Eleven walks by Cincinnati Reds (31-34) pitching, including seven by starting pitcher Sonny Gray, contributed mightily to the Chicago Cubs (36-30) scoring a 5-2 victory 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!

Three of the five Cubs who scored reached base via walks, and the other two scored because they hit the ball over the GABP fence. The big blow was Albert Almora Jr.’s three-run homer in the top of the fifth inning, scoring Jason Heyward and Kris Bryant, who both had walked.

Shogo Akiyama continued his amazing sim season by batting 2-for-4, with both hits being solo home runs. His homer total for the season is now 10. He now has an OPS of 1.088, and extended a hitting streak to 14 games. Jesse Winker and Mike Moustakas were the only other Cincinnati batters who reached safely via the base hit.

The defeat was the Reds’ fourth straight.

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

A-Subbed Defensively (CF) For Souza Jr In 1st Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Wieck In 8th Inning

B-Pinch Hit For Sims In 7th Inning

Standings following the June 6 games:

The 2020 schedule as currently constituted has the Reds on Sunday hosting game four of the four-game set with Chicago, with Trevor Bauer pitching for the Reds, and lefthander Jon Lester 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.

What about the managers and coaches?

There’s a whole lot of focus on the back-and-forth between the owners and the players and who wants what and for how long. But one thing that has seemingly not been talked (publicly – I believe the players and owners/MLB are taking this very seriously) about nearly enough is the managers and coaches, specifically when it comes to their health and safety upon a return to the field and the dugout. Jayson Stark of The Athletic wrote a little bit about “high-risk” managers on Friday. Ron Gardenhire, who has recovered from cancer, is 62-years-old, and has blood-sugar issues was asked if he had thought about the option of not participating in 2020:

Yeah,” is what he said. “I mean, obviously, when we start talking about health concerns and all those things, and how this thing is going to go down, and we know baseball’s not going to be normal, I think about that an awful lot. But I also have committed to this team. And I’m not one to shy away from things like this.

“I respect my players,” he said. “They want to play. And my coaches – they all want to get back to baseball. But things do go through your mind when you’ve been through some of this stuff.”

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.

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.