JotCast | FanGraphs 2023 Opening Day Chat

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Anonymous

3:02

It's honestly so insane that half the Astros all-stars got hurt in March and they still found a way to bat Kyle Tucker in the bottom half of their lineup

Boids

3:02

are there ballclubs that focus on mental health development in a significant amount?

Alex Eisert

3:03

A lot of teams have "mental performance coaches" or sports psychologists on staff.

Davy Andrews

3:03

I don't know any specifics, but I suspect that there is a huge disparity between the team that invests the most in it and the team that invests the least.

Alex Eisert

3:04

That's true too, Davy. Especially if a team were to hire me; then they'd be way ahead of the curve in terms of psychological analysis ;)

Davy Andrews

3:05

You hear that, teams? Alex Eisert will lead you to the promised land.

Alex Eisert

3:05

That's right

Kiermaier's Piercing Green Eyes

3:03

Now marks the annual tradition where I discover that the Rays had 100% turnover in the bullpen this offseason and everyone is named Chaysen or something.

Dan Szymborski

3:03

I forget the Peter Fairbanks Name joke someone made in playoff chat a year or two ago

3:04

something like you can generate your Rays reliever name by taking the first name of your friend with the whitest sounding name and your state capital

3:05

So my Rays reliever name is Jim Columbus

Boids

3:05

Mason Jefferson

Bobbo

3:05

George Austin. Tyler Sacramento.

Christian

3:05

with how positively players talked about WBC plus iconic moments like Ohtani striking out Trout do you think playing in the next WBC becomes a legit goal for all-star tier players?

Davy Andrews

3:06

I am cautiously optimistic about that.

Dan Szymborski

3:06

I certainlly HOPE SO

Well-Beered Englishman

3:06

Austin Austin

B'ryce Szymbobski

3:06

I am not saying G Rod *should* be in the minors... but if I'm trying to squeeze out every advantage possible, wouldn't I want to take my weaker starts early in the year when weather limits offense?

Alex Eisert

3:06

That's an interesting perspective. But G Rod will still be pitching in the minors, which will impact his innings limit, and he'll probably still be shut down by the end of the summer.

Dan Szymborski

3:06

And I think it works. If the Rays suddenly had a reliever named Tyler Sacramento who you never heard of with a 2.76 ERA, would you actually be SURPRISED?

John Denver

3:06

John Denver

Davy Andrews

3:06

Henderson with his second walk.

B'ryce Szymbobski

3:06

Kyle Austin def sounds like a rays reliever

Hildebeast

3:06

David Boston...who is an actual human

mike

3:07

tried to go on chatgpt and generate star wars baseball names, but signup is blocked for an hour for me. oh well.

Orioles2024

3:07

Kremer, Wells, and Bradish are all decent arms....GRod's time will come, but I think it was wise not to hand it to him like some golden child. But the "he kinda sucked" narrative is what gets me.

Alex Eisert

3:07

I agree that the argument to option him is nuanced and the argument about the narrative is not!

Yeah Well Hiura Towel

3:07

Best matchup of the day: Scherzer/Alcantara, Nola/deGrom, or did we already see it with Cole/Webb?

Davy Andrews

3:08

I'm taking Scherzer/Alcantara, just because they both have a better shot of going pretty deep.

Dan Szymborski

3:08

Here's the time I had the neural network generate new team names for each team.

Boids

3:09

re: Star Wars --Jett Bandy

B'ryce Szymbobski

3:09

Who. The. F. is Miles Mastrobouni?!?!

Craig W

3:09

Big base coming into play there at Fenway!

Yeah Well Hiura Towel

3:09

As a ginger living in Oakland I am thrilled with the Oakland Gingers!

Raffy Scoops

3:10

Assuming Red Sox rotation is fully healthy by May who goes to the pen? Paxton?

Davy Andrews

3:10

I suspect their performance in April will have a bearing on that decision.

Jfast

3:10

Interesting that Astros have Jake Meyers in starting CF spot on opening day, after McCormick's fantastic catch in WS G5 and his general above-average play over last two years

Alex Eisert

3:10

I get it, Meyers has the platoon advantage and while he struggled with the bat last year, he was coming off a shoulder injury and tore up the minors and still played good D in the majors.

Christian

3:10

I'm biased but I think people are sleeping on Bieber vs Castillo

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