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Jeff Sullivan FanGraphs Chat -- 4/27/18
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Guest
10:54
What's your current position on JaCoby Jones? Has he figured out something
Jeff Sullivan
10:55
I'm very interested in any young player who can so suddenly learn to make more contact. Jones needs more time, and he needs to face more good pitching, but he's one player on the Tigers worth keeping an eye on, for sure
Dookie Howser MD
10:55
Its almost May, so almost just barely too early for early predictions: who wins the NL East?
Jeff Sullivan
10:55
I'll still take the Nationals, but it'll be close
Baseball Yeti
10:56
How many eyebrows do you have raised while looking at the current Leonys Martin 'breakout?' Looks like launch angle is up.
Jeff Sullivan
10:56
He's done this before, and then it all fell apart
10:57
In early 2016, Martin was lifting and lifting with power, but then he got exposed. I don't think he's good enough to fend off a repeat of said exposure
10:58
He might've matured, though, since then. In 2016, he had continuing disagreements with the coaching staff about his swing and approach
Justin
10:58
Can you tell my fellow Yankee fans who jumped off the bridge a few weeks ago they can come back now? April.
Jeff Sullivan
10:58
They can't come back. They jumped off a bridge
10:59
Jumping off a bridge is a one-way street
Crouching Tigers
10:59
Am I wrong thinking the Tigers only have a handful of true major league talent currently on the roster; Fulmer, Castellanos, Miggy, Candelario, and VMart? They are a bunch of marginal guys after the 5 I just mentioned, do you see any of the guys listed above being around when the Tigers get good again?
Jeff Sullivan
11:00
To me, it's going to be a long, long time before the Tigers are good again. I'm not sure the current roster has a single core player to build around
I know they love Fulmer, for example, but that one would require a contract extension
11:01
Well, I'll take that back. He's under control through 2022. Anything could happen in 2022. But at the same time, anything could happen with a young pitcher who throws a bunch of sliders
Pat
11:01
Oh boy my Rangers are in trouble. Do you think they try to package Hamels, Beltre and a controllable RP at the deadline for better prospects? Can't imagine them getting much of value if they sell the parts individually
Jeff Sullivan
11:02
That's going to depend on various team needs. Can't really project those now. But I can imagine Beltre kind of getting the Ray Bourque treatment here, with the Rangers trying hard to trade him to a World Series favorite
Thornton29
11:03
How concerned are you about the Indians' offense?
Jeff Sullivan
11:03
Not concerned
They have baseball's lowest BABIP, by 16 points
11:04
Yet they're tenth in baseball in expected wOBA
Doesn't mean they can't get better -- Manny Machado would look good! -- but the lineup is strong
Len
11:04
As a Braves fan, how do I approach this season? Cautious optimism and rooting for young players to develop?
Jeff Sullivan
11:04
Root for wins!
Root, I guess, more specifically for wins driven by young potential members of the long-term core
11:05
But if the Braves end up going like 21-6 in games started by Anibal Sanchez, because Ryan Flaherty bats .433, who cares? Winning is winning
The Man With No Name
11:05
You wrote an article on Cingrani last September after some changes you noticed after he got to the Dodgers.  I haven't looked to see if the new pitch selection/location has carried over into this year, but the results sure have!
Jeff Sullivan
11:06
They fixed him. He's very good
11:07
Since last August, when Cingrani was acquired by the Dodgers, he's second among all pitchers in xFIP, behind only Chad Green
He's fourth in regular FIP
He's fourth in K-BB%
You know the top five in K-BB% over that span? Hader, Green, Kimbrel, Cingrani, and Jansen
11:08
My goodness
Vegan Man!
11:08
Matt Olson is hitting the ball extremely hard (15th in average exit velo), but his power numbers are suffering. Obviously he wasn't repeating a 41% hr/fb rate, but he's bound to increase his current 14.1% rate, yes? Thanks!
Jeff Sullivan
11:08
Yes; he is good
Someone with this skillset is better than a .132 ISO
Kevin
11:09
Is Didi finally a top 5 shortstop?
Jeff Sullivan
11:09
I'd put him...fifth. So, yeah, sure
Correa, Lindor, Seager, Simmons, Gregorius
And then Bogaerts in sixth
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