OOTP: Where we stand after 4/12

There is one big story emerging from the OOTP simulation thus far. If you’ve been following, it should be pretty obvious, but if you haven’t - well, we’ll get to that in a minute. This is where the SimPhillies stand so far after two full weeks of baseball:

.500 ball, not that far behind in the National League East? I’ll take that. There are some interesting things happening here.

• Somebody break up the Twins and the....White Sox? Sure, why not!
• If those A’s keep falling to the basement like they are, Matt Chapman becomes a trade target, with any package being led by Alec Bohm.
• The Reds? The Reds! Of course, they did just feast on the Phillies...

So how is the offense looking overall?

Man, that’s not a good offense. All of the reserves seem to be hitting better than the regulars. Those injuries? Don’t worry about them - they’re only day-to-day things. You’re probably looking at Jay Bruce and wondering what got into him. Like I said, we’ll get to him later.

The pitching? Well, that’s a horse of a different color!

The bullpen has been very good, even something bordering on “competent”. Other than Jose Alvarez, there doesn’t look like there is much luck-based regression coming either. They’re striking men out and not walking them.

The same can’t be said of the rotation. They haven’t been good, but they also haven’t been bad. It’s just been kind of average. Nola, of course, is the one sore spot, but there are signs that it is something that he will be able to turn around in a hurry.

But let’s get to Jay Bruce.

This guy is absolutely crushing the ball. Take a look at the league leaderboards.

The man populates everywhere. A .552 wOBA? A .564 ISO?!? A 251 OPS+?!?!?!?!?

Were the season to end right now, he’s the clear cut MVP. It also creates a dilemma coming up. Andrew McCutchen is supposed to be back in a few days, but he’ll go on a rehab assignment. If nothing else, it’ll keep Bruce’s bat in the lineup. After that? We’ll just let it work itself out.

After taking a look at how everything is going so far, how would you grade the OOTP Phillies’ season so far?