JotCast | August Fagerstrom FanGraphs Chat -- 12/29/15

August Fagerstrom FanGraphs Chat -- 12/29/15

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august fagerstrom

12:51

he lost a whole bunch of strikeouts last year and Steamer doesn't see him getting any of them back

Steamer also sees a jump in his home run rate

12:52

home run spike might be unfair, he only ever gave up 2 in the minors and he gets ground balls

he's never had a great swinging strike rate, so I could buy into the strikeouts not coming back

Tony

12:52

Is Marcus Stroman a future ace? He's a pretty small guy, but man he throws darts.

august fagerstrom

12:52

maybe not top-10 pitcher in baseball ace, but yeah, he could front the rotation of a playoff team

Q-Ball

12:53

Not sure I am as optimistic as you are on the Indians scoring enough runs. That assumes progression from Urshela, Napoli and Santana stay good, Rajai Davis doesn't suck, Chisenhall is OK, and a whole lot of other things that are not very sure things. To me, they are 1 injury or player decline away from disaster. Thoughts?

august fagerstrom

12:53

I think earlier I mentioned that I wasn't super high on them scoring enough runs either

I was arguing from the FO's perspective

Kylo Ren

12:54

The Cardinals have gotten significantly worse, right? Heyward, Lynn, Lackey--gone. Leake? Com'on. Molina needing a second surgery. Besides "Cardinal magic", what is actually looking up for them?

august fagerstrom

12:54

I mean they still have a pretty solid roster but I'm kind of in the same boat in that I'm more down on this Cardinals team than I have been in years

I think the gap between the Cubs and the Cards/Pirates is significant

Rookie/Mookie

12:55

Who is the better name?

august fagerstrom

12:55

Mookie, easy

the Rookie thing is going to get played out quick in his rookie season

and then after that it's just confusing/demeaning

Q-Ball

12:56

Jason Hammel had a lower FIP last year than Zimmermann and Cueto. He makes $9 mil. Yet every Cub fan seemingly wants to dump him. Recency bias? Or are they smarter than me?

august fagerstrom

12:56

well looking only at single-season FIP to evaluate a pitcher isn't the greatest, especially with a guy like Cueto, but I don't think that's your point. I think your point is that Hammel is just fine, especially as a 4th or 5th starter in a rotation fronted by Arrieta and Lester, in which case you'd be totally correct

Anon

12:56

Baez is playing cf in winter leagues.... Does this mean anything?

august fagerstrom

12:57

means he's athletic enough to play anywhere on the diamond and the Cubs would love for him to be able to do so

especially Joe Maddon

Anon

12:57

Kimbrel or Giles, which deal was more lopsided?

august fagerstrom

12:57

I'm not sure either one was lopsided, per se, but Kimbrel's haul was more impressive

Kimbrel is also more impressive, so

Bobby

12:59

Which young SP do you see making "the leap" into the discussion of the best pitchers in baseball? I was leaning towards Marcus Stroman, but i'm not sure he gets the innings. Thor is a good bet. Who does August Fagerstrom buy stock in?

august fagerstrom

12:59

can I pick Gerrit Cole? or is he already too close?

I think Danny Salazar could end up near the top

1:00

and on a lesser scale, I like Raisel Iglesias' chances to cement himself as a front of the rotation starter too

Biscuit

1:00

Yeah but aren't the Pirates basically planning on Glasnow coming up to take Vogelsong's spot?

august fagerstrom

1:01

in a perfect world, yeah, but I think the point is that counting on the 21-year-old with command issues to supplant the bad 37-year-old is less than ideal for a team that aims to contend

john

1:01

does anyone have interest in Jay Bruce? he seems like a blah player at this point

august fagerstrom

1:01

yeah, teams have interest

1:02

maybe less than the Reds wish, though

kind of the theme of their offseason

Copp

1:02

How much would you pay Dan Uggla to be your strength and conditioning coach? (you get to have a clause in the contract that he never steps on the field)

august fagerstrom

1:02

mine?

I don't really need to pay for a strength and conditioning coach in my line of work

Guest

1:02

Are the Yanks back in the mix for the east pennant?

august fagerstrom

1:02

sure

Copp

1:02