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2020 OOTP sim: Suspension do-over?

Program wipes Dallas Keuchel's punishment away, plus other news and notes from our season so far
2020 OOTP sim: Suspension do-over?
2020 OOTP sim: Suspension do-over?

OK, this is plum nuts.

Remember a few games ago, a week ago in fact, when the White Sox opened a series at the Angels with six runs in the first inning? It was a madcap attack the Angels pitching staff, and what looked like a guaranteed win, one half-inning in.

Remember that, someone, the game froze and, upon return, rather than picking up in the bottom of the first, OOTP had me start the entire game over — and worse, the ANGELS were the ones mauling White Sox pitching this time around?

Well, turnabout is fair play. Somehow, although the entire second Rockies game (on Wednesday) was played and in the books, my OOTP program lost it! The White Sox are currently listed at 15-15, and as far as I can tell, Dallas Keuchel never lost his cool and hit Trevor Story with his second pitch of the game, catching both a black eye from a Story haymaker when he rushed the mound and a six-game suspension from MLB.

So, I've got a little catching up to do in our sim season, as well as a "do-over" recap to write. But first, some other news and notes around the OOTP sim world:

  • Rays shortstop Willy Adames got into a violent argument over balls and strikes with the home plate umpire on April 26 and was not only ejected, but suspended for three games.
  • Franciso Lindor was named the AL Player of the Week. He hit .458 (11-for-24) with three homers and seven RBIs.
  • Cody Bellinger was the NL Player of the Week, after going 10-for-24 (.417) with three homers and 12 RBIs.
  • Washington Nationals star Stephen Strasburg has had a rough season. He went 1-3 with a 4.94 ERA in six starts before getting shelved with a strained oblique. Now comes word that he's had a setback in his rehab, forcing him out for at least another week.
  • Gleyber Torres got off to a quick early start in 2020, hitting .455. But he's been out for a few weeks with bone marrow edema in his knee, and recently also suffered a setback in rehab. The Yankees started well, with Torres in the lineup, but stand 13-17 overall.
  • Royals reliever Jorge López is lost for the season after tearing his UCL in an April 25 game. López was 3-0 with 3.60 ERA this season.
  • Cleveland slugger José Ramírez will miss at least a month with a torn hamstring. He's hitting .353 with eight homers, 24 RBIs and 22 runs this season.
  • Clayton Richard, who started his career with the White Sox but was traded to the San Diego Padres in the Jake Peavy deal, retired on April 24. The 36-year-old was 1-2 with a 4.05 ERA for the Seattle Mariners this season.

And, in White Sox news:

  • The club ranked 16th in this past week's MLB power rankings, behind the Toronto Blue Jays and ahead of the Baltimore Orioles.
  • Jacob Lindgren, pitching for the Charlotte Knights, strained his forearm just four games into his season (12.27 ERA). He's out until June.
  • Codi Heuer, who OOTP was insisting pitch as a starter at Birmingham rather than the fastest-rising closer in the White Sox organization, will miss the season with shoulder inflammation. He started two games for the Barons, going 0-1 with a 6.48 ERA.
  • Lefthander Adalberto Mejía, who saw significant time in spring training before everything was shut down, pitched one game (one out) for Birmingham before being sidelined for a month with a strained elbow.
  • The weird news was that OOTP insisted Alec Hansen start in the minors. The good news is that he went 2-1 with a 1.98 ERA in four games with the Winston-Salem Dash. The bad news is that he tore the flexor tendon in his elbow and is out for the season.

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Brett Ballantini
BRETT BALLANTINI

Actor (final credit: murdered by Albert Einstein in "Carnage Hall"), musician (Ethnocentric Republicans), and Nerf hoops champion, Wiffleball aficionado and onetime bilingual kindergarten teacher, Brett Ballantini also writes about baseball, basketball and sometimes hockey, for the NBA, MLB, NHL, and Slam, Hoop, Sporting News, the Athletic, SB Nation and others. He was CSN Chicago’s Blackhawks beat writer when their 49-year Stanley Cup drought ended in 2009-10, and took over the White Sox beat after that. He currently is the editor-in-chief of South Side Hit Pen and beat writer for Inside the Rays. He also wrote a book about Ozzie Guillén but is running out of space, so follow him on Twitter @BrettBallantini and he'll probably tell you even more about himself than you ever wanted to know.

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