MLB 15 The Show: Diamond Dynasty Ratings Boost Predictions (8/30/15)

Feature Article

Submitted on: 08/30/2015 by Chase Becotte

Another week is wrapping up in Diamond Dynasty. It was a busy week with the marketplace being tweaked and market caps being put in place. In addition, free packs were given out to every user as a sign of good faith and to hopefully bring down prices on certain pieces of equipment that had been used to swap black-market Stubs. Beyond that, the Shut It Down pack was also released. With that in mind, it's time to look ahead once again and try to predict who might be getting a ratings boost on Monday morning.

I'll be breaking the predictions into tiers based on my own confidence level.

Ratings Boost Probability: High

-Francisco Lindor - Carlos Correa maybe stole some of his thunder, but Lindor has also had a very good rookie season at shortstop. The power isn’t on the level of Correa’s, but he’s playing solid defense and has an OPS around .800 while getting on base at a .350 clip.

-Jake Arrieta - Arrieta will be 30 as he heads into his second year of arbitration so it will be interesting to see if he ever gets a huge payday, but it’s hard to fathom how good he’s been for the Cubs. In the past month of starts, he has another 31 strikeouts in 33 innings pitched, plus a 0.54 ERA and 0.84 WHIP.

Ratings Boost Probability: Moderate

-Miguel Sano - Sano is a little banged up, but he’s continued on a steady trend of hitting home runs and being a threat in the Twins lineup. His rookie season is probably only a sign of the power to come.

-Edwin Encarnacion - Encarnacion had three home runs on Saturday, but even before that monster day he had been tearing things up in August. This month he has 10 home runs to go with a .400 batting average.

-Madison Bumgarner - Bumgarner is striking out everybody who steps in the batter’s box and hitting bombs in the process. He has 61 strikeouts in his last 44 innings pitched, and his WHIP is sitting at 0.81 this month.

-Raisel Iglesias - It’s a good sign when a rookie pitcher gets better as the year goes on and Iglesias has gotten better. He’s striking out over a batter an inning in August and has a 0.76 WHIP.

-Mike Fiers - Fiers has kept it going since the no hitter. Iwakuma got his ratings boost a week after his no hitter, so perhaps Fiers will as well.

Ratings Boost Probability: Low

-Kris Bryant - Bryant now has 20 home runs in his rookie campaign. The OPS is .840 and he’s hitting over .300 the last month. All in all, he’s just been a steady rookie.

-Aaron Nola - Nola is a fun story to me. He’s barely a year removed from being a first-round pick from LSU, and now he’s pitching for a Phillies team looking for a new identity. There is an opportunity to quickly become a face of the franchise, and Nola is trying his best to be just that.

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Member Comments

# 1 RevisIsland24 @ 08/30/15 04:15 PM

Daniel Murphy? Yoenis Cespedes?

# 2 RevisIsland24 @ 08/30/15 04:19 PM

Also, maybe Nathan Eovaldi and A.J. Pollock?

# 3 theu715 @ 08/30/15 05:25 PM

Archer to diamond. Kiermaier to high silver, best defender in baseball, speed and base running are way under and over the last two weeks he's hitting around .400 with a couple HR's. Not going to stop saying these two till it happens!

# 4 CrazyBruin12 @ 08/30/15 05:42 PM

jackie bradley Jr has been great in august he should get higher in ovr

# 5 ChaseB @ 08/30/15 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RevisIsland24


	Daniel Murphy? Yoenis Cespedes?

Cespedes got updated not too long ago, otherwise I would have included him. Murphy I could see on some level but looking at what his attributes are now not sure where the boost comes from.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RevisIsland24


	Also, maybe Nathan Eovaldi and A.J. Pollock?

Eovaldi I don't see. Good month but they're stingy about pitchers overall, especially with a lack of a track record. Pollock I pushed for a bunch but he was hitting even better the two weeks prior to this one and didn't get the bump.

Quote:

Originally Posted by theu715


	Archer to diamond. Kiermaier to high silver, best defender in baseball, speed and base running are way under and over the last two weeks he's hitting around .400 with a couple HR's. Not going to stop saying these two till it happens!

I'll be on the Kiermaier train with you until the end, but I can't expect a boost now after everything else he's done and still been basically flat. Archer I don't see as a Diamond simply because they aren't pushing guys to Diamond much, especially not pitchers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrazyBruin12


	jackie bradley Jr has been great in august he should get higher in ovr

Jackie Bradley has been really good. Again, thought he was hitting even better than before this week so decided to leave him off -- especially because there were so few updated players last week.

# 6 ZB9 @ 08/30/15 06:04 PM

Mitch Moreland still being a bronze and having a worse defense rating than Prince Fielder is ridic.

# 7 ChaseB @ 08/30/15 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZB9


	Mitch Moreland still being a bronze and having a worse defense rating than Prince Fielder is ridic.

That it is, but again, they rarely change defense and Mitch got one boost a bit ago so don't see another at this juncture. Hope to be wrong on a lot of these though!

# 8 RevisIsland24 @ 08/30/15 06:33 PM

What about Matt Harvey back to diamond? Has only given up 1 run all of August? Travis d'Arnaud had also been raking lately. Maybe he's given a boost? Hopefully. Let's go Mets!!!

# 9 DylanBetts23 @ 08/30/15 06:37 PM

Rizzo to diamond?

# 10 BigDaddyRev @ 08/30/15 09:25 PM

I'm just a homer I guess but Hosmer , Moustakous and Perez are long overdue for a decent upgrade but it will never happen because for some reason were seen as the toilet dwellers we were in the past yet Puig is still a high gold and keeps missing time

# 11 redsox4evur @ 08/30/15 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigDaddyRev


	I'm just a homer I guess but Hosmer , Moustakous and Perez are long overdue for a decent upgrade but it will never happen because for some reason were seen as the toilet dwellers we were in the past yet Puig is still a high gold and keeps missing time

If he is injured then he shouldn't get downgraded because he isn't playing (See Cliff Lee)...but if he was benched ala Pederson he would have been downgraded.

# 12 ChaseB @ 08/30/15 09:37 PM

I think expecting players to go Diamond in general is just hard to get behind. It just doesn't happen very often in these updates.

# 13 BigDaddyRev @ 08/31/15 04:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redsox4evur


	If he is injured then he shouldn't get downgraded because he isn't playing (See Cliff Lee)...but if he was benched ala Pederson he would have been downgraded.

The question is should the guy be a high gold ? Has any of his play this year "when healthy" warranted his rating ? Besides I'm more advocating for Royal players upgrades than Puig to get downgraded

# 14 mickeykoke @ 08/31/15 06:12 AM

"ratings":

I understand that the ratings take some time to build up, and seem to also include not just potential but statistical backing for player attributes. That said, some of the lessor like own players/teams (?) Need some minor tweaks with all due respect.*

Players like Corey Spangenberg with a 70 grade (on the 20-80 scale scouting) on speed. He's at I believe 63? Low 60's. When other players have shown less that are more hyped prospects immediately have high ratings with little to no playing time?*

Yes, I am a biased Padre fan, but I believe the Padres always get slighted for obvious reasons.*

Colin Rea, and Travis Jankowski have been added to the roster for sometime, and they're yet to be added. I hope they're on the new update? Jankowski, like Spangenberg, has closer to 80 grade speed. And should have a slap style batting style at the plate.

Colin Rea, touches 95mph, but has a true cut-fastball. Much like Nick Vincent on the game. Two-seam, four-seam FB, sweeping curveball, cutter, and a developing slow change.*

Also, I think Tyson Ross has been very underappreciated as well. His slider is one of the best on baseball, and it near u hitting. His swing and miss rate the last two years is among the best in all of MLB, and his groundball ratio due to his tremendous movement on his two seam FB induces an incredible amount of grounder. He also now has a cutter. I can provide a link to his arsenal if you'd value that?*

Yangarvis Solarte has more HR's at 3B (11) than Chase Headley does in 60 or so more AB's. They have comparable Avg, and obviously Headley is a superior defender. That said, Solarte is getting snubbed big time. This guy can rake. Matt Kemp's resurgence shout put him where he was on the beginning of the year. As he's having an arguably better year after his atrocious May/June. Since then he's been a better player. Vastly improved, and hit the 1st Padre cycle in history, along with the most go-ahead RBI in MLB.*

This maybe the one that gets me the most. Derek Norris is know to be on offensive catcher. However, he's the best in baseball at CCS (catchers caught stealing) over Molina, or anyone else. He has a very strong and accurate arm. And while he hits lefties well, he also has hit righties. The power is there, and admittedly the avg has slumped. But that defense.... and he has the most infield singles on the Padres. He's probably beat out more infield singles than I can ever remember doing in MLB in recent years, if ever. He easily has above avg speed. Brando Maurer (before going on the DL) was unbelievable for a much longer stretch than he slumped. But because he did so closer to the update his ratings didn't improve? Touches 95mph and has more than 3 pitches.*

Jedd Gyorko has been hitting since his return from the minors. I understand that major drop in his attributes, but he's hitting at a better clip since his return than his rookie campaign. Power and a higher avg. He's also seen time at SS. I hope that will be added, as he might spend more time there.*

As for possible September call ups, Hunter Renfroe has had two seasons in a row at AA-AAA now (combined) where he's put together a 28-22 HR 60 grade+ power (20-80 scale). He has well above avg speed and a cannon in RF prototypical for right. However, he can handle CF due to his athleticism. He was loosely compared to Nike Trout in the draft when the Padres signed him.*

Please take a good look at the Padres roster, and if you have any questions,I'd be willing to pass along any info to the MLB players and some of the MLB players themselves to get a thorough report on their arsenal, batting stances, tendencies, etc.*

End rant.*

Thanks,*

@mickeykoke

More Links

Ratings Boost Probability: High

Ratings Boost Probability: Moderate

Ratings Boost Probability: Low