JotCast | Jeff Sullivan FanGraphs Chat -- 4/15/16

Jeff Sullivan FanGraphs Chat -- 4/15/16

Jeff Sullivan

9:08

Hello friends

Let's chat already

Q-Ball

9:08

Fun Cub Fact: Cubs run differential right now is +43. That is more than the total runs scored of 22 teams.

Jeff Sullivan

9:09

I don't think juggernauts really exist in baseball, but this is what one would look like

People said our expectations of the Cubs were way too high. They're exceeding them! It's so stupid

Raindog

9:10

More surprising: Daniel Murphy has highest qualified wOBA in MLB or Russell Martin has lowest?

Jeff Sullivan

9:10

I guess the former is a little more surprising but how about Jeremy Hazelbaker in second?

9:11

I don't know what a Jeremy Hazelbaker is but last year in Triple-A he hit .333/.403/.594. This is all extremely Cardinals

Anthony

9:12

Should the Astros have sold high on Keuchel?

Jeff Sullivan

9:12

No, that would have been silly

Steve

9:12

Latos is looking good so far. How likely is a return to 2013 and prior form?

Jeff Sullivan

9:13

He's throwing 89 and he's not missing bats. We can wait to see how the arm strength builds up but right now I don't think he's more than a No. 5

Erik

9:13

Velasquez confirmed GOAT? Should we expect world series this year or next?

Jeff Sullivan

9:14

Fun fact: Phillies lead baseball in starting pitcher WAR. Second place is behind by a full win

John

9:15

What do you think of Tanaka's new approach using mostly two-seamers instead of his regular fastball?

Jeff Sullivan

9:17

His four-seamer blows, so it's not a surprise to see him move even further away from fastballs at all

9:18

It's possible the two-seamer and the splitter play best off of one another. The four-seamer might be too easy to identify (this is speculation)

Jaack

9:19

How many straight losses to start the season would it take for the Braves to seriously threaten the '62 Mets as the losing-est team of all time?

Jeff Sullivan

9:19

Let's look at this! Those Mets went 40-120

Let's say the Braves *should* win 40% of their games

9:20

You'd expect those 40 wins in 100 games. Sooooo...well based on this math the Braves would have to start like 0-62

9:21

Alternative route: they trade Inciarte, they trade Aybar, they trade Teheran, and Freeman goes on the DL for a while

This is all very sad

Art Vandelay

9:21

Padres have been shut out in 50% of their games, yet have still outscored the Twins 37-14, and oh yeah, have won a few games.

Jeff Sullivan

9:22

The Twins are an even bigger bummer than the Braves. At least Berrios struck out nine in five innings in his first start in the minors

9:23

We didn't give the Twins a lot of respect. And even last year they rebounded after a poor start to hang around. But there's a big difference between 1-6 and 0-9

Raeeth

9:23

Hey Jeff - I know you love the outdoors and hiking, not sure if you're a big camper/survivalist but if you haven't seen the new History channel show "Alone", it's unbelievably neat as a survival/humanity study. Few people from the show are from Oregon too which was kinda neat

Jeff Sullivan

9:23

I don't have cable but I'll see about tracking something down online. Thank you for the suggestion!

The Decadent Moose

9:23

Jeff Sullivan

9:24

I thought that would embed better. Anyhow, A+

Raindog

9:25

Did you see Ian Desmond do his best Jose Canseco impression? This has been a rough couple of years for shortstops trying to show that playing the outfield is easier.

Jeff Sullivan

9:25

Not that it really means anything but so far Desmond as an outfielder is at a DRS of 0

Gerardo Parra at -4!

Josh

9:26

Considering the injury to Chirinos, how likely do you think the Rangers may look to acquire Lucroy in April or May now rather than wait until the trade deadline? Do you think Brinson is completely off the table?

Jeff Sullivan

9:26

Problem with the injury timing: other teams don't want to trade regulars. I haven't gone through the history but how many trades of substance do you recall taking place in April and May?

9:28

You can get away with trades in the spring, but once the season starts, teams want to keep a product on the field for a while. It would be very disruptive for a team to trade the Rangers a good catcher right now. So they're probably kind of stuck

Maybe they could get ballsy and try to get Swihart from the Red Sox but I'm just sounding off here

Art Vandelay

9:28

As a Twins fan, I'm not even mad - just resigned to already being an also-ran. It's going to be a very relaxing summer.

Jeff Sullivan

9:28

Park: bad. Sano: bad. Buxton: bad. Can't even enjoy this in the slightest :(

Vasil v

9:29

Do you see jj Hardy going back to being very good offensively

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