The Cincinnati Reds (36-39) got out to a terrible start, giving up five runs in the first inning, but the bats went to work – clubbing four homers on the day and racking up 16 hits in a blowout win over the San Diego Padres (42-34) on Thursday.

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!

On a designated bullpen day the Reds turned to Michael Lorenzen to start the game, hoping to get a few innings of out their reliever. Things didn’t go as planned as he gave up five runs in the 1st inning and didn’t return for the second. The Reds bullpen clamped down from there, though, as Cody Reed struck out four batters in 2.0 shutout innings to keep the score at 5-0 heading into the 4th inning.

That’s when the Reds offense came to life. Joey Votto led off with a walk and Mike Moustakas was hit by a pitch. He left the game and was replaced by Nick Senzel. Eugenio Suarez and Nick Castellanos would both single before Mark Payton homered to get Cincinnati right back into things. Freddy Galvis and Shogo Akiyama would both follow with walks before Joey Votto capped off the inning with an RBI single that tied the game up at 5-5.

Lucas Sims came out for the next two innings and kept the Padres offense off of the board. In the top of the 6th the Reds offense got going again. Shogo Akiyama singled with one out and Joey Votto followed up with a 2-run homer to put Cincinnati in front 7-5. Eugenio Suarez would hit a 2-out homer later in the inning to make it an 8-5 lead. The next inning saw another rally as back-to-back walks from Tucker Barnhart and Phillip Ervin got things started. Freddy Galvis and Akiyama would both single before a Votto sac fly and Suarez single made it 11-5 with a second straight 3-run inning.

In the top of the 9th the Reds put together two more runs when Eugenio Suarez clobbered his second homer of the day, bringing in Nick Senzel who had doubled earlier in the inning. San Diego would get a run of their own in the bottom of the 9th, but it was too little, too late in the Reds 13-6 win.

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

Standings following the June 18 games:

The 2020 schedule will see the Reds take on right-handed pitcher Jack Flaherty and the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday. Mike Moustakas is out for one game and can not be in the lineup on Friday. Cincinnati’s starting pitcher could be either Wade Miley or Anthony DeSclafani. Today’s Redleg Nation winning commenter/manager Gonzo Reds will be setting the lineup.

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 players submit a proposal for a 70-game season

The Major League Baseball Players Association has finalized a proposal to MLB for a season in the neighborhood of 70 games, sources tell me and @JesseRogersESPN.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 18, 2020

MLB teams filing for bankruptcy? Being forced to sell?

Jayson Stark of The Athletic takes a look at the short-term future of Major League Baseball, and some of the questions and answers don’t exactly look great for the sport.

Asked what he would do if he were an owner who had borrowed as much as he could afford to borrow, one of the agents quoted earlier replied: “Then sell that big house you built on the corner. You can’t live on that street. Sell it. It’s not my obligation to keep you in it. It’s not your lawn man’s responsibility to keep you in it. These are difficult times. We all have problems. So figure it out. Don’t take it out on the lawn man.”

That’s certainly one way to look at it. Most of us have probably been at a point in our lives where we had to have a garage sale of some sort in order to get the funds we needed. There’s a whole lot more to the article by Stark than just the troubling finances that some teams are facing – the article looks at just how ugly things may get between the owners and players as they build towards an expiring CBA in December of 2021.

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.