Bacon's Forever Franchise

[bacon96]

HELLO EVERYBODY!

I'm starting again with a fictional franchise using my roster (Bacon's Fictional Roster) on MLB The Show 20. I'll be running what I'm going to call a "forever franchise" which simply means I'm going to play it as much and as long as I can with the intention of going forever. I'll be usering the Milwaukee Brewers for this franchise and will make following posts about the status of that team entering the first season.

30 Team User Control but I won't adjust much when it comes to other teams' lineups, MLB rosters or trades. I'll mostly just adjust primary positions for some players here and there when it makes sense to do so.
Difficulty: HOF with slider adjustments
I won't say all but between "some" and "a lot" of the games will be broadcasted on my Twitch channel - https://www.twitch.tv/therealbacon96

Games: Play all 162, no quick counts, games will only be simulated if the app crashes midway through
I may play some Spring Training or MiLB games as well when I feel like it
I do plan on streaming MiLB All Star games, the Home Run Derbies, Future's Games and every playoff game including MiLB
Trades/FA: I'll do whatever the game allows, there are a few BOSS free agents in this roster and I won't sign any of them (Odysseus Davis/Prince Diamond)
Draft: I'm going to simulate the draft and have nothing to do with amateur scouting.
Created Teams: none, I'm leaving the league as is
Roster: New BFR roster that I have been slowly reworking
I will also be editing appearances of all draft picks but not their abilities
No sponsorships

I'll also be making a ton of potential adjustments to help with progression/regression. They are as follows:
Any player selected to an All Star Game will get either +2 or +5 - players who are 25 or older will get +2 and 24 or younger receieve +5. The only game this won't apply to is the Future's Game where any player with C potential will get a raise of +5 and everyone else remains unchanged.

To follow, there are stat benchmarks that I'll try to keep track of in the minor leagues. These benchmarks will be a .300 average, a 25+ HR season, 25+ SB season and 150 Ks in a season for a pitcher and these will each result in a +2 potential boost no matter the level, player or if they were previously boosted for being an All Star. Additionally, I'll spin a wheel so every waiver claim and Rule 5 draft pick has an opportunity to gain +5 when they are claimed. This gives some players the chance to make an actual impact on their new team. I'm planning on doing this by spinning a wheel where their chances of gain are 1 in 8. And finally, all award winners will receive a +5 potential boost.

Any other questions, just ask in here and I will provide an answer.

[JWDixon120]

Looking forward to following this!

[bacon96]

Here's a quick look at our roster-

Starting Pitchers:
Established in MLB: Austin Wright, Jacob Quantrill (L), Devon Sampson, B.J. Butler, Shawn Malone
Some MLB Time: Anthony Florial (L)
Top Prospects: Dan Hatfield, Luke Madson, Leonel Perez (L), Gabby Gutierrez, Kazuo Yokoyama
Other Notables: Spencer Hammer, Will Drake

Relief Pitchers:
Established in MLB: D.J. Ryan, Bryce Black, Kendall Thompson, Will Bell (L), Sidney Knight (L), Tony LaBandeira, Allen Underwood (L)
Some MLB Time: Austin Trout, Ricardo Mejia, Broderick Blankenship, Bernie Beerbrat (L), Brian Jennings, Ben Roseboro
Top Prospects: Andy Burnside, Hunter Hanigan (L), Zackary Saxon (L)
Other Notables: Ernesto Romero, Glen Watkins

Catchers:
Established in MLB: Pedro Liriano, Dylan Bell
Some MLB Time: (none)
Top Prospects: Nick Brady, Austin Mayne
Other Notables: Blaine Clark

Corner Infielders:
Established in MLB: Troy Drennan (1B), Jake Fish (3B)
Some MLB Time: Alexander Goodwin (1B)
Top Prospects: Chase Mitchell (3B), Andrew Trowbridge (1B)
Other Notables: Ben Tillman (3B), Jorge Almonte (3B)

Middle Infielders:
Established in MLB: Flash Miller (SS), Derrek Hills (2B), Nick Paxton (SS)
Some MLB Time: Khristopher Smith (SS)
Top Prospects: Dan Briscoe (SS), Reuben Perez (2B)
Other Notables: Jacob Nelson Jr. (SS), Brad McKenna (2B)

Outfielders:
Established in MLB: Michael McCoy (LF), Oswaldo Segovia (RF), Josh Carroll (CF)
Some MLB Time: Mark Chiavacci (RF)
Top Prospects: Steven Greene (RF)
Other Notables: Carmelo Ramirez (CF), Lonny Heller (LF)

Utility Types:
Established in MLB: Brandon Kelly (2B)
Some MLB Time: Kenny Story (CF)
Top Prospects: Nellie Orvella (SS)
Other Notables: Jorge Telemaco (LF)

There aren't many obvious holes but at first glance, I don't love the catcher position - it's currently a straight platoon between Liriano and Bell and I would like to improve right field as well since Segovia isn't a typical right fielder. I'd prefer him or Carroll to be the 4th. Pitching seems fine but you can always use more so we'll see how that goes. And lastly, there aren't any sort of outlier contracts.

[bacon96]

Next up, we'll take a look at the schedule for the first month plus of the season. Planning on playing all 162, unsure what the pace will be like.

The Brewers start off against two rivals with their opening homestand being against the Chicago Cubs and then the St. Louis Cardinals. Next, they hit the road for a quick two city, five game roadtrip beginning in Philadelphia then going to Cincinnati. Back at home, these Brewers hosts two NL East teams, the Mets and Phillies, both in four game series before playing those same Mets on the road the following week. That series in New York is just the first stop in a three city road swing before the Crew heads to Pittsburgh and Colorado then finally finishing the month with three games versus the Washington Nationals.

I'd truthfully expect my pace to be about 3-4 games per week but I could go faster at times. The first month may go quick and then I'll slow a bit then settle into my groove but I'm really not sure.

Baseball is Better!

[bacon96]

Seems appropriate to look at the prospect leaderboard before we get started. The game only provides a 50 player list and I'll try to keep up with the changes on it as we go along.

Here is how they look as I start with the file today:

Year 1 - Top 50 Prospects
POS	PLAYER	ORG	POS	AGE	LEVEL	Home	B/T
1	Monty Hillman	MIA	OF	20	AAA	FL	L/L
2	Kazahiro Suzuki	WSH	SS	21	AA	Japan	L/R
3	Larry Berkins	CIN	RHP	20	AA	GA	L/R
4	Cade Lillibridge	TOR	OF	20	AA	LA	R/R
5	Curtis Davis	DET	LHP	22	AA	IL	L/L
6	Alexis Salinas	HOU	LHP	22	AAA	Dom. Rep.	L/L
7	Ethan Johnson	ARZ	OF	20	AA	PA	R/R
8	Chris Greenwood	PIT	LHP	21	AA	CA	L/L
9	Alfonso Ornelas	ARZ	RHP	20	AA	Honduras	L/R
10	Sergio Rivera	TB	1B	21	AA	Venezuela	R/R
11	Jordan English	PHI	LHP	22	AA	CA	R/L
12	Bronson Ware	LAA	3B	19	AA	CA	R/R
13	Davis Wasiliewski	CHC	RHP	23	AA	WI	R/R
14	Jack Enright	LAA	RHP	23	AA	Canada	R/R
15	Antonio Martinez	BAL	SS	21	AA	Venezuela	R/R
16	Paul Kelly	OAK	SS	20	AA	IL	R/R
17	T.J. Waters	PHI	SS	20	AA	CA	S/R
18	Tug Lawler	MIA	LHP	20	AA	KS	L/L
19	Mario Escobar	BOS	RHP	21	AA	Dom. Rep.	R/R
20	Chad Morrison	SF	RHP	21	MLB	TX	R/R
21	Trever Silk	SEA	SS/2B	22	AAA	AL	R/R
22	Adrian Ferreira	SF	1B	20	AA	FL	L/L
23	Adrian Sanchez	MIN	RHP	22	AA	Venezuela	R/R
24	Cutter Jennings	CWS	RHP	19	AA	RI	R/R
25	Temitayo Okada	TOR	RHP	23	AAA	Japan	L/R
26	DAN HATFIELD	MIL	RHP	22	AA	CA	R/R
27	Bryant Stockton	StL	LHP	19	AA	FL	L/L
28	J.P. Humphries	COL	C	20	AA	IN	L/R
29	Sam Brandt	CWS	SS/2B	21	AA	TX	R/R
30	Buster Robinson	SF	SS	20	AA	D.C.	R/R
31	Orlando Osuna	NYY	OF	20	AAA	Cuba	L/L
32	Maurice Carter	TEX	2B	20	AA	DE	R/R
33	Bo Sparks	SD	1B/OF	19	AAA	CA	R/R
34	ANDREW TROWBRIDGE	MIL	1B	18	AA	NV	S/L
35	Deon Parks	SD	RHP	21	AA	OH	R/R
36	Dean Staples	COL	RHP	20	AA	TX	L/R
37	Cole Hughes	WSH	RHP	21	AA	GA	R/R
38	Freddy Rosario	TEX	RHP	21	AA	Dom. Rep.	R/R
39	CHASE MITCHELL	MIL	3B	20	AA	OR	R/R
40	Stewart Threets Jr.	LAD	3B/1B	20	AA	IL	R/R
41	Shiniji Sasaki	BOS	OF	21	AA	Japan	L/L
42	Nick Waldron	ARZ	OF	19	AA	AL	L/R
43	Jordan Wildheart	WSH	OF	19	AA	CA	R/R
44	Adam Mooney	CLE	OF	22	AA	CO	L/L
45	D'Eric Parker	KC	2B	19	AA	NY	R/R
46	Juan Hernandez	CHC	2B	22	AA	Puerto Rico	S/R
47	Kosuke Oh	ATL	LHP	22	AA	Japan	L/L
48	Eric Fuller	KC	INF	20	AA	CA	L/R
49	Duncan Narveson	StL	1B/OF	23	AAA	GA	R/R
50	Fernando Rodriguez	SEA	1B	23	AA	Panama	L/L

**EDIT:**
The board has updated to reveal more top prospects.
51. Eli McKinney, RHP, Indians
52. Zane Oaks, RF, Pirates
53. Chase Stern, C, Orioles
54. Logan Powell, OF, Blue Jays
55. Frank Joy, OF, Padres
56. Russell Smith, OF, Mets
57. Daniel Devine, LHP, Cardinals

So these Brewers will start with three top 50 prospects:

RHP Dan Hatfield @ 26
1B Andrew Trowbridge @ 34
3B Chase Mitchell @ 39

I'll update this list later on as more top prospects are revealed by the game.

[bacon96]

In the same fashion I posted the schedule, I will post our results in the form of complete series. I have already completed our first series of the season so let's get this going.

Opening Day v. the Chicago Cubs
We started the season with a matchup against the rival Chicago Cubs. These Cubs feature a few dangerous bats like Bryce Lewis, Jorge Veras and Frankie Fernandez...all of which were on display in their first game of the year. The Cubs rocked us by scoring eight total runs including five against our ace starter, Austin Wright. These eight runs were too much for us to overcome even with our three solo home runs as we fell, 8-4 in the opener.

Game 2:
This game was more of the same. The Cubs came through with eight runs again and again rocked my starting pitcher. This time it was Devon Sampson, who battled through 5 innings to salvage his terrible start to the season. He gave up 5 runs before even recording an out before settling down. The bullpen was held up by a great performance by Austin Trout in his season debut. Trout recorded just two strikeouts but was able to power through three innings in relief. The offense didn't come through with anything until the ninth as we limped to a 8-1 loss in the second game of this series. It also didn't seem notable at the time but Reggie Kellogg left in the 9th inning of this game then was absent from the lineup the next day.

Game 3:
This one started off a little better for us. First base prospect, Alexander Goodwin, hit his first home run of the season in the second inning but one run is never enough to keep the lead. Shawn Malone, our starter, had a rough time in this one as he battled through five innings while giving up six earned runs. Two of those runs coming from a two-out two-run home run by Jack North, his second of the series. The bullpen did do well in this one. Both Kendall Thompson and Will Bell made their season debuts with three up, three down innings in back to back frames. Both bullpens in this game shined as both ours and the Cubs 'pen denied the other team from scoring runs. We drop this one and are swept by the Cubs with the final being 6-2.

Series Recap:
We struggled to hit to begin the season. All three games in this series were lost because we got down early because of a poor starting pitching performance and the team never bounced back against the Cubs bullpen. Chicago had some timely hitting led by Jack North and cruised to a sweep here in Milwaukee.

You should also know these first two games were streamed on my Twitch channel. The VOD is up for a limited time and I'll link my account below.

https://www.twitch.tv/therealbacon96

Baseball is Better!

[bacon96]

Game 4: vs the St. Louis Cardinals
We start off a new series with some runs! The Brewers record three of their four runs in the second inning with two outs highlighted by a two run single by Michael McCoy. Then we came back with five more runs in the 3rd to bounce the starter, Manny Miranda, out of the game before the end of the frame. Then we coasted until the ninth where our reliever, Tony LaBandeira had some trouble getting all of his three outs. He ended up giving up four runs in garbage time which made the score look closer than it really was. 10-6 final in game one.

Our catcher, Dylan Bell, left the game and has been place on the 10 day injured list with a strained calf. Catching prospect, Nick Brady's contract has been purchased from AAA and Khristopher Smith has been DFA'd. Bell joins Ricardo Mejia on the IL and once Brady plays in a MLB game, that game will be his MLB debut!

Game 5:
Game number five on the season started off with a bang as we pounce on T.J. Quinn in the first inning of this game. A quick 7-1 lead, highlighted by Troy Drennan's first homer of the season in the first inning and a two run double by Josh Carroll in the second, made it easy for Jacob Quantrill to power through his start. The offense did keep adding on as we put up another 10 spot in this ballgame. Nick Brady came in in the 7th inning to pinch hit but hit a weak ground ball and that was it for his MLB debut. Quantrill ended up throwing 7.2 innings with only 4 strikeouts before he ran into some trouble in that eighth inning. Final here was 10-4.

Game 6:
The final game of the homestand was the closest one of the three. Our ace, Austin Wright shut down the Cardinals offense. He threw seven frames with just one strikeout but also only allowed one run to score. However, the Cardinals' ace, Marty Stark, could not match the effort from our starter. Stark allowed a grand slam in the 4th inning hit by Derrek Hills and that would be enough to hold up a win plus a series sweep. Brewers win 5-1.

Series Recap:
After a slider adjustment, we turned it around in this series sweep against the Cardinals. St. Louis's starters all struggled with even their ace allowing five earned runs. The bats were alive and well but Derrek Hills shined the brightest in this series going 6-12 with that Grand Slam, 9 total RBI and 2 runs scored in this three game set.

Baseball is Better!

[bacon96]

Our next series is against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phils are 4-3 entering the series after winning two games each against their division rival Marlins and Mets.

Game 7: @ the Philadelphia Phillies
Our first road trip begins in Philadelphia where each player wore long sleeves in the cold spring Pennsylvania weather. We pounced on the Philadelphia starter early thanks to a Troy Drennan double. The Phillies would come back in the 2nd with a run of their own and it would stay that way until the 11th inning. In that 11th, Michael McCoy would allow a fly ball to drop in the outfield which would be ruled as a double before Storm Rollins came up to bat and laid down the perfect suicide squeeze to uplift the Phillies to a win in extras. 2-1 final in this ballgame.

After this game, we activated Ricardo Mejia from the IL and then optioned him to AAA.

Game 8:
Back to back doubles in the third inning are how we take the lead early in this one. But then in the bottohm half, the Phils quickly took a lead of their own in the bottom half as Shawn Malone could not prevent the big inning as the Phillies took a 6-1 lead before three outs were recorded. Alexander Goodwin again showed some power, which is why he is on the roster. The Brewers first baseman prospect went deep with his second homer of the year to lead off the 6th inning. Malone was bit by the long ball in the 5th as LeAndro White also hit a dinger to extend the Phils' advantage and bounce our starter from the game. It didn't end there though as it seemed like any arm who trotted out of the bullpen could not consistently get outs. All of Sidney Knight, Austin Trout and Broderick Blankenship came in to pitch and gave up home runs in their relief appearances. Our offense couldn't keep up but did add some in garbage time. Final 13-6.

Game 9:
We had an old fashioned pitcher's duel in the finale of the Philadelphia series. Jacob Quantrill came up with another great start where he went seven innings and only gave up that one tally in his final frame. The first run was scored in the 7th when Chuck Logan doubled to right field. The Phils' starter, Mitch Zimmermann was electric in this one as he scattered 4 hits over his 5.2 innings. The Phillies bullpen held up until the 9th when Jake Fish hit a two-run double to tie the game to force extra innings. Our star left fielder, Michael McCoy broke up the tie in the 10th with another double then All Star closer, D.J. Ryan went through the middle of the Phillies order to record the save. Final 3-2 after 10 innings in game three.

Before this game started, I was alerted that bench infielder Nick Paxton needed to be scratched from the lineup after he sprained his ankle during batting practice. This will force Paxton to the 10-day IL and we will be recalling Nellie Orvella. Once he appears in a game, it will be Orvella's first MLB action in his young career.

Series Recap:
After dropping the first two games, the Brew Crew is able to salvage one win in their trip to eastern Pennsylvania and even with two of these games heading to extra innings, we took care of the bullpen. No single bat shined too much for Milwaukee but Colt Snow went 5-14 with two doubles and a homer in the series against our pitching.

What's Next?
We have just two quick games in Cincinnati on the schedule to wrap up this first road trip. The Reds are coming from Pennsylvania as well but instead were in Pittsburgh where they took two of three from the Pirates.

Baseball is Better!