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Today/tonight probably played 7 ranked season games and faced Kluber as a starter in every one. Except the one game where he came in for three innings of relief.

It's not that Kluber scares me -- I'm good for a couple runs off him -- but he is frustrating and more than anything it's borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring. Say what you will about MLB 18 but at least the insane grinds forced diversity of pitchers.

It's literally gonna be Kluber 50%+ of the time until October. And that just doesn't seem fun, at all.

What are your predictions for Team Affinity 3? Are we gonna get 99s or like 95-96s? And they have to be legend players, or do you think they'll be buffed flashbacks or (shudder) more future stars ...?

And teams you predict are going to have best TA3 players? I'm thinking we could see like a 96 Percival for the Angels, maybe a Prime Rivera for Yankees, and a prime Ortiz for Red Sox, etc?

Edit: All I really want is more competitive starting pitchers so it's not just a Hal/Kluber hitting simulator every game ...

Just seconding this SDS! Give Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige!!!

@Therealest_JB said in Warren Spahn incoming?:

@Garet_Jax82 said in Warren Spahn incoming?:

https://twitter.com/sporer/status/1273733098862231553

edit: just realized it could be Prime Kershaw and I'd shoot myself after last year

It’s going to be Lefty Grove or Chris Sale imo

if it's a prime chris sale im just gonna quit the game. i cant hit him during the day for the life of me.

PEDRO!!!

@theu715 said in Fun TA3 (serious) Prediction Thread!:

@formallyforearms said in Fun TA3 (serious) Prediction Thread!:

@theu715 said in Fun TA3 (serious) Prediction Thread!:

I think Rays will either be Longoria, Price, Shields, or Franco. Franco is my least likely choice, but since they've released all these other 99 overall FS cards, I'd think they'd release a 99 of him too since he's the unanimous top prospect.

Any chance of other surprise legends like Carlos Pena, or Carl Crawford?

I'd love to see Pena added. That would be awesome and he was actually REALLY good for about three years in Tampa which would make a solid Prime card. Good contact, power, and defense at 1b. As for Crawford, I would've said that could be an option too, but I'm not sure now. I believe he was arrested last week on alleged assault charges from an ex-GF. I never heard anything else after I saw the story pop up online though, so don't know what came from that. As a player though, he was incredibly dynamic in Tampa.

Eh, Pena had like a .237 average at TB and a .228 lifetime (despite leading majors in HR one year and hitting 44 in another) and was pretty poor definsively IIRC

Edit: plus that mid career power surge while still being a poor hitter overall screams steroids. (But as a Sox fan I never did like that dude).

Edit 2: Unlike my boys Big Papi and Manny, who totally ... never did steroids while on the Red Sox ... ahem

sit high FB and just restart if you dont get an XBH in first AB

@CDNMoneyMaker93 said in TA catch up thoughts:

We know they are going to add moments to help people catch up which will apply to what ever stage you are in. What are your thoughts on what these could be?

To me these wont be quick moments I think they will more in line with actually games for example let use the Blue Jays

The moments could be beat the Blue Jays best squad (ala signature teams) in a 9 inning game. Then there would be beat a squad of AL east rivals in a 9 inning game.

The reason I make this case is based on the situation I'm in right now currently I have 14 teams left in stage one so if I move all of then into stage 2 I will get 52k in stubs and 84 TA packs I dont see SDS making these moments super quick just to allow everyone to collect on major stub and packs lots

Didn't they say in the 5th inning stream that the moments would be available at ANY stage of TA? I've assumed that people like us with teams at 100% will be able to do them as well.

Burnett is always good so i will low-key grind for him since I have Sheffield in my lineup and Sixto in my rotation (seems better than most of the TA3 pitchers and has a sub-2.00 ERA for me).

But first thing I did was grab Kerry Wood -- that 122 K/9 and hitting 101 on the gun looks hard to pass up, control issues aside -- then Smoltz

@SchnauzerFace said in One line Kerry Wood and John Smoltz review:

@Garet_Jax82 said in One line Kerry Wood and John Smoltz review:

@SchnauzerFace said in One line Kerry Wood and John Smoltz review:

That’s way more than one line.

If you ever try to trick me into reading that much ever again, we’re going to have a problem friendo.

lol. just the first one.

That’s deceptive. It’d be like if I said “$5 for this hamburger” and then after you started eating I told you it was $5 for the first bite and $2000 for the rest.

Say, since I'm furloughed at work that is not a bad business idea ...

Nice dude! And since I learned to stop caring so much about my rating or hitting WS and just enjoy games like this (and not rage quit as much) the game gets 100x more fun.

Keep at it, once you get Davis you're in for more walk offs

Also the obligatory: showdowns and collections (with bronzes or silvers) are the way to complete Team Affinity, not playing in ranked; tho if I'm making a line-up decision I'll err on the side of the dude whose TA points I need.

Nice list, though Smoltz and Wood should be reversed -- they're two of the only ones I have and have thrown them both 3 times, and Wood with his cutter seems top tier. Smoltz gets hit hard.

Dear SDS,

Despite all the haters this has been a really good year for the Show in my opinion. Yes there are issues with hitting especially, and since I do meter pitching it seems completely random -- sometimes you hang a curveball with perfect meter, sometimes the FB you miss completely winds up dotting the corner.

But there is a simple suggestion that I have for MLB 2021. Please, for the love of God, do not make an end game starting pitcher available at the beginning of the game. Especially one like Cory Kluber, who is just frustrating -- not overpowering, not interesting, just with juiced stats and three different fastballs who just entices 'good/okays' for no particular reason.

After talking on here about how excited I was for TA3 to diversify the pitching pool, today and tonight I played eight games between 700-850 and faced Kluber in seven of them. Of those seven I think I won five, so it's not that I'm griping because I lost. It's that I'm griping because facing Kluber, particularly on HOF, is just such a [censored] drag.

When I see that I'm facing Kluber, is my reaction "ooo, this will be cool" or "ooo, this is scary!," the way I feel when I see 97 Chapman. No, it's "ok, I'm going to get 2-4 runs and am going to have baserunners every inning, but for the most part I am going to square sinkers or be ahead of cutters and then get good/okays and hit into fly balls and double plays."

There is no surprise. There is no enjoyment. There is just the weak "yay" when the RNG gods deny Kluber's juiced H/9 stats on an inside sinker and it drops, and mostly just "ugh, whatever" when for the 10,000th time I strike out like twice in the game and mostly just hit weak liners and groundouts on balls I thought I squared up.

I've played about 280 RS games, which means that I've faced Kluber roughly 180 times because (I've started counting over the last 25 games or so) I face him -- at All-Star and at HOF level -- almost two-thirds of every game I play, either as a starter or late inning reliever.

It's just lame, guys. And it's no fun. And I'm hoping you drop some more juiced pitchers soon or I hope people start picking up some of the really good TA3 pitchers (note: Smoltz sucks, Orel good but overrated; Wood and Burnett are money).

Because what defines the experience of a game more than anything is the pitcher you're facing, and unlike in years past I know exactly what I am going to be doing for the next 30 minutes when I queue up a RS game: getting good/okays off Corey Kluber.

I'm bored, I'm gonna uninstall for a couple weeks and screw around with trying to learn guitar.

Maybe when I get back I'll get some variety when I play. But somehow I doubt it.

99 position players make fine rewards. You don't need to kill an entire year by putting a pitcher like Kluber in every game from the beginning.

(And no hate to Hal -- Hal is actually fun to face, because he's got good stuff and variety and is a challenge, unlike a boring frustration).

Fin.

I tend to clobber Kluber -- it's Hal that I'm lucky to get a run off -- but agree that this game seems like a Kluber/Hal hitting simulator. The more annoying thing for me is seeing Hal, Kluber, or BOTH out of the bullpen almost every game, which is deflating and more importantly seems to go against the spirit of a 'season.'

@DBBG1515 I think it starts when the 5th inning drops on the 26th

I've always used meter and gotten to World Series a couple times in 18 and 19, but it feels this year like meter pitching is getting punished hard. Just played a game with King Felix and EVERYTHING was drifting over the middle, even pitches with perfect timing meant to be high and outside. Overall it just feels like even the slightest miss in meter and there's like a 60% chance it will miss dead center.

What's the learning curve for analog and do people think it's worth it?

@Speedy44 said in Meter pitching getting punished HARD this year ...:

I need to switch as well. It doesn’t matter what I do I can’t throw a slider where I want it. Even when I get perfect release it just dies middle of the plate. I gave up ten homers In two ranked games this Weekend

This -- sliders especially just hang with the slightest bit off of meter that I barely use them now

my guess is what would have been the all star break, so second or first week of july.

ive been low key buying up LS cards with spare stubs lying around, seems like a good idea to keep a steady flow of investment (i'm still saving up stubs for a potential Tom Seaver drop tomorrow tho too)

@GiantsXLII said in 97 Aroldis Chapman:

I have $260k stubs. I'm going to buy this card. Is it best to buy as close to 3pm EST or a bit after release?

Prices will inevitably drop as more people get it and other cards come out -- I bought Greinke at like 80k from the last Ducks (well worth it, 1.89 ERA in 61 innings) and he's already down to 40k today.

@olivegarden2 said in My 5th inning predictions:

@AlexNYY28 said in My 5th inning predictions:

Judge, Manny, Griffey are my guesses.

Been dying for a 99 Judge for a while, would make sense since he wears 99. Manny wears 99. No idea about the 3rd so i threw Griffey in there,

I don’t think they will put a 99 judge in the game, maybe 96-97. 98 for Mookie since he won the MVP

Would love to be able to play as Red Sox Mookie ... sniff sniff ... sob sob ...

THEY TRADED AWAY THE BEST HOMEGROWN PLAYER SINCE TED WILLIAMS FOR SALARY SPACE!!@$@!OI$!PO@#I@!OP$I!@#$!@#