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Jeff Sullivan FanGraphs Chat -- 5/12/17
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Jeff Sullivan
10:00
I could see him getting a handful of turns down there. He hasn't been very good
biased white sox fan
10:01
when do you think we'll see the first somewhat major trade? before/after June 20th?
Jeff Sullivan
10:01
Probably right around there, actually. But to this point most of the teams expected to be bad have been kind of surprisingly good
Guest
10:01
Do you think the Cubs would trade for Cueto? What could the Giants get back for him?
Jeff Sullivan
10:01
I don't think this is something worth thinking about on May 12
Matt Carpenter
10:02
Am I going to hit 30 HR and have a .400+ OBP? I walk so much. I think its my lean as pitcher is in his delivery. Throws em off
Jeff Sullivan
10:02
You are another Jose Bautista
A poor man's version, I guess
weezy
10:04
any thoughts on Jordan Montgomery? He's getting a ton of whiffs, still not sure what to make of him
Jeff Sullivan
10:04
I actually think he's a little better than his peripherals, which I know sounds weird for a guy with such a low contact rate
10:05
But his walk rate is super high even though his strike rate is also better than average. I don't think he's as wild as the BB% would suggest
Very promising start to his season
JJP
10:05
Are the Dodgers playing games with the DL? Maeda goes on just in time for Ryu to come off?
Jeff Sullivan
10:06
What a coincidence!
Gabriel
10:06
Is Ben Gamel for real? Not this good but at least a good starting outfielder?
Jeff Sullivan
10:06
Good fourth outfielder
10:07
Although, you know, there are indications he's doing what everyone else is doing. More balls in the air now, and he's hit them pretty hard
10:08
I'll need to see more, but there are good things happening with that crop of position players
Alfonso
10:09
Generally, the sabermetric community is in agreement on major issues (Steroid guys in Hall of Fame, etc.). What do you think are the biggest issues that the sabermetric community is NOT in agreement on?
Jeff Sullivan
10:09
Chemistry stuff still isn't settled
Kevin
10:09
With pitchers throwing harder than ever, wouldn't there theoretically be a value in a soft-tossing reliever to "throw-off" the hitters' timing? I have to imagine it's difficult to adjust to a pitcher throwing in the 80s and 70s when you've just faced a pitcher throwing 95+.
Jeff Sullivan
10:10
I know there's been evidence of a related knuckleball effect, but then, that's with knuckleballs. That's a very different, unique sort of pitch. I don't think there'd be a huge effect from hitters just facing slower versions of the same pitches
I *do* think there's value in mixing in guys with funky deliveries. One of the reasons why I like the Orioles bullpen
Joe from the Bronx
10:10
What type of sample size do you like to see before you acknowledge that there has been a *permanent* change? Aaron Hicks, for example, has 225 PA (plus 70 ST PA) dating back to August of being legit. Is that enough?
Jeff Sullivan
10:11
I have issues with the concept of changes being permanent in the first place. Everything and every player is fluid
Hicks might've changed in one way, but then if pitchers change in another way, he'll have to change in *another* way. Cat-and-mouse, forever and always
Guest
10:11
Are you happy the Pens beat the Caps or would you have preferred to see the Caps?
Jeff Sullivan
10:12
Don't care, just happy to be in the ECF
And I'm friends with Caps fans and not friends with any Penguins fans, so while I'm sad they had to lose, I'm glad I don't have to hate them for a week and a half
Colin
10:12
Which team is most likely to foolishly "go for it" at the deadline? Twins? Cardinals?
Jeff Sullivan
10:12
The Cardinals are more actually good than the Twins are
Erik
10:13
True or false: if a player dominates immediately upon promotion to the MLB, he should have been promoted earlier.
Jeff Sullivan
10:13
False
JJP
10:13
Mike Leake - fantasy sleeper, mirage, or meh?
Jeff Sullivan
10:13
There's no way you're going to get me to talk about Jason Vargas *and* Mike Leake in the same chat
Not Sam Miller BP
10:13
You are doing a great job on Effectively Wild. Now that you've been doing it for a few months, are you enjoying it? Has doing the podcast changed the way you've approached or executed your writing? Do you think you will want to continue doing the podcast for the long-term? Or, like Sam Miller, will you get burned out and want to stop?
Jeff Sullivan
10:14
I definitely enjoy it and I look forward to chatting with Ben every time. The biggest adjustment has been handling the emails that come in. I've had to work hard to get over the guilt of not responding to every single email I receive
That part is a work in progress
Josh
10:14
What are your thoughts on the Dodgers' DL manipulation strategy? Is there really any legitimate way to counteract this?
Jeff Sullivan
10:15
Teams have manipulated the DL for basically ever, and it was inevitable that we'd see even more of that with the DL trimmed by five days. There'll be just enough checks and balances to keep things from getting *too* crazy, but baseball is pro-injury avoidance. And it makes sense that these injuries might not even be entirely fake. It's just, hey, guys get bumps all the time
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