Following a Future Star

[STLCardinals]

In this dynasty, I will not be controlling any team, but I will follow the first pick of the Amateur Draft throughout their career. I have set the 'Draft Predictability' to -100%. I will only step in and make a move if I feel it is necessary.

NOTE: I am not taking credit of this idea of following a draftee throughout their career. I have seen a few others do this and I wanted to try for fun.
* indicates career in progress
**waiting list (will begin when some one retires)
1. Ricky Lewis (2B): .232 AVG. 5 seasons (2 full), 11 HR, 9 SB, with Minnesota Twins (Drafted #1 overall by Pirates)
2. Jake Michaels (SS): Drafted 5th by Royals in 2011* KCR (2013-2019) TBR (2020-2023,2024) NYY (2023,2025) SDP (2025,2026) COL (2027-2028) .266 career average. 85 HR, 1279 hits.
3 James Babcock (P): Drafted 11th by Marlins in 2015*
4 Brennan McClellan (P): Drafted 5th by Rangers in 2015*
5



If you would like to create a player for this dynasty, use this format (just erase my answers, its an example)
I will only follow three at a time

Name: Jake Michaels
Nickname:
College: Kentucky
Birth City: Colombus
Birth State: OH
Birth Country: USA
Position: SS
2nd Position (in order from best to worst, if they are same just write that in): 2B/3B
B/T: R/R
Height/Weight: 70/173
Birthday: 5/18
Age: 21

In order, list Contact, Power, Speed, Eye, Arm, Range, and Fielding in order from best to worst

Range, Contact, Arm, Speed, Fielding, Power, Eye

Personality:
Ambition: 15
Agression: -20
Camaraderie: 5
Charisma: 0
Community: 20
Drive: -10
Ego: -10
Greed: 5
Seriousness: 35

If it is a pitcher, use the same format except the hitting part. Instead...

In order, list Control, Power, and Movement in order from best to worst, or make them balanced.

Then choose to be better at hitting of defense, or make them both balanced.

[STLCardinals]

And the first pick of the 2011 MLB Draft is... 2B Ricky Lewis!

Ricky is coming off of a monster year at Clemson, where he hit for a stellar .447 batting average while also smashing 20 home runs. Lewis displays good contact, power, and plate discipline for a player of his age. He has a pretty good arm in the infield, but does not show great fielding or range. He also has had a small amount of injury trouble in the past.
Ricky is the only minor league the second baseman in the Pirates organization besides starter Neil Walker, so he may see some time in the majors before the 2011 season is over. He is already starting at AAA, which hopefully does not kill his development. Unfortunately, he does not show much experience at any other positions other than second, so that may cause him to stay in the minors longer.

[STLCardinals]

Well, the Pirates must have changed their mind about starting Ricky Lewis in AAA, because one day later, he was sent to A, where he played the rest of the season for the Bradenton Marauders. He was very successful at the plate, slugging 12 home runs, and stroking a .345 average. He also scored 57 runs, and drove in 56 in only 59 games. Another great stat was his .472 OBP. However, his defense was not great, as he commited 8 errors for a .962 fielding percentage.


Pirates:
6th place, 69-93

NL
MVP: Albert Pujols STL
CY: Cliff Lee PHI
ROY: Freddie Freeman ATL

AL
MVP: Adam Dunn CHW (58 HR)
CY: Carl Pavano MIN (21-6?)
ROY: Mark Trumbo LAA

Well some pretty outrageous AL winners....

World Champions:
Cincinnatti Reds

[STLCardinals]

Lewis tore up A-ball pitching in 2012, hitting 30 home runs and driving in 113. Despite the great season, he spent the entire season in Class A until the September call up, but he did not see any major league action. The Pirates drafted another 2B, Jesse Scanlon, however he is only 19 and was their 6th round pick so he is currently no competition for Lewis. Unfortuantely, at the deadline last year, the Bucs traded for Jonathan Herrera, who is ahead of Lewis on the depth chart.
Last year, Lewis's defense was not very good, but in 2012, he improved his fielding average to .975, and also showed greater range.

NL
MVP: Albert Pujols STL
CY: Johan Santana NYM
ROY: Brett Jackson CHC

AL
MVP: Justin Morneau MIN
CY: David Price TBR
ROY: Mike Moustakas KCR

World Champion: New York Yankees

Pirates: 82-80 2nd place

[STLCardinals]

Thanks! Like I said before, its not my idea though, but I hope this is staying interesting. I hopefully will make more players after this.

[STLCardinals]

2013 was another good season for Lewis, this time in Class AA. He drove in 100 runs again, and hit for a solid .291 average. However, with two MLB quality 2Bs ahead of him, he may not see much playing time in the near future.

[STLCardinals]

2014 was a very interesting year for Ricky Lewis because on June 11, he was traded to the Twins for Angel Morales and George Morrison. Now on the Twins, he is second on the depth chart behind Tsuyoshi Nishioka, but his contract is set to expire this off season so Lewis could potentially be the starter next season.
He has continued solid hitting, maintaining a .300 average, and also hitting home runs and stealing bases. His defense isn't quite there though, and he strikes out a lot (167 Ks in 481 ABs), but he has not peaked yet.

World Champion: Cardinals (yay!)

[STLCardinals]

Went ahead and simmed a few seasons because nothing was happening. The Twins signed many free agent 2B's, which moved Lewis down in the depth chart. He stayed in AA mostly, with brief stops in A and AAA. His fielding has not improved, and hitting is slowly getting worse apparently. Finally, late in 2018, he played in the majors. He played three games at DH for the Twins, going 4 for 10, and scoring 2 runs.

Not really worth a screenshot, he probably is nearing retirement, and he is only going downhill most likely.

[STLCardinals]

Right when it looked like Ricky Lewis still had a chance in the majors, a terrible thing happened. Broken wrist, out for ten months. Lewis was playing in AAA most of this season, and even played three more games at DH for the Twins, but now he will miss the rest of the 2019 season and likely the beginning of the 2020 season.
It also looks like if Lewis does make the majors, he will not play in the field often due to his below average defense.

[STLCardinals]

Ricky had another successful season in the minors, and did play a career high 11 games (all DH) in the majors this year. When in the majors, he has done fairly well, driving in 7 runs in just 11 games in 2020. His defense is still not good though, and that may be why the Twins won't put him in the lineup.

[STLCardinals]

Lewis started the season in the MLB, and started very well, until he ruptured his knee in late April. He missed May, and was in the minors for some time as well. in the end, the season was not great for Lewis, as he only hit .228 with 6 HR in 58 games (16 at 2B)

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Typical Quad-A player, it seems. Great AAA player, but just not quite good enough for the Major Leagues. He looked like he was gonna be a great player, too.

[STLCardinals]

Lewis once again spent part of the season in the majors, and performed decently. However, his strikeout totals are very high, and his defense (.962) is not great. He is listed at third in the depth chart for the Twins at second, and could start the season at the MLB level.

[STLCardinals]

Yep Ricky's getting boring... I will just sim the rest of his career right now without any more updates and make one final update.

[STLCardinals]

Simmed a few days and he retired....

Ricky Lewis, a former first overall pick from Clemson, was going to be a future star in the eyes of many. However, despite some good years in the minor leagues, he never panned out in baseball. He compiled 85 hits in 5 seasons, and had a career .232 batting average. 11 of those hits were home runs, and he also stole 9 bases in 10 attempts.

You'll notice that the last update has different stats for the 2022 season. This is because I forgot to save the game after that season so I re simmed.