JotCast | Dave Cameron FanGraphs Chat

Dave Cameron FanGraphs Chat

Dave Cameron

12:06

Happy first Wednesday of the season, everyone.

12:07

Sorry for the late start. Cistulli is to blame, of course.

I'll go a few minutes extra to make up for his distraction.

Stevie

12:07

How much do you think Bundy adding his cutter will help him this season?

Dave Cameron

12:08

I think command is probably the bigger issue. Having a cutter won't change things dramatically unless he's back to putting the ball where he wants it.

Victor

12:09

It's august 2017, and the Red Sox are playing good baseball and leading the Al East. Their starting first basemen is (insert name here).

Dave Cameron

12:09

I'll guess Matt Adams. He's a Dombrowski kind of player.

Erik

12:09

Who will produce more career WAR: Byron Buxton or Manuel Margot?

Dave Cameron

12:10

I'll take Buxton, but without a ton of certainty.

Philip

12:10

Who is a team you are way higher on than zips/steamers projections? And one you are lower on? I am liking Pittsburgh

Dave Cameron

12:12

In general, I don't think the projections are that far off for any team that it's wise to be "way higher" on any one team. I'm more optimistic about the Yankees than most, but part of that is that they have a huge ability to add in-season, and so it's not that I'm disagreeing with the projections as much as I think their roster could change dramatically.

Erik

12:12

Why is Kyle Hendricks behind John Lackey in the Cubs' rotation? Seniority? They don't actually think he's worse than Lackey, do they?

Dave Cameron

12:12

I'd guess workload.

And rotation spots don't really matter.

James

12:12

Do you think Gallo sticks once Beltre returns?

Dave Cameron

12:13

Probably not.

Kyle

12:13

Michael Feliz a great reliever in saves+holds leagues? Can he be a poor mans Dellin Betances?

Dave Cameron

12:13

He's like the fifth best reliever in that bullpen. So, no.

If he was somewhere else, maybe.

Jason

12:14

With more and more early extensions being signed by players, what are there ways the union can help reduce the amount of money left on the table?

Dave Cameron

12:14

We're actually seeing a decline in early extensions relative to a few years ago, and by a lower tier of player. A couple of years ago, we had guys like Trout signing away their arb years; now it's PIscotty and Odor.

Pretty Tony

12:15

Why do some organizations have consistently weak aspects of their team year-in and year-out? As a Tigers fan, the team has had a middling-to-bad bullpen for the last ten years. Is it organizational philosophy? Stubbornness? It seems like if you know where your team was weak the previous season, you should do something to address those weaknesses.

Dave Cameron

12:15

I think that's part of what got Dombrowski fired; his velo-above-all-else pitching philosophy didn't really help him identify good RPs.

Ned Yost

12:15

McCullers looked fantastic last night. 61 strikes out of 86 pitches. 3 of the 5 hits allowed were infield singles. 7 Ks to 2 BBs. Maybe you do know a little about baseball.

Dave Cameron

12:16

To be fair, you don't have to know a lot to know that a guy with a mid-90s fastball and a plus curve has potential.

Seymour

12:16

Are there any other 25 and under trios that are in the majors now, that you'd take over Sanchez/Bird/Judge?

Dave Cameron

12:17

Bryant, Contreras, and Russell.

12:18

And probably Harper, Turner, and any random under-25 guy on the Nats.

Trout's still 25, so him and two young Angels fans.

Colin

12:19

What does knowing a pitcher's rpms on a given pitch tell us that a scouting report doesn't?

Dave Cameron

12:20

High spin pitches get whiffs, low spin pitches get groundballs. They're complementary. If you tell me a guy throws a 97 mph four-seamer, I want to know whether it's a high-spin pitch or not, because if it's a four-seamer that doesn't miss bats, that's not as attractive.

Tom

12:21

Did dbacks finally find a role Bradley can thrive at? Possible closer?

Dave Cameron

12:21

Why waste him at closer if he can be an effective multi-inning guy?

This is the perfect year for AZ to experiment a bit, and he's a great option to try in that 2-3 inning role.

Grant

12:21

Since Dombrowski came to the Red Sox, 4 of the pitchers he's acquired (Smith, Thornburg, Pommy, Price) have been injured. I know you have no inside knowledge here, but do you think this is a result of a blind spot in Dombrowski's evaluation or just bad luck?

Dave Cameron

12:22

Bad luck, mostly. Can't really blame him for Preller withholding information about Pomeranz.

Smith was a high injury risk, but the price reflected that.

JJP

12:22

Your thoughts on Otani posting after this season?

Dave Cameron

12:23

Unless he legitimately doesn't care about money, he should wait until after next year.

Tyler

12:23