Our ‘MLB The Show 20' season simulation wasn't kind to the Red Sox

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Thursday was supposed to mark the beginning of the 2020 MLB season, and the Boston Red Sox were scheduled to begin their campaign vs. the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

But due to the coronavirus crisis, Opening Day has been delayed indefinitely and at this point, it's unclear whether we'll see a full 162-game season.

So with no baseball on the schedule for at least a couple of months, we used the "MLB The Show 20" video game to simulate what a 162-game season starting on March 26 would look like for the 2020 Red Sox and the rest of the league.

Here's how it all played out:

RED SOX PLAYER STATS

Hitting

Andrew Benintendi: .262/.348/.412, 17 HR, 46 RBI
Rafael Devers: .277/.339/.475, 28 HR, 87 RBI
*In a wild turn of events, the CPU traded Devers to the Tampa Bay Rays (????) for prospects at the trade deadline. Don't worry, we didn't allow that to happen and we traded him back.
J.D. Martinez: .299/.387/.594, 51 HR, 129 RBI
Xander Bogaerts: .313/.408/.585, 38 HR, 108 RBI
Mitch Moreland: .290/.374/.491, 20 HR, 66 RBI
Michael Chavis: .248/.308/.404, 16 HR, 66 RBI 
Alex Verdugo: .230/.291/.345, 8 HR, 33 RBI
*Verdugo suffered a shoulder tear in May and missed 2-3 months of the season. Red Sox fans still upset about the Mookie Betts trade should get a real kick out of that one...
Christian Vazquez: .213/.276/.297, 8 HR, 37 RBI
Jackie Bradley Jr.: .257/.339/.404, 15 HR, 57 RBI
Kevin Pillar: .222/.258/.361, 13 HR, 43 RBI
Jose Peraza: .235/.282/.329, 4 HR, 24 RBI
Kevin Plawecki: .277/.357/ .356, 2 HR, 12 RBI
Bobby Dalbec: .253/.327/.407, 3 HR, 7 RBI (26 games)

Pitching

Eduardo Rodriguez: 12-9, 3.90 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 203 strikeouts, 193.2 IP
Nathan Eovaldi: 8-12, 5.34 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 145 strikeouts, 158.1 IP
Martin Perez: 12-16, 4.83 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 130 strikeouts, 179 IP
Ryan Weber: 14-9, 3.34 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 100 strikeouts, 185.2 IP
Brian Johnson: 2-8, 5.84 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 70 strikeouts, 86.1 IP
*Johnson suffered a broken forearm in April and missed 2-3 months of the season. We replaced him with Darwinzon Hernandez until he recovered.
Darwinzon Hernandez: 2-5, 5.65 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, 101 strikeouts, 78 IP

Ryan Brasier: 1-1, 15 IP, 3.00 ERA 1.20 WHIP 7 strikeouts
*Apparently, the CPU hates Brasier. He didn't get injured during the sim. It just made him pitch only 15 innings. Bizarre, but that's simulations for you.
Matt Barnes: 0-2, 3.89 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 52 strikeouts, 44 IP
Heath Hembree: 6-4, 5.17 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 76 strikeouts, 71.1 IP
Josh Taylor: 3-1, 4.33 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, 63 strikeouts, 60.1 IP
Marcus Walden: 9-6, 5.14 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 163 strikeouts, 178.2 IP
*As you can probably tell by now, simulations can get a bit out of whack. There's almost zero chance Walden ever would be fourth on the team in innings pitched. Due to injuries, though, the sim made him a starter for some games.
Brandon Workman: 42 saves, 58.1 IP, 2.62 ERA, 1.18 WHIP

STANDINGS

AL East

After the Red Sox dealt superstar outfielder Mookie Betts and left-hander David Price to the Los Angeles Dodgers this offseason, many expected that this would be a down year for Boston. Those people were right, at least according to our simulation.

A 79-83 record was good enough for second place in the AL East, but not for a playoff spot. Pitching ultimately cost the Red Sox in the end as they let up an alarming 757 runs on the season. They finished 13 games back in the wild card race.

AL Central

1. Minnesota Twins (95-67)
2. Cleveland Indians (92-70)
3. Chicago White Sox (85-77)
4. Kansas City Royals (74-88)
5. Detroit Tigers (53-109)

AL West

1. Houston Astros (108-54)
2. Los Angeles Angels (94-68)
3. Oakland Athletics (79-83)
4. Texas Rangers (72-90)
5. Seattle Mariners (63-99)

NL East

1. New York Mets (89-73)
2. Washington Nationals (88-74)
3. Philadelphia Phillies (87-75)
4. Atlanta Braves (78-84)
5. Miami Marlins (77-85)

NL Central

1. Chicago Cubs (96-66)
2. Cincinnati Reds (89-73)
3. Milwaukee Brewers (78-84)
4. Pittsburgh Pirates (76-86)
5. St. Louis Cardinals (69-93)

NL West

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (105-57)
2. Arizona Diamondbacks (80-82)
3. Colorado Rockies (74-88)
4. San Francisco Giants (73-89)
5. San Diego Padres (72-90)

PLAYOFFS

AL Wild Card: Cleveland Indians over Los Angeles Angels

NL Wild Card: Washington Nationals over Cincinnati Reds

ALDS
New York Yankees over Minnesota Twins, 3-1
Cleveland Indians over Houston Astros, 3-1

NLDS
Chicago Cubs over New York Mets, 3-1
Washington Nationals over Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-1

ALCS: Cleveland Indians over New York Yankees, 4-1

NLCS: Washington Nationals over Chicago Cubs, 4-3

World Series: Cleveland Indians over Washington Nationals, 4-3

World Series MVP: Carlos Santana, 1B (.370, 2 HR, 4 RBI)

AWARDS

AL MVP: Mike Trout, CF, Los Angeles Angels (.315, 58 HR, 145 RBI)

NL MVP: Christian Yelich, RF, Milwaukee Brewers (.313, 47 HR, 117 RBI)

AL Cy Young: Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees (19-2, 2.47 ERA, 254 SO)

NL Cy Young: Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals (18-5, 2.81 ERA, 270 SO)

AL Rookie of the Year: Hunter Cole, RF, Texas Rangers (.246, 12 HR, 57 RBI)

NL Rookie of the Year: Dylan Carlson, RF, St. Louis Cardinals (.249, 11 HR, 43 RBI)

*Xander Bogaerts (shortstop), Christian Vazquez (catcher), and Mitch Moreland (first base) each earned Gold Glove awards.

*For those wondering how Mookie Betts and David Price fared in the first season of their post-Red Sox careers, Betts slashed .261/.358/.471 with 29 home runs and 98 RBI. Price went 14-7 with a 3.28 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 186.2 innings pitched.

 

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