How will the KBO and NPB Champs fair in an MLB OOTP Sim?
Due to the Pandemic, both KBO and NPB rose up in popularity. While the MLB only had a 60 game season, Both Asian Leagues were able to play relatively full seasons even with fans in the stands. Both leagues have also had some recent talent come to MLB. Including Eric Thames & Hyun-jin Ryu from KBO and Yoshi Tsutsugo & Shohei Ohtani from NPB. The level of play in these Asian leagues have been compared to AAA baseball here in the states. So how would a KBO and NPB team fair in the MLB? Would they be worse than the 2003 Detroit Tigers or surprise us all?
Rules and Predictions for the OOTP Sim
To test how a KBO and NPB team would do we added the 2020 Champion of both leagues to the MLB. The teams we added to the MLB, The NC Dinos of the KBO (Korea) and Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (Japan). This means there are now 32 teams in the MLB and four 8 team divisions (AL East, AL West, NL East NL West). The Dinos joined the AL West and the Hawks joined the NL West. The 2020 MLB schedule has regenerated for 162 games and opening day is on April 7th. For the first year of the sim, we will be unemployed and will no control of any teams. Both teams will start with their opening-day rosters. Also, both teams will be allowed to sign any free agents within their individual budgets. We will be simulating from opening day to the all-star break to check on how both teams are doing.
Win Predictions: Nic- Dinos 63 Hawks 49, Evan- Dinos 60 Hawks 53.
Results & Team reports (All-Star Break)
After simulating to the All-Star Break (7/12/20), things are not looking good for Dinos or Hawks. The Dinos are 23-65 (.261) and the Hawks are 26-61(.299). Both of our win predictions have seemed to way overestimate both Asian teams. They will need to turn it around in the second half to avoid joining the list of the worst MLB seasons by winning percentage.
NC Dinos 23-65 (.261)
The Dinos have looked extinct so far. They have a -160 run differential and are 2-20 in one-run games. Part of the reason why they are so bad in one-run games is their bullpen has a 6.21 ERA (#16 in the AL). Their starters haven't been much better with an ERA of 5.14 (#14 in the AL). The Dinos have signed numerous players including Matt Harvey (1-11, ERA 5.25, WHIP 1.58), and Scooter Gennett (.265 2 HR 10 RBI). One bright spot for the Dinos has been their veteran catcher Eui-Ji Yang. Yang so far has batted .294 and made the all-star game. Chang-Mo Koo also was an All-star despite a 0-6 record and ERA of 6.97.
Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 26-61(.299)
While slightly better than the Dinos, so far the Hawks bats have been flightless. They ranked last in the NL in runs scored (299) Average (.238) and Batting WAR (-0.5). The Hawks season has been a rollercoaster after going 12-17 in May they when 4-23 in June and are currently 5-5 in the month of July. Like the Dinos, they have also signed a bunch of players including Greg Bird (.197, 9 HR, 25 RBI) and their lone All-Star Matt Moore (5-10 ERA 4.10 WHIP 1.32). The Hawks also made a trade with the Red Sox for Tanner Houck.
We will continue to Simulate this season and will be streaming it live on Twitch. Make sure to Follow @3baggerpod on Twitch and follow to get notified when we go live!
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