The game included real players thanks to a deal with the MLB Players Association (it didn't make a deal with the MLB itself though, so the team names are just generalized as city names). However, the concept of hiring new players from the minor leagues means that the game needed to also create fictional new rookie players from the minor leagues.
Feeling particularly nostalgic, I ran an online emulator and played two seasons though the GM mode and called up a bunch of new rookies to fill out my roster for a fictional version of the 1997 and 1998 Atlanta Braves, renamed as the "Atlanta Tomahawks" for purposes of my league because I decided to all give all the teams dumb, fake names.
Over the course of the two years, I have 20 fictional rookie players time to play. This is how they fared.
James Patterson had zero at bats and put up zero statistics for the entire season, as he spent most of the time in reserve status. I was swimming with LF talent, so there was no reason for this guy to play at all. It gave him plenty of time to write Alex Cross books though, I suppose.
19. Roy Hewitt (C/3B, R)
Real player and starting Catcher Javy Lopez basically played a stellar and injury-free year. Backup catcher Eddie Perez himself only got 22 ABs. Which means third-stringer Roy never got activated from the reserves and even after the roster opened up in September for reserve players to play, he still only got 1 AB. He got a hit in his one at bat though, so technically he's batting 1.000!
18. Steve Wheatman (3B, R)
Steve's notional minor league .319 batting average meant he had one of the best AVGs of any of my prospects, but with Chipper Jones at 3B and a number of other prospects who could also play at 3B, he simply never got enough playing time to prove himself. When all was said and done, he only had 4 plate appearances with one hit. If it were real life I would have probably traded him off to another team where he could get some game time.
17. Michael Dube (SS, R)
Dube began the season as my starting SS but he sucked hard and I quickly relegated him to the reserves, so he almost never played again. He hit a quite sucky .125.
16. Albert Andalkar (LF/RF, R)
Albert didn't get too much playing time, getting only 37 at bats and hitting .270. I had enough OFs and utility players that there was just no room for this guy to prove himself.
15. Ross Dutra (Long Relief Pitcher, R)
His minor league stats were good enough for a mid-season call-up (I didn't initially take him at the beginning of the season), but this guy was just a mess. The game sets "Endurance" levels for pitchers, and this guy had an endurance level of 6, meaning he could pitch about 6 innings before his arm is toast and he has to be benched. Because of that, I only ever used him in a long relief capacity and never tried to fill him in a starting role. The only thing he ever seemed to do in a relief role was blow games though. He ended the season with a 5.43 ERA and a 1-8 record. He would have absolutely been cut from the roster if I were to play another season.
14. Kenneth Chow (RF, R)
I had really high hopes for Kenneth Chow based on his minor league stats, and was confident enough in him to have him replace David Justice as the starting RF. He sort of sucked though, so I eventually pulled him as a starter and he was relegated to a pinch hitter and backup role. He wound up with 300 ABs and a .250 BA.
13. Emanuel Elder (Relief / Setup Pitcher, R)
Mr. Elder was a late-season call up as I struggled to get my team to make the playoff cut. I cut some pitcher from my roster to give this kid a chance and he did pretty well with his tiny amount of playing time. He only pitched 6 innings the whole season, but wound up with a 3.00 ERA, 4 strikeouts, and a 2-0 record. If I were to have played another season, I would have probably started him off as my #1 relief pitcher to give him some more playing time and see how he developed. The fault of him being ranked this low is entirely on me.
12. Richard Dipirro (1B/3B, S)
A switch-hitter, Dipirro started in a bench role as I trusted Fred McGriff to be my guy at 1B and I had way too many other qualified 3Bs. But McGriff didn't put up the stats that I wanted him to, so I gave Dipirro the starting position for a while. He wound up playing more than McGriff in the end, but I was never in love with him with is .269 BA and measly 6 HRs.
11. Russell Young (Setup Pitcher, R)
Russell didn't get any playing time until the roster expansion in September when reserve players are activated to play as well. He only got 11 innings in, but with that minimal playing time went 2-1 with a crazy good 0.82 ERA. Now 11 innings isn't a statistically big enough number to say that his stats would have stayed that good. But given that performance, he would have been back the next year for sure.
10. David Lovett (Setup Pitcher, R)
David's stats were just fine. He pitched 50.2 innings, had a 3.91 ERA and even got himself a handful of saves in his Setup role. But he never did as well as fellow Setup man Branden Yeomens, so he was just there as a backup.
 |
| Who I would cast to play Alazar Magelssen |
This guy absolutely had the coolest name of all of my fictional rookie players, and I had high hopes for him. He was the guy I initially set up to take the "fifth starter" spot in the power-filled Braves... ermm... "Tomahawks" starting rotation. His stats in the minors didn't look super amazing (4.12 ERA with an 8-8 record), but he looked to be my best shot at filling out my rotation over other candidates like Eric Lewis. In the end, he fizzled and by about two months into the season I pulled him into a relief role. I deactivated him to reserve status a little bit before the All-Star break in order to get other pitchers on my roster a chance to get some playing time. He wound up with a 5.91 ERA and a 2-3 record. A bit of a washout but I would have probably have kept him for another season for long relief to give him another chance. Just because his name is so cool.
8. Morris Kim (3B/1B, R)
Kim wound up getting 551 at bats, which is a lot more than I thought he would have because I was already so full on 3B and 1B guys. He usually filled in at one of those two spots, but I was never entirely thrilled with him. He finished with a .263 BA and 7 dingers.
7. Branden Yeomens (Setup Pitcher, R)
This guy's minor league stats made him look like he'd be the next coming of Dennis Eckersley. He had like fifty-something saves, which is crazy. However, instead of moving Branden right into the Closer spot I made him my Setup guy for Mark Wohlers, who was doing a solid job as the Closer. Branden had issues and was all over the place. Eventually he settled down and wound up with a 3.54 ERA and 10 saves. Mark Wohlers continued to outperform him though, so he kept his job and Branden would just have to settle with being the Setup guy rather than ever fulfilling his "next coming" indicators.
6. John Tyler (SS, OF/IF, R)
The worst-named of all of my players (sharing his name with a racist, un-elected US President) was going to always get a chance to prove himself and get substantial playing time in his rookie season. Why? Just look at the positions he can play. Basically EVERYTHING. This utility player could be popped in to basically ANY position. So despite the fact that he was never going to knock anyone's socks off with amazing stats (.244 BA, 1 HR, 16 SBs), he still got in 553 ABs and mainly played as my CF, given that was the position I had the least depth at on the entire team and he was the only player on my roster other than the struggling Marquis Grissom who could play CF. He was almost always near the bottom of the hitting lineup though.
Anthony's minor league stats had him with a 6.06 ERA with only 95 Innings Pitched, and a 4-8 W-L record. Those are pretty middling stats, but he also had 59 Ks and an endurance of 9, so I figured he'd get a shot at the big leagues. He was one of my three initial pitchers who I promoted from the minors when I started the season, along with Alazar Magelssen and Eric Lewis. Based on the high ERA, I brought him up but didn't have much confidence in him, so I left him in a reserve role where he got no playing time until fairly late in the season. That was a mistake. After he was finally activated in a long relief role, he absolutely killed it and was temporarily bumped to a starter status, replacing a struggling Tom Glavine (who wound up going 9-12 for the season). But it was too late to really use him a bunch and I realized I lost an opportunity with this guy. He only pitched 24.1 innings the entire season, but in those innings managed to go 5-0 with an incredible 1.85 ERA. I would have tried him out as a regular starter the next season for sure.
4. Gordon Fazio (RF/1B, R)
Gordon got .355 with 16 home runs in his 400 at bats. He didn't play all of the time, but his ability to play in both positions meant he did get substantial play time. His batting average was the highest of any of my starters for the year, so this guy was solid and should have been utilized more. I should have moved him to earlier in the lineup to get him more ABs. It's on me that my best hitter is ranked this low and didn't get enough appearances.
3. Roger Shearer (LF/RF, L)
Given the depth of quality players who could take up the LF position, Roger spent most of his season playing in RF after I decided that Kenneth Chow wasn't going to be my man there. His minor league stats indicated that he was a base stealing monster, and so I put him at second in the lineup after Roger O'Conner and let him do his thing. 532 ABs, .299 BA, 15 HRs, 36 SB. Pretty good, and thus Dave Justice remained a bench warmer.
2. Roger O'Connor (3B/SS, S)
Right off the bat (ha!), I knew Roger was going to be playing for me a lot. A switch-hitting guy who can play both 3B and SS? Also, his minor league stats showed that he was a speed demon, and I adjusted my management profile to a riskier strategy of stealing more bases in hopes of making him lead the league in steals that season as a rookie. He didn't, but he did finish the season with a nice 48 steals. He was my lead hitter and got a whopping 641 at bats. His .254 batting average wasn't amazing or anything, but there was no way I was benching this guy. His ability to switch-hit and play either 3B or SS meant that he was always a starter, even if I had to switch which of the two positions he played at occasionally. He was mostly my starting SS.
 |
| Basically he'd have been this guy. |
Eric Lewis wound up being my star rookie pitcher, earning himself a spot in the middle of the star-heavy Atlanta pitching lineup of the 1990's which included Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Steve Avery. He pitched 150 innings, held a solid 2.10 ERA, and wound up with a 14-3 record. His stats could have been even better, but it wasn't until the later part of the season when he jumped into his starter role, having previously served in a "long relief" role until his stats thus far in the reason proved him to be a stud worthy of a starter role. Because he started in a relief capacity, he also wound up with 2 saves for the season. This guy was my surprise hit, as I was doubtful that he would be anything other than a relief pitcher. His simulated minor league stats that he had when I drafted him showed him to have a 4.01 ERA with a measly 3-6 record. Still, my minor league pitching options were pretty weak, so I called him up anyway. The league didn't award him the rookie of the year, but it totally should have. This guy was great!
No comments:
Post a Comment