JotCast | Dave Cameron FanGraphs Chat

Dave Cameron FanGraphs Chat

Dave Cameron

12:01

Happy Wednesday. Let's go ahead and talk some baseball.

mike

12:04

who is a guy you are higher on that your colleagues are lower on? and vice versa?

Dave Cameron

12:05

Well I haven't polled all my colleagues, so I'm not sure I have a great baseline to compare against. But I get the general feeling that I'm higher than most people on Kyle Hendricks.

matt

12:05

Giolito an ace someday? how soon?

Dave Cameron

12:06

I'd say it's not a great idea to project any pitching prospect as an ace. There's just so much that can go wrong between dominating the minors and reaching that level in the big leagues.

max

12:06

do you see joey gallo fitting into the Rangers plans? if so, how?

Dave Cameron

12:06

With Beltre officially re-signed, he should stop playing third base immediately. With Mazara looking like a corner OF option and Choo's contract immovable, 1B seems like the best option.

Burts_beads

12:06

I can't get anybody to answer this question. Why is Jorge Posada usually the top searched for player on Fangraphs. Does somebody have a bot that's skewing the results?

Dave Cameron

12:07

We don't know. That's our theory.

tim

12:07

i know it's april but for fun, name 3 players you would begin to worry about?

Dave Cameron

12:08

Francisco Liriano, Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gomez

12:08

Dave, had an argument with a friend the other day about Stroman. He said that his 5.1 K/9 is concerning. I said its April and that he's not that type of pitcher. What says you?

Dave Cameron

12:08

Well the data suggests that he is a very low K pitcher, so your friend.

cory

12:09

which player has the best chance at not regressing, Segura, Maeda, or Fowler?

Dave Cameron

12:09

Maeda

12:09

Do you see Michael Saunders sticking in the leadoff spot for Toronto?

Dave Cameron

12:09

Would bet Travis takes over the job once he gets back.

Nate

12:10

I see a lot of folks suggesting baseball do something to increase offense in the game. Is there something realistic baseball could do, or should we just expect that it'll correct itself over time?

Dave Cameron

12:10

This rising velocity trend isn't going away. At some point, baseball is going to have to figure out how to help the hitters out.

Zorak

12:11

The Twins absolutely need to find some way to get Sano out of the outfield, right?

Dave Cameron

12:11

Long term, yeah, he's not an outfielder. But with Mauer hitting again and Park around, he has to play the field this year.

Rabbinical College Guy

12:11

Do you believe Greinke and Miller will pitch at some point like they did last year?

Dave Cameron

12:12

Greinke had the year of his life last year. He's never doing that again.

Zorak

12:13

So we've seen this Story story before, right? He looks exactly like Joc Pederson 2.0 to me, just at SS and not CF. He might hit 30 homers this year, but I have to think that K rate and OBP are gonna catch up to him.

Dave Cameron

12:13

Sure, there are plenty of parallels there. But Joc Pederson playing SS is super valuable.

gary meadows

12:14

Who is the greatest defensive player you've ever seen? (Didn't have to watch regularly, just in your lifetime)

Dave Cameron

12:14

Ozzie Smith.

Adam

12:15

Any explanation for the Blue Jays crazy K-rate so far this season? And should we be starting to worry a little bit about Tulo at this point? He hasn't hit at all since coming to Toronto and some of his at bats this season have looked really bad.

Dave Cameron

12:15

Don't think the strikeouts are a big deal, but yes, Tulo looks like a guy whose body is breaking down.

Guy

12:16

In your opinion, what is the best way to predict if someone is going to do well on a given day?

Dave Cameron

12:16

Their overall talent level.

Jacoby

12:17

What percent chance would you give Thor of winning a Cy in the next three years?

Dave Cameron

12:17

Better if he gets traded out of Kershaw's league, but I'd say 20% even if he stays in the NL.

12:18

What is your take on this Noah Syndergaard phenom? Are we watching a future multiple cy young winner?

Dave Cameron

12:18

The stuff is amazing. It's also worth remembering that we've never really seen a guy throw this kind of stuff over a long period of time, so we don't know how long it will last.

Jim

12:19

Any idea on the insurance ramifications of Panda being on the DL? How much money could insurance possibly save the Red Sox this year if Panda misses rest of year? Could it allow them to have more money to play with in trades?

Dave Cameron

12:20

I wouldn't assume that they have insurance on him. It's not that common for teams to take out policies.

Big Joe Montferrant

12:20

What record will be broken this year?

Dave Cameron

12:21

League strikeout rate, for like the eighth year in a row.

abqdodger

12:21

Fangraphs has been buying high on a comeback by Alex Wood, but the early results look pretty rough.