JotCast | FanGraphs After Dark Chat

Paul Swydan

11:09

What is Tuesday's best matchup?

BOS (Sale) vs. TB (Pruitt) (14.6% | 20 votes)

COL (Marquez) vs. CLE (Kluber) (40.9% | 56 votes)

MIL (Garza) vs. MIN (Mejia) (0% | 0 votes)

STL (Wacha) vs. KC (Vargas) (4.4% | 6 votes)

LAD (Maeda) vs. ARI (Godley) (38% | 52 votes)

BAL (Hellickson) vs. LAA (Bridwell) (2.2% | 3 votes)

Other (0% | 0 votes)

Total Votes: 137

11:13

How many HR would Barry Bonds have hit if he had played one last season, in 2008?

0-5 (2.5% | 4 votes)

6-10 (0.6% | 1 vote)

11-15 (3.1% | 5 votes)

16-20 (15.4% | 25 votes)

21-25 (21.6% | 35 votes)

26-30 (27.2% | 44 votes)

31-35 (14.8% | 24 votes)

36-40 (8.6% | 14 votes)

41+ (6.2% | 10 votes)

Total Votes: 162

*** Tuesday, August 8 ***

Paul Swydan

9:02

Hi everybody!

One sec, still getting set up.

9:04

OK, let's do this thing.

Austin

9:04

Reynaldo Lopez had a great stretch from June-July, but his last three starts have been more pedestrian (15 IP, 8 ER, 9 BB). Cause for concern as he makes his White Sox MLB debut?

Paul Swydan

9:05

I don't think so. Rick Hahn spoke to us at Saber Seminar on Saturday, and he told the person who asked to "buy a ticket for Friday," regarding Lopez's debut. That was, at the time, a week away. If he wasn't worried dropping that hint/news, he's not concerned with Lopez's performance. And so I won't be either.

He also made it sound like Lopez was ready a start or two ago, but he didn't want to call him up at the time because he wanted to give Lopez a soft landing in his MLB debut in terms of opponent.

Cheese

9:05

How do you see the Dodgers handling their playoff rotation? Could they do regular starts with Kershaw and Darvish, then do planned 4ish inning split games with Wood/Ryu/Maeda/Hill? Or does one of their 7 legit starters get left off the playoff roster?

Paul Swydan

9:06

I haven't mapped out the whole staff yet so I don't want to say who gets left off, but I would assume the rotation is Kershaw-Darvish 1-2, and Wood-Hill in 3-4 in some order.

9:07

Can't see Ryu or Maeda starting if everyone is healthy.

John

9:07

Every home run derby you see stats such as player X has 23 HRs, he would have 21 in this park etc. Is there a way to figure out how many HR barry bonds would have had if he played every game in coors or yankee stadium?

Paul Swydan

9:08

I am not sure how far back you can go, but you should be able to do that with the overlays at http://www.hittrackeronline.com/

Of course, that won't be conclusive, but you can get an idea.

BTW, Jeff *should* be along in a little bit.

John Oleruds Helmet

9:08

If he had been healthy to begin the season, would the Sox have shopped Rodon? And if so what do you think his return would have been?

Paul Swydan

9:08

I don't think so.

9:09

He's still just 24, so he can be a part of the next great White Sox team. Also, the 4.04 ERA was probably enough to scare away at least a couple of teams.

ChatzMcGee

9:09

Andrelton Simmons is the third most valuable player in the AL by fWAR (second most by bWAR), where does this rank on the, "Holy Crap, Didn't See That Coming" Scale?

Paul Swydan

9:10

Pretty high, I'd say, but the potential was always there. All he had to do was learn how to hit. We just didn't expect it because glove-first dudes don't usually magically learn how to hit better.

John Oleruds Helmet

9:10

The Twins just promoted Stephen Gonsalves to AAA, with them basically admitting they aren't playoff contenders wouldn't it just be better to give him that development time in the bigs?

Paul Swydan

9:11

Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with giving him a month in Triple-A and then promoting him to the majors once the minor league season ends and major league rosters expand.

snid

9:11

re: Alex Wood With the recent stories relating to his drop in velocity, how much does missing a start actually help in regaining? I did see that he has regained some velocity with a mechanics change. thx

Paul Swydan

9:12

I don't have any data that says skipping one start will help him regain velocity, but intuitively, you would think it could only help to rest a bit.

Danny Almonte

9:12

How about how many HR would Barry Bonds have hit in his prime with today's ball?

Paul Swydan

9:12

Hah. I can't count that high!

Smoky Joe Wood

9:13

So Sale is good again. What's your view of the catcher theory?

Paul Swydan

9:13

When was Sale not good? Everyone has a bad start or two. If you mean what do I think about personal catchers? I think it's a bunch of nonsense. But if the pitcher thinks he gets a psychological edge from it, and he's the very best in the game -- Sale, Kershaw, etc. -- then I'll allow it.

9:14

The problem is when it filters down to the rest of the pitching staff. Have to nip that in the bud. Catchers aren't robots.

Zee

9:14

Acuna as the next Trout. Too pessimistic?

Paul Swydan

9:14

Um, yeah! How about Trout + Walter Johnson + Willie McCovey?

9:15

Swanson has been playing 2B in AAA... What on earth are they doing with him?

Paul Swydan

9:16

Sounds like they're just trying to get everyone in their crowded Triple-A infield some playing time - http://atlantabraves.blog.ajc.com/2017/08/08/braves-evaluating-how-cam...

Smoky Joe Wood

9:16

Would you agree that Pomeranz is having a better year this year than Porcello did last year?

Paul Swydan

9:16

Hmmmm....

9:17

It's close, but I think I'll still give Porcello the nod for now. Pomeranz is certainly trending in the right direction though.

SON OF CARSON

9:17

WHEN IS CARSON BACK!!!! HIS BASEBALL CHILDREN ALSO NEED HIM!!!

Paul Swydan

9:18

My sources tell me that Carson will be back in late August.

My sources also tell me that his baby is adorable. :-)

CubsNerd

9:19

What's your take on Domingo Santana? Got a ton of hype during his hot streak, but seems to have cooled. Is he a solid starter or something more?

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