You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Jeff Sullivan FanGraphs Chat -- 2/17/17
powered byJotCast
Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page
Guest
10:38
Game time... Once a plate appearance starts, a pitcher can legally pitch unless an umpire calls time. If a batter is out of the box, the pitcher will get an uncontested pitch. It doesn't change the structure of the game while giving pitchers and batters a big push to be faster.
Jeff Sullivan
10:39
I like the idea except that it shifts most of the power to the mound to dictate the tempo. All players do need short little breaks, and I don't think pitchers should be the ones in charge of all that
Bryan
10:39
Is the speed of the game really an issue? By this I guess the question is, is shaving off 10-15 minutes of game-play going to be the thing that magically brings in an untapped fan base?

I've never once met a person that said, 3:17 game is way too long but if you cut it down to 3 hours I'm all in.
Jeff Sullivan
10:41
I don't think baseball is going to double its revenue by making games 5% quicker, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be helped by trimming off some of the fat. I find that there is a meaningful difference between a game in 2:45 and a game in 3:00. Nothing wrong with eliminating pointless delays, even though doing that isn't going to reinstall baseball as America's actual pastime
Hannah Hochevar
10:41
Can you explain why the O's haven't signed any of the cheap-even-if-not-studly arms this off-season? Seemed an obvious need. Are they lowering expectations ahead of a tank/fire sale?
Jeff Sullivan
10:41
Wouldn't be surprised if they added an arm in ST, especially with the Tillman thing
Hector
10:42
Do you see Manny Machado reaching new heights this season? Perhaps he eclipses the 40-HR plateau or increases his walk rate. With him being 24 it is tough not to see another level, especially with his hard hit percentage increasing.
Jeff Sullivan
10:43
Machado is increasingly forcing pitchers out of the zone. The next step is to chase those out-of-zone pitches less often. Do that and there's not much left to accomplish
I'm not going to sit here and predict that Machado will improve, given his 13 WAR over the last two years, but it wouldn't be a shock to see him polish his discipline as he embraces being The Guy in the lineup
DTH
10:43
best season by a SP FA to-be: Cueto, Arrieta, Darvish, Tanaka?
Jeff Sullivan
10:44
Cueto
Tanner
10:45
Hey Jeff, Brewers fan here. Going off of your answer to Smokey's question--I'm loving what David Stearns has been doing the past year or so, and obviously I'd love for the Brewers to follow the Cubs' rebuilding plan as closely as possible. But, a big part of the Cubs' plan was to invest big into free agents, which the Brewers can't really afford. So generally speaking, what sorts of risks/outside moves does a small-market rebuilding team have to make to succeed, that a larger-market rebuilding team (Phillies or Cubs) doesn't have to?
Jeff Sullivan
10:46
Well, basically, the Brewers have to be as good as they can be at talent evaluation and development. That's it, because there's no making up for the resource gap between them and the Cubs. The Cubs could throw money at a problem if they wanted to. The Brewers can't, so they have to do so much more internally. On the plus side, the early signs are incredibly positive
KEONNNNNNNNNNNNN BROXTON
Bryan
10:46
Now that Scherzer appears to be hurt, Strasburg is a when-not-if injury, they have an even older Werth and Zimmerman and Bryce Harper isn't there for the long haul, is it time to blow things up and rebuild?
Jeff Sullivan
10:46
What? Heavens no. They're one of the best teams in baseball
The Nationals are so good!
Jim Lonborg
10:47
All right, I'll ask, since I know everybody loves minor transactions. Thoughts on the Giants signing Aaron Hill? Odds of his getting 250 major league PAs?
Jeff Sullivan
10:47
I don't get it. Play Hwang.
Luke Singsank
10:47
Do you see Jarrett Parker or Mac Williamson winning the LF job in SF or a full season platoon?
Jeff Sullivan
10:47
feels like platooning or some form of moving around is inevitable
Hector
10:47
Would you consider Josh Donaldson a late bloomer to the point where his age-31 season could be most players' 28-29 age seasons? His peripherals are still great.
Jeff Sullivan
10:48
If you're asking whether Donaldson is going to improve, no, I don't think so. But he is a late bloomer, and he is fantastic
Sum tin wong
10:48
Interesting idea for a Quintana to Houston trade. Quintana+ abreu for musgrove, martes, Tucker, guiriell, Cameron and reed.
Jeff Sullivan
10:48
Feels like too much from Houston
Mariners101
10:49
If you can bring back one old stadium with renovations in seating....Which one would you bring back for like one annual MLB game?
Jeff Sullivan
10:50
I don't know why but I loved Tiger Stadium. I have vivid memories of games in Tiger Stadium, so that's my first choice
mike sixel
10:50
Will I ever be able to go golfing again, or does the rain never stop here? As for the Twins, odds the SP is not one of the five worst staffs this year?
Jeff Sullivan
10:50
July through the middle of September are amazing!
Except lately Augusts have been too hot
sorry
10:51
I think the Twins can make it into the 20 - 25 range. Having a pitch-framer, at last, is going to help them
Granted, that would be value from the catcher, not the pitching staff, but we'll still be talking better K's and fewer walks
Guest
10:51
What are the chances Benintendi goes HAM this year and hits 20-25 bombs along with his great slash line/10-15 steals? Feel like it's so easy to imagine some of that gap power getting muscled over the fence
Jeff Sullivan
10:52
It is horrifyingly easy to picture Benintendi being amazing from the get-go. I'm probably overexcited
PL
10:53
What would your walkup / bullpen entrance song be?
Jeff Sullivan
10:53
my actual answer is
More of an entrance song than a walk-up song, but no right-minded team would ever have me take a plate appearance anyway
Jason
10:54
I really enjoyed your piece on Carter Capps. If MLB does determine that his illegal multiple hop delivery is in fact illegal, how is it enforced? Is such a pitch automatically a ball? What if the pitch is delivered and put into play? Please tell me we could see "do-overs" in a MLB game.
Jeff Sullivan
10:54
When Capps spent a stint in the minors, he ran afoul of an umpire who called a couple automatic balls. So that's what we would see in the majors, if Capps was determined to be in violation
Connecting…