3 Man Rotation: OOTP6.5 2005 Devil Rays

[Poli]

(Slightly edited from the last dynasty)

I once read an article years ago in "Sport" Magazine that detailed a 3 man rotation in baseball. This article stuck with me through the years, and I've thought about trying it out a few times with OOTP. I'm going to give it a go now.

The 3 man rotation isn't what it appears. In fact, every 3 innings I will be changing the pitcher. On any given day a team will face either 2 right handers and 1 lefty or vice versa. Two days rest (sometimes three with an off day in there) should be adequate rest for most of the players.

That puts my team staff up to 9. Based off results from the last go around, I'm only going to go with 10 pitchers this time. The last guy will be a mopup type to get an out or an inning in when a pitcher is getting shelled or is tired early. Obviously, if most of them are going to pitch 3 innings each outing, I need some high endurance types. When I take over my team, those with low endurance are likely to leave.

As the title suggests, I'll be running the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. OOTP6.5. I'll also be in manager mode.

Any house rules? Not that I can think of right now. I won't be controlling the hitters, as this is more about the pitching staff. I'll simulate next half inning when that half of the inning comes up. Waiver wire is 3 days.

I'm interested in what kind of stats will develop. Wins and losses will be very high for 2 or 3 players in particular (the middle relievers) and saves will be reasonably high for the final innings pitchers.



Your input and suggestions are welcome.


(Yes, this means the AE Walk On Dynasty is on hold for now...still trying to mess with that editor from time to time.)

[Poli]

I went right to work on the 2005 Devil Ray roster. Lance Carter was traded off to the Houston Astros for Chris Burke. Chris will be the second baseman of the future for the team, and will start off as a platoon type for now. Jesus Colome was also traded to Arizona. In return, we received left hander Mike Gosling. Gosling is a 5 star left handed pitching prospect.

Both Carter and Colome had low endurance and didn't fit well in my plans. Gosling has high endurance and being left handed made him a good fit into my plans. Both Burke and Gosling will be on the opening day roster.

Additionally, I placed Hideo Nomo on irrevocable waivers with the intention of releasing him.

With three roster spots open on the opening day roster and on the 40 man roster, I had to make a decision. Burke and Gosling took spots on both, but I needed one more player. Looking over the roster, I had only 4 outfielders on the roster, and prospects in the minors didn't look good. Rocco Baldelli is starting the season on the 15 day DL, so he'll give us our 5th outfield spot eventually. I decided to give Reggie Taylor a shot and placed him on the 40 man roster. He's got some power. We'll see if he uses it.

[Poli]

Our pitching staff:

Day 1: Dewon Brazelton, Mark Hendrickson, Danys Baez

Day 2: 21 year old Scott Kazmir, Seth McClung, Trever Miller

Day 3: Rob Bell, Mike Gosling, Travis Harper

Casey Fossum is the "Oh No" guy.


As for the opening day lineup, with Baldelli on the DL, this is what you should expect (vs. right/left):

CF Alex Sanchez (non steroid)
SS Julio Lugo
RF Aubrey Huff
DH Josh Phelps
LF Carl Crawford
1B Travis Lee/Eduardo Perez
3B Eduardo Perez/Jorge Cantu
C Charles Johnson
2B Nick Green/Chris Burke

Backups include:
C Toby Hall
2B Chris Burke
3B Jorge Cantu
3B Alex Gonzalez
OF Chris Singleton
OF Reggie Taylor

[JeeberD]

I heart Chris Burke.

[Poli]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

I heart Chris Burke.

You realize he played his college ball at Tennessee, don't you?

[Poli]

Looks like Seattle has given up on Jamie Moyer. I sign him to a minor league deal, and he'll most likely take Fossum, Miller, or Gosling's spot eventually.

Denny Neagle was also signed to a minor league deal. I'm willing to overlook the fact he's willing to have sex with ugly prostitutes. Have fun in Durham.

[Poli]

First game wrapped up. Yahoo. Roy Halladay. We lose, 3-1. Brazelton threw 3 shutout innings. Hendrickson allowed 3 runs, 2 earned. Baez did well in relief as well. Better luck next time. We had three errors in this game.

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by ardent enthusiast

You realize he played his college ball at Tennessee, don't you?

But of course I do!

[Poli]

We're getting run over. Our pitching just isn't there right now. Nearly everyone is getting rocked in one game or another. We're just not putting together a whole game.

McClung is in danger of being sent down. He's had back to back horrible games. I probably left him in too long in one, as he struggled through the first two innings. The next inning he allowed 4 before I yanked him.

Casey Fossum comes in and promptly gets injured. Fractured elbow. Welcome to the 60 day DL, Casey.

Welcome to the big club, Jamie Moyer. Jamie takes Casey's spot on the 40 man roster.

We're 2-11 and on a 9 game losing streak. I'll post the pitching stats at the end of the month of April...which when I'll likely make a decision on McClung.

[Poli]

We're doing better. 8-16 going into May; 12 games out. We're riding a 4 game winning streak. I'm really proud of the team right now. We finished April winning two games in extra innings.

The first was a 1-0 shutout where I called on Jamie Moyer to pitch 6 innings in relief. He performed admirably. The second game started out bad as Rob Bell gave up 9 runs in the first two innings, thanks in part to a 2 out grand slam. Remarkably, the Devil Ray bats woke up and we clawed our way back into it. We actually took the lead into the 9th with a grand slam of our own thanks to Travis Lee. The Orioles tied it up though in the bottom half of the inning. We scratched out yet another run in the 10th, and Moyer came in to shut down the Orioles again.

Moyer has yet to allow a run, and I'm tempted to put him into the rotation somewhere. I could juggle it a bit and make it happen, but I'm going to hold off for now.

Rob Bell, due to his failures, has been placed on irrevocable waivers. His ERA never dipped below 9 through the month of April. In fact, there were only 2 games that he pitched where he didn't allow 3 runs or more.

Jim Magrane, a 26 year old minor leaguer, is going to take Bell's spot in the rotation.

McClung's job was saved due in part to he's dropped his ERA nearly 10 points over his last couple of outings. Yes, dropped 10 points.

Pitching stats for the season:

Name	G	GS	W	L	SV	ERA	IP	HA	R	ER	BB	K
M. Hendrickson	8	0	2	1	0	3.80	23.2	27	15	10	4	18
M. Gosling	8	0	2	0	0	4.18	23.2	24	11	11	13	13
T. Harper	8	0	2	1	2	3.47	23.1	24	9	9	7	14
J. Moyer	3	0	2	0	1	0.00	9.2	1	0	0	1	10
D. Brazelton	8	8	0	3	0	4.74	24.2	24	13	13	19	14
S. Kazmir	8	8	0	5	0	6.38	24.0	28	17	17	14	15
D. Baez	8	0	0	1	0	4.15	21.2	13	10	10	8	23
S. McClung	8	0	0	1	0	11.14	21.0	35	26	26	12	14
R. Bell	8	8	0	3	0	10.73	24.1	35	32	29	18	13
C. Fossum	2	0	0	0	0	13.50	2.0	6	3	3	0	1
T. Miller	9	0	0	1	0	3.68	22.0	18	10	9	9	17

[Poli]

Leaving May and entering June, we're just 16-36. 8 wins for the month. Our pitching has been horrible, and we're ranked dead last across the board in the pitching stats.

Our hitting has been there, despite Rocco Baldelli suffering a two week setback in his rehab. He's expected to join the team in 5 weeks now. Travis Lee has been a very pleasant surprise, as he's near the top in batting average. Chris Burke has taken over the 2nd base job full time as well.

Eduardo Perez has struggled trying to play full time, and Jorge Cantu is now our everyday 3rd baseman. Neither Charles Johnson or Toby Hall have hit well either. Perhaps when Baldelli gets back I can put him in the outfield, use Huff as a DH, and Phelps as the catcher.

You wouldn't recognize the staff anymore. I got tired of seeing our team in last place in pitching stats, and started making tons of moves.

Here's the latest rotation:

Brazelton, Jeremy Affeldt, Aaron Sele.

Kazmir, Franklin Nunez, Miller.

Derek Lowe, Gosling, Doug Waetchler.

Kenny Rogers is our mopup man.

Here's the transaction report:
Travis Harper went on the DL on May 7th with a ruptured tricep tendon. He's due back in a week. Waetchler was called up from AAA. The next day, we signed Aaron Sele to a minor league deal.

Franklin Nunez was activated off the DL on May 11th and McClung was sent down. McClung had back to back horrid outings and wore out his welcome.

May 17th I claimed struggling pitchers Derek Lowe and Kenny Rogers. I designated Jim Magrane for assignment and sent Baez to the minors.

May 22nd I claimed Affeldt off of waivers and sent Hendrickson down to the minors.

Finally, as of June 1st, Moyer wore out his welcome with back to back horrible starts and was released. Sele was brought in.

I think we're actually doing better now, though. Believe it or not.

M. Gosling	17	0	3	2	0	5.62	49.2	53	31	31	21	33
K. Rogers	15	7	3	3	0	5.44	49.2	53	31	30	23	45
T. Harper	10	0	3	1	2	4.44	26.1	27	13	13	10	17
J. Moyer	13	3	3	4	1	8.10	23.1	26	29	21	14	17
M. Hendrickson	15	0	2	3	1	5.72	45.2	58	35	29	18	36
F. Nunez	7	0	2	1	0	8.47	17.0	22	17	16	10	10
D. Baez	13	0	1	1	0	6.29	34.1	29	24	24	17	32
T. Miller	18	0	1	2	1	3.07	44.0	37	17	15	13	34
D. Lowe	9	9	1	3	0	5.67	39.2	38	27	25	20	33
D. Brazelton	18	15	0	6	0	6.27	56.0	60	43	39	40	38
S. Kazmir	17	17	0	6	0	4.80	50.2	51	28	27	26	41
S. McClung	11	0	0	3	0	12.90	30.0	53	43	43	14	23
D. Waechter	8	0	0	1	0	6.23	17.1	17	14	12	13	19
C. Fossum	2	0	0	0	0	13.50	2.0	6	3	3	0	1
J. Affeldt	18	0	0	0	1	3.67	27.0	20	11	11	18	23

[Poli]

I've just finished up June. 10 wins for the month, including a 4 game winning streak. I learned in Pop Warner football that success doesn't necessarily mean victories. I think this month was a successful one. We're 26-52, 22.5 games behind New York.

Transaction wise, Harper came off the DL, and I sent struggling Nunez down to AAA on June 14th. Harper takes Nunez's spot. One week later, I designated Affeldt for assignment and recalled Baez. Baez has moved into the mop up role and Rogers has taken Affeldt's spot in the rotation. Baez and Rogers both start games during the month covering for Derek Lowe, who had suffered a 10 day injury. I used the mop up men to cover for him rather than put him on the disabled list.

Rocco Baldelli is due back on July 2. I'm really excited about that. Nick Green will likely be sent down to make room.

[Poli]

Overall Pitching:

Name G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K M. Gosling 26 0 6 3 1 5.47 77.1 76 47 47 39 58 K. Rogers 29 8 5 5 0 5.88 75.0 83 50 49 41 60 T. Harper 14 0 4 1 2 3.52 38.1 33 15 15 12 30 T. Miller 26 0 3 3 1 3.27 66.0 57 26 24 20 49 J. Moyer 13 3 3 4 1 8.10 23.1 26 29 21 14 17 M. Hendrickson 15 0 2 3 1 5.72 45.2 58 35 29 18 36 F. Nunez 12 0 2 1 0 8.20 26.1 39 26 24 19 16 D. Waechter 17 0 1 1 2 5.31 40.2 42 26 24 22 43 D. Lowe 15 15 1 5 0 5.82 55.2 53 38 36 29 46 J. Affeldt 26 0 1 6 1 8.26 40.1 46 37 37 31 34 D. Baez 14 1 1 1 0 6.03 37.1 31 25 25 18 36 D. Brazelton 28 24 0 6 0 5.67 87.1 87 60 55 65 53 S. Kazmir 26 26 0 9 0 6.37 76.1 88 56 54 41 63 A. Sele 11 0 0 1 3 6.08 26.2 28 19 18 11 18 S. McClung 11 0 0 3 0 12.90 30.0 53 43 43 14 23 C. Fossum 2 0 0 0 0 13.50 2.0 6 3 3 0 1

[Poli]

We're rolling into August and I'm proud to say we had two all star representatives, Carl Crawford and Travis Lee. I was a little disappointed in the game though, as Sammy Sosa came in to play shortstop and the backup catchers ended up in centerfield for both teams.

We're now 37-68 with 11 wins in the month of July. We're still 26 games out, but we're much more competitive now than before.

Rocco Baldelli has really been a boost to the team. Unfortunately, that sent Alex Sanchez to the bench. I've subbed Sanchez in at DH on occassion, as I'm losing confidence in Phelps.

Julio Lugo tore his ACL early in the month, and I called up 5 star prospect BJ Upton to take his spot. After struggling early, he's got his average up above the Mendoza line.

Finally, Aaron Sele earned his release with some horrible pitching. Danys Baez will assume his spot, and I brought Chad Orvella up to mop up. Chad's endurance doesn't warrant a normal pitching slot.

[Poli]

Name	G	GS	W	L	SV	ERA	IP	HA	R	ER	BB	K
M. Gosling	36	0	8	5	1	5.61	104.1	107	67	65	54	80
K. Rogers	38	8	7	7	0	6.34	105.0	122	76	74	53	81
T. Miller	35	0	5	3	1	3.34	91.2	83	38	34	32	76
T. Harper	23	0	5	3	2	5.01	64.2	59	41	36	30	49
D. Waechter	29	0	4	1	3	4.72	68.2	71	38	36	32	59
M. Hendrickson	15	0	2	3	1	5.72	45.2	58	35	29	18	36
F. Nunez	12	0	2	1	0	8.20	26.1	39	26	24	19	16
A. Sele	20	0	1	2	5	7.35	45.1	62	39	37	14	34
D. Baez	20	1	1	2	1	6.85	44.2	43	34	34	22	44
D. Lowe	24	24	1	7	0	6.53	81.1	84	61	59	51	66
J. Affeldt	26	0	1	6	1	8.26	40.1	46	37	37	31	34
S. Kazmir	35	35	0	12	0	6.66	101.1	119	77	75	57	83
S. McClung	11	0	0	3	0	12.90	30.0	53	43	43	14	23
D. Brazelton	37	33	0	9	0	6.37	111.2	116	85	79	88	68
C. Fossum	2	0	0	0	0	13.50	2.0	6	3	3	0	1