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FanGraphs 2026 Opening Day Chat
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Eric A Longenhagen
5:52
just imagining little training wheels surgically inserted in his elbow. "Internal Brace" procedure.
bosoxforlife
5:53
Crochet is at 80 pitches, does he come out again?
Ben Clemens
5:54
I think so given that he hasn't been overly stressed today
Eric A Longenhagen
5:55
I'm peeking at our staff predictions for the first time
Guardian of the Ephemeral
5:55
Junior Caminero walked for the 3rd time today. With Williamson currently behind him, I expect a lot more of this and wonder if he can remain patient or will start getting frustrated. He's so young but also such an advanced hitter for his age.
Ben Clemens
5:56
we've repeatedly found that lineup protection isn't real. That said, Junior Caminero is going to keep seeing a lot of balls because he's one of the best power hitters in baseball and seeing him realize that just because he has elite bat-to-ball doesn't mean he has to swing is really impresisve
5:57
if I'm a Rays fan, I'm really excited about how it seems like he just keeps getting better, and at diverse things too
Chris J
5:57
Certainly feels like the Yankees are underestimated on the predictions post
Eric A Longenhagen
5:58
Pretty even.
Cole looked good yesterday fwiw. Weather more mixed, messier.
First time I'd seen Cole in person since Fall League
Ben Clemens
5:59
Crochet is out indeed. I suppose like you said, the sixth was a lot of work
Gust
6:01
I mean it kind of depends on what you're predicting for. Sure the Yankees are probably somewhat underrated, but whether it's fair or not it's not very fun to pick the Yankees. If any of the NL West teams were competent I'm sure they'd get a smattering of votes
Insert Witty Name Here
6:05
Ben - I thought someone here said that lineup protection isn't real for as a whole, however, it can be useful in small samples.  Example, you're not going to put Joey Bag O'Donuts after Judge instead of Ben Rice.
Ben Clemens
6:05
I'm not quite sure what to make of that. But I guess my point is that it's not affecting my evaluation of Caminero. Which is: he's good!
6:07
I think a general rule is that you have to pitch to guys more when there are men on base, or good hitters after them. So the better your team, the better pitches you get? But I dno't think it necessarily flows one way or the other more
Key Jangler
6:06
13 singles so far today for the Rays, 14 total hits.
AvatarJon Becker
6:06
And many of them hit pretty poorly, too
6:07
Nico Hoerner has a six-year deal with the Cubs, per Michael Cerami of Bleacher Nation and confirmed by ESPN's Jesse Rogers. Unclear as of now if it starts this year or next. Was going to be a free agent after the season
JD
6:08
You know, I mostly like checking reddit or other team boards and their respective game threads. It's good to hear what others are thinking. At the same time, they are often toxic in different ways. You have to sort through crap to hear thoughtful remarks. Of course, this is different. Folks are providing their thoughts or questions, while knowledgeable people that we pay money to are answering questions, staying away from toxicity and keeping a chat going. Has it ever been discussed that doing this more and/or hiring staff to do this thoughtfully would be a plus to the site and would be a reason folks would continue subscribing, potentially adding subscribers? I know folks work hard, which is why maybe more staff is needed, or could current staff also stop in once/week. I just think this is a good thing and if I'm following baseball, watching multiple games or maybe just my favorite team, this would be the place I'd like to chat about it.
Eric A Longenhagen
6:08
Noted, my chats are Fridays at 9 am PT. It's rarely during live big league games save for the occasional cubs game. We did more live hangout stuff during covid. I'm open to evening chats during certain times of year.
6:09
But yeah, replacing social media as the place to discuss thing in real time would be cool, though if it gets big enough the toxicity part of it probably creeps in whether you want it to or not. We get to chose what questions pop into the chat, so you get a curated experience, but we don't always.
Oaktown Blues
6:09
Eric, curious if you had a chance to see Breyson Guedez in the spring? For a guy who makes a lot of contact, I've been impressed with his EVs
Eric A Longenhagen
6:10
I love him. I'm going to stuff him. Looks like a late first round high schooler to me. Have him ahead of Montero pretty comfortably.
I saw Jump yesterday (shoved, he's gonna be up fast) and Lin today (mixed)
Ben Clemens
6:09
Yeah. I'd chime in to say that we actually have staff chatting a LOT. Nine regularly scheduled weekly chats
So like, this is kind of already happening
Tim
6:10
We all had Soriano outpitching Brown today, right? :D
Ben Clemens
6:10
Fun game, I am ready for the Jose Soriano All Star year
Eric A Longenhagen
6:11
Me too, remember that guy kicked around via the rule 5, seemed toast, and now is this
bosoxforlife
6:13
Absolutely 100% behind jd's comment. The chats are the best part of an already great site. There are no trolls here and the interaction between knowledgeable people, on both sides is terrific. More chats please, even once a month.
Eric A Longenhagen
6:13
And because I'm not on socials anymore, if you wanna talk this is the only place to do it.
Neat
6:14
I love Mike Trout
Gust
6:14
The only man who could take the MVP back from Judge, Mike Trout
JD
6:14
Respectfully Ben, it's not happening. I sincerely appreciate the chats but those are rarely if ever in real time with games. Those chats have a much different, and again great but different, feel than what this is.
Ben Clemens
6:15
Oh, I see what you're saying. Well, then probably not that likely. Like I said, we're already chatting a lot. Maybe we could replace those? But I think I speak for a lot of us when I say that we're chatting as much as we can already.
Eric A Longenhagen
6:14
Dying for Trout to be a Phillie
6:15
We can talk about Hank Fraley and the relative humidity. Best friends forever.
Go Crew!
6:15
Re: Yankees "underestimated". What exactly do they have that's better than the Red Sox or Blue Jays? Seems there is an inherent expectation that doesn't meet the reality of their lineup, rotation or bullpen in comparison to the others.
Ben Clemens
6:16
I mean, they have the highest Vegas line in the ALE, it's not crazy to say that objectively you'd expect them to have the most votes. But I agree, the point of the game is not really to pick every most likely outcome
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