Royals season with the newly-released Out of the Park Baseball 20."Today marks the official release date of Out of the Park Baseball 20. As an assistant on the game http://www.yankeesfanproshop.com/authentic-giancarlo-stanton-jersey , I get access to all beta versions. I decided release day was a perfect time to run an ‘official’ simulation for Royals fans to see what the team might have in store for them this season. Anyone familiar with probability understands that you need more than one sample to make any serious assessments. This is purely for fun and entertainment, something to satisfy fans as spring training winds down and we chomp at the bit for the regular season. OOTP is a great baseball game that allows you to fully immerse yourself in the literal world of baseball. It is hands-down the best simulator of any kind I’ve ever played. If you’re interested in learning more about the game, I encourage you to visit Out of the Park Development’s Youtube site.How I ran the sim was to essentially let the AI take control of everything. I will make some minor moves here or there (adjusting rotation, promotions/demotions) but my interventions will be as limited as possible to allow the season to unfold ‘naturally’.The roster isn’t exactly set in stone just yet, so it affords me some liberty with lineups and the pitching staff. For whatever reason, Danny Duffy isn’t designated any sort of injury, so he will remain in the starting rotation (remember, its just a simulation). And because the bullpen will likely be a revolving door of opportunities, I set it up exactly how I would if I were the manager. This is what the opening day starting rotation will look like:Bullpen assignments:And, the two main lineups:Owner David Glass’s expectations for the season are simple- try to stay close to .500, upgrade third base, and stay respectable on the field. Can they do it? Will Kyle Zimmer emerge as a stud reliever? Will Adalberto Mondesi become a star? Can Brad Keller become a true ace? Is it possible that Wily Peralta holds down the closer role? How will the offense, the most potent this spring, behave without the presence of Salvador Perez? Let’s find outAPRILThe Royals started the season looking pretty good, posting a 6-4 record through the first two weeks of the season. However, it was followed up with multiple series losses which dropped them to 14-16.Billy Hamilton and Adalberto Mondesi lead the league with four triples. Hamilton also topsMLB with 17 stolen bases along with Mondesi who is in third with 10.Notable events:4/5- Right fielder Jorge Bonifacio was diagnosed with forearm inflammation and is put on the ten day injured list. Two weeks are needed for recovery. OF Brett Phillips was promoted from Omaha to fill the roster spot.4/18- Reliever Jake Diekman plunked Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu, which erupted into a bench-clearing brawl. Both players were suspended for three games.MAYNotable events:5/13- In order to make room for Bonifacio’s return, I placed Brian Goodwin on waivers (he was out of options) due to an OPS+ of 54 through 57 at-bats. Goodwin was subsequently claimed by the Texas Rangers. OF Brett Phillips stays with the team thanks to his 143 OPS+ and strong defense.5/19- During a bench-clearing incident with the Anaheim Angles, Danny Duffy got into a fight with Kole Calhoun with both players being suspended six games.5/20- Alex Gordon is lost for a month due to a foot fracture. I promoted SS Nicky Lopez after a hot start in Omaha.5/25- A waiver claim for utility player Tony Kemp was completed. To make room on the roster, Lopez was sent back down to Omaha after 2 games.Sam McWilliams (1.69 ERA, 26.2 IP) was diagnosed with a torn flexor tendon in his elbow, which ends his season. Unfortunately for him, Williams was being considered for a spot in starting rotation. Josh Staumont was brought up as his replacement. He posted a 3.69 ERA in Omaha.5/30- Kemp fractures his ankle and will be out for three weeks. Lopez brought back up from Omaha.JUNE to All-Star BreakThe team is struggling and problems in the clubhouse are escalating. With the lack of a true leader, Alex Gordon has tried to step in but the team doesn’t seem to be responding well.The clear MVP thus far is Adalberto Mondesi Aaron Judge Jersey , who was also named to the AL All-Star team.Here’s how the Royals are faring in the American League as a team.Notable events:6/1- Whit Merrifield lands on the injured list with a fractured wrist that will keep him out three weeks. First baseman Samir Duenez is promoted from Omaha mainly due to Ryan O’Hearn’s regular day-to-day injuries.After two months of carrying a nearly 11 ERA, Homer Bailey has been released by the organization. Ian Kennedy (4.03 ERA) takes his place in the rotation.6/17- Chris Owings was sidelined for about a month with a herniated disc. Alex Gordon is sent back to the team a week early from his rehab assignment in Omaha.Adalberto Mondesi is named AL Star of the Week after hitting .521 with one homer and five RBIs.7/3- Despite a strong showing, Brett Phillips (.767 OPS) is demoted back to Omaha to make room for Owings return.JULY to SEPTThe Royals continue to meander in a very weak AL Central. Injuries, dissatisfaction in the locker room, and weariness have worn the team down during the dog days of summer. However, there are some bright spots. The Royals have the league-leaders in stolen bases- Billy Hamilton (78) and Adalberto Mondesi (64). Mondesi is killing it in 2019, sitting third in MLB war (7.2), and Whit Merrifield is sixth overall in league batting average (.326).Notable events:7/2- 2B Hunter Dozier was traded to the Washington Nationals for 3B Matt Reynolds and low-level starting pitcher prospect Jimmy Murphy7/17- Ian Kennedy suffers an oblique injury and is placed on the 10-day injured list. Heath Fillmyer is promoted from Omaha.7/18- Chris Owings is traded to the Cincinnati Reds for reliever Odrisamer Despaigne. The fan base did not react well.7/30- Hanley Ramirez is claimed off of waivers from the Cleveland Indians.The Royals acquire Jake Odorizzi from the Minnesota Twins for 1B Ryan O’Hearn and low-level minor league SS Frank Herrera. To make room for Odorizzi, Kyle Zimmer (6.09 ERA) is demoted to Omaha. 8/2- Reliever Josh Staumont (2 saves, 3.86 ERA) is diagnosed with shoulder inflammation and placed on the 60-day injured list. Brady Singer is promoted and will take his spot in the bullpen.8/16- Staff ace Brad Keller (8-7, 4.20 ERA) suffers a ruptured finger tendon and is shut down for the rest of the year. Heath Fillmyer takes his place in the rotation. Alex Gordon has a strained hip and will be day to day for several weeks.SeptemberLadies and gentlemen, much like I predicted during my guest appearance on 810 WHB’s The Program in February, the Royals have finished .500! The youth that arrived during roster expansion must have loosened the clubhouse up as the team went 18-7 in September.Notable events:9/4- The season is over for Jake Junis (9-11, 4.89 ERA) after a shoulder strain lands him on the 60-day injured list. Alex Gordon has also been shut down for the season due to several lingering injuries. The veteran slashed .244/.296/.3889/13- The Royals are officially eliminated from the playoffs. They stuck around much longer than expected.EpilogueHere is how the main roster, as well as the entire organization, finished the 2019 season:Adalberto Mondesi had a huge year slashing .311/.344/559 and finished fourth overall in league WAR (8.4). He was also rewarded the Sliver Slugger award at second base.Whit Merrifield was the league batting champion with a .340 batting average and also had the second-longest hitting streak of the season (23 games).Despite his random injuries, Alex Gordon wins a Gold Glove in left field.A possible rising star in shortstop Nicky Lopez emerged after being called up to fill in a roster spot. He kept hitting and regularly found his way into the starting lineup.I hope you all enjoyed this brief journey into a fantasy world that hopefully ends up ringing true for the 2019 Royals. The Yasmanian Devil will hope to provide some offensive firepower from the position."Catcher is arguably the most demanding position on the diamond. A backstop needs to have a working relationship with each member of the pitching staff, keep everyone’s strategy and arsenal straight, play psychiatrist when his pitcher is struggling, know the opposing hitters’ tendencies, he needs to help control the run game, and he needs to squat behind home plate to call, receive, and frame more than a hundred pitches each night. Oh yeah Gleyber Torres Jersey , and he has to be able to hit worth a lick, too.It was that last part that turned out to be a bit of an issue for the Milwaukee Brewers last season. The duo got the Brewers through most of 2018 - Manny Pina and Erik Kratz - thrived defensively and with the pitching staff. Together they totaled +10 Defensive Runs Saved, nabbed greater than 35% of would-be base thieves, and each ranked among the game’s top catchers in terms of pitch framing. But at the plate, the pair could not even meet the rather low bar that has been set for offense from the catcher position in today’s game. Brewers’ backstops combined for a .238/.294/.363 slash line last season, which translated to a 75 wRC+ that ranked 23rd among the 30 MLB teams.GM David Stearns probably would have been content with entering 2019 with a reprisal of the Pina/Kratz pairing behind the plate; the two did combine for 3.6 WARP last season based mostly on their defensive prowess. But coming off a 96-win season with few obvious holes to fill allowed the young GM to wait back and give himself the chance to be opportunistic in free agency. When a unique set of circumstances arose around one of the top catchers in baseball, Slingin’ Stearns didn’t miss out.Yasmani Grandal was not finding any offers to his liking on the open market. One of the top two-way backstops in the games for the past five seasons was looking to get paid a commensurate amount and seeking a long-term guarantee at the outset of the offseason. While Grandal did receive some enticing multi-year offers that would have given him a lifetime of security going forward, they included lower average annual values than the deals received by the free agent catchers who came before him like Molina, Martin, McCann, and so on. Grandal felt a duty to his brothers donning the tools of ignorance to set a new bar for AAV for the next big free agent catcher to beat, and became amenable to one-year deals in order to accomplish that goal.Thus the Brewers were able to snap up Grandal for a one-year guarantee of $18.25 mil ($16 mil base plus a $2.25 mil buyout of a $16 mil mutual option for 2020) and add to their lineup a player with a legitimate case as the best catcher in baseball. Since debuting in the big leagues back with the Padres back in 2012, the switch-hitting former first-round pick has produced a .240/.341/.441 slash line with 113 home runs across 2,660 plate appearances for a wRC+ of 117. He has never posted a wRC+ lower than 100 in the MLB, whereas the league-average catcher has hovered in between an 84 wRC+ and 93 wRC+ over the last seven seasons. Among catchers with at least 1,500 plate appearances since the start of 2014, Grandal’s first season as a full-time player, he ranks second behind only Buster Posey in terms of wRC+ from the catching position. Only Evan Gattis and Salvador Perez have launched more dingers within that group and time frame.Grandal is no slouch on defense, either. His +44 Defensive Runs Saved ranks fourth-most among catchers over the last five years. He routinely grades out among the game’s elite pitch framers, finishing seventh, first, second, fourth, and first again in the last five years when it comes to total runs added via framing according to Baseball Prospectus. He has matched or exceeded the league average caught-stealing rate in each year since 2015 Tyler Austin Jersey , and he also usually receives solid grades when it comes to his blocking. Sure, he allows an above-average amount of passed balls (which was especially glaring in the playoffs), but in terms of Wins Above Replacement, Grandal has generated 26.7 WARP over his career when factoring in his pitch framing, as Baseball Prospectus’ calculation does.Last season was Grandal’s finest at the plate as he set a full-season career-high with a 125 wRC+ after hitting .241/.349/.466 with 24 homers in 518 plate appearances. And there’s reason for optimism that he’ll produce at an even greater rate in 2019. Grandal was exuberant upon learning that he’ll get to leave the NL West, where he had to play a good chunk of his game in pitcher-friendly venues like Petco Park, Oracle Park, and his former home field of Dodger Stadium. Few places in baseball are more friendly to hitters, especially from the left side, than Miller Park. The switch-hitting Grandal does most of his damage as a southpaw swinger, and the favorable conditions at his home field could help Grandal pass the 30-homer threshold for the first time in his career.Grandal’s presence likely displaces Kratz, who became a fan favorite and playoff hero last season before signing a non-guaranteed deal in arbitration this past winter. But the signing undoubtedly makes the team stronger in 2019 as they seek to get over that final hump and into their first World Series since 1982. The lineup looks an awful lot more formidable with Grandal batting somewhere in spots five through seven. In the MinorsJacob Nottingham finally broke through with the bat against upper-level pitching last season, though injuries shortened his campaign to 50 games in Triple-A and a nine game cup of coffee in the big leagues. His defense has come far enough along that there is now little doubt he’ll stick behind the plate and his 126 wRC+ in Colorado Springs last season offers some hope that he’ll be able to hit enough against big league pitching, though the strikeouts remain a concern. Tuffy Gosewich will also serve as catching depth in Triple-A after inking a minor league deal, but it would take a lot going wrong for the 35 year old with a career 29 wRC+ in 137 games to see the big leagues this year. The top catching prospect in the org is now Payton Henry, who figures to start the year in Class A-Advanced. Mario Feliciano could also start at that level, looking to bounce back after an injury-plagued season in 2018. Other organizational depth behind the plate includes Max McDowell, Skyler Ewing, Robie Rojas, and David Fry.Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus