Battling the Wee Bears: A St. Louis Cardinals dynasty

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This dynasty features the 2016 St. Louis Cardinals as they try to continue their long tradition of regular-season success and trips to the postseason.
Their biggest obstacle, the Chicago Cubs, the team which ousted them from the playoffs in 2015 and are a heavy favorite to win their first World Series since 1908 in October.
I think this is my first dynasty on OOTP, but I did three or four of them on Baseball Mogul. Many of these ideas I have taken from R12518 Mets' dynasty, so a tip of the Redbirds cap to him.


Rules:
I will be GM and Manager. I will set my lineup for every game and sim out the first five innings before taking over from there.
Injury Frequency: Variable by month of the season. (Explained in a later reply.)
Trading Difficulty: Hard and Neutral
Playoffs Structure will be traditional.
Three Division Winners and Two Wildcards.


To kind of spice things up, the AI Trading Frequency will be modified throughout the year.
April: Very Low
May: Low
June: Average
July 1-15: High
July 16-31 (Trade Deadline): Very High
August: Low
September: Low

Injury settings by month will be
April: Low
May: Low
June: Normal
July: Normal
July: Normal
August: High
September: High

This should make the AI keep players early in the season, and then simulate a crazy trade deadline period in July.

I will open the season with a major league roster identical to what the Cardinals brought north with them from Jupiter, Fla.
After that, the team belongs to me in terms of moves, lineups, pitching rotations, etc.


I hope to post box scores for all of my 162 games, plus standings at the end of each week and leaders every few weeks or so. It will kind of be trial by error as I get a feel for what I want this too look like and how much time I can devote to it.

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I have uploaded the preseason predictions, along with our positional depth chart, pitching staff, and a note from owner Bill DeWitt, as we prepare for our season opener against the Pirates at PNC Park.

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The Cardinals will open the season with three game road series against the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves.

[Sizeman21]

Finally, a Cardinals series here! I am a diehard fan so this should be fun.

One thing I will say is our main problem this season is pitching. Might wanna look into that. Offense can blast in runs easy and defense is...ok. Good luck!

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Game 1 - Pirates 8, Cardinals 4
Record/standings/GB: 0-1, 5th, 1 GB Pittsburgh
Key moment: The Pirates put together five singles in the bottom of the second inning of Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright -- Gerrit Cole, Josh Harrison and Francisco Cerdvelli earned RBIs with their hits -- to go up 3-0. An RBI single from Jody Mercer in the fourth made it 4-0
Player of the game: Cole pitched six innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He struck out five and walked two. He also drove in a run.
Game notes: Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright allowed five runs (all earned) in just four innings.

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Game 2 - Cardinals 2, Pirates 1
Record/standings/GB: 1-1, 5th, 1 GB Chicago Cubs
Key moment: After Randal Grichuk tied the game with a solo home run off Francisco Liriano in the top of the sixth inning, the Cardinals won it in the eighth when Matt Carpenter doubled with one out and scored on a two-out single from Yadier Molina off Jorge Rondon.
Player of the game: Liriano pitched six innings, allowing one run on four hits. He struck out eight and walked three.
Game notes: Cardinals starter Michael Wacha pitched six innings, allowing one run on eight hits. He struck out six and walked one.

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Game 3 - Pirates 13, Cardinals 2
Record/standings/GB: 1-2, 5th, 2 GB Chicago Cubs
Key moment: The Pirates chased Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia during an eight run second inning. Josh Harrison had an RBI single in the second and a triple with the bases loaded in the third. Gregory Polanco had a two-run single in the second, while Sterling Marte plated a pair in the same inning with a double.
Player of the game: Harrison finished the game 3 for 5 with a double, a triple, three runs scored and four RBIs.
Game notes: Garcia lasted just 1.2 innings, allowing eight runs on seven hits. He struck out six and walked two. Pirates starter Jon Niese allowed one run over six innings.
Series summary: Not good. The only game the Cardinals won, was the 2-1 middle game, and they managed just seven runs in the series. In games 1 and 3, the Pirates put up 22 runs against Adam Wainwright and Jaime Garcia. Offensively, Yadier Molina (.667) and Randal Grichuk (.400) are the only two regulars hitting above .300.

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The Cardinals travel to Atlanta next, for a three-game set with the Braves.

[MizzouRah]

Go Cards!

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Game 4 - Braves 5, Cardinals 1
Record/standings/GB: 1-3, 5th, 2 GB Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh
Key moment: Tied 1-1, the Braves took control pushing three runs across in the bottom of the sixth inning against Cardinals starter Mike Leake. Adonis Garcia drove in the first run with a single. A.J. Pierzynski chased home the other two with a two-out triple.
Player of the game: Braves starting pitcher Jhoyls Chacin pitched six innings, allowing just one run on five hits. He struck out six and walked one.
Game notes: After this loss, the Cardinals have five starters who are batting below .200.

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Game 5 - Braves 1, Cardinals 0
Record/standings/GB: 1-4, 5th, 3 GB Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh
Key moment: Atlanta got the game's lone run in the bottom of the first when Nick Markakis reached on a one-out single off starter Carlos Martinez. Markakis stole second with two outs and scored when Hector Olivera followed with a single.
Player of the game: Braves starting pitcher Williams Perez tossed 5.2 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits, while striking out six and walking
three.
Game notes: Martinez allowed just one run on five hits over seven innings. He struck out one and walked none. Kolten Wong and Brandon Moss are hitting .118 and .091, respectively.

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Game 6 - Cardinals 3, Braves 2
Record/standings/GB: 2-4, 5th, 2 GB Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh
Key moment: Tied 2-2 in the top of the ninth inning, Matt Holliday drew a lead-off walk from Atlanta reliever Arodys Vizcaino. He moved to second on a Yadier Molina ground out and took third when Matt Adams reached on an error by second baseman Jace Peterson. Kolten Wong then got down a bunt, Holliday beating the throw to the plate to scoring what was the game-winning run.
Player of the game: Starting pitcher Adam Wainwright went seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He struck out six and walked one.
Game notes: The Cardinals were able to salvage the series finale, but continued to struggle to score tallying just four runs in the three games. On the bright side, Martinez and Wainwright both turned in quality starts.
Roster note: Ruben Tejada has come off the disabled list. Aledmyz Diaz has been sent to Memphis.

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Week 1 standings and leaders

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The Cardinals open their home portion of their schedule with a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

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Game 7 - Cardinals 7, Brewers 5
Record/standings/GB: 3-4, 4th, 2 GB Pittsburgh
Key moment: Down 2-0, the Cardinals poured across five runs in the bottom of the third inning against Milwaukee starter Taylor Jungmann. Randal Grichuk drove in the first two runs with a no out double. The last two came on a two-out single from Ruben Tejada.
Player of the game: Stephen Piscotty was 3 for 5 with a double a home run and two runs scored.
Game notes: Making his first appearance since coming off the disabled list, Tejada went 2 for 4 with two doubles and three RBIs. ... Starting pitcher Michael Wacha pitched into the sixth inning, allowing five runs on nine hits. He struck out three and walked four.

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Game 8 - Cardinals 6, Brewers 5, 10 innings
Record/standings/GB: 4-4, 4th, 1.5 GB Pittsburgh
Key moment: A bases-loaded triple with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning by Scooter Ginnett off Kevin Seigrist allowed Milwaukee to tie it at 5-5. But the Cardinals won it in the bottom of the 10th when Kolten Wong reached on an errror by third baseman Jonathan Villar to open the inning. A Greg Garcia ground out moved Wong to second and he scored on a two-out single by Stephen Piscotty off reliever Ariel Pena.
Player of the game: Cardinals starting pitcher Jaime Garcia pitched eight innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He struck out six and walked one.
Game notes: Piscotty finished the game 4 for 6 with a double and an RBI. ... Matt Adams and Randal Grichuk both had three hits. ... Ruben Tejada hit a home run and is batting .444 since coming off the disabled list.

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Game 9 - Brewers 5, Cardinals 2
Record/standings/GB: 4-5, 4th,1.5 GB Pittsburgh
Key moment: Tied 1-1, the Brewers took the lead for good in the top of the third inning when Jonathan Lucroy reached on a one-out triple off Cardinals starter Mike Leake and scored on a Chris Carter double. Carter led off the sixth with a solo homer off Leake, pushing Milwaukee advantage to 3-1.
Player of the game: Milwaukee starter Tim Lincecum pitched six innings, allowing one run on just two hits. He struck out six and walked four.
Game notes: Mike Leake pitched 6.1 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits. He struck out seven and walked none.
Series summary: Good series taking two out of three games, with plenty of offense in the two victories. Putting Matt Carpenter back at the top of the order seemed to lend a spark and Stephen Piscotty had a big series. ... Got a good start from Jaime Garcia. ... Ruben Tejada came off the disabled list with a red-hot bat, coming up big in the two victories.

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The Reds come to Busch Stadium for a weekend series and an interesting note.

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Game 10 - Cardinals 3, Reds 0
Record/standings/GB: 5-5, 4th, 1 GB Chicago Cubs
Key moment: The Cardinals got the only run they needed in the bottom of the third inning when Matt Carpenter led off with a double off Reds starter Raisel Iglesias and scored on a Yadier Molina single. Kolten Wong had an RBI single and Stephen Piscotty a run-scoring double off reliever Tony Cigrani in the seventh inning, making it 3-0.
Player of the game: Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez pitched 8.2 innings of scoreless ball, before being relieved by closer Trevor Rosenthal. Martinez allowed just two hits while striking out 11 and walking three. Rosenthal allowed Cincinnati to load the bases with two outs, but got Jay Bruce to fly out to end it and earn his fourth save.
Game notes: Kolten Wong was 3 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI while batting leadoff.

[Sundance]

Nice start, looking forward to seeing how this develops!