PudnerSports.com: February 2024

Thursday, February 22, 2024

Astros' Diaz Blasts Yankees in Statis-Pro 2024 Debut

As much as everyone loves Dusty Baker, I was among the Astros fans all year wishing he would pay some mind to stats and put Yainer Diaz in to catch instead of Martin Maldonado, who has the lowest projected OPS of any one currently on a 40-man roster.

Appreciate all Maldonado did to steady the staff previously, but by last year's playoffs it was time to make the shift to keep rallies going. We post all the baseball reference links below - but looking at last year's stats and knowing Diaz only projects to get better, you can see why it was no surprise Diaz was the hero of our first Statis-Pro baseball game of the season. (See all player cards here).

All Diaz did in our Statis-Pro baseball first game - the day Spring training starts - was to stroke a 3-run homer against former Astro Garrett Cole to put the Astros en route to an 11-4 blowout win, then deliver a 2-run double in the 9th inning of the second game to force extra innings, though the Yankees won that one 4-3 in 10 innings.

In the top of the 10th, Jose Altuve came as close to a go-ahead 2-run homer as possible when he had DEEP on this card, and then the random number for the drive was a 58. Yankee Stadium allows a homer on 11-57, so he missed by one, which is basically a deep drive caught by reaching over the fence.

Game 1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		F
Hou	0	0	0	5	0	0	2	4	0		11
NYY	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4		4

Game 2	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	F
Hou	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	3
NYY	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	4

Some notes in our first look at Statis-Pro cards based on the 2024 projections:

One reason for the Yankees disappointment last season was the stolen based coming back and the Yankees not having any speed. Shortstop Anthony Volpe does now give them AA speed at the top of the line-up, and led off the season by reaching and stealing 2nd.

The Yankees current bull pen has very weak Statis-Pro cards, just a couple of PB 2-7s. The rotation looks great, with Marcus Stroman the No. 4 starter giving them seven innings of one run ball before the bullpen blew the lead.

(For anyone new to the game, the pitcher's PB is the key to the game, with the elite 5% who are PB2-9 keeping the action in their card on all dice rolls of 2-9 so the hitter only has a chance of extra bases on a 10-12 roll). From best to worst a pitcher can be 2-9, 2-8, 2-7, 4-7, 2-6, 2-5 or the worst 2-4).

It was the first chance to see the Ryan Pressly (PB 2-8) and Josh Hader (PB 2-9) combo, but since the Astros trailed 3-1 and it appeared their might not be a bottom of the 9th in the last of a 2-game series we used them in the 7th and 8th. Lance McCullers Jr was then used in the 9th after the game was tied 3-3 since he could go multiple innings. We play all 2 game series and relievers can all pitch their inning in either game so I. This second game this was "use them or lose them" for Hader and Pressly. The "max innings" of 2 for them and most relievers really means to use just one inning, but they can pitch part of 2 innings if they come into finish an inning and then pitch a full inning.

Because we play a rule that each game counts as 3 games won 2 to 1 by the winning team, but swept if the winning team leads by 5+ runs after 8 innings without using their closer, the Astros officially are 4-2 and the Yankees 2-4.

Here are the links to the players who played in our game and some quick stats.

Minute Maid Park Deep: 11'-36=HR, 37-88=SF Hits AB Other RF Kyle Tucker 3 h, ab: 10 2b Jose Altuve 3 h, ab: 10 DH Yordan Alvarez 3 h, ab: 8 3b Alex Bregman 1 h, ab: 5 HR C Yainer Diaz 3 h, ab: 9 HR, 2-2B CF Chas McCormick 2 h, ab: 8 1b José Abreu 3 h, ab: 9 SS Jeremy Peña 2 h, ab: 9 LF Jake Meyers 2 h, ab: 8 3B, HR h, ab: Game 1 Pitchers IP h, ab: R Framber Valdez 7 ip, r: 0 W José Urquidy 1 ip, r: 4 Rafael Montero 1 ip, r: 0 ip, r: Game 2 Pitchers IP ip, r: R Cristian Javier 5 ip, r: 2 Luis Garcia 1 ip, r: 1 Ryan Pressly 1 ip, r: 0 Josh Hader 1 ip, r: 0 Lance McCullers Jr. 1 ip, r: 1 L h, ab:

Yankee Stadium h, ab: Deep: 11'-57=HR, 58-88=SF Hits h, ab: AB Other SS Anthony Volpe 1 h, ab: 8 2-SB LF Juan Soto 1 h, ab: 7 RF Aaron Judge 0 h, ab: 8 2b Gleyber Torres 4 h, ab: 8 HR DH Giancarlo Stanton 1 h, ab: 9 1b Anthony Rizzo 0 h, ab: 9 CF Alex Verdugo 2 h, ab: 7 HR 3b DJ LeMahieu 2 h, ab: 5 C Jose Trevino 0 h, ab: 6 11 h, ab: 67 h, ab: Game 1 pitchers IP h, ab: R Gerrit Cole 4 ip, r: 5 Jonathan Loáisiga 1 ip, r: 0 Ian Hamilton 1 ip, r: 0 Will Warren 1 ip, r: 2 Tommy Kahnle 0.1 ip, r: 3 Scott Effross 0.2 ip, r: 1 Cody Morris 1 ip, r: 0 ip, r: Game 2 pitchers IP ip, r: R Marcus Stroman 7 ip, r: 1 Clay Holmes 1 ip, r: 0 Clarke Schmidt 0.1 ip, r: 2 Chase Hampton 1.2 ip, r: 0 W

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

6 International Statis-Pro Teams Added to 30 MLB teams of Cards for 2024

In addition to setting up all 30 MLB teams and top free agents, with the Statis-Pro cards on these sheets, we added six international teams on the 3rd and 4th sheet to give the option of playing those games. At the bottom of the blog, we listed the top 6 pitchers and the starting line-up with baseball reference links to players on each of the six teams.

World Teams	Line-up OPS	Defense	C / SS only	Rotation ERA	Top 4 Relief
Americas	0.781	3.0	5.0	4.32	3.51
Cuba	0.791	2.6	1.5	4.14	3.69
Dominican Republic	0.831	3.0	3.5	3.67	3.28
Eurasia & Oceana	0.793	2.5	1.0	3.81	4.11
Puerto Rico	0.720	3.0	4.5	4.09	3.72
Venezuela	0.807	2.3	1.0	4.23	3.81

The last time we did this a few years ago the favored Dominican Republic defeated the Venezuelan team for the title. They are the two most loaded international teams again. Cuba and Puerto Rico were the other two countries to have enough players for their own team, though we need to let them use a 2-man rotation instead of a 4-main rotation.

We then combined the other international players into one team of other countries in the Americas, and then one other team for Eurasia and Oceana - which does give those two teams an edge over Puerto Rico and Cuba with so many more countries from which to choose.

The table above gives a basic snapshot. The Dominicans have the overpowering line-up again with a 0.831 OPS, but as you can see the only team that is far behind is the light hitting Puerto Ricans.

However, when you go to fielding the Puerto Ricans are far superior to everyone except the Americas (not American mind you as we don't use USA players in this). While the overall Clutch Defense is very close, when you focus on the key spots of Catcher and Shortstop those two are far superior. They have Victor Caratini behind the plate and then Francisco Lindor at shortstop, and then another shortstop in Carlos Correa at 2nd base.

The Americas players don't jump out as quickly, but the best rating (Clutch Defense 5) was won by both shortstop Xander Bogaerts and catcher Alejando Kirk.

When it comes to pitching the Dominican Republic has the clear edge with the most important 4-man rotation ERA of 3.67 edging the Eurasia & Oceana helped by strong Japanese pitching, and then by far the best ERA of the top four relievers for each team.

Below are the Cuban and Dominican pitchers followed by the line-ups for the Puerto Ricans and Venezuelans.

Americas	PB	ERA	K	Th	Born	Team
Jesús Luzardo	2'-8	3.82	23'-45	LHP	PE	MIA
José Quintana	2'-7	4.41	21'-32	LHP	CO	NYM
Michael Soroka	4'-7	4.56	26'-36	RHP	CA	CHW
Nick Pivetta	2'-7	4.50	28'-47	RHP	CA	BOS
Andrés Muñoz	2'-9	2.90	17'-44	RHP	MX	SEA
Jordan Romano	2'-8	3.53	22'-46	RHP	CA	TOR

Americas	Pos	OPS	OBR/SP	Bats	Born	Team
Jazz Chisholm Jr.	CF	0.764	A/AA	LP	BS	MIA
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	1b	0.871	E/C	RP	CA	TOR
Isaac Paredes	3b	0.802	E/D	RP	MX	TBR
Tyler O'Neill	LF	0.799	B/B	RP	CA	BOS
Xander Bogaerts	SS	0.778	C/B	RN	AW	SDP
Alejandro Kirk	C	0.77	E/E	RN	MX	TOR
Jonathan Aranda	DH	0.753	D/D	LN	MX	TBR
Joey Meneses	rf	0.743	E/D	RN	MX	WSN
Edouard Julien	2b	0.755	C/C	LN	CA	MIN

Cuba	PB	ERA	K	Th	Born	Team
Nestor Cortes	2'-8	4.02	24'-42	LHP	CU	NYY
Adrian Morejon	2'-6	4.26	24'-38	LHP	CU	SDP
Raisel Iglesias	2'-8	3.35	23'-48	RHP	CU	ATL
Aroldis Chapman	2'-7	3.32	33'-68	LHP	CU	PIT
Yennier Cano	4'-7	3.66	25'-41	RHP	CU	BAL
Daysbel Hernández	2'-4	4.43	22'-42	RHP	CU	ATL

Cuba	Pos	OPS	OBR/SP	Bats	Born	Team
Luis Robert Jr.	CF	0.81	B/B	RP	CU	CHW
Randy Arozarena	RF	0.8	B/B	RP	CU	TBR
Yordan Alvarez	LF	0.988	E/D	LP	CU	HOU
Yandy Díaz	1b	0.836	E/D	RN	CU	TBR
Jorge Soler	DH	0.784	E/D	RP	CU	SFG
Yoán Moncada	3b	0.733	E/D	SN	CU	CHW
Andy Ibáñez	2b	0.726	C/D	RN	CU	DET
Yasmani Grandal	C	0.702	E/E	SN	CU	PIT
Miguel Vargas	SS	0.743	B/C	RP	CU	LAD

Dominican Republic	PB	ERA	K	Th	Born	Team
Framber Valdez	2'-8	3.36	24'-41	LHP	DO	HOU
Luis Castillo	2'-8	3.46	23'-43	RHP	DO	SEA
Freddy Peralta	2'-8	3.77	22'-45	RHP	DO	MIL
Eury Pérez	2'-8	3.88	23'-44	RHP	DO	MIA
Jhoan Duran	2'-9	2.71	18'-43	RHP	DO	MIN
Bryan Abreu	2'-7	3.24	33'-64	RHP	DO	HOU

dominican Republic	Pos	OPS	OBR/SP	Bats	Born	Team
Julio Rodríguez	CF	0.841	A/AAA	RP	DO	SEA
Fernando Tatis Jr.	RF	0.871	A/AA	RP	DO	SDP
Juan Soto	LF	0.96	D/B	LP	DO	NYY
Rafael Devers	3b	0.881	D/C	LP	DO	BOS
Ketel Marte	2b	0.821	B/C	SN	DO	ARI
Marcell Ozuna	DH	0.8	E/D	RP	DO	ATL
Yainer Diaz	C	0.776	E/D	RP	DO	HOU
Willy Adames	SS	0.774	D/C	RP	DO	MIL
Elehuris Montero	1B	0.762	E/D	RP	DO	COL

Eurasia & Oceana	PB	ERA	K	Th	Born	Team
Shota Imanaga	2'-9	3.70	25'-42	LHP	JP	CHC
Yoshinobu Yamamoto	2'-9	3.80	23'-41	RHP	JP	LAD
Kodai Senga	2'-8	3.69	22'-44	RHP	JP	NYM
Yu Darvish	2'-8	4.06	24'-42	RHP	JP	SDP
Yuki Matsui	2'-8	3.34	21'-46	LHP	JP	SDP
Kenta Maeda	2'-7	4.29	26'-43	RHP	JP	DET

Eurasia & Oceana	Pos	OPS	OBR/SP	Bats	Born	Team
Shohei Ohtani	DH	0.915	A/B	LP	JP	LAD
Ozzie Albies	2b	0.813	B/B	SP	CW	ATL
Masataka Yoshida	LF	0.818	D/C	LN	JP	BOS
Seiya Suzuki	RF	0.817	C/C	RP	JP	CHC
Jung Hoo Lee	1B	0.773	C/C	LN	JP	SFG
Max Kepler	CF	0.77	C/C	LP	DE	MIN
Brendan Donovan	SS	0.762	D/C	LN	DE	STL
Rob Refsnyder	C	0.754	C/C	RN	KR	BOS
Curtis Mead	3B	0.719	D/C	RN	AU	TBR

Puerto Rico	PB	ERA	K	Th	Born	Team
José Berríos	2'-7	4.12	25'-41	RHP	PR	TOR
Fernando Cruz	2'-5	4.05	22'-47	RHP	PR	CIN
Edwin Díaz	2'-9	2.70	16'-47	RHP	PR	NYM
Alexis Díaz	2'-7	4.10	33'-56	RHP	PR	CIN
Joe Jiménez	2'-6	3.79	22'-48	RHP	PR	ATL
Jorge López	2'-4	4.29	25'-41	RHP	PR	NYM

Puerto Rico	Pos	OPS	OBR/SP	Bats	Born	Team
Francisco Lindor	SS	0.777	A/A	SP	PR	NYM
Willi Castro	CF	0.697	A/AA	SN	PR	MIN
Carlos Correa	2B	0.784	E/E	RP	PR	MIN
Jose Miranda	3B	0.74	E/C	RN	PR	MIN
Nelson Velázquez	RF	0.739	C/C	RP	PR	KCR
Emmanuel Rivera	1B	0.712	C/D	RN	PR	ARI
Victor Caratini	C	0.683	E/D	SN	PR	HOU
Heliot Ramos	LF	0.678	B/E	RN	PR	SFG
Javier Báez	DH	0.671	B/B	RN	PR	DET

Venezuela	PB	ERA	K	Th	Born	Team
Pablo López	2'-9	3.59	24'-42	RHP	VE	MIN
Ranger Suárez	2'-8	4.03	26'-37	LHP	VE	PHI
Martín Pérez	2'-7	4.45	16'-24	LHP	VE	PIT
Germán Márquez	2'-7	4.83	22'-33	RHP	VE	COL
José Alvarado	2'-9	3.31	18'-42	LHP	VE	PHI
Adbert Alzolay	2'-7	3.68	31'-51	RHP	VE	CHC

Venezuela	Pos	OPS	OBR/SP	Bats	ve	Team
Ronald Acuña Jr.	RF	0.987	A/AAA	RP	VE	ATL
Jose Altuve	2b	0.819	B/B	RP	VE	HOU
Gleyber Torres	SS	0.797	C/B	RP	VE	NYY
William Contreras	C	0.801	D/C	RP	VE	MIL
Luis Arraez	DH	0.796	D/C	LN	VE	MIA
Anthony Santander	LF	0.788	D/D	SP	VE	BAL
Wilmer Flores	1b	0.781	E/E	RP	VE	SFG
Wilyer Abreu	CF	0.753	C/C	LN	VE	BOS
Luis Rengifo	3B	0.741	B/C	SN	VE	LAA

2024 Statis-Pro Cards Ready - Play Now for Free!

While still in the heat of our college basketball season and the Value Add Basketball Game, the pitchers and catchers are back in baseball.

We have completed all projected Statis-Pro player baseball cards. You can click here for them in sheet form.

The first sheet is the batters for each team in a suggested batting order. The second is the same for the pitchers. We keep them in sheet form initially to catch any mistakes, or move the free agents (zFA) if they end up moving to a team. That way we can resort the page as key players are signed or move.

Here are a few screen shots of the line-ups for four of the most popular teams - the Braves, Cubs, Red Sox and Yankees. We are not sure when they will be merged into playing cards, but you can play with the sheets and we have a suggested line-up No. 1 to 9 and positions.

The only item missing is we do not have if batters or pitchers are left-handed for right-handed yet - those are actually the hardest things to dump. However, can play games now, but with no platooning or left-right advantage or you can look up players as you go with the following standard advantages:

Lefty pitcher vs. Lefty batter: 11-13 changed to OUT

Lefty pitcher vs Righty batter: 88 changed to single

Righty pitcher vs Lefty Batter: 88 changed to single

Righty pitcher vs Rightly Batter: 11 changed to OUT

The one addition this year is the team card, now at the top of the list of players, also includes the home run range if a DEEP drive is hit, with the other numbers being caught at the wall for a sacrifice fly with all runners from any base advancing. In scoring a game, a player only gets credit for a sacrifice fly if a runner scores, but we use the term to mean any player on base advances in this context.

Sunday, February 18, 2024

Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore and Top Free Agents - Statis-Pro 2024 Projected Pitchers

Click here for our 2024 Statis-Pro pitching cards (in sheet form) based on projected results for the 2024 season. You can click here to play the Statis-Pro game with either a few dice or fast action cards with random results. We are posting the teams alphabetically in 8 blogs, listing the our suggested 5-man starting rotation and then the best three relievers cards in the blog, along with the baseball reference link to each player. The google sheet lists more than 20 pitchers for each team, but each blog includes only the top 8 cards for each team with links to the baseball reference page for each one.

For those playing Statis-Pro baseball for the first time, they most important number for each pitcher is the PB rating - which determines if the action will occur on the Pitcher's card (the best 25 pitchers in baseball keep it on their card on a 2-dice roll of 2-9 with only a 10-12 on the batter's card, while any pitcher not projected in the top 275 MLB pitchers is a 2-4). The average card is a PB 4-7, which is exactly half of all combinations on the pitcher's card and half on the batter's card.

The worst result on a pitcher's card is a single, while all extra base hits are on the batter's card. The eight blogs are broken into the following - click on the link that includes a team you want to play.

Atlanta, Arizona, Baltimore and top free agents

Boston to Cincinnati

Cleveland to Houston

Kansas City to Miami

Milwaukee to both New York teams

Oakland to San Diego

Seattle to Tampa, and

World Series defending champs Texas to Washington

Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore and Top Free Agents - Statis-Pro 2024 Projected Pitchers