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Travis Sawchik FanGraphs Chat
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Travis Sawchik
12:01
Howdy, folks
12:02
Looks like a great afternoon for a baseball chat (at least from the location of Bay Village, Ohio)
Last week of the regular season .... Harper coming back ... And interesting AL Cy Young race ... Let's get to it
PF
12:02
Will you miss Jose Bautista?
Travis Sawchik
12:03
I will. I know he was polarizing but he was really the first guy to break from the conventional mold of hitting ... and began pulling everything to find great success. Smart dude
Prince S. Leia Fielder
12:03
Miguel Cabrera or CarGo for this last week? Both have been mostly terrible all season, both are nursing injuries, Tigers have nothing to play for so may bench Cabrera but the Rockies are facing basically all left handers. Am I just screwed?
Travis Sawchik
12:04
Yeah, I have CarGo in league and I think he has four LHP on the sked and the shoulder issue. I'd stay away from him
Rockie Dangerfield
12:04
All of a sudden, it seems like nobody actually wants the NL WC2.  Are the Diamondbacks just sitting around cackling to themselves about the NLDS shoo-in that the wild card game is shaping up to be?
Travis Sawchik
12:05
Well, the Diamondbacks still will probably only have like a 60%. chance to advance even by lining up their preferred pitching and with home field
What the Diamondbacks should lobbying for is immediate implementation of this ... https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/lets-improve-the-wild-card-round/
12:06
I love the KBO wild card round setup, and I'm surprised more commentators didn't like the idea
Prince S. Leia Fielder
12:07
Will J-Up J-opt out?
Travis Sawchik
12:07
With a 141 wRC+, I think he will
Moltar
12:07
They haven't announced game times yet, but I am already unhappy about daytime weekday playoff games. Why on earth would the sport want to air the most important games of the year at a time when the vast majority of viewers are unable to watch? How does that promote the game? How is that growing the audience of casual viewers? I understand the rich tradition of daytime baseball, but most of us consumers have daytime jobs to go to.
Travis Sawchik
12:07
And kids are in school .... I do like the idea of limited day playoff games, but save them for the weekend
Rick Ross
12:08
Is Salazar starting G4 for the Indians if its necessary?  Clevinger could actually face more batter than him in that game correct?
Travis Sawchik
12:09
It will be interesting to see how the Indians line up their pitching. In case you missed it, Clevinger is going to be in the bullpen for the postseason and the Indians also announced they will be employing a four-man ALDS staff, though it's not clear who the No 4 starter will be (Tomlin? Salazar?)
12:10
This is Clevinger's production over the last 30 days: 0.61 ERA/1.87/1.3 WAR
Only Kluber and Carrasco have been better on the staff
12:11
If Clevinger is used often in the bullpen in leverage situations, it could work but I'm not sure that role exists with  Allen, Miller, Smith and Shaw (Salazar?) already around
Rick Ross
12:11
Is Kipnis starting in CF and Urshela at 3rd for the Indians against a RHP in the playoffs?
Travis Sawchik
12:11
Urshela has received more 3B playing time over the last week ... And I do think Kipnis starts in CF
12:12
Urshela may never hit but that glove ....
billsaints
12:14
The Rays have a lot of starting pitchers again. Honeywell will be kept down to prevent super 2 I'm sure. Must be frustrating for him and management that they can't start their best 5...or can they?
Travis Sawchik
12:15
I think Honeywell sat in timeout because of that frustration. He's one of the best five options. I really wish the game would come up with something to replace Super 2. MLB is the only  major sport that artificially delays the arrival of young talen t
Well, I shouldn't say that as I know little of the NHL practices
Corey
12:16
Tanaka opts out, y/n?
Travis Sawchik
12:16
Yeah, I think so
12:17
So much money in the game and he'll be entering his Age 29 season ... and who knows if the elbow will hold up if he doesn't opt out
Robbie
12:17
Did you see the play by Simmons last night? I can't stop watching it: https://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/mp4/2017/09/25/1849183283/1506320...
Travis Sawchik
12:17
Woah
That might be worth of a post
E
12:19
Is Scherzer going to win the NL Cy Young? Anyone else have a case?
Travis Sawchik
12:19
He should be a runaway winner
Hunky Dory
12:21
Crazy that the second-best SP FA is a guy with a 5 ERA and a history of arm problems, no?
Travis Sawchik
12:21
I think the class is a little deeper than that http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/free-agents/starting-pitcher/ But if you want to avoid getting lost in the 2018-19 class, then this would be the better market to test
Robbie
12:22
Who do you have for the more contested races?
NL MVP, AL MVP/Cy Young
Travis Sawchik
12:22
Three fascinating races ... AL Cy Young is most interesting to me. Even the WAR data (fWAR vs. bWAR) cannot agree
ohioastrosfan
12:23
Looks like Houston - Boston for ALDS. In a 5 game series, do they pitch Verlander/Sale games 1 and then 5?
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