Vol. IV, Issue #5 - July 2016

** "Baseball Daily – 2nd View" –  Wolfman Shapiro **
      (Starting on April 3rd, a new level of playing Strat-o-matic Baseball begins, it is
called Baseball Daily, here is my experience managing the 2016 Chicago Cubs as
I continued playing their current season through the end of July. Let's continue
to see how close to their actual performance and their stats I saw in my play.)

(Notes from the Wolfman:  Hello dear members, as we go to press, your editor was a bit concerned about the performance of his favorite team, the 2016 version of the Chicago Cubs as they started coming down from their cloud and their unbelievable fast start. Some of their weaknesses were exposed both in real life and during my replaying their season.  At this moment in their season, we can see which other National League teams are going to be the ones to beat.  The encouraging note is that Fowler is back from his injury and the Cubs just acquired one of the best premier relievers in Aroldis Chapman.

The goal of this article is to continue the report I made in our May issue and let our readers know how our version of the 2016 Chicago Cubs compares to the real life Cubs.  Also SOM did firm up in May that each time you download the next day's data files, you also get that day's lineup for each game.  Therefore, my criteria for playing with the Cubs is I would follow the starter they used on the day I was playing; I would not use a player who was injured but still showing on the 25 man roster but I did give myself freedom to make changes to the hitting lineup - with at times keeping the same starting position players but changing the order of the lineup and at other time possibly switching some players with others to change the lineup.

Ok, so to summarize what you will find in this report, is I will give an overview of how my Cubs were playing, which players were doing better than real life, the same or worse.  Choices I made in managing the team. Discuss the strengths and weakness of the 2016 Cubs.  Also I will discuss the glitch that happened with Baseball Daily at the All Star Break and how to get beyond it. Finally, we will look at the team stats I have with Baseball Daily and in real life.

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 with screen examples from the game, how Baseball Daily differed 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

Hope you enjoy this next report. So are you playing along with your favorite team too?)

 

---

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

In this article I am continuing my report on my re-creation of the Chicago Cubs 2016 season using Baseball Daily so the readers of my first article, back in the May issue, can see how I am doing. I cut the games off through July 28th, just after the Chicago White Sox and Cubs traded beating each other up for 2 games in their home parks.

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.  Since the last time I reported (they were 24-8), they are now 66-38 or in my last 72 games, 44-30, which isn't bad but not so unbeatable. Weaknesses have shown up at times with lack of hitting and the pitchers unable to hold leads or prevent runs from being scored.  Due to some injuries, they had to depend too much on some of their top rated prospects to come up, but has it been too early?

I have also included in this report, the card image comparison of a few players (basically the ones I showed last time) with their "Day 0" cards verse the ones they have through July 28th (Note - remember the players cards change each day when the new daily stats are added). I also show my replay stats verse the real-life states as well.  Finally, as the manager of the Cubs, I added my analysis of how I think they are doing and if they really have a chance to reach the MLB World Series based on my experiences coaching them over the past few months.

Assumptions for my Replay and a few other Notes

Since this is the first year we have had "Baseball Daily", there are certain situations which came up in my replay that have taken it a little away from doing a true replay which I want to note first before we continue with this report.  So far, through July 28th, the Cubs had 3 rain-out games.  However, when I downloaded the daily baseball data into the game, these 3 games showed ready to be played - so this threw off for a time that the rotations I was using in my replays were matching the actual starting pitchers used.  As I had to pay attention for both the Cubs and the team I was playing that I didn't use a starter or reliever (unless I had to) who had fatigue. 

Also as I noted in my last article, the game company didn't have the lineups and starting pitchers synching until into May.  So this affected my replays too, as at times I had to manually change the lineups of both teams. I am happy to report now, that you will be presented with the same lineups as in real life as well as the starting pitchers and for the most part, access to the same players who are available each day.  However, if there was a Cub who did not start due to some minor injury (out a day or so), I did not add him to the starting roster nor pinch hit him but this required I was reading each day how the previous games went.  For some reason however, the rookie Catcher/OFer, Willson Eduardo Contreras, was not being added to the Cubs' lineup pretty much all the time and I am not sure if his daily card was reflecting his performance properly.  Since I am only manually playing the Cubs game I can not tell if players on the other teams are having a similar problem.

Although many times I would follow the same lineup as the Cubs used, I gave myself freedom to change the lineups, either keeping the same players in the game but changing their order (using Strat Baseball Card principles, of making the best lineup against the card of my opposing pitcher) or at times to be stronger verse my opponent's starting pitcher's card I would switch and add more righty (vs. a lh starter) or lefty (vs. a rh starter) hitters.  I found that Joe Maddon likes to stay with many of his key players even if they are weaker against a certain type of pitcher.  However, I did follow all the starting pitchers used, once the lineup data we received through Baseball Daily was corrected.

I did allow the computer to play all the other games in my 2016 season and manage my opponents.  In my replay there are some teams doing a bit better than real-life, following this plan to play the 2016 season.  For example, in the AL Eastern Conference, the Boston Red Sox are on fire at 71-31, even better than my Cubs. Baltimore is only at 53-52.  In the AL Central Conference Cleveland is nowhere to be seen at 47-54 with KC on top at 56-47.  In the AL West, Houston is on top at 55-46 just slightly ahead of Texas at 54-50.  Going to the NL in my replay in the NL East, NYM and Miami are on top at 57-46 with Washington one game behind at 56-47. In the NL Central, my Cubbies are on top but only 5 games ahead of the Pirates at 61-43 with the Cardinals 12 games out at 54-50.  The Giants in the NL West are on top at 58-44, 1 game ahead of the Dodgers.

So I am not too sure how good having the computer play the games of the other teams is, since my results of these teams is a bit off from real life. We may have to have more direct action playing for the other teams or there might need to be some additional adjustments made to Baseball Daily for this aspect.

The All Star Break Glitch (July 10th - July 15th)

During the All Star Break this year, I was unable to play the games on July 10th.  I couldn't get the Baseball Daily system to load the files properly for that day and also it seemed to be getting confused with the next day of games to play - as I watch it load it files, it tried to load the games for July 11th or 14th, which of course MLB had 4 off days during this break.  I contacted SOM Technical Support and they said they were aware of the problem but it would take to next year to get it fixed. Apparently the four off days really caused some big problems.

Now, I was able to get pass this problem, with Technical Support's help, so in case you didn't hear of this temporary fix or were unable to have time to speak to SOM, here is what they told me to do:

a) Go into the League Menu of the game, and select "Schedule Maintenance". Go to the games for July 10th. If there are some games showing to be played delete them all.  Also check if there are any games showing for July 14th or 15th and if so delete all the games there too. This will allow you to play July 10th games.

b) Then manually enter these games for Sunday, July 10th

Lets see how the Cards Change Day by Day?

In this next section of my report, I show you three of the best Cub pitchers  and hitters, how their baseball daily card looked like before the season began and what their baseball daily card looked like on July 28th (based on their performance through July 27th).  You will see some cards just had subtle changes and others, you can see a big change due to the player performing poorly or on a hot streak. I added the young catcher Contreras as an extra card (but I didn't save his Day 0 card) so you could see a new player's card added (a rookie) during the year. Anyway, this section does confirm, once again, that the player's cards are changing daily ....
 

2016 Cubs Pitchers
(Arrieta, Lester, Rondon and Chapman)

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

Jack "the snake" Arrieta
(Card Image from Stats through July 28th, 2016 )

(Analysis - Arrietta card definitely shows he is not have that super human year as he did
last year, giving up a lot more homers to righty - no Cy Young Award this year but still
enough in the tank to give the Cubbies some good starts down the road  ....)

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

Jon Lester
(Card Image from Stats through July 28th, 2016 )

(Analysis - Lester's card seems to be consistent in its layout but he is giving up a bit too
many walks verse RH and of course far too many home runs. I think he has been lucky in
the replay that he has not given up more runs due to the long ball.  This decrease in the
cards of the two key Cub starters could be a problem later on in the playoffs ....)


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

Hector Rondon
(Card Image from Stats through July 28th, 2016 )

(Analysis - Rondon has done a good job in his closer role, up to the addition of Chapman accept
he has given up too many long balls and this has heard my replay Cubs late in the game where
they have lost a few late, as Rondon has 4 losses in our replay. If not for those Homers with
the ball park homes - he would have a fine card. Maybe being relieved of closing will help him.)

Aroldis Chapman
(Card Image from Stats through July 28th, 2016 *)

(Analysis - Chapman is his usual self with a Strat Card. Lots of strikeouts and a few walks
with no hits on his card. His trade is so new, that it doesn't show he is on the Cubs yet.
Since we didn't record his card on "Day 0", we don't have it to show as a comparison but
this is the normal card Aroldis is use to getting, should help the Cubs down the stretch a lot.)

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

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

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

Anthony Rizzo
(Card Image from Stats through July 28th, 2016 )

(Analysis - Rizzo's card image at this point is about the same as he had on "Day 0", which
shows he is fairly consistent from day to day and year to year. He is not stealing as much as
he did last year and also seems to be walking a wee bit less than normal but you would want
to have this guy on your team, able to hit lefties too fairly well ...................)

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

Kris Bryant
(Card Image from Stats through July 28th, 2016 )

(Analysis - For Bryant his card is basically the same from his projected card on Day 0
through July 28th - but in my replay he is hitting a bit more those dingers. I expect he will
continue this trend, he already has hit the number of homers he hit last year.)
 

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

Jayson Heyward
(Card Image from Stats through July 28th, 2016 )

(Analysis - Jason Heyward was going to be another key player the Cubs had in 2016 who
helped not only defensively but with his hitting and power. Unfortunately, Heyward has not
got going with his hitting and if this doesn't change soon could hurt the Cubbies in the playoffs.)


Willson Eduardo Contreras
(Card Image from Stats through July 28th, 2016 * )

(Analysis * - I am also showing Willson Contreras' card because not only would the Baseball Daily
system constantly not have in the lineup, as Maddon was using him a lot once he came up but I don't
this card represents his hitting and power in 2016 ... not sure why the system is missing this?
Also I didn't keep his Day 0 card, so like Chapman, it is not shown here ...... )


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

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

Obviously, in this last section we want to look at is how are the 2016 Chicago Cubs doing in my Baseball Daily replay vs. how they are doing in real life. Naturally, since I am managing the Cubs I do not have to go with the same lineups as they do, but I am following their rotation.  I am not sure if I would have gone with 12 hitters and 13 pitchers at the beginning of the year or at certain other times, but this is what they have been using so I am duplicating it so for each game I always have the same selection of players to use. This also means when I go with this roster, at times in the close games or in extra inning games, the pitchers are having to be used as pinch hitters. 

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

2016 Chicago Cubs
(Real Life Hitting Stats through July 28th, 2016)

RK	Player	Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
1	Kawasaki, M	2B	3	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.333	0.333	0.333	0.667
2	La Stella, T	3B	51	105	14	31	9	1	2	8	14	22	0	0	0.295	0.388	0.457	0.846
3	Arrieta, J	P	18	41	5	12	2	0	2	6	4	18	0	0	0.293	0.356	0.488	0.843
4	Baez, J	3B	85	254	32	73	14	0	11	37	11	61	9	2	0.287	0.33	0.472	0.802
5	Rizzo, A	1B	98	359	60	103	27	2	24	76	53	70	2	3	0.287	0.395	0.574	0.969
6	Kalish, R	LF	7	7	1	2	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0.286	0.444	0.286	0.73
7	Szczur, M	LF	66	109	19	31	5	1	3	19	7	23	1	3	0.284	0.328	0.431	0.759
8	Fowler, D	CF	71	261	46	74	20	3	8	32	39	68	6	3	0.284	0.394	0.475	0.869
9	Bryant, K	3B	99	381	81	108	24	0	26	67	47	102	6	2	0.283	0.378	0.551	0.929
10	Contreras, W	C	34	121	16	33	6	1	5	16	14	36	1	1	0.273	0.362	0.463	0.825
11	Zobrist, B	2B	94	343	62	93	19	0	13	51	59	52	4	4	0.271	0.38	0.44	0.82
12	Almora, A	CF	34	83	8	22	7	0	2	9	3	15	0	0	0.265	0.291	0.422	0.712
13	Russell, A	SS	96	335	40	83	15	3	12	61	41	90	3	1	0.248	0.337	0.418	0.755
14	Hammel, J	P	24	46	5	11	2	0	0	7	1	19	0	0	0.239	0.255	0.283	0.538
15	Heyward, J	RF	92	349	42	80	16	1	4	28	41	67	8	3	0.229	0.317	0.315	0.632
16	Ross, D	C	46	112	16	25	4	0	6	24	22	33	0	1	0.223	0.341	0.42	0.76
17	Soler, J	LF	50	130	24	29	5	0	5	13	17	36	0	0	0.223	0.322	0.377	0.699
18	Montero, M	C	56	162	23	32	4	1	5	21	30	40	1	0	0.198	0.327	0.327	0.654
19	Coghlan, C	LF	19	36	9	7	2	1	0	0	8	15	0	0	0.194	0.356	0.306	0.661
20	Federowicz, T	C	13	26	3	5	2	0	0	2	1	9	0	0	0.192	0.222	0.269	0.491
21	Cahill, T	P	33	6	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0.167	0.286	0.167	0.452
22	Wood, T	P	50	7	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	3	0	0	0.143	0.25	0.143	0.393
23	Candelario, J	3B	5	11	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	5	0	0	0.091	0.286	0.091	0.377
24	Hendricks, K	P	20	35	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	21	0	0	0.086	0.111	0.086	0.197
25	Lackey, J	P	21	49	1	4	0	0	0	2	2	24	0	0	0.082	0.118	0.082	0.199
26	Lester, J	P	19	39	1	3	2	0	0	3	3	13	0	0	0.077	0.143	0.128	0.271
27	Edwards, C	P	14	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
27	Patton, S	P	9	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
27	Peralta, J	P	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
27	Richard, C	P	26	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
27	Rondon, H	P	40	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
27	Schwarber, K	LF	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0.000	0.200	0.000	0.200
27	Strop, P	P	44	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
27	Warren, A	P	29	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
35	Chapman, A	P	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-
35	Concepcion, G	P	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-
35	Grimm, J	P	42	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-
35	Montgomery, M	P	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-
35	Nathan, J	P	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-
35	Ramirez, N	P	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-
	Team Totals		101	3424	509	868	185	14	128	486	423	853	42	23	0.254	0.345	0.428	0.773

2016 Chicago Cubs
(Baseball Daily Hitting Stats through July 28th, 2016)

NAME	BAVG	GM	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	HB	SH	DP	SB	CS	E
T.Federowicz	0.375	11	24	2	9	1	0	0	3	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
D.Fowler	0.352	76	281	59	99	23	3	9	40	68	61	1	0	4	17	6	1
A.Almora	0.326	32	86	9	28	3	0	2	7	7	24	0	0	2	1	0	2
T.La Stella	0.287	57	129	16	37	7	0	2	14	11	9	0	1	1	1	2	4
K.Schwarber	0.286	2	7	2	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J.Baez	0.284	85	271	37	77	13	0	18	53	13	65	2	1	5	5	0	9
B.Zobrist	0.271	102	377	62	102	13	0	11	54	60	53	0	0	12	9	3	2
K.Bryant	0.265	103	392	73	104	17	1	32	82	60	107	0	0	10	7	1	15
A.Rizzo	0.258	103	392	61	101	20	6	20	60	52	95	7	0	11	8	5	6
J.Heyward	0.257	99	374	51	96	17	3	11	41	43	55	2	0	8	25	5	0
M.Montero	0.229	60	166	19	38	5	0	7	17	26	36	0	0	3	0	0	3
D.Ross	0.224	55	147	18	33	5	0	9	25	28	45	0	0	2	0	0	1
C.Coghlan	0.222	14	27	4	6	2	1	1	9	4	7	0	0	1	0	0	0
W.Eduardo Cont.	0.221	29	95	10	21	3	1	5	12	13	23	0	0	0	0	0	4
M.Szczur	0.220	68	109	14	24	3	0	2	10	9	26	0	0	2	1	1	0
A.Russell	0.204	101	348	38	71	9	1	10	34	41	115	0	5	4	4	3	9
J.Soler	0.186	44	113	10	21	6	0	0	11	12	31	0	0	8	0	0	2
J.Candelario	0.167	3	6	1	1	0	0	0	0	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
M.Kawasaki	0	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
R.Kalish	0	5	7	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
ALL PITCHERS	0.172	104	233	23	40	0	1	1	14	19	89	0	23	3	0	0	8
-----------------	----	---	-----	---	---	--	--	--	---	---	---	--	--	--	---	--	--
TEAM TOTALS	0.254	104	3586	509	910	147	17	140	488	473	848	12	31	76	78	26	66

(Analysis  - My Cubs in the simulation are hitting for the same average but since we have played three extra
games even though we have scored the same number of runs, we have done it in the same amount of games.
We have hit more home runs then the real-life Cubs but have far less doubles.  We have a bit more bases on
ball with about the same number of strike outs.  We are stealing a lot more than the real Cubs.  Key players who
show some differences:  Bryant lower average but more power.  Fowler and Almora for a higher averages and
Baez is showing more power.  Rizzo is a bit down but Heyward has hit better and with more power.  I have found
our rookie catcher W. Eduardo Contreras, not being given the card he deserves.  Russell also hasn't been hitting
and knocking in all the runs he has normally.  My simulation Baseball Daily cubs have been seeing since my last
reports periods where I haven't been able to score with them.  Obviously when Fowler was recently injured,
this also hurt my Cubs to score. -- Final Analysis --: If the Cubs could get one more consistent hitting outfielder
with some power and better defensive would help this team to go a long way.  As they lost to the Mets last
year in the NL Championship series due to their hitting shutting down, I could see this happening this year
again verses Washington, New York Mets or San Francisco, so their guarantee to get to the world series
is not absolute yet. They have a lot of young players they are counting on who are not yet consistent.)



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

Chicago Cubs 2016
(Real Life Pitching Stats through July 28th, 2016)

RK	Player	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	SVO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	WHIP
1	Chapman, A	0	0	0.00	2	0	1	1	2.1	0	0	0	0	0	4	0.00	0.00
1	Nathan, J	1	0	0.00	2	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	1	4	0.14	1.00
3	Edwards, C	0	0	1.84	14	0	0	0	14.2	6	3	3	1	5	17	0.13	0.75
4	Rondon, H	1	2	1.86	40	0	18	22	38.2	23	8	8	4	5	49	0.17	0.72
5	Hendricks, K	9	7	2.39	20	19	0	0	116.2	91	39	31	9	32	103	0.21	1.05
6	Strop, P	2	2	2.72	45	0	0	4	39.2	20	12	12	4	13	51	0.15	0.83
7	Arrieta, J	12	4	2.76	20	20	0	0	127.1	92	41	39	8	46	135	0.20	1.08
8	Wood, T	3	0	2.85	50	0	0	0	41	27	15	13	6	17	33	0.18	1.07
9	Cahill, T	1	3	3.07	33	0	0	1	41	33	15	14	5	24	46	0.21	1.39
10	Lester, J	10	4	3.09	20	20	0	0	122.1	100	44	42	17	36	118	0.22	1.11
11	Hammel, J	10	5	3.23	20	20	0	0	114.1	91	42	41	16	35	97	0.22	1.10
12	Lackey, J	8	7	3.69	21	21	0	0	136.2	108	58	56	17	41	137	0.22	1.09
13	Concepcion, G	0	0	3.86	3	0	0	0	2.1	2	1	1	0	1	2	0.25	1.29
14	Ramirez, N	0	0	4.70	8	0	0	0	7.2	5	4	4	1	8	10	0.20	1.70
15	Grimm, J	0	0	4.86	44	0	0	0	33.1	30	18	18	4	15	38	0.23	1.35
16	Patton, S	1	1	5.11	9	0	0	0	12.1	12	8	7	1	7	12	0.24	1.54
17	Warren, A	3	2	5.91	29	1	0	1	35	31	24	23	7	19	27	0.24	1.43
18	Richard, C	0	1	6.43	25	0	1	1	14	23	14	10	0	7	7	0.38	2.14
19	Montero, M	0	0	6.75	1	0	0	0	1.1	4	1	1	0	0	0	0.50	3.00
20	Peralta, J	0	1	9.00	5	0	0	0	4	6	5	4	2	1	5	0.35	1.75
21	Montgomery, M	0	1	27.00	2	0	0	0	0.2	3	2	2	1	0	0	0.75	4.50
	Team Totals	61	40	3.26	101	101	20	30	907.1	708	354	329	103	313	895	0.214	1.13

Chicago Cubs 2016
(Baseball Daily Pitching Stats through July 28th, 2016)

NAME	ERA	W	L	PCT	G	GS	CG	SH	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
G.Concepcion	0.00	0	0	0.000	1	0	0	0	0	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0
C.Edwards	0.00	0	0	0.000	9	0	0	0	0	8.2	7	1	0	0	2	6
M.Montgomery	0.00	0	0	0.000	1	0	0	0	0	1.2	0	0	0	0	0	1
J.Nathan	0.00	0	0	0.000	2	0	0	0	0	1.2	2	1	0	0	0	1
A.Chapman	0.00	1	0	1.000	1	0	0	0	0	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	1
T.Wood	1.07	2	2	0.500	33	0	0	0	2	33.2	19	4	4	2	13	23
J.Grimm	1.39	6	1	0.857	26	0	0	0	0	32.1	37	7	5	2	10	38
T.Cahill	1.42	0	0	0.000	23	0	0	0	0	25.1	15	5	4	0	11	20
J.Lester	1.49	12	3	0.800	20	20	2	2	0	144.2	112	25	24	6	17	137
P.Strop	2.02	4	1	0.800	49	0	0	0	2	49.0	24	11	11	4	17	65
K.Hendricks	2.13	11	5	0.688	20	20	1	0	0	139.1	109	38	33	9	26	109
J.Arrieta	2.51	10	6	0.625	21	21	0	0	0	150.2	113	47	42	15	62	126
N.Ramirez	2.57	2	0	1.000	13	0	0	0	0	14.0	8	4	4	4	1	18
H.Rondon	3.12	4	4	0.500	40	0	0	0	21	40.1	39	18	14	6	12	54
J.Hammel	3.38	8	7	0.533	21	21	2	1	0	138.2	121	59	52	14	41	123
C.Richard	3.86	1	0	1.000	7	0	0	0	0	4.2	7	2	2	0	1	3
J.Lackey	3.91	5	7	0.417	21	21	0	0	0	126.2	122	60	55	19	24	115
S.Patton	4.50	0	1	0.000	8	0	0	0	0	8.0	4	4	4	1	7	10
A.Warren	4.71	0	1	0.000	21	1	0	0	0	28.2	36	15	15	6	8	19
M.Parra	----	0	0	0.000	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
B.Gomes	----	0	0	0.000	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J.Peralta	----	0	0	0.000	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J.Machi	----	0	0	0.000	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A.Brooks	----	0	0	0.000	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
B.Matusz	----	0	0	0.000	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
ALL NON-PITCHERS	----	0	0	0.000	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Team								10					+0
-----------------	----	--	--	-----	---	---	--	--	--	-----	---	---	---	--	---	---
TEAM TOTALS	2.55	66	38	0.635	104	104	5	13	25	950.0	776	301	269	88	254	869

(Analysis  - My version of the 2016 Cubs are also seeing great pitching but even more so. This is probably why
I have a slightly better record.  Lester has been extremely dominate in my reply and Kyle Hendricks has done
better than in real life too.  Arrieta is coming back to Earth in the reply but Hamel and Lackey are performing
about the same as in real life. So the rotation has been strong here.  The relievers for the most part have
performed better than in real-life. The Cubs in July added three new relievers in Nathan, Montgomery and
Chapman along with the rookie Edwards who has been pitching well. In my simulation I got great pitching
from Wood / Grimm / Cahill as well. Strop is doing as he is in real life and Rondon in my replay has given up
too many homers but he still has 21 saves. I expect with the new pitchers the Cubs picked up in July, this will
only strengthen their pitching and pitching is key in short series.  So if the Cub pitching can hold up and keep
their opponents around 3 runs a game, their hitting should be good enough to take them to the Series.  The 13
shutouts I have seen in the replay is a bit high and although we have a lower ERA my Cubs are giving up
more hits than their counterparts.  We are issuing less homers than the real-life Cubs and less walks.
-- Final Analysis --: This Cub teams has a really good pitching staff now, one of the best, the weakness
use to be the relievers but their starters who pitched great at the beginning of the year have fallen off. If the
starters can't keep their opponents down to less then 4 runs, and also some of them are giving up too many
long balls, then the Cubs will have a hard time in the playoffs. I think the National League has some other
very good teams who will be there at the end - and its always which team is the hottest in October.)
 

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Final Comments from the Wolfman: Other than the glitch to Baseball Daily around the All Star Break, the new version of Strat Baseball was humming along splendidly.  At least for my so-called replay (current play) along with my beloved Cubs, the players for the most part are handle realistically and I have the  same options as their skipper John Maddon.  I tried to insert more into the batter's lineup either those players hitting better or able to deal with the specific type of pitcher we see from our opponent. And the same when deciding which reliever to bring in, to bring in a good reliever who could handle the situation best.  I think the Cubs at the end of July have finally built a complete pen with three lefties and four (or five) very dependable righties.  

So I truly believe, the Cubs higher management has done a great job to put together a high performing team that could get to the World Series this year.  We will have to watch in their last 60 games or so, if they can stay consistent and get enough hitting to do it.  They haven't yet established a good hitting catcher (holding three, whether Contreras will be the guy or not).  Russell of course is playing great defense at SS but his bat has not been dependable, more so lately and with 60 RBIs in the season he is knocking in clutch runs, he can only get better with time.  It would be nice if they didn't have to patrol so much in the outfield and let Bryant stay at 3B (where he is ok defensively) but have La Stella as a backup for 2B and 3B really helps.  Baez is beginning to show his star potential and power and versatility.  Perhaps they will trade for a more dependable LFer who is good defensively as this position has been vulnerable defensively.

Anyway, it has been fun being the Cubs' Manager and see if we can improve upon their performance. Also just being their in the dugout, seeing the inner works of Cub's manager Maddon - viewing all his options during the course of the game, is giving me a greater appreciation for the players and how to best effectively use them and what are the best situations to have each player be a starter. When the playoffs come in October, I will know this team so well, I should be able to predict every move that Joe Maddon will make to bring the World Championship of Baseball to Chicago. This is the best chance the Cubs have had for a long way, to be champions. I hope you are enjoying my reports about my experiences with Baseball Daily and that you have our own chance to bring a championship to the city by where you live too!  Enjoy!