Out of the Park Baseball’s latest
installment, OOTP hit the Steam store on Friday, March 24. One of my favorite
games on the market, OOTP is a text based simulation game. It uses real life
rosters of Major League Baseball and allows the player to simulate or play
entire seasons. OOTP is rather in-depth, allowing the player to take control of
a team’s finances, free agent signings, salaries, and more. I simulated an
entire season of the Boston Red Sox. The team finished one game away from
winning the World Series, falling to the New York Mets in seven games. The
season started off shaky for the team, but by August, the team was hitting its
stride. This is the month-by-month account of the simulated season.
April
After one week of play, the Red Sox got
off to a strong starting, going 5-1 in that span. Outfielder Chris Young
carried the team offensively, hitting three home runs, nine RBI while batting
.364. Offseason acquisition Chris Sale had a good start to his Red Sox career,
logging two complete games in his first two starts, winning both those games.
Manager John Farrell decided to bench Pablo Sandoval for Brock Holt as well.
Injuries plagued the Red Sox the rest of
the month. Sandoval would eventually need a 10-day DL stint for a sore wrist.
Mid-month, Mookie Betts would go down for two weeks due to the same injury.
Brock Holt went down with back spasms on the last day of April. The team still
finished the month out strong, ending with a 14-10 record and in second place
in the AL East. Jackie Bradley Jr. surprised everyone, hitting .311 with eight
home runs and 22 RBI, leading the team in both categories.
14-10
1 ½ games out of first place at the end of April.
May
Mookie Betts finally came off the disabled
list on May 9, three weeks after suffering a sore wrist. His return started a
downward spiral for the Red Sox, going 2-6 in the first week after his return
and putting the team in last place with a 20-21 record. Upon Brock Holt’s
return, the team decided to designate Josh Rutledge for assignment, keeping
Bryce Brentz on the major league roster. After Steven Wright went 2-3 with a
6.85 ERA in 14 games and five starts, the Red Sox demoted him to triple A in
favor of Robby Scott, who had a 0.53 record in 17 innings and 22 strike outs.
The team’s record during the month of May
was 13-15, putting them in third place with a 26-27 record. Even with an injury
shortened month, Betts led the team in batting average, hitting .318 in the
month of May. Bradley Jr. continued hitting for power, hitting seven home runs
during the month, giving him 15 total on the year. Chris Sale continued to
dominate, winning three out of six starts while losing only one. Sale finished
the month with a 6-3 record and 2.80 ERA.
26-27
6 ½ games out of first place at the end of May
June
The team drafted Mark Vientos in the first
round of the player draft. Dustin Pedroia suffered an oblique strain,
sidelining him for eight weeks and the team ended the month winning seven of
eight games. Their 16-11 record in June was a bounce back from the dismal May
but they still sat in third place and 3 ½ games out of first. Andrew Benintendi
won rookie of the month hitting .284 with two home runs, 17 RBI and 13 runs
scored. Rick Porcello got himself back on track in June, going 2-1 with a 2.04
ERA in 35.1 innings.
42-38
3 ½ games out of first place at the end of May
July
The Red Sox started the month off trading
Mitch Moreland to the Oakland Athletics for second baseman Jed Lowrie,
twenty-year old pitching prospect Adonis Medina (two star potential) and
$200,000. Nothing that would drastically change the team but Lowrie gave the
team another bench player with more versatility than Moreland, being able to
play second base, third base and shortstop. Moreland had only played in 17
games, hitting .083 so anything was an improvement over Moreland. Betts was
voted in as the all-star game starting right fielder and Sale as a starting
pitcher (the game votes in five starting pitchers and relievers). Bradley Jr. joined
them as well.
Two weeks before the July 31 trading
deadline, the Red Sox pulled the trigger on a starting pitcher. The team traded
20-year old left fielder Juan Carlos Abreu and catcher Sandy Leon to the Texas
Rangers for pitcher Andrew Cashner. Cashner slotted into the third spot in the
rotation and by moving Leon, Blake Swihart took over the starting role with
Christian Vazquez getting another chance at the major league level.
Winning seven out of their last eight and
11 out of the last 14 going into the deadline, the Red Sox swung a trade for
third baseman Danny Valencia of the Milwaukee Brewers, sending outfielder Alex
Aristy and catcher Danny Bethea to Milwaukee in the trade. Valencia became the
starting third baseman while DH in certain instances.
58-49
3 ½ games out of first place at the end of July
August
The team stayed consistent during the
month of August, going 15-12 during that span. They stayed one game ahead in
the wild card and closed the game to one game back in the division. Valencia performed
well for the Red Sox hitting three home runs 13 RBI and had 14 runs in the
month of August. Cashner was moved to the bullpen where he won two games and
pitched 18.1 innings. Porcello went 5-0 in the month of August while Benintendi
hit eight home runs, 26 RBI and scored 19 runs while hitting .374.
73-61
1 game out of first place at the end of August
September
The Red Sox finished out the season with
an 89-73 record and first in the wildcard. Sale led the team with 16 wins,
224.1 innings and 229 strikeouts. Bogaerts, Hanley Ramirez, Bradley Jr, Betts,
Benintendi, and Valencia all finished with 20 or more home runs. However, no
one finished with 100 or more RBI. They set out to play the Tampa Bay Rays in
the wildcard game.
89-73
record. Finished first in the wild card
October
The team squeaked out a 5-3 win in the
wildcard game against the Rays. Sale lasted only 4.2 innings, but David Price
pitched 2.1 innings in relief, giving up one hit and one walk while striking
out seven in the win. Young went 3-4 with a three-run home run and Ramirez hit
4-4 with two runs in the playoff win. They moved on to face the Cleveland
Indians, a rematch of last season.
Pedroia suffered an oblique strain in game
two against the Cleveland Indians. However, it wouldn’t matter. After the Red
Sox lost game won, they won the next three games to move onto the ALCS against
the Houston Astros.
They took game one 8-2 thanks to seven
strong innings from Sale. David Price won game two, pitching all nine innings,
striking out 11 on four hits. They won game three in walk-off fashion with
Bradley Jr. hitting a single through the infield scoring two runs in the bottom
of the ninth, winning the game 6-5. Game four was no different. On a 0-1 pitch,
Ramirez cranked the ball over the green monster in the bottom of the 10th
for the 4-0 ALCS series sweep. They moved onto the New York Mets in the World
Series.
Starting the series at home, the Red Sox
split their home games 1-1. The Mets took two out of three in New York, going
ahead 3-2 in the series. It was do or die going back to Boston. They won game
six, 3-1 to tie the series up at three. Game seven was not as fortunate as the
Red Sox lost 3-1 and the New York Mets took home the trophy.
David Price led the team winning all four
of his starts, pitching to a 1.39 ERA in 32 innings while striking out 36.
Benintendi hit four home runs along with 15 RBI and batted .338 throughout the
playoffs.
It was a good effort by the Red Sox. They
made it further into the playoffs than most expected. In October, anything can
happen. The season started off slow for the Red Sox but with a few good moves
by Dave Dombrowski, the team found its niche. OOTP is the most realistic
simulation out there and if this season is anything close to what will happen,
Red Sox fans will be happy with the results. They might not have won the World
Series in 2017, but they came as close as a team can get and it only adds more
to the offseason.
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