JotCast | Travis Sawchik FanGraphs Chat

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Slapshot

12:58

When you attend a baseball game in person, where in the stadium do you prefer to sit?

Travis Sawchik

12:59

Always the lower bowl because the new generation of ballparks has ruined the upper deck http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-new-generation-of-ballparks-is-push...

Guest

1:00

Do you think Kyle Hendricks's finger injury was hurting his velocity? When he comes back should I expect great things?

Travis Sawchik

1:00

Cubs hope it is as simple as that

David

1:00

If Kershaw opts out after next season how does that impact Machado and Harper? They would all be free agents in the same offseason.

Travis Sawchik

1:02

There is no question he should opt out, right? That's going to be the best FA class of all time, at least as far as top end quality. I think enough teams are probably eyeing it that their markets will be just fine

Wrister

1:02

I flipped Moncada and Cole for Trea Turner in our keeper league. Good deal or a little too steep

Travis Sawchik

1:02

Little steep

Simple Jack

1:03

Who do you like better coming off injury, Homer Bailey or Brandon Finnegan?

Travis Sawchik

1:03

Finnegan (I think). I love the stuff. Two great pitches if he can just improve that command a little bit

Tyler

1:03

Is it realistic to think the Astros could compete in the playoffs and not go after a front line starting pitcher? Keuchel, McCullers and Morton sound pretty good to me.

Travis Sawchik

1:04

Sure, if they're all healthy

Big Tuna

1:04

The fact that Homeland was on that list is insulting to the other shows. This was its first good season in four years.

Travis Sawchik

1:04

Homeland is great

Marichal

1:04

Do you expect Lewis Brinson to get it going this year, or does he get sent back down when Braun is ready?

Travis Sawchik

1:05

The tough think about this era of Trout/Kris Bryant/Lindor, etc (Gary Sanchez, lol) is our expectations for immediate success have been warped

Sean

1:06

This is your daily reminder that scouts/analysts nearly universally overlooked Paul Goldschmidt and now he's one of the absolutely best players in the game, maybe the best healthy player at the moment.

Travis Sawchik

1:07

Craig just wrote about him being the best player in the world right now ... So he's not overlooked at FG. It would be cool to see Goldy on an extended postseason stage

Coaching

1:07

How much of the Phillies' problems are rooted in coaching? Mackanin got extended and he doesn't seem to be getting results. Bob McClure just seems like a dope and the phillies young pitchers have really regressed.

Travis Sawchik

1:08

I have no idea, really ... but I do think coaching/development gets way overlooked compared to scouting. We put so many of the draft successes and busts in the scouts/scouting director

Matt

1:08

Regarding lower bowl vs upper deck - I'm a big fan of the upper deck. I think it gives a better angle of view than the lower bowl, AND tends to be much cheaper. Better experience-to-price ratio is gravy!

Travis Sawchik

1:09

I love Wrigley's upper deck, PNC Park's isn't bad ... but too many are too far removed from sights/sounds of the game in the name of luxury-box layers and no obstructed seating

Big Tuna

1:09

Homeland is Ryan Zimmerman: started off the career at the top, had some down years where it was irrelevant due to poor choices (injury), and now seems to be experiencing a resurgence.

Travis Sawchik

1:09

Most pro players would sign up for the Ryan Zimmerman career

baby bull

1:10

I understand pitch velocity does not correlate with EV, but EV correlates with hitters. So which hitter consistently adds the most exit velocity to the pitch velocity per type of pitch? I know a 75 mph curve and a 100 mph fastball can be hit for 105mph EV but who changes curveballs velocity the most, who changes fastball velocity the most.

Travis Sawchik

1:10

I see. I'm not sure that metric exists ..,.

Anon

1:11

Hot take: Fantasy questions, while easy to answer, are boring to everyone beside the questioner. If you do a poll there will be 80% agreement.

Travis Sawchik

1:11

Next week there will be a poll

capconstrained

1:11

Where do we stand on the Sanchez debate this week?

Travis Sawchik

1:12

Sorry, that post was set to self-destruct after seven days

Hatzis

1:12

There has been a rumor floating around over the last day or so that the Cardinals might be looking at Avisail Garcia. Just doing a cursory look at his numbers, I see that he's cut his K% a bit, but his BB% has also gone down and he's riding a .404 BABIP. Is there a reason for people to "buy in" on Garcia's career year? Any particular changes that might point to this really being a turning point for a 26 year old guy?

Travis Sawchik

1:13

I haven't looked too deeply but there does seem to be some buzz ... doesn't seem to be a great market for position players

Anon

1:13

If Yankees implode this year, could they become sellers again at the trade deadline, or have they already tasted too much of the sweet, sweet nectar of success?

Travis Sawchik

1:13

Too much nectar, and I don't see a reason for them to believe this team can't compete even if it cooled in July

Joe Douglas

1:13

(Re Fantasy questions.) Some are actually very interesting. They just can't be framed in the context of a team. Are the changes player x is displaying sustainable? That's a fantasy question.

Travis Sawchik

1:14

Interesting suggestion!

Joe gets the last word today.

There will more polling next week so the people can be heard

Until then, be good and do good

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