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August Fagerstrom FanGraphs Chat -- 7/5/16
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august fagerstrom
12:26
Any pitcher will be better in the bullpen than in the rotation
Jack C.
12:27
August, help me out here. My cousin and I have been in a heated argument for a month now about Tim Anderson. My cousin, an extremely emotional and irrational fan, says this guy is the real deal and will continue his hitting and continue to get better. "20/20 kind of guy". He also boasts about how better the White Sox offense is. But if you or I replaced Rollins or Saladino, the offense would have improved. Myself on the other hand, look at his brutal BB/K ratio and super inflated BABIP. I realize he should always have a high BABIP due to his speed, but he is going to digress, correct? I believe pitchers will figure him out relatively soon. Thoughts on Anderson?
august fagerstrom
12:27
Well, it should be a given that 30.8 K% and 0.9 BB% don't last in the majors
12:28
That being said, Anderson's got the perfect high BABIP profile, always posted extremely high BABIPs in the minors, so it's not unreasonable to think he could be a .360 BABIP type guy.
He's also still quite young in baseball years, being a late starter
12:29
I don't think what he's done thus far is a total fluke, but the plate discipline definitely needs to improve somewhat for long term success
If he could walk just like 5% of the time and keep the strikeouts closer to 25%, I think he could be a league average hitter
12:30
The Starling Marte profile with less power
t
12:30
Hi! How'd you feel about Tito using Bauer vs the Blue Jays in extras? Seemed a little silly to me and maybe he was worried too much about the streak. But then if he doesn't do that maybe they lose 3 of 4 instead of splitting.
august fagerstrom
12:30
I think you always manage to win the game in front of you. Worry about the rest next
You don't throw up any white flags during a pennant race
Tony
12:30
I think we need a prayer circle for all the 4th of July hangovers in this chat... Work is brutal today
august fagerstrom
12:31
I did the four days in New York with FG, four days in a cabin with all my best friends, then July 4 back in my hometown. My body is completely destroyed. Right there with you
Not to mention Cavs parade day
Haven't drank like this since college. Which, admittedly, was like 3 years ago
RABBINICAL COLLEGE GUY
12:32
Are you confident that Texas wins the west? Why or why not?
august fagerstrom
12:32
I suppose so, just given their lead
Am definitely not confident that they're the best team in the division, though
Erik
12:32
Is the Cubs carrying three catchers but using one predominantly in the outfield (first Schwarber, now Contreras) just one in a long list of Maddon innovations which may one day become mainstream, or just a reaction to specific circumstances?
august fagerstrom
12:32
I think it's a specific thing. They've got stars that play every day, and guys like Javy Baez and Zobrist give them more flexibility on the bench
12:33
AKA the ability to carry three catchers and still be able to cover the rest of the spots on the field
Ryan
12:33
Pineda Paxton Descfani
august fagerstrom
12:33
These are almost three names of major league pitchers.
CamdenWarehouse
12:33
Jose Reyes is returning to the Mets today. Instead of the normal questions or commentary, I will remind everyone that some of his teammates on the Mets include Roberto Alomar, Mo Vaughn, Jay Bell, Al Lieter, Tom Glavine, John Franco, and David Cone.
august fagerstrom
12:34
Always a fan of old baseball player names.
Q-Ball
12:34
Indians...wow. What do you think they need to add at the deadline to round out the club?
august fagerstrom
12:34
Jonathan Lucroy or Aroldis Chapman
12:35
Or a lesser catcher or lesser reliever
Those are the two areas of need
Jake M
12:35
With the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Astros, Tigers, Royals, Mariners all in deep contention for a Wild Card spot how realistic do you think the White Sox chance of stealing it is? I see their odds are about 16 % right now, would you go higher or lower than that?
august fagerstrom
12:35
I typically find little reason to deviate from the odds by a significant margin
Zonk
12:36
Of all the division leaders, what club do you think has the biggest gaping hole to fill before the deadline?
august fagerstrom
12:36
The Rangers and Orioles need pitching
Q-Ball
12:36
I wouldn't endorse it long-term, but I loved the Maddon OF-Pitcher switch thing last week. You?
august fagerstrom
12:36
I've been pretty out of the loop the last couple weeks to be honest, so I don't know the exact circumstances, but I'm always a fan of wacky Joe Maddon behavior.
Ben
12:37
Do the Orioles stay in the race in the East and who do you have taking the division?
august fagerstrom
12:37
They'll stay in the race, yeah, but I'd still put my money on the Red Sox taking the division with the Blue Jays and Astros making the Wild Card race interesting
Erik
12:38
"If you can get into the playoffs, you get into the playoffs." Interesting response. Do teams make moves to maximize immediate playoff chances? Sustained playoff runs over multiple seasons? Immediate World Series chances? All are slightly different and would lead to different actions, I would assume.
august fagerstrom
12:38
Hard to say, but I'd place the most importance on simply getting in
12:39
Could just be recency bias of these recent Royals/Giants/Mets teams
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