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Jeff Sullivan FanGraphs Chat -- 3/23/18
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Jeff Sullivan
9:28
I think part of it is that teams now are looking for guys who can hit everywhere. You no longer find so many guys who are clearly defensive specialists or slap hitters. Home runs are more achievable, so everyone is expected to be able to hit home runs. Lifts up the floor
9:29
Minor aside but it's worth remembering it also used to be easier to rack up high home-run totals, because there was more contact back then. With strikeouts significantly elevated, there are fewer HR opportunities in the first place
JInx
9:29
Mike Trout struck out in his first at-bat against Ryu last night. Just thought you should know since a whole paragraph in your CF power rankings was about him not striking out.
Jeff Sullivan
9:29
Son of a bitch
This is precisely why I hate scheduling articles for the next day
Babe Lincoln
9:31
Anyone (other than Nimmo) on the Mets being underrated by the community?  If Bruce's swing changes from last year are real?
Jeff Sullivan
9:32
I don't know what there is to believe about Jay Bruce taking a step forward. He's basically a 110 wRC+ kind of guy. That's his talent level
9:33
I think the Mets as a general entity can get underrated because of lolmets. It's not that people are down on the individual players. There's just an assumption that something stupid is going to happen
John
9:33
Have you ever been to spring training? Would you rather go to Arizona or Florida for it?
Jeff Sullivan
9:33
Never been to Florida for spring training and god willing that will always be true
9:34
Not that I'm a huge fan of the Phoenix metropolitan area either, but the major advantage in Arizona is dry warmth and never a drive of more than an hour or so
In Florida, the teams are so damn spread out
Rickon
9:34
Is Luis Severino on the consistent Cy Young threat path? Elite K%, BB%, throws lots of first pitch strikes
Jeff Sullivan
9:35
Just a matter of health. The talent is all there but he is an obvious health risk because of the velocity and slider usage
Hae-Lo Dee
9:35
What's going to happen at first base in Seattle? At this point Vogelbach has to get at-bats, right?
Jeff Sullivan
9:35
Healy is going to get his chance, because that's been the idea all winter, but ultimately, Healy projects for 0 WAR, so it wouldn't be a surprise if Vogelbach emerges down the line
Bork
9:36
Bo Bichette will have a better career than Vlad Jr.
Jeff Sullivan
9:36
He might!
Brett
9:36
Will Acuna be a 20-20 guy this season?
Jeff Sullivan
9:37
The odds are fairly good, but the steals could be tricky; it takes time for even good young base-stealers to figure out opposing big-league pitchers, and if Acuna is conservative about his running, he might top out closer to 15 before moving ahead in future seasons
9:38
Billy Hamilton, of course, was confident stealing right away. But Acuna isn't Billy Hamilton. Look at Byron Buxton and how he took a while to get running
Erik
9:38
Should teams stagger their best starters so that bullpens don't have to work as hard on consecutive days? Second and third starters end up with the same amount of starts, so why not put your second-best guy third?
Jeff Sullivan
9:39
I think rotations naturally end up jumbled over the course of a year. You don't see a whole lot of the 1-2-3-4-5 starter order even though every starter has his own number
Mike NMN
9:42
How does luxury tax get calculated on players who are traded for in-season?  Is there a offset for the acquiring team if a player is injured and DL'd for the balance of the season?
Jeff Sullivan
9:43
I am almost certain that, for midseason trades, you just look at the prorated salary number
Meanwhile I do not believe there exists such thing as a DL offset. Payroll is payroll
Moltar
9:44
Conforto seems to be well ahead of schedule, but given what we know about the Mets and how they handle injuries, is that a good thing? I'm concerned.
Jeff Sullivan
9:45
If Conforto looks good, Conforto looks good. Every team gives players opportunities to return early, if their rehab goes well enough
Waylan Smithers
9:46
Do you buy Quintana's K% increase? I mean some should increase as a byproduct of going from AL to NL but I have a tough time seeing actual skills increasing? Could it just be having a better pitch framing catcher?
Jeff Sullivan
9:47
Quintana with the White Sox against position players: 24% K
Quintana with the Cubs against position players: 26% K
Barely anything to notice. After Quintana joined the Cubs, he faced pitchers 25 times, and he racked up 15 strikeouts. Those are cheap
9:48
I'm open to the idea that maybe the Cubs are able to make Quintana better, but, also, Quintana was already very good
THE Average Sports Fan
9:49
Mike Trout is amazing, but the Angels have generally been disappointing.  Lebron James is amazing and whatever team he plays for is a championship contender.  Why pay any baseball player big money?
Jeff Sullivan
9:49
Because the teams that don't have enough good players are terrible
And good players require big money
Carson Cistulli Sabathia
9:49
Brewers and Neil walker, what happened there? That seemed like one of the easiest matches
Jeff Sullivan
9:50
I think they simply don't see him as very good
9:51
Villar was a three-win player two years ago. Sogard, improbably, just had a .393 OBP. Walker's not much of a defender. Not a meaningful improvement
1234
9:51
Player who has impressed you the most in spring? the Least?
Jeff Sullivan
9:51
Absolutely love what Giolito has done
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