Oakland Athletics: The best baseball simulation team
The Oakland Athletics have been perhaps the most dominant team in baseball this season — at least in virtual simulation form.
The Oakland Athletics have dominated the Baseball-Reference, Strat-O-Matic, and ML BotBall baseball simulations thus far in 2020. They have a combined record of 36-17, which ranks as the highest win total and best winning percentage (.679) in Major League Baseball.
The prediction for the Athletics season had them as a 93-win ballclub, and they have been playing even better than projected in baseball simulations thus far and are leading the American League West in each simulation.
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Baseball-Reference
The 14-4 Baseball-Reference Athletics have taken the Out of the Park Baseball 21 world by storm and MVP candidate Marcus Semien has been doing it all. The 29-year-old shortstop is atop the majors in home runs and total bases along with being fourth among position players in WAR.
In terms of pitching, Sean Manaea (4 GS, 3-0, 2.05, 24 strikeouts) and Chris Bassitt (3 GS, 2-0, 2.21, 21) have three quality starts apiece this year. Closer Liam Hendriks has thrown 10 innings of scoreless baseball and has four saves on the young season.
Strat-O-Matic
The 13-5 Strat-O-Matic A’s have been almost as successful as they have been on Baseball-Reference.
Semien has been playing almost as well, as he ranks 10th in the AL in home runs and hits. Matt Olson is also getting in on the fun, as his four home runs and 12 runs batted in rank 14th and 19th in the AL, respectively.
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The bullpen has been the team’s best asset of 2020, as Hendriks, Chris Bassitt, Joakim Soria have combined for 24 scoreless appearances. Meanwhile, Manaea (4 GS, 2-0, 1.07, 29) and Jesus Luzardo (3 GS, 2-0, 1.96, 19) have been the anchors of the pitching staff.
ML BotBall
Although the ML BotBall Athletics have just a 9-8 record, they also lead the AL West.
Olson and Mark Canha, each with seven home runs this season, rank second in the AL and third in the majors. Olson also ranks second in the AL and third in the majors with 18 runs batted in.
The A’s pitching has been led by Hendriks, who has an MLB-leading seven saves.
Upcoming Schedule
The A’s finish their seven-game homestand with a four-game set against the Seattle Mariners before heading to Cleveland, Houston, and Texas on a nine-game road trip.
The only of the four teams with a top 10 combined record in the three simulations is the Cleveland Indians, who are 32-21.
Next. San Francisco Giants/Oakland Athletics Simulations: Welcome to the new normal. dark
Note: Baseball-Reference and Strat-O-Matic standings and statistics are through games on April 14. ML BotBall standings and statistics are through games on April 13.