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PIttsburgh Pirates picked to finish 69-93 in GameSided’s simulation
The Pittsburgh Pirates are still getting slighted in some areas despite the massive strides of the past few years.
Case in point is the latest complete-season MLB The Show simulation from GameSided. GameSided is FanSided’s complete destination for everything gaming-related. I myself find myself going there for the latest reviews and features circling the video game industry. However, they were dead wrong with this one, as their simulation predicted that the Pirates would finish 69-93 in 2015. Setting aside the outrage for a second, here are some quotes from the piece, with our thoughts:
"Pirates pitchers pitched well in their time on the mound. The problem was that too many players couldn’t pitch for long, with just one starter scraping above the 200 IP mark. That was Gerrit Cole, who also led the Pirates starters in ERA (3.30), strikeouts (184), WHIP (1.31) and quality starts (20). Although Jeff Locke did the unthinkable and gave up a meager 12 home runs over 197 innings pitched to go along with his 3.52 ERA. The North Shore Stangler, Mark Melancon, just kept dealing, with a 2.29 ERA, 5 walks, 46 strikeouts and 1.00 WHIP over 54 saves and 55 innings."
The above paints something of a nightmare scenario for the Pirates’ pitching staff. If only one starter gets above 200 innings, the 69-93 record suddenly seems likely. That would mean injuries for long stretches to Francisco Liriano and A.J. Burnett, blows that cannot be withstood by an arguably front-heavy rotation. But hey, Locke kept it in the yard! So, that’s something. Let’s see what happened to the offense in the sim:
"It’s a shame that MLB 15: The Show doesn’t allow for hair customization of its star athletes for 2015 MLB season accuracy purposes, as the infamous Andrew McCutchen locks of hair were on full shoulder-clipping display. No matter the haircut, his .903 OPS, 27 home runs, 86 RBI, 13 SB, .303 batting average and 86 runs will play any way you display him. It’s a shame the rest of the offense couldn’t catch up, with Starling Marte, Neil Walker, Jordy Mercer, Gregoy Polanco, Pedro Alvarez and mid-season acquisition Matt Wieters just stayed cold for long segments of the grueling 162-game season"
More from Rum Bunter
- Pittsburgh Pirates: Current Look of the Bullpen
- Pittsburgh Pirates Continue to Spend Embarrassingly
- Pittsburgh Pirates: Potential AL West Fit For Bryan Reynolds
- Pittsburgh Pirates Still Searching for Catcher Help
- Pittsburgh Pirates: Questioning the Vince Velasquez Signing
While McCutchen had another MVP-worthy season in 2015, the ambiguity of the rest of the lineup’s offensive production is maddening, and can really mess with your head if you are a Pirate fan. The “acquisition” of Matt Wieters could also mean that the Francisco Cervelli project just flat out did not work, which will bring the front-office under fire for not re-signing Russell Martin. Basically this entire simulation is the nightmare scenario for Pirates fans.
Lucky for us, these games don’t count, much like the Grapefruit League, which is thankfully behind us.
But if Liriano should get injured on Opening Day, I invite all to join me as we grab our pitchforks and torches and march on the GameSided.com offices.