell me how we are handling this? Cracking skulls? Let it go for now then spring the revenge later? Ok I think I am getting to wound up, especially given that we are talking make believe. I am starting to think I should walk away hmmm or at the least just post my lineup and keep the rest inside. Thoughts? I open it to a vote
1. Jon should walk away he is too intense
2. Jon just needs to make upgrades to the filter between his brain and fingers
3. Jon should stay the course and continue as is
Jon should continue to use this forum as a way to have fun, relax, think about Reds baseball and take his mind off of everything else going on in the world for a few minutes each day. 🙂
Hahaha! I know better. He’s just playin with you like he does everyone else. 🙂
Was referring to Tom talking with Dietrich.
Ok I am just going to say it my ego has been whispering in my brain that we started losing after my run ended. I want to be very clear I don’t believe this is true and logically know better but just wanted to say it. This is why I am volunteering to make the lineup for the rest of this tough stretch with the Cubs and Dodgers. I figure either we will win and while my ego might get crazy at least we are winning right? Or the more likely scenario is I don’t do so hot and that is put to bed. I think seeing that 6-1 record everyday is what keeps reminding me so if that was Say 7-5 then I wouldn’t be thinking this nonsense. Thoughts? Feel free to let me know I am being a jerk.
Ok well either way here is my suggested lineup for tomorrow.
1. Akiyama – RF
2. Winker – LF
3. Suarez – 3B
4. Moustakas – 2B
5. Payton – CF
6. Dietrich – 1B
7. Galvis – SS
8. Barnhart – C
9. Castillo – P
We absolutely need another Jon “Sparky” Davis Experience authored by you or someone else at this point!
Most definitely I would welcome your counsel and your calming influence for when I get all wound up and I will always welcome input from anyone.
I absolutely would take a real season at this point. I hope it’s closer to 80 games than 50. But I want to see what kind of team the real Reds have.
I also want to see Akiyama’s Strat-O-Matic card be accurate in real life! 🙂
I am beginning to think this game really hates Senzel, Castellanos and all of our starters but it thinks Lorenzen is an all star.
My vote is for Jon Davis. Ego be darned 😉
It is entertaining to read the comments.
Hoping real baseball starts in the not to distant future.
At 10:28 p.m., I count two votes for Jon Davis and one for Redsfan4life. So Jon’s lineup is going in for Friday. Let’s hope Jon can recapture the winning magic!