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Meg Rowley FanGraphs Chat - 4/16/19
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Big League Choo
2:24
The pitch framing fWAR adjustments have vaulted Brian McCann & Russell Martin ahead, by a smidge, of Yadier Molina in career WAR. All 3 are 35/36 and reached the bigs around the same time. Yet I feel like the general narrative has been that Molina is the superior player and the only one really discussed in HOF terms. Does the framing data change how you perceive these three backstops? Is Molina's reputation enhanced by having played for one team while Martin & McCann have bounced around a bit?
Meg Rowley
2:26
As a pitch framing appreciator, I'm all for defensive acumen helping to drive a HOF case, though I will leave it to Jay to carry the assessment from there: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/framing-the-hall-of-fame-cases-for-martin-...
Derek
2:26
Is Cody Bellinger really an MVP-caliber player right now or is he still riding some early season small-sample luck at this point?
Meg Rowley
2:28
I don't think he does quite this all year, but I'm pretty impressed with him. Seems to have added some good weight to the frame, the body composition looks good, and remember in the 2017 WS when he just could not pick up breaking stuff to save his life? That looks a lot better.
Big League Choo
2:29
It greatly pleases me when all major sports teams in a city share a color scheme. Pittsburgh is a fantastic example (Pirates, Steelers, Penguins, Riverhounds). Think of how much versatility fans get out of their clothing purchases! If I were Sports Tsar, I would mandate that an NBA expansion team in Seattle adopt a green/navy/silver scheme.
Meg Rowley
2:29
I will always be partial to the Sonics color schemes, and the Storm already go a different way than the rest of the city's teams, so I am fine with there being a basketball-specific exemption.
2:30
But generally, I agree.
Syndergaardengnomes
2:30
Why do so many bullpens look so bad this year?
Meg Rowley
2:30
It doesn't help that the ball appears to be pretty different.
jv
2:30
Kike Hernandez's name is not spelled with the accent. I get why people object to it, but including the accent is incorrect Spanish, as the accented vowel in the name is the i. If you want to include an accent to distinguish, it should be on the i. If you want to be sensitive to the accidental use of a slur, you should probably also be sensitive to the language of origin.
Meg Rowley
2:31
All of which can be solved by just using his full name.
Ethan
2:31
Should M’s fans be excited for our prospects? Shed has been killing it in Tacoma and Dunn has been having really good outings. Any other prospects I should be looking into outside of the top 15 or so?
Meg Rowley
2:32
He isn't outside the top 15, but Julio remains the most interesting guy to me. The assignment was pretty aggressive and I am really curious to see how he does.
2:33
Won't play as important a role, but I find Wyatt Mills interesting.
Eric and Kiley's M's list can be found here for reference: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/top-25-prospects-seattle-mariners/
Lots of Mariners questions today.
BK
2:33
Gendry for Iron Throne 2019
Meg Rowley
2:34
Hot take: the current hair cut is terrible.
Judge and Correa
2:34
I think we sometimes forget these people are, mostly, young men around the same age. Correa and Judge were talking about GOT on Instagram. I like that they mostly seem to like each other, as much as we seem to want them to hate each other.
Meg Rowley
2:36
I can't imagine what it is like to be a professional baseball player. I have a supremely strange job, and it is nowhere near as strange of a job as their job. Some of my very closest friends (like, as human beings, not as folks I say hey to at Winter Meetings) work for other outlets. Technically, they are competition, but there is so much to be said for finding people whose company you enjoy, and who like the same things, and know what the hell you're talking about when you describe your work day.
Hello
2:37
Thoughts on a landing spot for Blake Swihart?
Meg Rowley
2:37
I hope he goes to Tampa and hits a billion dingers (sorry, Zuni, but woof buddy do you need a breather).
Ethan
2:38
Do you have any advice for someone who wants to start writing about baseball?
Meg Rowley
2:39
Read. Read as much as you possibly can. Read and read and read. That way, when you start writing, you're familiar with the conversations happening in the game, with the research that has already been done, with editors expectations of what work is publishable. Read, and read, and read.
Nate
2:39
Do you prefer the Sonics old green and yellow/gold color schemes? Or the dark green/yellow/red ones like the Storm's? Not that the first ones were bad, but I remember being kind of bummed when they switched back from the second
Meg Rowley
2:39
I like them both, actually.
Jared T.
2:39
Is it as hilarious to you as it is to me that the Mariners have a reliever with "Sad" in his name? (And also, yikes @ his appearance in last night's game vs CLE.)
Meg Rowley
2:40
I want a jersey. I want a tattoo. It is everything I have ever wanted.
The Mariners have brought me great joy in my life, but baseball also helps me deal with human sadness in a low stakes way and so I love Sadzeck. May he pitch for 1,000 years.
Dave
2:41
When you attend a ballgame, do you try to make sure you're not notable for an observant writer to generate a column idea, or do you try to present colorful attire/behavior to help a fellow writer out?
Meg Rowley
2:42
I try to be as nondescript as possible when I am there as just a fan, because I know that I owe the internet a great debt for having goofed on other people's reactions for so long, and that I will surely have to settle accounts at some point.
There's a reason my twitter avi has me in a catcher's mask.
Brian
2:43
How is a spanish name without an accent an ethic slur? Am I missing something? It's not like everyone's keyboard has a bunch of vowels with accents on em.
Meg Rowley
2:44
It's easy to add accents from a keyboard (which, that's a good practice to get into anyhow, so that you're spelling the name properly) but uhhhh just think about it for a second?
Johnny5Alive
2:44
Can the Mets really win in spite of Callaway? I feel like he learned nothing from last year, and this team is going to spiral again.
Meg Rowley
2:45
The team has better players now, so they might just be ok. But also, imagine not wanting to use Díaz in high leverage spots.
Sanford
2:45
Just a heads up: Pete Alonso is still listed as "Peter" on his player page here, though he formally goes by "Pete" now.
Meg Rowley
2:45
I'll ask Appelman, but pretty sure this is how we're getting in data files, at least currently. Can take a little while for that stuff to get updated.
Johnny5Alive
2:46
He literally said "Diaz will only get three outs" during the regular season.
Meg Rowley
2:46
I know. It's goofy.
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