Vol. IV, Issue #7 - November 2016

** "Baseball Daily – 4th & Final View" –  Wolfman Shapiro **
      (Starting on April 3rd, a new level of playing Strat-o-matic Baseball began, it is
called Baseball Daily. Here is my experience managing the 2016 Chicago Cubs as
I continued playing and finished their championship season. Now we can compare how
close I came to their actual performance and their stats I saw in my play of their memorable
2016 World Champion Chicago Cubs' season and, now you know why I picked this team.)

(Notes from the Wolfman:  Hello dear members, as we go to press, we all know about the World Series and how my "Chicago Cubs" (I say my, as I was born in Chicago and all my life up to late October and early November of this year, I have never watched them in the World Series ever before) came back from adversity down 3 games to one vs. Cleveland in the Series and took home the prize after 108 years.  So the movie, "Back to the Future" was only off by one year.  In truth, they really had the best MLB team, with great balance and they showed they had the drive to win and never give up as they faced various challenges throughout the 2016 MLB Playoffs.

Therefore, the goal of this fourth and final article in this series is to report about how our version of the 2016 Chicago Cubs did as compared to the real life Chicago Cubs to give an evaluation of the accuracy of SOM Baseball Daily. Now, due to my own personal experience in learning how to play this version of Strat Baseball, you will see my Cubs played three more games than the real cubs.  First, there were three rain outs which I did play, and later learned from SOM I should have not played those games. And then near the end of the season, the Cubs had a tie game with Pittsburgh which I finished but was not recorded within their final record.

So to re-summarize my criteria again, how the Chicago Cubs 2016 Baseball Daily manager, Mr. Wolfman Shapiro guided their team's play was as follows:

  That I am selecting the same starting pitcher used on each day for the Cubs and the same 9 players used to start the game in real life from their current opponent;

  That I will not use a player who is injured even if I could for that game (meaning that sometimes an injured player will show up on the Baseball Daily team roster of that day);

 That I am granting to myself the freedom to make changes to the batting lineup for the Cubs for each game if I so desire -- Most of the time this meant, I would utilized the same starting positional players in the lineup that the real Cubs did for that day's game but I might feel inclined to change their order of when they hit;

 That, at other times I will possibly switch some players in the starting lineup with players on the bench because this/these other player(s) had a better hitting card in relationship to the enemy starter we were facing, giving us more of a chance to win;

I let Ross catch when Lester was the starting pitcher.

(Note: I don't know why the Daily game kept doing this, as I never saw this happen with the lineup of any team we faced, but the game had a problem with the young catcher the Cubs brought up Wilson Eduardo Contreras, as he would be starting in games for the real cubs, but Baseball Daily would pick one of the other catchers to use like Ross or Montero. So, I would have to put him back in the lineup. People really learn of the capabilities of this young Contreras due to the key hits and plays he made during the playoff and at times during the regular season. I suspect this error may have been caused because he had a long name which the game does not fully display).

Thus, what you will find in this final report is that first, I will give an overview of how my Cubs finished in our replay of their World Champion 2016 season and then, we look again at the cards of various players (some key hitters and pitchers as they looked at the season's completion) and compare these cards to the projected cards before the season started. Then, finally we look at the final 2016 Chicago Cub stats, both from Baseball Daily against the real life stats by the Cubs, discussing which players did better than in real life, or were worse and compare the team totals for hitting and pitching. 

Now if you are not familiar with how Baseball Daily works, you may want to check back to our May Issue of this year, where I wrote about this utilizing various screen examples from the game and how Baseball Daily differs from the normal play of SOM Computer Baseball.  You can find this article by clicking the link below:

http://www.ultimatestratbaseball.com/USBN-5-2016/WolfmanShapiro-BaseballDaily-May2016.htm

To check my other reports I shared earlier this year, describing the play of my Cubbies feel free to visit:

http://www.ultimatestratbaseball.com/USBN-7-2016/WolfmanShapiro-BaseballDaily-July2016.htm
http://www.ultimatestratbaseball.com/USBN-8-2016/WolfmanShapiro-BaseballDaily-August2016.htm

I hope you enjoy this last report. So did you play along with your favorite team too?)

 

---

Our Baseball Daily Replay and Challenge ....
Can we take the Cubbies to a Championship?

In this article I will be finishing my report on my re-creation of the Chicago Cubs 2016 season using Baseball Daily. As I have done in several past issues, I will be taking different looks at the replay 2016 Cubs verses their real counterparts so our readers can see the end results of my season vs. what actually happened.

You may recall that my version of the Cubs also started off to a fast start but as the season wore on, they begin to show ware and tear just like any other team.  In any case, my version of the 2016 Cubs, with the exception of the 3 extra games we played and a 4th we completed (which ended up in a tie), that we had a very similar final record as the real life team as we basically picked up our team's play at the end of the season.

I have also included within in this final report the card image comparisons of the same players I have showed in my previous reports looking at their card image from "Day 0" verse the card image they had at the end of the season. (Note - remember the players cards change each day when the new daily stats are added...) 

Another comment I want to share about this current replay has to do with how the other teams are doing in my replay MLB league.  Now I realize since I am letting the computer play for all the other teams, this is indirectly affecting the results of how well I have done with the Cubs in my games as well as the final league standings of my live-time replay of the 2016 MLB Season.  Let me show you the final standings so you can see what I mean. I did watch throughout they year some substantial differences with how other teams were performing in my replay:

LEAGUE STANDINGS FOR 2016 Major League Daily
 
AL East                     WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC#
2016 Boston BOA             110  54  .671 ----  *WON*
2016 Toronto TOA             94  68  .580 15.0       
2016 Baltimore BAA           90  76  .542 21.0       
2016 Tampa Bay TBA           70  93  .429 39.5       
2016 New York (AL) NYA       69  94  .423 40.5       
 
AL Central                  WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC#
2016 Detroit DEA             87  79  .524 ----  *WON*
2016 Cleveland CLA           87  79  .524 ----       
2016 Kansas City KCA         85  79  .518  1.0       
2016 Chicago (AL) CHA        76  88  .463 10.0       
2016 Minnesota MNA           73  92  .442 13.5       
 
AL West                     WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC#
2016 Los Angeles(AL) LAA     84  78  .519 ----  *WON*
2016 Texas TEA               83  80  .509  1.5       
2016 Houston HOA             80  83  .491  4.5       
2016 Seattle SEA             78  84  .481  6.0       
2016 Oakland OAA             66  97  .405 18.5        
 
(In my American League we have quite a few surprises - the Boston Red Sox, not doubt with the great hitting they had this year leading our replay league with a .280 average plus they only had a 3.30 ERA, far better than they did in real life is why they were so good. Thus, this then explains why they did so well in our league due to their great pitching. Ortiz led the way with 40 Homers and 125 RBIs with Bogaerts with 102 RBIs and H. Ramirez had 34 homers with 97 RBIs. On the pitching side Porcello was 22-8 with a 2.90 ERA and Wright chimed in at 16-8 with a 2.08 ERA while Price at 15-8 with a 3.19 ERA. Kimbrell their closer had 42 saves.  So the improved pitching seen in the replay gave Boston such a great record.  In the AL South it was a 3 team race with Detroit just edging Cleveland out.  And the Angeles surprised in the AL West the Rangers who didn't perform as well as in real life. It would have been interesting to see a world series between Boston and the Cubs.)

NL East                     WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC#
2016 New York (NL) NYN       95  69  .579 ----  *WON*
2016 Washington WAN          93  70  .571  1.5       
2016 Miami MMN               82  81  .503 12.5       
2016 Philadelphia PHN        67  95  .414 27.0       
2016 Atlanta ATN             67  96  .411 27.5       
 
NL Central                  WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC#
2016 Chicago (NL) CHN       105  60  .636 ----  *WON*
2016 St. Louis SLN           86  78  .524 18.5       
2016 Pittsburgh PIN          85  81  .512 20.5       
2016 Cincinnati CIN          78  85  .479 26.0       
2016 Milwaukee MLN           63 100  .387 41.0       
 
NL West                     WON LOST  PCT   GB  MAGIC#
2016 Los Angeles(NL) LAN     98  65  .601 ----  *WON*
2016 San Francisco SFN       86  76  .531 11.5       
2016 Colorado CON            82  83  .497 17.0       
2016 Arizona ARN             75  87  .463 22.5       
2016 San Diego SDN           60 104  .366 38.5   

(In my National League there were a few surprises as well with the Mets out playing the Nationals to win the NL East but as in real life, the Cubs and Dodgers {who did significantly better then in real life,} running away with their divisions.  The Mets in our replay had trouble hitting for average although Cespedes had 35 HRs and Granderson 28, but the Mets pitching was exceptional with a 3.09 team ERA as Matz was 15-2 with a 1.82 ERA and Degrom with a 2.28 ERA, but both of these pitchers were in limited action. The ancient one, Colon pitched 200 innings to pick up some slack and had an 2.76 ERA. Familia held the fort down with 49 saves. In Los Angeles, it was similar to the Mets, as LA only hit .251 as a team but had a 3.09 team ERA led by Kershaw {with limited starts} at 15-4 with a 1.98 ERA, the rookie Urias was 9-3 with a 2.05 ERA with help from Rich Hill late at 3-1 with an 0.91 ERA. Jansen was also outstanding with 70 appearance he saved 47 with a 1.51 ERA.  Seager had a good rookie year at .286 with 25 HRs and 80 RBIs.)

Now lets take a look at the card images again to see how the players' cards changed over time to give our members more of a feel for how Baseball Daily is functioning. And BTW, those of us who do play Baseball Daily, when the real MLB season ends you will know every player who will receive an SOM card and will have a good idea about what their card is going to look like overall in the next cardset. This should help you with your draft and team strategies next year, as well as what their final fielding ratings will be including their e-ratings plus the arms for your outfielders and catchers, along with which pitchers can hold their base-runners on.
 

Lets see how the Cards Change Day by Day?

Here in this section of my report, I show you several key Cub pitchers and hitters, and for some of these, where I preserved their projected card before the season began, we compare how these players finished their season and how close they came to the projected card.  You will see some player's cards just had subtle changes while with others, you can see a big change due to the player performing poorly or on a hot streak or just having a great year. I added some extra cards (which I didn't save their Day 0 image for) with some of the other key hitters and pitchers just so we could know how these players and their card representation ended up. From the pitcher's side, besides sharing A. Chapman's card again we just had to take a peek at this phenomena rookie reliever in Carl Edwards and the National League ERA leader Kyle Hendricks, and from the hitter's side I added Contreras, Baez and Fowler --- enjoy this next part of my report ...
 

2016 Cubs Pitchers
(Arrieta, Lester, Rondon, Chapman*, Edwards* and Hendricks*)

Jack "the snake" Arrieta
(Day 0 - before the MLB season begins)

Jack "the snake" Arrieta
(Card Image from Stats through the end of the 2016 season)

(Analysis - Arrietta card definitely shows against righties he is not super human, and
although he has a very good card at the end of the season, his walks and homers allowed
are stinging him. He did not come up with the type of card that was projected before the
season began - to face him bring out your best right handed hitting batters aye?)

Jon Lester
(Day 0 - before the MLB season begins)

Jon Lester
(Card Image from Stats through the end of the 2016 season)

(Analysis - Lester's card at the end of the season is excellent, he is definitely a reverse
LH starter, and there are not that maybe LH hitters who lefties well. As I predicted in
my last article, Lester was the 1st starter used in the playoffs vs. the Giants.  His end
card I think is better then his projected card with less home runs given ....)


Hector Rondon
(Day 0 - before the MLB season begins)

Hector Rondon
(Card Image from Stats through the end of the 2016 season)

(Analysis - Rondon did a good job early on as the Cubs closer but then he started to give
up too many home runs - so  at the end of the year his card is a disaster - his injury must
have greatly affected him and is no where the fine card which was projected for him - his
problems continued into the playoffs and thank God, the Cubs picked up Chapman or they
would never have won the world series. Who will be the 2017 Cubs Closer?)

Aroldis Chapman
(Card Image from Stats through the end of the 2016 season *)

(Analysis - Chapman is his usual self with a Strat Card. Lots of strikeouts with just walk chances.
However in real life Chapman started to give up some hits verses righties but I still would
want him to be my closer and he did a great job in my Baseball Daily replay saving 20 games.)

Carl Edwards
(Card Image from Stats through the end of the 2016 season *)

(Analysis - Edwards has been a real surprise for the Cubbies and I am glad to have him, in
my replay he was sensation in 40 innings pitched going 5-1 with a 1.04 ERA. With him 
and Chapman in our bullpen, along with the other various relievers the Cubs have, we did well.
Could Chapman become the Cub's 5th starter in 2017 now that Hammel has been released? )

Kyle Hendricks
(Card Image from Stats through the end of the 2016 season *)



(Analysis - Hendricks card right now is very similar to the card he has in the 2015 set,
where he is almost unhittable against righties but gives up too many home runs vs.
left handed hitters however he pitched very well for our Cubbies and I am happy to have
him on my team in my computer league. He should have been the NL Cy Young winner!!)


=======================

2016 Cub's Hitters
(Rizzo, Bryant, Heyward, Contreras*, Russell*, Baez*, Fowler*)

Anthony Rizzo
(Day 0 - before the MLB season begins)

Anthony Rizzo
(Card Image from Stats through the end of the 2016 season)

(Analysis - Rizzo's final card image shows a typical Rizzo card with his 30 homers,
100+ RBIs, on base with his walks + HBP. I think this version of the card is a bit
better than what was projected at the start of the year. Anyone would love to have Rizzo.)

Kris Bryant
(Day 0 - before the MLB season begins)

Kris Bryant
(Card Image from Stats through the end of the 2016 season)

(Analysis - Bryant's final card at the end of the season is not as good as his projected card
from Day 0, or what I have seen his card look like during the replay season with Baseball
Daily as he was in a kind of slump {for him} at the end of the year, but his strat card for
2016 will be better than this. Plus, Bryant's homers in the playoffs and the World Series
were catalysts to help get the Cub bats going, I wish I had Bryant on my league team.)
 

Jason Heyward
(Day 0 - before the MLB season begins)

Jayson Heyward
(Card Image from Stats through the end of the 2016 season)

(Analysis - Jason Heyward,  what a big disappointment at the bat - but as we saw in the
World Series, even though he wasn't able to come through offensively, his defense was sound
and he did a lot of the little things to help the Cubs. With Schwarber coming back in 2017,
if the Cubs get Heyward to have a typical year for him, they will be hard to beat. Anyway
in my replay I was able to get Jason to produce more for us and boy did he steal.)


Willson Eduardo Contreras
(Card Image from Stats through the end of the 2016 season * )

(Analysis * - Contreras finally got the card he deserved at the end as during the season
they were not giving him a card representative of his performance.  I knew he was a top
prospect in the minors with the Cubs but his clutch hitting and at times defense during the year
and the playoffs, now that Ross is retired, is another sign why Cubbie fever reigns supreme.)


Addison Russell
(Card Image from Stats through the end of the 2016 season * )



(Analysis * - Addison Russell went into a kind of slump at the end of the year, even in
my replay I couldn't get the performance that Russell did during the year.  I don't think with
the real card he will see in the new set, a person will be able to get his run production.
Addison is a streak hitter at the bat, and seems to come forth at times when his team
really needs him, as he gets more MLB experience he will find his balance .....)
 

Javier Baez
(Card Image from Stats through the end of the 2016 season * )

(Analysis * - This is the first time I have showed Javier Baez card, I think he is a super
star in the making who showed up in the playoffs. His final card should look a bit
better than we see here and he was a bit more productive with his power in our replay
although he did hit basically his average during the season. This is a player to watch.)
 

Dexter Fowler
(Card Image from Stats through the end of the 2016 season * )



(Analysis * - Another player's card I am showing for the first time, or as Maddon called him,
as Dexter goes, so does the Cubs. If he does sign with another team for 2017, he will be missed!
Anyway with his walks, you can see why he was an excellent player to bat lead-off.  Although he
is shown as a B stealer, we stole with him successfully much more in our replay and he also hit
for a higher average for us - another player I wish I had on strat league team, oh well.....)


=======================

And how are the Baseball Daily Cubs doing vs. Real Life?

Obviously, in this last section we want to take a look at how the 2016 Chicago Cubs performed during this season verse my Cubbies in their Baseball Daily replay.  Again, I am not sure if I would have gone with their 25 man roster they used during the whole season all the time (sometimes having 13 pitchers0 but for the accuracy of this replay I accepted each game the players who were eligible for that day in real life. It should be noted that a few times though, especially when young players were brought in from the minors (like when the Cubs brought up two rookie pitchers to replace Strop and Rondon), for that first day I didn't see them listed in my roster.  

Please find below, the final real life hitting and pitching stats shown first followed by my Baseball Daily Stats.  I will give you my analysis after the hitting and pitching is given.
 

2016 Chicago Cubs
(Real Life Hitting Stats through the end of the 2016 season)

Player	Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG▼	OBP	SLG	OPS
Kawasaki, M	SS	14	21	3	7	2	0	0	1	4	5	2	0	0.333	0.462	0.429	0.890
Bryant, K	3B	155	603	121	176	35	3	39	102	75	154	8	5	0.292	0.385	0.554	0.939
Rizzo, A	1B	155	583	94	170	43	4	32	109	74	108	3	5	0.292	0.385	0.544	0.928
Kalish, R	LF	7	7	1	2	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0.286	0.444	0.286	0.730
Contreras, W	C	76	252	33	71	14	1	12	35	26	67	2	2	0.282	0.357	0.488	0.845
Almora, A	CF	47	112	14	31	9	1	3	14	5	20	0	0	0.277	0.308	0.455	0.763
Fowler, D	CF	125	456	84	126	25	7	13	48	79	124	13	4	0.276	0.393	0.447	0.840
Baez, J	3B	142	421	50	115	19	1	14	59	15	108	12	3	0.273	0.314	0.423	0.737
Zobrist, B	2B	147	523	94	142	31	3	18	76	96	82	6	4	0.272	0.386	0.446	0.831
La Stella, T	3B	74	148	17	40	12	1	2	11	18	27	0	1	0.270	0.357	0.405	0.763
Arrieta, J	P	27	65	7	17	2	1	2	7	4	28	0	0	0.262	0.304	0.415	0.720
Szczur, M	LF	107	185	30	48	9	1	5	24	13	39	2	4	0.259	0.312	0.400	0.712
Coghlan, C	LF	48	103	21	26	7	2	1	16	22	26	1	0	0.252	0.391	0.388	0.779
Hammel, J	P	35	65	6	16	3	0	0	7	1	24	0	0	0.246	0.258	0.292	0.550
Russell, A	SS	151	525	67	125	25	3	21	95	55	135	5	1	0.238	0.321	0.417	0.738
Soler, J	LF	86	227	37	54	9	0	12	31	31	66	0	0	0.238	0.333	0.436	0.769
Heyward, J	RF	142	530	61	122	27	1	7	49	54	93	11	4	0.230	0.306	0.325	0.631
Ross, D	C	67	166	24	38	6	0	10	32	30	54	0	1	0.229	0.338	0.446	0.784
Montero, M	C	86	241	33	52	8	1	8	33	38	58	1	0	0.216	0.327	0.357	0.684
Federowicz, T	C	17	31	3	6	2	0	0	3	1	12	0	0	0.194	0.212	0.258	0.470
Wood, T	P	76	11	0	2	0	0	0	1	1	5	0	0	0.182	0.250	0.182	0.432
Hendricks, K	P	30	58	1	8	0	0	0	2	1	29	0	0	0.138	0.167	0.138	0.305
Cahill, T	P	49	8	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	4	0	0	0.125	0.222	0.125	0.347
Lester, J	P	30	59	3	6	3	0	0	6	6	18	0	0	0.102	0.185	0.153	0.337
Lackey, J	P	28	63	1	6	2	0	0	2	2	31	0	0	0.095	0.123	0.127	0.250
Candelario, J	3B	5	11	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	5	0	0	0.091	0.286	0.091	0.377
Montgomery, M	P	16	11	2	1	0	0	0	1	0	5	0	0	0.091	0.091	0.091	0.182
Buchanan, J	P	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Edwards, C	P	34	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Patton, S	P	16	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Peralta, J	P	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Richard, C	P	26	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rondon, H	P	53	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Schwarber, K	LF	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0.200	0	0.200
Strop, P	P	52	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Warren, A	P	29	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Zastryzny, R	P	8	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chapman, A	P	26	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	0
Concepcion, G	P	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	0
Grimm, J	P	64	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	0
Matusz, B	P	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	0
Nathan, J	P	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	0
Pena, F	P	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	0
Ramirez, N	P	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	0
Smith, J	P	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	0
Team Totals		162	5503	808	1409	293	30	199	767	656	1339	66	34	0.256	0.343	0.429	0.772

2016 Chicago Cubs
(Baseball Daily Hitting Stats through the end of the 2016 season)

NAME          BAVG  GM   AB   R    H  2B 3B  HR RBI  BB   SO HB SH  DP  SB CS  E T.Federowicz  .333  12   27   2    9   1  0   0   4   2    7  0  0   0   0  0  0 A.Almora      .333  43  111  14   37   5  0   3  10   8   29  0  0   2   1  0  2 K.Bryant      .312 162  634 119  198  34  4  42 127  86  159  0  0  13  12  4 22 D.Fowler      .310 132  491 101  152  32  7  17  69 102  115  1  4   9  30  7  2 K.Schwarber   .286   2    7   2    2   0  0   0   1   1    0  0  0   0   0  0  0 J.Baez        .274 133  420  54  115  21  0  21  62  22  100  4  1   8  10  2 17 T.La Stella   .265  83  181  23   48   9  0   4  18  16   21  0  1   1   1  2  4 A.Rizzo       .259 163  615 100  159  31 14  33 103  81  132  9  0  15  11  6  8 B.Zobrist     .258 157  565  87  146  18  0  19  82  89   69  0  0  22   9  3  8 J.Heyward     .258 156  551  74  142  27  4  16  63  57   74  2  0  11  36  5  2 M.Szczur      .236 102  178  20   42   8  0   2  16  17   42  0  0   2   2  2  0 W.Contreras   .233  65  202  25   47   9  1   9  25  24   47  0  0   3   0  0  5 D.Ross        .231  84  208  25   48  12  0  10  30  35   62  0  1   3   0  0  1 J.Soler       .219  91  242  19   53  10  0   4  28  21   67  0  0  10   0  0  2 M.Montero     .218  92  243  27   53   8  0  10  26  37   57  1  0   6   0  0  7 A.Russell     .212 159  556  65  118  19  4  18  64  66  171  1  6   8   7  5 13 M.Kawasaki    .200   7   10   0    2   0  0   0   2   0    6  0  1   0   0  0  0 C.Coghlan     .194  30   67  11   13   6  2   2  17  11   16  0  0   3   0  0  0 J.Candelario  .167   3    6   1    1   0  0   0   0   3    2  0  0   0   0  0  0 R.Kalish      .000   5    7   0    0   0  0   0   1   1    0  0  0   0   0  0  0 ALL PITCHERS  .169 165  366  33   62   3  1   1  20  21  137  0 31   5   0  0 11 ------------  ---- --- ---- --- ---- --- -- --- --- --- ---- -- -- --- --- -- --- Total Sales   .254 165 5687 802 1447 253 37 211 768 700 1313 18 45 121 119 36 104

(Analysis  - Even though my Cubs did play 3 more games then their real counterparts, as you look at the team totals for hitting - many of the stats are very similar.  My guys hit more homers and we definitely were not conservative with stealing bases.  We had some players like Almora, Fowler, Bryant and Heyward do quite well, better in our version of the Cubs than they did in real life. And then there were a few hitters who did not such as Rizzo (had the HRs and RBI's but lower average), Zobrist, Szczur, Contreras, Soler and Russell.  But we almost averaged 5 runs a game and with the pitching staff that showed up for our replay it was enough to win over 100 games and have the best record in the National League.)

Final Analysis --:  In my replay from the hitter side, we basically saw a similar team performance as in real life.  And the same weakness that showed up in the playoffs too happened for us during their season, as at times during our replay, the Cub bats went totally totally cold.  However, what I like about managing this team is their ability to rebound and that each day the key to another victory was a different player acted as the hero.  It definitely was a fun team to manage and with the late season acquisition of Chapman, it solidified the Cubs bullpen and thus, I thought to myself that they had a great chance to take the MLB World Series.  I also knew that the great pitching the Indians showed in the playoffs was going to be a challenge for the Cubs.  But our final record was only 2-2 different than the real Cubbies.

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Chicago Cubs 2016
(Real Life Pitching Stats through the end of the 2016 season)

Player	W	L	ERA▲	G	GS	SV	SVO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	WHIP
Nathan, J	1	0	0.00	3	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	2	4	0.250	2.00
Chapman, A	1	1	1.01	28	0	16	18	26.2	12	4	3	0	10	46	0.132	0.82
Zastryzny, R	1	0	1.13	8	1	0	0	16	12	3	2	0	5	17	0.207	1.06
Buchanan, J	1	0	1.50	2	1	0	0	6	3	1	1	1	1	4	0.150	0.67
Hendricks, K	16	8	2.13	31	30	0	0	190	142	53	45	15	44	170	0.207	0.98
Lester, J	19	5	2.44	32	32	0	0	202.2	154	57	55	21	52	197	0.211	1.02
Smith, J	1	1	2.51	16	0	0	0	14.1	11	4	4	4	5	15	0.216	1.12
Cahill, T	4	4	2.74	50	1	0	1	65.2	49	22	20	7	35	66	0.201	1.28
Montgomery, M	1	1	2.82	17	5	0	0	38.1	30	15	12	5	20	38	0.217	1.30
Strop, P	2	2	2.85	54	0	0	4	47.1	27	16	15	4	15	60	0.163	0.89
Wood, T	4	0	2.95	77	0	0	1	61	45	24	20	8	24	47	0.199	1.13
Arrieta, J	18	8	3.10	31	31	0	0	197.1	138	72	68	16	76	190	0.194	1.08
Lackey, J	11	8	3.35	29	29	0	0	188.1	146	74	70	23	53	180	0.218	1.06
Rondon, H	2	3	3.53	54	0	18	23	51	42	20	20	8	8	58	0.225	0.98
Edwards, C	0	1	3.75	36	0	2	3	36	15	15	15	4	14	52	0.123	0.81
Hammel, J	15	10	3.83	30	30	0	0	166.2	148	77	71	25	53	144	0.239	1.21
Concepcion, G	0	0	3.86	3	0	0	0	2.1	2	1	1	0	1	2	0.250	1.29
Pena, F	0	0	4.00	11	0	1	1	9	5	4	4	1	3	13	0.156	0.89
Grimm, J	2	1	4.10	68	0	0	0	52.2	47	24	24	5	23	65	0.234	1.33
Ramirez, N	0	0	4.70	8	0	0	0	7.2	5	4	4	1	8	10	0.200	1.70
Patton, S	1	1	5.48	16	0	0	0	21.1	20	16	13	3	14	22	0.233	1.59
Warren, A	3	2	5.91	29	1	0	1	35	31	24	23	7	19	27	0.238	1.43
Richard, C	0	1	6.43	25	0	1	1	14	23	14	10	0	7	7	0.377	2.14
Montero, M	0	0	6.75	1	0	0	0	1.1	4	1	1	0	0	0	0.500	3.00
Peralta, J	0	1	9.00	5	0	0	0	4	6	5	4	2	1	5	0.353	1.75
Matusz, B	0	0	18.00	1	1	0	0	3	6	6	6	3	2	2	0.429	2.67
Team Totals	103	58	3.15	162	162	38	53	1459.2	1125	556	511	163	495	1441	0.212	1.11

Chicago Cubs 2016
(Baseball Daily Pitching Stats through the end of the 2016 season)

NAME               ERA   W  L   PCT   G GS  CG SH SV    IP    H   R  ER  HR  BB   SO G.Concepcion      0.00   0  0  ----   1  0   0  0  0   1.0    1   0   0   0   1    0 C.Edwards         1.04   5  1  .833  38  0   0  0  0  43.1   20   6   5   2  14   44 T.Wood            1.44   2  3  .400  51  0   0  0  2  50.0   35   8   8   5  17   37 P.Strop           1.61   6  1  .857  57  0   0  0  2  61.1   30  11  11   4  19   79 J.Grimm           1.74   6  4  .600  43  0   0  0  0  51.2   52  12  10   4  14   65 J.Lester          2.21  18  5  .783  32 32   4  3  0 231.2  188  59  57  17  41  222 J.Nathan          2.25   0  0  ----   4  0   0  0  0   4.0    4   2   1   1   1    3 K.Hendricks       2.29  15  6  .714  31 31   3  1  0 216.1  177  64  55  15  43  185 A.Chapman         2.33   2  1  .667  27  0   0  0 20  27.0   11   7   7   3   9   42 N.Ramirez         2.57   2  0 1.000  13  0   0  0  0  14.0    8   4   4   4   1   18 J.Arrieta         2.71  15  9  .625  32 32   2  1  0 232.1  166  80  70  28  95  196 T.Cahill          2.86   2  0 1.000  33  1   0  0  0  44.0   31  17  14   1  25   41 H.Rondon          2.87   6  5  .545  51  0   0  0 21  53.1   48  21  17   7  14   71 R.Zastryzny       3.24   1  0 1.000   4  1   0  0  0   8.1    9   3   3   2   3    3 J.Buchanan        3.60   1  0 1.000   1  1   0  0  0   5.0    8   2   2   0   1    3 J.Hammel          3.71  11 11  .500  31 31   3  1  0 201.1  175  93  83  25  65  179 C.Richard         3.86   1  0 1.000   7  0   0  0  0   4.2    7   2   2   0   1    3 J.Lackey          4.03  10  9  .526  29 29   0  0  0 178.2  170  85  80  28  36  161 S.Patton          4.09   0  1  .000  10  0   0  0  0  11.0    5   6   5   1  10   14 J.Smith           4.50   0  0  ----   6  0   0  0  0   6.0    9   3   3   0   2    2 A.Warren          4.71   0  1  .000  21  1   0  0  0  28.2   36  15  15   6   8   19 M.Montgomery      4.86   2  2  .500  11  5   0  0  0  33.1   36  18  18   5  12   33 B.Matusz          8.10   0  1  .000   1  1   0  0  0   3.1    5   3   3   1   1    4 F.Pena           13.50   0  0  ----   1  0   0  0  0   0.2    1   1   1   0   0    1 B.Gomes           ----   0  0  ----   0  0   0  0  0   0.0    0   0   0   0   0    0 J.Machi           ----   0  0  ----   0  0   0  0  0   0.0    0   0   0   0   0    0 J.Collmenter      ----   0  0  ----   0  0   0  0  0   0.0    0   0   0   0   0    0 J.Thatcher        ----   0  0  ----   0  0   0  0  0   0.0    0   0   0   0   0    0 J.Peralta         ----   0  0  ----   0  0   0  0  0   0.0    0   0   0   0   0    0 A.Brooks          ----   0  0  ----   0  0   0  0  0   0.0    0   0   0   0   0    0 M.Parra           ----   0  0  ----   0  0   0  0  0   0.0    0   0   0   0   0    0 ALL NON-PITCHERS  ----   0  0  ----   0  0   0  0  0   0.0    0   0   0   0   0    0 Team                                           11                    +0 ----------------- ---- --- -- ----- --- --- -- -- -- ----- ---- --- --- --- --- ---- Team Totals       2.82 105 60  .636 165 165 12 17 45  1511 1232 522 474 159 433 1425

(Analysis  - My version of the 2016 Cubs finished our season with exceptional pitching as it is pretty unheard in modern times for a team ERA to be under 3 runs a game.  This is probably the main reason why my versions of the Cubs matched the record of the real Cubs team and helped our record even though we scored less runs then real Cubs with a slightly lower team batting average. In our replay, Lester was extremely dominate as well as Kyle Hendricks, as both of their pitching performances was very close to what they did in real life. My cub staff gave up far less walks then their counterparts and a few less home runs, which probably helped to keep our team ERA way down.  Chapman has given up a few home runs but with his almost unhittable card in the replay, he was a key reason why the Cubs brought home the bacon this year.  Edwards also has been phenomenal in our replay and helped to balance our team while Strop and Rondon, two key relievers were out due to injuries.  But in the bullpen for my Cubbies we also saw Wood, Grimm and Cahill perform way better than in real life.  17 shutouts for my Baseball Daily Cubs is outstanding.  Also we did allow our starters to pitch more into the game rather than take them out. All in all, it was a joy to have this staff to work with.)

-- Final Analysis --:  The Chicago Cub team I played with during my replay had its success due to having a very well balanced team with good pitching, power and timely hitting with some speed and a consistent defense. Even without Schwarber, with the ability of other players who were not normally thought to play in the outfield but did never-the-less, and our extra outfielders, our team was able to still hold its own.    )
 

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Final Comments from the Wolfman: It has been fun managing the Cubs, but I think rather than letting the computer manage all the other teams in the replay as I am doing, if there were enough people who could coach the other teams and knew the strategies of those teams using Baseball Daily, it might be a more true replay league wide.  I didn't try to manager the other teams because its enough to know one team well and it would be crazy and mind blowing to manage 30 teams. Since I was able to watch most of the Cubs' games live on TV, I got to know all of the players very well.

It is also fun, when watching the real Cubs to see if Maddon will do some of the strategies that I (we) would use in those games - I find Maddon doesn't like to steal so much and I think this could have helped the Cubs to have been an even stronger team.  Also he doesn't seem to like to sacrifice so much unless its the pitcher. 

After SOM setup within Baseball Daily, to present you with the actual daily lineups of each team (about 30 or so games into the season) as well as the same starting pitchers, the game play flowed properly.  There was only one other option that would have been nice but was not done. And that was to allow one to continue to play with the teams using the Baseball Daily updates into the playoffs and world series. While such a thing could have taken place manually, whereone would have been left with the image of the cards on the final day, I don't think this would be affective and wound't show how the players were performing within the playoffs going through the hot times and cold times. I plan to write to SOM and make this suggestion.

So, in final conclusion, I hope you enjoyed this series of reports about my replay of the 2016 Cubs and again, if any of our members wish to share their experiences with the new Baseball Daily, we would be happy to include it here in a future issue of the newsletter!