JotCast | Travis Sawchik FanGraphs Chat

Travis Sawchik

11:00

Do you watch Charlie Rose?

Yes (14.8% | 46 votes)

No (52.6% | 163 votes)

Never heard of him (28.1% | 87 votes)

I refuse to support public broadcasting (1.9% | 6 votes)

Other (2.6% | 8 votes)

Total Votes: 310

11:01

Team that will win the NL Central

Brewers (13.6% | 46 votes)

Cubs (77.9% | 264 votes)

Pirates (3.5% | 12 votes)

Cardinals (2.1% | 7 votes)

Reds (2.9% | 10 votes)

Total Votes: 339

11:05

Cody Bellinger's career HR total

Less than 100 (3.1% | 11 votes)

100-200 (3.1% | 11 votes)

201-300 (24.1% | 85 votes)

301-400 (35.8% | 126 votes)

401-500 (15.6% | 55 votes)

501-600 (8.5% | 30 votes)

601-762 (1.4% | 5 votes)

763+ (8.2% | 29 votes)

Total Votes: 352

11:07

Shohei Otani should ..

only pitch in the majors (9.6% | 33 votes)

pitch every fifth day and pinch hit (32.9% | 113 votes)

pitch every fifth day and start a few of games elsewhere (19.5% | 67 votes)

pitch once a week and start 3-4 games as he does in Japan (37.9% | 130 votes)

Total Votes: 343

11:08

Some polls for your enjoyment!

I will be back at 12 pm est for your questions

12:00

Howdy

Let 's chat ...

Jeb

12:01

What should the Pirates do with Cutch? Trade him at the deadline, trade him over the winter, or hold and see what happens?

Travis Sawchik

12:01

It's a tough one ... and complicated for what is reportedly a thin market, in terms of need, for position players

12:02

I think you could get something decent for McCutchen now, but I wonder if his value would be higher in the offseason if he can continue to rebuild public confidence in his ability to play baseball ... And I suspect a 4-win (or better) McCutchen in 2018 for the Pirates might be more valuable than what return they can get now

12:03

One question I think he has answered is that his club option ($14.5 million) for 2018 will be exercised

Porcho Villa

12:03

Eric Thames has looked atrocious since April. Do you share your colleagues' view that pitchers have adjusted and he's back to his pre-KBO form (albeit with a bit more patience)?

Travis Sawchik

12:04

There was going to be a punch back from the league, and I don't think Thames is Barry Bonds. But I do believe he's a much better hitter than the pre-KBO player and he will have better days ahead

PTBNL

12:04

Travis - I completely agree with you that it's time for the Orioles to start tearing it down, their window is clearly closing. But my O's fan friends are just as stubborn as Duquette, and insist that they've got World Series hopes this year and next. What will it take for fans and management to realize the ride is over and they're in for a tough 2019 and beyond if they don't start selling now?

Travis Sawchik

12:06

New ownership? And maybe a new contract for Duquette who, I believe, has only one year left on his deal .... That complicates matters. It might take a really awful July for the Orioles to consider a rebuild. And maybe that is the best thing that could happen over the next four weeks. The sooner the Os come to grips with reality, the better ....

CamdenWarehouse

12:06

I voted "never heard of him" despite having heard of him 15 minutes ago when I opened up your article. I hope you understand

Travis Sawchik

12:07

Charlie Rose is the man

There is not a better talk show on TV, imo

Joe Douglas

12:07

Happy Monday, Travis. When it is mentioned that Otani should only pitch in the majors, it seems this is always due to the difficulty of developing players and playing major league baseball. While I understand this argument and am sympathetic to it, couldn't small market teams appeal to Otani's (perceived) desire to due both. For example, "We can offer you the $9-$10 mil max allowed, and we will let you play both ways."

Travis Sawchik

12:09

Happy Monday to you, Joe. If I'm a small market team I'm letting Otani write his own script ... at least early on. One differentce between developing, say, a two-way amateur player and Otani is that, of course, Otani is already largely developed. I hope he lands with an open-minded team

Sterling Mallory Chris Archer

12:09

Why doesn't Gerrit Cole throw a 2seamer or a cutter? His fastball is so flat, I think if he learns to get some movement on his fastball he can become so much better.

Travis Sawchik

12:10

Well, he does throw a two-seamer, but he might be an arm who could benefit form a cutter. He has been throwing his changeup at a career-high rate, though I have not looked into the effectiveness of that pitch

Mark

12:10

If he keeps this up does Bellinger have a legitimate shot at MVP?

Travis Sawchik

12:11

If he keeps this up he's going to hit 60 homers this year, so, yes

Sonny

12:11

I misread the Cody Bellinger HR total question as 'this year' but I stand by my 100-200 vote.

Travis Sawchik

12:11

That's still pretty conservative

Gary

12:12

Is Bradley Zimmer not talked about enough? 128 wRC+ thru his first month or so, plus defender, etc. AL rookies are being shafted because of Judge!

Travis Sawchik

12:13

Zimmer has been really good, and he's solidified the glaring CF hole for the Indians, who, if you recall, were playing Lonnie Chisenhall in center earlier this season. It's another contender that doesn't have a huge position player need assuming Kipnis and Brantley start producing ... Zimmer has a chance to be Grady Sizemore Lite, which is pretty special

PTBNL

12:14

Biggest surprise/storyline of the season so far?

Travis Sawchik

12:14

Individual player? Judge .... Team? Brewers/Rockies/Dbacks have all been nice stories early on .... Overall? The continuing HR/FB surge

Vegan Man!

12:15

Is Conforto closer to his May version or his June version?

Travis Sawchik

12:16

I'm a big fan. Closer to his May version

Guest

12:16

Did everyone just completely whiff on the Giants true talent level? MadBum injury alone clearly isn't responsible. Is this the sort of season that you feel significantly changes talent level expectations or are they a team that could realistically contend for the playoffs next year?

Travis Sawchik

12:17

There were a lot of whiffs on the Giants. They are the sixth-oldest team in baseball, so there is perhaps some age stuff there in addition to MadBum ... We need a deep dive to see what exactly happened

curious

12:18

is it possible to look at old footage (say 40's 50's) and measure velocity that was faced then?

Travis Sawchik

12:19

Possible? I suppose it would be buy looking at pitch positions frame by frame and distance covered .... I am not volunteering for the task

Jeries

12:21

Who has more trade value, a meh Quintana or a possibly broken Rodon?

Travis Sawchik

12:21

I don't think Quintana's underlying skills have eroded at all so I think he still has a ton of value, and he's not broken. So Quintana, I think

Sonny

12:23

The NYT ran a piece yesterday chronically exit velo on historic HRs (Reggie in Tiger Stadium and Mantle off the facade) and presented the numbers w some authority. How comfortable are we saying those were 124 mph?

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