MLB 15 The Show: Smooth Pancakes' Colorado Rockies Franchise

[SmoothPancakes]

The Hunt for Rocktober


The Managerial Career of Smooth Pancakes
Manager of the Colorado Rockies

Franchise Information

• PS4, MLB 15 The Show (Season 1 through present)
• Difficulty: Batting - Dynamic --- Pitching - Dynamic

Spoiler: show

• Hitting Interface - Zone
• Plate Coverage Indicator - On
• PCI Appearance - Reticle
• Hitting View - Catcher
• In-Play View Offense - Dynamic
• Ball Trail - On
• Guess Pitch - Default
• Baserunning Decisions - Auto
• Baserunning Interface - Default
• Sliding Decisions - On
• Runner Windows - On

• Pitching Interface - Meter
• Pulse Meter Display - Default
• Pitching View - Pitcher
• Pitching Ball Marker - On
• Pitch Confidence - On
• Pitch Callout - Full
• Pitch Delay - Normal
• API - On
• Throwing Interface - Buttons
• Throwing Meter - On
• Throwing Difficulty - Veteran
• In-Play View Defense - Dynamic
• Throw Cancelling - Off
• One Button Dive/Jump - On
• Fielding Decision - Assist
• Throwing Decision - Off
• Catch Position Indicator - On
• Defensive Shift - Auto
• Strike Zone - On
• Hot Zones - On
• Warm Up Pitchers - On
• Balks - On
• Umpires Balls and Strikes - Variable
• Umpires Close Plays - On
• Check Swing Appeals - On
• Injuries - On
• Ejections - On

• Rosters: Willard's Revision Roster v1.2
• Sliders:
• Current Job: Colorado Rockies Manager/GM
• CPU Roster Control OFF
• CPU Trading ON
• Instant Trades OFF
• Ignore Budget ON
• Force Trades OFF
• Designated Hitter AUTO
• Mode Specific Settings - All Manual

• Lineups/Rotations
• 40-Man Roster
• Roster Moves
• Scouting
• Waivers
• Drafting
• Injury Management
• Management
• Trades
• Free Agency
• Contracts

Current Sliders

Spoiler: show

[SmoothPancakes]

Franchise History

Yearly Recaps

Season	Year	Team	Record	Division Rank	Playoffs	World Series Champs
1	2015	Colorado Rockies	20-17	2nd

Manager/Team Statistics

Win-Loss Records

Category	Wins	Losses
Overall	20	17
Home	5	11
Away	15	6
Division	17	12
League	19	16
Rivalry	17	12
Extra Innings	2	1
Playoffs	0	0
World Series	0	0

Milestones

Milestone	Amount
Winning Seasons	0
Wild Card Finishes	0
1st Place in NL West Finishes	0
1st Place in NL Finishes	0
National League Pennants	0
World Series Championships	0
Longest Winning Streak	4
Longest Losing Streak	6
Most Wins in a Season	20
Most Losses in a Season	17
Biggest Win	17-2
Biggest Loss	7-0

Career Win-Loss vs. Opponent

Team Name	Wins	Losses	Biggest Win	Biggest Loss
Arizona Diamondbacks	3	3	3-1	6-4
Atlanta Braves	0	0
Baltimore Orioles	0	0
Boston Red Sox	0	0
Chicago Cubs	0	3		6-2
Chicago White Sox	0	0
Cincinnati Reds	0	0
Cleveland Indians	0	0
Detroit Tigers	0	0
Houston Astros	0	0
Kansas City Royals	0	0
Los Angeles Angels	1	1	9-0	3-1
Los Angeles Dodgers	5	5	8-1	7-0
Miami Marlins	0	0
Milwaukee Brewers	2	1	18-13	9-12
Minnesota Twins	0	0
New York Mets	0	0
New York Yankees	0	0
Oakland Athletics	0	0
Philadelphia Phillies	0	0
Pittsburgh Pirates	0	0
San Diego Padres	5	2	17-2	6-4
San Francisco Giants	4	2	8-6	8-3
Seattle Mariners	0	0
St. Louis Cardinals	0	0
Tampa Bay Rays	0	0
Texas Rangers	0	0
Toronto Blue Jays	0	0
Washington Nationals	0	0

Career Win-Loss vs. Division

Conference	Wins	Losses
AL East	0	0
AL Central	0	0
AL West	1	1
NL East	0	0
NL Central	2	4
NL West	17	12

[SmoothPancakes]

Awards and Accomplishments


National League West Division Titles

Season	Team
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National League Pennants

Season	Team
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World Series Championships

Season	Team	Opponent	Result
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Playoff Series Results

Season	Round	Team	Opponent	Result
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MVP Voting

Year	Team	Player	Position	Place
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Awards

Year	Team	Player	Position	Award
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All Stars

Spoiler: show

Year	Team	Player	Position	Starter/Bench
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Game Records

Record	Player Name	Season	Amount	Opponent
Batting Average	Nolan Arenado Michael McKenry Troy Tulowitzki	2015	.800	Milwaukee Milwaukee San Diego
Hits	Multiple Players	2015	4	Multiple Teams
Runs	Nolan Arenado Michael McKenry	2015	4	Milwaukee
RBIs	Troy Tulowitzki	2015	7	San Diego
Doubles	Multiple Players	2015	2	Multiple Teams
Triples	Multiple Players	2015	1	Multiple Teams
Home Runs	Multiple Players	2015	2	Multiple Teams
Stolen Bases	Michael McKenry	2015	3	San Francisco
Caught Stealing	Multiple Players	2015	1	Multiple Teams
Walks	Multiple Players	2015	1	Multiple Teams
Strike Outs	Carlos Gonzalez	2015	4	Milwaukee Chicago Cubs
Hit By Pitch	Multiple Players	2015	1	Multiple Teams
Errors	Charlie Blackmon	2015	2	San Francisco
Innings Pitched	Tyler Chatwood	2015	9.0	LA Dodgers
Hits Allowed	Eddie Butler Tyler Chatwood	2015	10	Chicago Cubs LA Dodgers
Runs Allowed	Eddie Butler	2015	7	Chicago Cubs
Earned Runs	Eddie Butler	2015	7	Chicago Cubs
Home Runs Allowed	Multiple Pitchers	2015	2	Multiple Teams
Walks Allowed	Jordan Lyles	2015	3	Milwaukee
Strikeouts	David Hale Kyle Kendrick	2015	11	San Diego San Diego

Season Records

Record	Player Name	Season	Amount
Batting Average	Michael McKenry	2015	.380
Hits	Corey Dickerson	2015	47
Runs	Troy Tulowitzki	2015	27
RBIs	Corey Dickerson	2015	34
Doubles	Nolan Arenado	2015	15
Triples	Carlos Gonzalez	2015	5
Home Runs	Corey Dickerson	2015	17
Stolen Bases	Carlos Gonzalez	2015	14
Caught Stealing	Charlie Blackmon Troy Tulowitzki Michael McKenry	2015	3
Walks	Troy Tulowitzki	2015	4
Strike Outs	Carlos Gonzalez	2015	32
Hit By Pitch	5 Players	2015	1
Errors	Charlie Blackmon	2015	5
Wins	Tyler Chatwood Kyle Kendrick	2015	4
Losses	David Hale Eddie Butler	2015	3
ERA	Eddie Butler	2015	10.25
Quality Starts	Kyle Kendrick	2015	6
Complete Games	Tyler Chatwood	2015	1
Shutouts	Tyler Chatwood	2015	1
Saves	John Axford	2015	6
Blown Saves	Christian Friedrich	2015	3
Holds	Tommy Kahnle	2015	5
Innings Pitched	Jordan Lyles	2015	42.2
Hits Allowed	Jordan Lyles	2015	50
Runs Allowed	Eddie Butler	2015	30
Earned Runs	Eddie Butler	2015	30
Home Runs Allowed	Jordan Lyles David Hale	2015	4
Walks Allowed	Jordan Lyles	2015	8
Strikeouts	David Hale	2015	45

[SmoothPancakes]

2015 Spring Training Roster

This is the list of players being invited to camp this year. Spring training games are going to be simulated.

Player	Position	Level	Age	Overall	Potential
Troy Tulowitzki	SS	MLB	30	99	A
Carlos Gonzalez	LF	MLB	29	96	B
Nolan Arenado	3B	MLB	23	89	B
Corey Dickerson	RF	MLB	25	82	B
Justin Morneau	1B	MLB	33	81	C
D.J. LeMahieu	2B	MLB	26	78	C
Michael McKenry	C	MLB	30	78	C
Wilin Rosario	1B	MLB	26	78	C
Charlie Blackmon	CF	MLB	28	77	B
Drew Stubbs	CF	MLB	30	76	C
Nick Hundley	C	MLB	31	75	C
Charlie Culberson	2B	AAA	25	72	B
Christian Adames	SS	AAA	23	71	C
Brandon Barnes	RF	AAA	28	71	C
David Dahl	CF	AAA	21	71	A
Daniel Descalso	SS	MLB	28	69	C
Rosell Herrera	CF	AA	22	68	A
Kyle Parker	LF	AAA	25	68	B
Ben Paulsen	1B	AAA	27	64	B
Trevor Story	SS	AA	22	62	B
Rafael Ynoa	3B	AAA	27	60	B
Tyler Matzek	SP	AAA	24	77	A
David Hale	SP	MLB	27	74	B
Jon Gray	SP	AAA	23	72	A
Adam Ottavino	RP	MLB	29	72	C
Boone Logan	RP	MLB	30	69	C
Jordan Lyles	SP	MLB	24	68	A
Tyler Chatwood	SP	MLB	25	67	B
John Axford	RP	MLB	32	66	C
Rex Brothers	RP	MLB	27	66	B
Jorge De La Rosa	SP	AAA	34	65	C
Kyle Freeland	SP	AA	21	64	A
LaTroy Hawkins	CP	MLB	42	64	A
Kyle Kendrick	SP	MLB	30	64	C
Tyler Anderson	SP	AA	25	63	B
Christian Bergman	SP	AAA	26	62	C
Eddie Butler	SP	MLB	24	61	B
Tommy Kahnle	RP	MLB	25	61	C
Christian Friedrich	RP	MLB	27	58	C
Rafael Betancourt	RP	MLB	39	56	A

[jaymo76]

You going to be playing every game? What about quick counts and player lock? Looking forward to when you get this started up. Until I owned it I didn't realize how addictive this game is.

[SmoothPancakes]

I'm gonna try to play every game, haven't decided for sure yet. I like quick counts, but I also feel like I lose a bit of control in certain batting and pitching situations. A certain batter I may want to pitch to a certain way, but if I get an unfavorable quick count, my plan is screwed.

As for player lock, not planning on it right now. I haven't really gotten to do much fielding (been playing mainly RTTS) so being able to do full fielding for games is something I want to try.

[SmoothPancakes]

Future Prospects

A list of future prospects in the Rockies organization, mainly players in AA and A that will be looked upon to be the future of the franchise in 1-5 years.

Player	Position	Level	Age	Overall	Potential
Tom Murphy	C	AA	24	65	A
Correlle Prime	1B	AA	21	60	B
Forrest Wall	2B	A	19	58	B
Tyler Nevin	3B	AA	18	64	B
Ryan McMahon	3B	AA	20	60	B
Trevor Story	SS	AA	22	62	B
Brendan Rodgers	SS	A	18	66	A
Rosell Herrera	CF	AA	22	68	A
Raimel Tapia	CF	AA	21	62	B
Noel Cuevas	CF	A	23	63	C
Kyle Freeland	SP	AA	21	64	A
Tyler Anderson	SP	AA	25	63	B
Mike Nikorak	SP	A	19	61	A
David Hill	SP	A	21	60	B
Peter Lambert	SP	A	18	59	B
Jairo Diaz	CP	AA	23	55	B

[SmoothPancakes]

Instead of simming Spring Training in one swoop, I simmed it game by game. I decided to try out two different pitching rotations. For the first 14 games, I went with a rotation of Jordan Lyles, Tyler Chatwood, David Hale, Kyle Kendrick and Eddie Butler, likely my starting lineup come Opening Day. It wasn't a great start as we went 5-9 over the first 14 games. In those 14 games, Jordan Lyles went 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA with 6 Ks and 3 BBs. Tyler Chatwood ended 2-0 with a 6.23 ERA with 9 Ks and 6 BBs. David Hale was a terrible 0-3 with a 6.92 ERA with 12 Ks and 9 BBs. Kyle Kendrick was 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA with 4 Ks and 7 BBs. And Eddie Butler was the lone bright spot, going 1-1 with a 1.00 ERA with 6 Ks and 1 BB.

For the second half of Spring Training, I looked to get a preview of the future as rotation was changed to Tyler Matzek, Jon Gray, Kyle Freeland, Tyler Anderson and Christian Bergman.

For our batting lineup, through 14 games, our likely Opening Day lineup saw Nolan Arenado (3B) go .286 on 12 hits with 6 home runs and 10 RBI. D.J. LeMahieu (2B) followed batting .244 on 10 hits with 0 home runs and 1 RBI. Troy Tulowitzki (SS) was the hottest batter on the team, batting .385 on 15 hits with 4 home runs and 7 RBI. Carlos Gonzalez (LF) was the next hottest, batting .343 on 12 hits with 2 home runs and 7 RBI. Corey Dickerson (RF) struggled over 14 games, batting .205 on 8 hits with 1 home run and 5 RBI. Justin Morneau (1B) found his stride as our third hottest batter, hitting .333 on 11 hits with 2 home runs and 4 RBI. Michael McKenry (C) was our coldest batter of the starting lineup, going .154 on 6 hits with 1 home run and 2 RBI. Wilin Rosario (DH) was likewise unimpressive as he batted .231 on 6 hits with 1 home run and 2 RBI. And Charlie Blackmon (CF) would also finish among the bottom of the barrel, batting .184 on 7 hits with 1 home run and 2 RBI.

For the second half of Spring Training, Rafael Ynoa replaced Nolan Arenado at third base, Charlie Culberson took over for D.J. LeMahieu at second base, Daniel Descalso would replace Troy Tulowitzki at shortstop for 5 games (with Trevor Story coming in for 5 games and then Christhian Adames taking over at SS for the final 4 games), Kyle Parker replaced Carlos Gonzalez in left field, Brandon Barnes replaced Corey Dickerson in right field, Ben Paulsen took over for Justin Morneau at first base, Nick Hundley came in for Michael McKenry at catcher, David Dahl replaced Charlie Blackmon at center field (Dahl would play the first 7 games and Rosell Herrera would play the final 7 games) and Drew Stubbs would fill in for Wilin Rosario at DH.

The first 14 games of Spring Training, with a major league lineup and rotation, we went 5-9. For the final 14 games of Spring Training, with the lineups and rotation full of minor league players and future prospects, we went 6-8 to finish with a Spring Training record of 11-17.

Looking at my "test", for the second half of Spring Training, Tyler Matzek went 1-2 with a 4.15 ERA with 20 Ks and 8 BBs. Jon Gray went 0-1 with a 2.82 ERA with 19 Ks and 8 BBs. Kyle Freeland went 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA with 10 Ks and 5 BBs. Tyler Anderson went 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA with 7 Ks and 7 BBs. And Christian Bergman went 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA with 5 Ks and 5 BBs.

Batting, we had a couple very hot hitters, as Troy Tulowitzki topped the list batting .385 on 20 hits with 4 home runs and 7 RBI. Rosell Herrera, in extended second half action, batted .372 on 16 hits with 0 home runs and 5 RBI. Daniel Descalso hit .321 on just 9 hits with 0 home runs and 1 RBI. Carlos Gonzalez finished .306 on 15 hits with 3 home runs and 10 RBI. Charlie Blackmon batted .294 on 15 hits with 1 home run and 3 RBI. Nolan Arenado finished .283 on 15 hits with 6 home runs and 10 RBI. Justin Morneau also batted .283 on 13 hits with 2 home runs and 5 RBI. Wilin Rosario went .278 on 10 hits with 1 home run and 4 RBI, D.J. LeMahieu batted .273 on 15 hits with 0 home runs and 4 RBI. Brandon Barnes racked up .267 at the plate on 12 hits with 1 home run and 6 RBI. And Michael McKenry was the last player to crack .250 on 13 hits with 3 home runs and 6 RBI.

Looking at the bottom of the list, Nick Hundley took home the Mr. Freeze award for Spring Training, finishing .131 on just 8 hits with 0 home runs and only 3 RBI. Kyle Parker didn't fare much better, ending .149 on 7 hits with 3 home runs and 6 RBI. David Dahl just cracked .200 on 8 hits with 0 home runs and 3 RBI. Trevor Story only managed .208 on 5 hits with 1 home run and 5 RBI. Charlie Culberson batted .220 on 9 hits with 0 home runs and 3 RBI. Cristhian Adames ended .229 on 8 hits with 1 home run and 4 RBI. Ben Paulsen wrapped up his spring at .238 on 10 hits with 2 home runs and 6 RBI. Drew Stubbs finished .244 on 10 hits with 0 home runs and 3 RBI. Rafael Ynoa ended .246 on 14 hits with 1 home run and 4 RBI. And Corey Dickerson finished his spring batting .246 on 14 hits with 3 home runs and 10 RBI.

Our best pitchers of the entire spring (by record) ended up being Tyler Chatwood (2-0 with a 3.68 ERA with 18 Ks and 7 BBs) and Jordan Lyles (2-1 with a 4.74 ERA with 10 Ks and 6 BBs). The worst pitcher (by record) was David Hale, who finished 0-3 (in three starts) with a 6.92 ERA with 12 Ks and 9 BBs. David Hale (6.92 ERA) and Tyler Anderson (6.75 ERA) finished with the highest/worst ERAs of any starting pitchers.

Rafael Betancourt was absolutely atrocious as a relief pitcher. Betancourt would enter three games during the spring, and would last just 1.1 innings combined in those three games on his way to a 0-2 record. In those 1.1 innings pitched, Betancourt would give up 9 hits, 12 runs, 11 earned runs, 2 home runs, 2 walks and ZERO strikeouts, all of that good enough for an astronomical ERA of 74.25.

Christian Friedrich wasn't as terrible, but still pretty bad, pitching as a reliever in 8 games, finishing with a record of 1-1 with 2 holds and 3 blown saves in 8.0 innings pitched. In those 8.0 innings, Friedrich would give up 19 hits, 9 runs, 9 earned runs, 5 home runs, 1 walk and 7 strikeouts on his way to a 10.13 ERA. LaTroy Hawkins did well enough to hang on to his closer role. In 5 games pitched, Hawkins picked up the save in all 5 games, going 4.2 innings pitched, giving up 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 earned runs, 0 home runs, 1 walk and 1 strikeout to finish with a 3.86 ERA.

Looking at the lowest ERAs, starting pitcher Eddie Butler finished with an ERA of just 1.00 on a 1-1 record, pitching in four games and throwing 9.0 innings of work. Next was Jon Gray, who pitched 22.1 innings over 12 games, finishing with a 0-1 record and an ERA of 2.82. Kyle Freeland, pitching 16.0 innings over 4 games, finished 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA. Tyler Chatwood would also finish under 4.00, going 22.0 innings over 15 games to finish with a 2-0 record and a 3.68 ERA. Rex Brothers was the highest reliever, finishing 1-0 on 12.2 innings pitched over 16 games to earn a 3.55 ERA.

Looking back at over the past month of baseball, it's clear this team needs a lot of work. There are a number of strong hitters, but spread out among three different tiers, we will have some weak spots in our lineup for at least the next season or two while we hope our prospects reach their potential. Some players could see themselves moved around and in or out of the lineup, while others may be destined for a stint in Triple A. Pitching meanwhile is still a huge concern. There are a couple of good starting pitchers and LaTroy Hawkins is still a quality closer, but relief pitching leaves a lot to be desired and a 4th and 5th starter is still needed. Hopefully our high level pitching prospects, namely Jon Gray and Tyler Matzek can be ready to go by mid-season.

As the regular season gets underway, this year, largely everyone will be considered fair game on the trade market if the right offer comes around. If some quality MLB veterans are offered, that's great, but minor league prospects will also be given great consideration as the farm system needs an influx of young quality talent.

In MLB 14, I had considered Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez, Michael Cuddyer and Charlie Blackmon to all be permanently off the market, but things have changed this year. Cuddyer is no longer with the Rockies. Tulowitzki has now entered his 30s and who knows how long before he's going to peak and start getting hit by the regression system. Plus, as a 99 OVR and A potential player with still a number of years to play, plus being under contract for another 6 years, I could get a King's ransom for him this season, especially in pitchers, both MLB ready and prospects, from the right teams. The same with Carlos Gonzalez. He is 29 years old, who knows how long before he starts regressing, he's 96 OVR with a B potential, under contract for 3 more years, so I could easily get a windfall haul from trading him off for a couple prospects as well as maybe a MLB level guy.

Last year, when I first created this franchise on MLB 14, I wanted to keep my favorite players on the team and try to build around them. That would have been difficult as my favorite players are also the ones who would be the most profitable on the trading block. This year, I'm taking the stance of a GM, and removing any favoritism or attachment for certain players. If trading off one of our best players can help the team in the future through a ransom of top prospects or even MLB level pitching, then I'll do so. We have players who can take over and fill in for Tulowitzki or Gonzalez this year, even if in the short term until our own lower level prospects are ready to jump into the hole or even a free agent stopgap is possible. So they are not untouchable this year. If I can get the right players for them in a trade, then we'll be waving goodbye to them if the time comes.

[SmoothPancakes]

Borrowing this from Steeler's Houston franchise.


Colorado Rockies (0-0) at Milwaukee Brewers (0-0)
April 6-8, 2015
Miller Park - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Probable Starters:

Game One - Monday 1:10 PM
Jordan Lyles (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs Jimmy Nelson (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Game Two - Tuesday 7:10 PM
Tyler Chatwood (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs Matt Garza (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Game Three - Wednesday 7:10 PM
David Hale (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs Kyle Lohse (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

The season opener for both teams as the Rockies head north to start the season. The Rockies will see the Marlins only once more this season, during a three game stretch at home June 19-21.

[SmoothPancakes]

This turned out to be a wacky series as Colorado's bats took on a life of their own in the first game. The second inning of the Opening Day game was the decider. A fly out, back to back doubles by Michael McKenry and Charlie Blackmon and a ground out left runners on second and third and two outs. That was when the Rockies just went nuts at the plate and would ultimately drive Milwaukee starter Jimmy Nelson from the game in only the second inning. Nolan Arenado hit a ground single to center to drive in McKenry and Blackmon. DJ LeMahieu would smack a double down the third base line to score Arenado from first. Troy Tulowitzki would then clear the bases with a two run home run. Carlos Gonzalez would single to right and Corey Dickerson would double to right to put runners on second and third with two outs.

That would be when Milwaukee would pull the hook on Nelson and go to the bullpen, but the Rockies weren't done yet. Justin Morneau would drive a single to right field to score Gonzalez, followed by an RBI single to center by McKenry to score Dickerson. Lastly, Blackmon would come in and hit a three run home run to center, scoring Morneau and McKenry, followed by pitcher Jordan Lyles committing the final out, Lyles ending up responsible for both the second and third outs of the inning. The final damage, 13 batters, resulting in 10 runs on 10 hits. A couple more runs here and there throughout the game would add up to 18 scores, while a 3 run second inning, a two run fifth inning and a pair of four run innings in the eighth and ninth would give Milwaukee a fighting chance, but they would come up short.

Colorado's 18 runs and 22 hits would decimate their previous best ever opening day, when they defeated Cincinnati 13-2 on 19 hits back on April 7, 1997.

Player of the game was Nolan Arenado, going 4-5 with 4 runs and 4 RBI. Top hitter for Milwaukee was Jean Segura, who ended 4-6 with 2 runs and 3 RBI. Winning pitcher was Jordan Lyles, going 5.0 innings, giving up 8 hits, 5 runs, 3 earned runs, striking out 3 and walking 3 to end with a 5.40 ERA. Losing pitcher was Jimmy Nelson, going just 1.2 innings, giving up 9 hits, 8 runs, 8 earned runs with two strikeouts to end with an atrocious 43.20 ERA.



The second game would see the bats go quiet for most of the game, as the Rockies would manage just 1 run (on a throwing error by the catcher) on 2 hits for the first 5 innings. It would be the 6th inning that again would see Colorado rack up runs, as DJ LeMahieu would get a lead off double, followed by a single by Troy Tulowitzki. Then Carlos Gonzalez would jack a three run home run to center field for his only hit of the game, giving us a lead we would never give back, chasing a tired Matt Garza from the game. The Rockies would end up going back to back to back with solo shots by Corey Dickerson and Justin Morneau off of reliever Jonathon Broxton, using a 5 run, 6 hit 6th inning to secure the lead for good. That solo home run by Justin Morneau would be a milestone shot as it was his 1,500th hit of his career.

Player of the game was Carlos Gonzalez with his three run home run. Milwaukee's top hitter was Ryan Braun, who launched a solo home run in the fifth inning to give Milwaukee a 3-1 lead at the time. Garza had a bit of success too, going 1-2 at the plate with an RBI single. Winning pitcher was Tyler Chatwood, going 5.0 innings, giving up 8 hits, 3 runs, 3 earned runs with 5 strikeouts and 1 walk to end with a 5.40 ERA. Losing pitcher was Matt Garza, going 5.0 innings, giving up 5 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned runs, with three strikeouts and no walks for a 5.40 ERA.



The final game of the series would see the Brewers score the first run of the game for the first time this series thanks to an RBI double by Jonathan Lucroy in the second inning. The Rockies would tie it back up in the third thanks to a solo home run by Charlie Blackmon, before taking a 5-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning on a two run shot by Corey Dickerson, followed by a double by Justin Morneau and a two run homer off the left field post by Michael McKenry. It's safe to say, the Rockies live and die by that long ball! From there, it would turn into a game of attrition. The Brewers would cut our lead to 5-3, we would build it up to 7-3, then a 4 run fifth inning would see the Brewers tie things up at 7-7. We would take an 8-7 lead, the Brewers would tie it right back up at 8-8, we would go up 9-8, the Brewers would tie it right back up 9-9. The deciding score would come in the bottom of the 8th inning as Ryan Braun would lead off with a solo home run, kicking off what would be a 3 run inning to give the Brewers a 12-9 win to avoid the season opening sweep.

Player of the game was Carlos Gomez, going 4-4 with a single, a double and 2 triples to score 4 runs and drive in 4 RBI. Top hitters for Colorado were Troy Tulowizki and Michael McKenry. Tulowitzki went 2-3 with 2 home runs, 3 runs scored and 3 RBI. McKenry went 2-4 with 2 home runs, 2 runs scored and 3 RBI. Winning pitcher was Brandon Kintzler, who pitched 1.0 inning (the 8th inning), striking out 2 and giving up no hits. Francisco Rodriguez got the save with 1.0 inning pitched, giving up 1 hit and 1 strikeout. Losing pitcher was John Axford, pitching 0.0 innings officially, getting tagged in the eighth inning for 3 hits, 3 runs, 3 earned runs and one walk. Christian Friedrich would end up with a blown save on his record, pitching 0.2 innings, giving up 1 hit, 1 run, 1 earned run and 2 walks.


Colorado - 18-22-1
Milwaukee - 13-17-1

Colorado - 6-10-0
Milwaukee - 3-10-1

Colorado - 9-8-0
Milwaukee - 12-18-1


The Rockies now get a MUCH needed day of rest as the bullpen ended up heavily used that series, resulting in a bunch of very tired and less useful relievers, as shown in that third game against Milwaukee. After a day off, the Rockies open up their first home series of the season with a weekend visit from the Chicago Cubs.

[SmoothPancakes]

Chicago Cubs (2-1) vs Colorado Rockies (2-1)
April 10-12, 2015
Coors Field - Denver, Colorado

Probable Starters:

Game One - Friday 2:10 PM
Eddie Butler (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs Jason Hammel (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Game Two - Saturday 6:10 PM
Kyle Kendrick (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs Travis Wood (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Game Three - Sunday 2:10 PM
Jordan Lyles (1-0, 5.40 ERA) vs Jon Lester (1-0, 1.35 ERA)

The home opener for the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies will see the Cubs only one other time this season, with a three game road trip to Wrigley Field July 27-29.

[SmoothPancakes]

First game of the series saw our tired bullpen pushed even further, as another poor start by our starting rotation would see Eddie Butler go just 4.0 innings pitched. The Rockies found life early on, using a pair of two run innings in the first and second to stoke a 4-1 lead, but the Cubs would answer right back with 3 runs each in the third and fourth innings, taking over with a 7-5 lead. From there, the Rockies would score one and the Cubs would answer right back, 7-6 and 8-7 before a ninth inning run would give the Cubs a 9-7 margin of victory.

Player of the game was Coghlan, who went 3-5 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI. Top hitter for the Rockies was Justin Morneau who went 4-4 with 2 singles, 2 doubles and 3 runs scored. Winning pitcher was Jason Hammel, who pitched 6.0 innings pitched, giving up 11 hits, 6 runs, 6 earned runs, no walks and 7 strikeouts for a 9.00 ERA. Zach Rosscup and J. Grimm both picked up holds while Rondon got his second save of the year with a 1.0 IP, 2 strikeout performance in the ninth. Losing pitcher was Eddie Butler, who went 4.0 innings pitched, giving up 10 hits, 7 runs, 7 earned runs, 2 walks and 1 strikeout for a 15.75 ERA.



The second game would see the Rockies again jump out to an early 1-0 lead, and hold it until the Cubs would tie things up in the top of the fifth. From there, a pair of runs in the sixth inning and again in the eighth inning would stoke Chicago to their fourth win of the season with a 5-1 margin. This would end up being a pitcher's duel for most of the game, and while the Rockies would FINALLY get a quality start from one of their starting pitchers, the Cubs would get an even better quality start to get the win.

Player of the game was also the winning pitcher, as Travis Wood pitched a complete game, going 9.0 innings pitched, giving up 7 hits, 1 run, 1 earned run, no walks and 4 strikeouts for a 1.00 ERA. Losing pitcher was Kyle Kendrick, who went 7.0 innings pitched, giving up 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 earned runs, no walks and 4 strikeouts for a 2.57 ERA. Thankfully, our bullpen would get a day to rest as we would use just three pitchers the whole game thanks to Kendrick pushing 7 innings of work.

Top hitter for the Cubs was Starlin Castro, going 2-5 with a single, a double and two runs scored. Top hitter for the Rockies was Nolan Arenado, who went 2-4 with a run scored.

Kyle Kendrick finally gave the Rockies their first quality start of the season. Only took 5 games for it. So far, two pitchers lasted only 4.0 innings and two lasted only 5.0 innings. Kendrick is the first starter to actually see the sixth inning. While he's the #5 pitcher for now, if he continues to have quality starts as the season goes on, he may end up moved up in the rotation, possibly into the top 2 or 3 pitchers if the rest continue to struggle.



The third game of the series would end up being another pitcher's duel, and would again play out similar to the previous games. The Rockies would grab a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second before the Cubs went up 2-1 in the top of the third. It would remain 2-1 until late in the game when the Cubs would score 2 runs each in the seventh and eighth innings, while a single run in the bottom of the seventh for the Rockies would make the final score 6-2.

Player of the game for the Cubs was Addison Russell, who went 3-4 with a single, a double and a triple, scoring 2 runs and 1 RBI. Starlin Castro also had a big game, going 2-5 with a home run, one run scored and 3 RBI. Top hitter for the Rockies was Carlos Gonzalez, going 3-4 with three singles and two runs scored.

Winning pitcher was Jon Lester, going 8.0 innings pitched, giving up 7 hits, 2 runs, 2 earned runs, no walks and 6 strikeouts for a 1.84 ERA. Losing pitcher was Jordan Lyles, going 7.0 innings pitched, giving up 8 hits, 4 runs, 4 earned runs, 1 walk and 5 strikeouts for a 5.25 ERA.

Thankfully, Lyles had a much better game than his first start on Opening Day. In Milwaukee, he only lasted 5.0 innings pitched but still got the win because of the Rockies huge second inning at the plate. Today, he may have got the loss, but he battled and survived for 7.0 innings before having to give way to the bullpen, who thankfully, we only needed two pitchers to get through the rest of the game to give everyone else in the bullpen further rest and recovery after being picked the bone and sucked dry in that Milwaukee series. Hopefully this ends up being a sign of things to come for our pitching staff.


Chicago - 9-13-1
Colorado - 7-13-0

Chicago - 5-10-0
Colorado - 1-7-1

Chicago - 6-11-0
Colorado - 2-8-0


Hopefully our bullpen got plenty of rest during the Chicago series, as the Rockies get no rest, heading west to kick off a three game series at San Francisco less than 24 hours later on Monday afternoon with a first pitch scheduled for 1:35 PM.


(This ended up being a little less detailed than I originally intended, as everything I had originally typed ended up lost as I apparently took too long from the start of the first game to the end of the third game to play and type out everything in the forum without refreshing it. It's for the most part similar to what I originally had, I just lost everything regarding how individual runs were scored. But otherwise, the key details are all there.)

[SmoothPancakes]

Colorado Rockies (2-4) vs San Francisco Giants (3-3)
April 13-15, 2015
AT&T Park - San Francisco, California

Probable Starters:

Game One - Monday 1:35 PM
Tyler Chatwood (1-0, 5.40 ERA) vs Tim Hudson (0-1, 3.60 ERA)

Game Two - Tuesday 7:35 PM
David Hale (0-0, 13.50 ERA) vs Tim Lincecum (0-0, 1.50 ERA)

Game Three - Wednesday 7:15 PM
Eddie Butler (0-1, 15.75 ERA) vs Ryan Vogelsong (0-1, 3.60 ERA)


It's the division opener the Rockies as they head west for a three game road trip against the San Francisco Giants. This will kick off a straight month of division play as the Rockies follow the Giants up with three games at the LA Dodgers, 4 at home against San Diego, 3 at home against the Giants, 3 at Arizona, 3 at San Diego, 3 at home against Arizona and 3 at home against the LA Dodgers before breaking for action against the LA Angels on May 12 and 13 in a brief two game series.

If the Rockies don't turn things around, well, they may set the record for earliest point in the season being eliminated from the division race as 25 straight games against division foes could end the Rockies division hopes even before the start of summer.

[SmoothPancakes]

He's not expected to gain much in return value, but AAA pitcher Jorge De La Rosa has been placed on the trading block to see what kind of offers come in.

This is a purely personal move as De La Rosa's pitching windup is so goddamn LONG, drawn out and takes FOREVER, ending up causing the pitches to end up screwed up as it takes 10 seconds just to wind up but only 1 to throw. I have never been able to get used to De La Rosa's windup and I have never been able to successfully pitch well with him (which is why he is currently in AAA and not on the MLB roster), so to hell with it, I'm just going to throw him on the trade block at the start and try to move him for someone I can pitch with.

[SmoothPancakes]

Oh yeah, I forgot, surprise! I officially started this baby yesterday. I've already played the first two series against the Brewers and Cubs, but instead of having a bunch of old posts from last year and starting the franchise over in new posts, I just went through editing my old posts and filling them in the new stuff from this current franchise.

And it didn't take long for things to already end up going to hell in a hand basket with that Cubs series.

[steelerfan]

Is this a brand new Franchise using current rosters or a continuation of the old one?

I think you're trying to say it's new.

[SmoothPancakes]

Is this a brand new Franchise using current rosters or a continuation of the old one?

I think you're trying to say it's new.

New franchise on MLB 15 using current rosters.

Instead of having a couple of game posts from last year (I had gotten played and posted two or three games against Miami, back when I was trying to do game by game recaps), I just overwrote those posts with the new series recaps and pitching match-ups from this year. That way there wasn't a mix of old and new, and that way I didn't have a bunch of blank posts if I just wiped out all of the text from those old posts and left them blank and started the new franchise with brand new posts.

So everything in this thread is current and up to date. The top posts, the Brewers series, the Cubs series, everything is 100% current on my brand new The Show 15 franchise that I created and started yesterday morning when I finally got the time and when I finally got a set rosters 100% to my liking. The only thing I need to change is getting one of the guys to update my thread title from MLB 14 to MLB 15.

[SmoothPancakes]

Already an early trade in the season, news has broke that the Atlanta Braves agreed to ship AA SP prospect Michael Soroka (19 YO/64 OVR/B POT) to Houston for Astros first baseman Chris Carter (28 YO/72 OVR/B POT).

Chris Carter becomes the backup of Braves star first baseman Freddie Freeman, while Michael Soroka, who was a AA pitcher with the Braves, is promoted to AAA in the Astros system upon completion of the trade.

It may turn out to be a good move for the Astros. They add a very promising future prospect in Soroka, and while Carter was their major league first baseman, first baseman Jon Singleton (23 YO/69 OVR/B POT) sits in AAA as a more than suitable replacement for Carter. Singleton has 4 years on his contract, while Carter was in his final year.

Comparing ratings, Carter and Singleton are almost identical on contact, Carter is 15 points better on power, nearly identical on plate vision and batting clutch. Singleton is 13 points better on plate discipline, slightly less durable, but 10 points faster than Carter. Carter and Singleton are almost identical on fielding ability, while Carter is a much better stealer. The biggest difference, a +50 point difference for Singleton over Carter in Reaction.

So Carter and Singleton aren't too different from each other in individual ratings, both are a B potential, they are only 3 points apart on OVR rating and Singleton is 5 years younger. And in the process, the Astros get another promising young SP. So not too shabby a trade for the Astros.

[steelerfan]

Doesn't sound bad for Houston at all.

[SmoothPancakes]

Some miscellaneous news, the Chicago White Sox have traded 1B Adam LaRoche (age 35, 78, B) to the Texas Rangers for SP Yovani Gallardo (age 29, 73, C).

In Rockies organization news, John Axford has been made the new closer as he has been a better late game pitcher than LaTroy Hawkins thus far. Some small shake-ups are needed to get out of this four game losing streak. Hawkins will for now become a middle relief pitcher and Adam Ottavino will be moved from middle relief to set-up man.

Elsewhere, closer Jairo Diaz has been promoted from Double-A New Britain to Triple-A Albuquerque, closer Darin Hoffman has been promoted from Single-A Modesto to Double-A New Britain, catcher Dustin Garneau has been demoted from Triple-A Albuquerque to Double-A New Britain and first baseman Will Swanner has been dropped from Double-A New Britain to Single-A Modesto.