OOTP 21 Simulation of the Miami Marlins 2020 Season

The Miami Marlins aren’t playing any baseball for a while.

During this unscheduled break in play, I’m using OOTP 21 to simulate what would have happened if the Miami Marlins had started the 2020 season as scheduled. As this is a “random” exercise, I set it so the general manager was run by the computer, then set the manager to run by the computer as well.

After one week of play, the Marlins stand with a record of 2-5, tied for last in the National League Eastern Division along with the defending World Series Champion Washington Nationals.

April 2nd

After defeating the Nationals two-games-to-one, the Marlins took their first off-day of the 2020 season.

April 3rd

Braves 5, Marlins 1

The Miami Marlins open their first road-trip of the season at Truist Park against the Atlanta Braves. It was a case of art imitating life, as Mike Foltynewicz had the Marlins’ number, striking out eight in six innings of work and allowing only one run.

Miami only collected five base hits in the game, including no extra-base hits. No Miami player finished with more than one hit either, although Jonathan Villar finally stole his first base of the season after getting thrown out four times. Jose Urena threw a perfect eighth inning in relief.

April 4th

Marlins 6, Braves 2

Brian Anderson had a four-hit game, Matt Joyce collected two hits, including his second homer of the season, and Jesus Aguilar hit a pinch-home run in the ninth to help top the Braves. Jonathan Villar stole two more bases.

Trevor Rogers struck out four and surrendered eight hits in only 5 1/3 innings, but got his first career victory. Dylan Lee, Brandon Kintzler, and Tommy Eveld were each credited with a hold.

Postgame Transactions

Tommy Eveld was sent down to Wichita, and Jordan Yamamoto rejoined the Miami Marlins in his place.

April 5th

Braves 5, Marlins 3

Jonathan Villar went three-for-four with a stolen base, Garrett Cooper hit a three-run shot for his fourth homer of the season, and Jose Urena threw another perfect inning of relief.

But the rest of the Marlins went two-for-24, and Pablo Lopez allowed five runs on eight hits in only 3 1/3 innings for his first loss of the season.

Postgame Transactions

Jeff Brigham completed his injured list time, and was activated. He and Jordan Yamamoto were then sent down to to the Surge. Ryne Stanek and Tommy Eveld joined the Marlins in their place.

April 6th

Marlins 4, Nationals 0

The Marlins continued their unorthodox and surprising mastery of the Nationals with their first shutout win of the season. Caleb Smith earned his first win of the season, striking out six in 6 1/3 shutout frames, and allowing only two hits. Dylan Lee relieved and whiffed four in 1 2/3 innings.

Offensively, Brian Anderson, Corey Dickerson, and Jorge Alfaro all went deep for the cause. Dickerson went three-for-four in total, while Matt Joyce and Jonathan Villar each had a multi-hit game.

Postgame Transactions

Jordan Yamamoto was again recalled for reliever Dylan Lee.

April 7th

Nationals 11, Marlins 2

Jordan Yamamoto surrendered six runs in 4 1/3 innings before getting lifted, and the relief corps wasn’t much help in stemming Washington’s offense. Tommy Eveld allowed a pair of runs in an inning, and Ryne Stanek surrendered three in 1 1/3.

Miguel Rojas went three-for-four to raise his average to .186 for the season, but no other Miami player collected more than one base hit.

April 8th

Nationals 11, Marlins 6

A dozen hits wasn’t enough for the Miami Marlins to come out on top of the Nationals. Jonathan Villar’s first homer of the season was a grand slam, and Corey Dickerson also added a homer to the cause.

Sandy Alcantara lost his third start in as many games, surrendering five earned runs in only 2 2/3 innings

Postgame Transactions

Dylan Lee rejoined the Marlins and Tommy Eveld was resent to the Wind Surge.

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• Miami Marlins rejected Boston‘s trade offer
• Miami Marlins are pursuing Michael Conforto
• Miami Marlins need to spend to win

Looking Ahead

The top four Miami Marlins minor league affiliates are scheduled to start on April 9th. To wit, those are the Triple-A Wichita Wind Surge in the Pacific Coast League, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in the Double-A Southern League, the Jupiter Hammerheads in the High-A Florida State League, and the Clinton LumberKings in the Single-A Midwest League.

Already in last place at 4-9, the Marlins look forward in the coming week to a four-game home set starting tomorrow (April 9th) versus the Atlanta Braves and a two-game at home hosting the Los Angeles Angels. Keep on checking in with us to see how the Miami Marlins are doing in an alternate dimension. Thanks for reading.