2018 World Series Game Two Live Chat

7:52
Craig Edwards: Welcome everyone. We’ll get things going in a moment, so keep the questions coming, but first a poll.

7:52
Craig Edwards:

Who wins tonight?

Dodgers (46.1% | 36 votes)
 
Red Sox (53.8% | 42 votes)
 

Total Votes: 78
7:57
Dan Szymborski: GRAVY FRIES

7:57
Dan Szymborski: I like opening with a non sequitur.

7:58
Dan Szymborski: We are hear for the base ball match. Thank you all for joining us on your telematronic typescribers.

7:58
Bjorn from Swedish Sex Dungeon: How many “The Price is Wrong” headlines if Price scuffles?

7:58
Dan Szymborski: I swear we’ve already had like ten thousand.

7:59
Dan Szymborski: It’s too easy for editors. Make ’em have to do some Szymborski headlines, let’s see the NY Post deal with that name.

7:59
Benny and the Mets: Hey guys, thanks as always for doing these chats. They always seem to make the fall classic that much more enjoyable!

What odds do you give for a Dodger’s starter to go over 6 innings this series? Same question for a Red Sox’s starting pitcher

7:59
Dan Szymborski: I think you’ll have at least *a* starter go 6 innings.

8:00
Dan Szymborski: Dodgers had Kershaw and Buehler go seven in a start in NLCS, no?

8:00
Bjorn from Swedish Sex Dungeon: How is this only Game 2?

8:00
Dan Szymborski: Yesterday was game 1! Not many people know this, but they always start at game 1 and go incrementally by one game from there.

8:01
Japes: It is a strange feeling (especially as a Sox fan) to find A-Rod likeable…

8:01
Dan Szymborski: One of the curious happenings the last few years is the flipping of A-Rod and Jeter in feeling among baseball circles.

8:01
Super Benintendo : Cats!

8:01
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Dan, cat update?

8:01
Craig Edwards: I always like A-Rod as a heel, and he’s making a good reversal.

8:02
Dan Szymborski: At last check, Galileo was asleep on an upstairs couch, Cassiopeia asleep in the crow’s nest of her tall tower thing, and Mercutio was hiding because he heard a fire truck a few hours ago.

8:02
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Craig, human update?

8:02
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: *IF* the Dodgers win today, it’s best-of-5 and they have home field advantage. Advantage LA if so?

8:02
Craig Edwards: I’m doing fine. Dog by my side.

8:03
Dan Szymborski: I had ’em a slight favorite in 7, they don’t lose ground if they break serve tonight.

8:03
Bjorn from Swedish Sex Dungeon: Who is the biggest free agent that the Red Sox and Dodgers will sign this offseason?  Let’s exclude any re-signings.

8:03
Dan Szymborski: Maybe some Bartolo talk!

8:03
Jsto: How will last longer: Price or Ryu?

8:03
Dan Szymborski: Price.

8:03
Devil Ray Jay Johnson: Pick one:  Los Angeles chili or Boston chili?

8:04
Dan Szymborski: Boston might put beans in it, but LA would put some really weird stuff.

8:04
Hank: Given that Price has virtually no L/R platoon splits in his last 3 healthy years and his success in his last start relied on change-ups, are the Dodgers too focused on handedness with their lineup?

8:04
Craig Edwards: i think the Dodgers also have a few starting pitching advantages coming up, which helps.

8:04
Dan Szymborski: Remember, the platoon splits are for the hitters too. Like Ryan Howard, you’d still expect him to hit worse against a lefty with worse paltoon splits.

8:04
Josh R: I could make a compelling case that all 8 Red Sox runs last night were courtesy of lousy Dodger defense. Of course this is more fuel for the Kershaw post season narrative. Anyway, it’s a bad look for, who knows, Kershaw’s last Dodgers start.

8:05
Dan Szymborski: No way it’s Kershaw’s last Dodger start.

8:05
Dan Szymborski: If Dodgers are down 3-0, there’s no way Kershaw doesn’t start Game 4.

8:05
Nate: Kershaw struggles: Better not say a damn word.
Price struggles: go apeshit.

8:06
Dan Szymborski: I dont’ remember all those festive colors shooting out of second base!

8:06
Killer B’s: Why don’t outfielders ever switch positions based on handedness of the batter when there’s a large disparity in quality of outfield defender? Perfect example, when this series goes to LA have Benintendi and JDM swap corners when there’s a hitter at the plate with a significant pull side tendency to get the better fielder on the side more likely to have a batted ball.

8:06
Dan Szymborski: I think the corner outfielders would murder the manager by the end of April

8:06
Craig Edwards: I think having someone run 100 yards to a different position might negate any advantage.

8:07
CamdenWarehouse: when was the last year Bartolo wasn’t the biggest free agent?

8:07
Dan Szymborski: A Sabathia year?

8:07
Super Benintendo : I think Cora has seemingly been a little slow to pull Portello at times this season … might he be the best bet for the Sox’s Six as Sale did not make it yesterday?

8:07
Assistant to Mr. Betts: Who is the biggest pending free agent that the two teams should keep?

8:07
Dan Szymborski: I think it’ll depend somehwat on the state of the bullpen.

8:08
Craig Edwards: I’ll say Kershaw and Eovaldi.

8:08
AT: Why do people think Jackie Bradley jr is a bad hitter?  He was basically average among AL CF and among all CF.

8:08
Super Benintendo : Wow. Porcello. My bad.

8:08
Dan Szymborski: You going to jail. Spelling jail.

8:08
Dan Szymborski: Nobody gets out of spelling jail. Still have Cal Ripkin and Mark McGuire fans in there.

8:08
Super Benintendo : So … jale?

8:09
Curt Schilling: I was totally asked to throw the first pitch but couldn’t. I am very busy, you know.

8:09
Craig Edwards: I’m actually going to write about this sometime soon, but when Bradley has slumped, he’s been really bad and it drags down his numbers. His career numbers and the past two seasons with the bat just aren’t that good. He’s a good player with defense and baserunning and just against righties, he’s a 4-win player pretty easily.

8:09
Biz Marquis : Can Kerry Woods be a warden in spelling jail?

8:10
John: Does JDM actually have an influence on BOS batters like every gushes about? Seems a bit much…

8:10
Dan Szymborski: He’s well-liked, but like most things, it gets over-exaggerated by broadcasters.

8:11
Dan Szymborski: The starting lineup video package really needs to have Puig bat-flipping.

8:11
Super Benintendo : Mookie likes ‘im.

8:11
CamdenWarehouse: Smoltz wouldn’t be able to talk after watching Puig flip a bat

8:12
Hank: What inning do we get the Mookie bowling reference?

8:12
Dan Szymborski: 2nd

8:12
Craig Edwards: If I were an announcer I think I’d mention it every time he came to the plate. Speaking of strikes…

8:13
Blake the Rake: Bradley has excellent contact quality, good speed, and fairly normal GB/pull tendencies according to statcast, but was horribly victimized by BABiP this season. .340 xwOBA on the season.

8:13
Planet Dust: You guys remember when there was that video of Puig after he got caught speeding and he was berating himself 1) in the third-person and 2) using his last name, e.g. “You’re such an IDIOT PUIG!!” ?

8:13
Craig Edwards: yep. he got unlucky.

8:13
Dan Szymborski: I don’t remember! And this seems like the thing I would remember.

8:13
Dan Szymborski: Bradley had that long stretch of not hitting at the start of his career that people remember, plus the fact that he hasn’t replicated 2015/2016.

8:14
Super Benintendo : Not that he strikes out often .. but there is a good turkey joke in there somewhere….

8:14
Dan Szymborski: So to a lot, he feels like a guy he can’t hit since he’s been disappointing compared to expectations at most points.

8:14
CamdenWarehouse: Turner’s back foot is out of the box on the plate side and I guess the ump doesn’t care?

8:14
Craig Edwards: Mookie Betts is going to become a father close to Thanksgiving. Speaking of turkeys…

8:14
Dan Szymborski: Umpires have a lot of responsibility and you can’t expect them to be “umpiring” at all times of the night!

8:14
Mike: Joe buck continues to believe that the team with the highest walk rate, lowest swing rate and highest pitches per pa in MLB are an aggressive bunch of hackers because they hit 235 home runs

8:15
Joe: I once got kicked off of Jim Bowden’s MLB network radio show when I said “no wonder so many teams fired you” after he said Puig was better than Ken Griffey Jr.

8:15
Dan Szymborski: Well, that *was* a bit mean.

8:15
Hyperbolisyllabicsesquidalimysti: Strike zone already noticeably larger tonight

8:15
tommy: who has the best beard in the world series?

8:15
Craig Edwards: Outside corner could be big here.

8:15
Dan Szymborski: Weird thing is that it is more a beard series than a mustache series.

8:16
Tyler: if price gets that call all night he will do great.

8:16
Dan Szymborski: You can do worse than have Tom Glavine as your deity.

8:16
Craig Edwards: Price’s beard looks a little better tonight. Was a bit more uneven last time out.

8:16
CamdenWarehouse: that’s because people under 40 shouldn’t have mustaches

8:16
5 Run Homer: Sandy Leon’s beard is objectively the best

8:16
Super Benintendo : We haven’t had a good moustache series since the 70s, folks….

8:17
Dan Szymborski: Axford’s made the playoffs.

8:17
Mike: Ryu also lives on this corner that price is getting

8:17
Tyler: Red Sox have have good history with beards

8:17
Srhkthew2: Amateur. I was once asked to leave the MLBN studio because I just kind of showed up there.

8:17
5 Run Homer: I miss Carlos Villanueva’s ‘stache

8:17
Craig Edwards: He had a good one.

8:18
Dan Szymborski: Baseball uniforms fit these days like I was the tailor.

8:18
carrotjuice: I love Pearce danced around while catching that pop up.

8:18
Craig Edwards: Solid first inning for Price. I’m interested to see how Ryu does. He wasn’t awful against the Brewers, but he wasn’t particularly good either. He didn’t face too many lineups as good as the Brewers or Red Sox during the regular season.

8:18
Dan Szymborski: Was Pearce wearing that yesterday? I don’t remember.

8:19
Dan Szymborski: On his face.

8:19
carrotjuice: Mikolas has a pretty fantastic ‘stache.

8:19
Super Benintendo : Pearce has a ridiculous nickname (per Players’ Weekend): Late Lightning.

8:19
Neil: Still weird to see Red Sox with #5 and #24 not have them be Nomar/Manny

8:19
John: Are conditions similar to yesterday?

8:19
Dan Szymborski: It’s 10 degrees colder today.

8:19
Dan Szymborski: 43 in Boston right now.

8:20
Dan Szymborski: It was 53 at gametime yesterday, despite Buck/Smoltz going on like they were just shipwrecked on the HMS Erebus.

8:20
Tyler: No he was not Dan.  It is a lot colder tonight.

8:20
Li: Boston is colder today.

8:20
Srhkthew2: I’m at work unable to stream the game.  Relying on all of you for updates

8:20
Bartolos_Colon: Pearce needs to do something to compete with Machado and Puig’s crotchular thrusts, hence his li’l infield fly dance.

8:20
Dan Szymborski: Crotchular is a very good word.

8:21
Tyler: #24 will always be Evans for me

8:21
Rob: Still weird to see a Red Sox player wear #24 and it not be Dewey

8:21
Planet Dust: Did you guys realize that the Battle of Balaclava gave us the words ‘balaclava,’ ‘cardigan,’ and The Charge of the Light Brigade, which seems like a lot for one battle in a weird little war?

8:21
Planet Dust: Can you do a poll of over/under where we think the temperature will be by the end of the game? NO LOOKING IT UP!

8:21
Dan Szymborski: 34?

8:21
tommy: if someone sets up a bot to tweet #hr4hr constantly, can we bankrupt t-mobile?

8:22
The Only Nolan: How cold does it have to be for Chris Sale to wear long sleeves? Someone needs to tell him how ridiculous that little superstition of his is.

8:22
Dan Szymborski: He’s made of gummy.

8:22
Nixmith: That’s why I come here: all the Franklin Expedition references.

8:22
Biz Marquis : Ive always just said crotchal, but I like crotchular much better.

8:22
Tyler: To know what Evans was dealing with on a personal level his whole carer makes it that much more impressive.

8:22
RyanW: Dan. Many of your references seem smart. How does one get that smart?

8:23
Dan Szymborski: Reading useless facts rather than socializing with others.

8:23
John: Witty/clever is not the same as smart

8:23
5 Run Homer: David Freese: good defensive 1B

8:23
Srhkthew2: Dan I challenge you to a battle of whits (about useless facts)

8:24
Dan Szymborski: I’ll take Merrifield with the first pick.

8:24
CamdenWarehouse: It was a trick – Walt Whitman is the obvious first pick

8:25
Craig Edwards: Bradley Whitford

8:25
Craig Edwards: Good inning for Ryu as well.

8:25
Planet Dust: I love Mookie but I wish one of these fawning articles about how he’s sooo great at everything would mention that, despite his youth, he is maybe not so good at maintaining a full head of hair.

8:25
Planet Dust: STILLMAN is the Whit you want

8:26
Super Benintendo : I am pretty sure Dan doesn’t give a whit about your wit.

8:26
Tyler: Short sleeves vs long is not always superstition.  I hated throwing in long sleeves regardless of the cold.

8:26
Dan Szymborski: I never wore long sleeves as a kid either.

8:26
matt: david freese could be a heavily sought after free agent this offseason

8:26
Craig Edwards: We’ll see how he performs in cold weather.

8:26
Dan Szymborski: I still wear mostly short-sleeve shirts in the winter, so long as I’m wearing a coat.

8:26
Walter White: What about me?

8:26
Dan Szymborski: Whits aren’t really whites.

8:26
Craig Edwards: also, if he were going to be that sought after, the Dodgers would pick up his options.

8:26
FanGraph’s Lurker: forrest whitley

8:27
AdamZ: Dan, you seem like the kind of guy who wears cargo shorts in the winter

8:27
5 Run Homer: Whitney Houston

8:27
Dan Szymborski: I don’t usually switch to long pants until it’s under 50

8:27
Kirk: Do the dodgers re-sign freese to be Utley 2.0?

8:27
Dan Szymborski: Probably not.

8:27
Dan Szymborski: His flexibility isn’t as useful I don’t think.

8:27
Craig Edwards: I almost always wear long pants.

8:28
Super Benintendo : Cargo shorts for always, obviously.

8:28
Dan Szymborski: My shorts are mostly regular-pocketed, I only have a single pair of cargo shorts

8:28
Mockcarr: That’s a reverse Reggie Jackson who seemed to give up not wearing sleeves after he turned about 25

8:28
Dan Szymborski: Even when I was in better shape, I got hot very quickly. I’m essentially a frost golem.

8:29
tommy: i am really surprised that dan only has one pair of cargo shorts.

8:30
Dan Szymborski: I think most of my shorts are just one-of-each-color Old Navy.

8:30
CamdenWarehouse: isn’t it hard to carry around three cats without cargo shorts?

8:30
Dan Szymborski: They stay at the house mostly!

8:30
Jart: How come Chris Taylor only has one swing? Is he afraid he’ll end up in AAA again?

8:30
AT: Is there any chance that Cora’s use of starters as a reliever on their throw day makes it into the regular season?    With starters going fewer innings per start, it seems like a way to give your best pitchers an extra 15-20 IP.

8:30
Dan Szymborski: I don’t think you’ll see it over a regular seaosn.

8:31
Super Benintendo : Ian Kinsler … I just don’t know.

8:31
Perfrect Game: Mookie’s favorite NBA team is the Brooklyn Nets…speaking of Brooklyn…

8:31
Craig Edwards: Speaking of perfect games…

8:31
Dan Szymborski: He wants to win it all! Buck with that insider information.

8:32
Mockcarr: Do you suppose Kinsler thinks of himself as the Kinslest?

8:32
Dan Szymborski: The Kinslayer

8:32
matt: alex cora reminds me of the manager of the yankees from the bad news bears (original)

8:32
Craig Edwards: if you can get the outside and inside corner, it could be tough for hitters, tonight.

8:33
Dan Szymborski: Cora better stay away from helicopters then.

8:33
Planet Dust: I am almost 40 and I’m embarrassed by how hard it is for me to watch tense baseball moments when I really care about the outcome. (The caring this much is also embarrassing.) I’m like a child watching through my fingers with my face covered.

8:33
3 and 2: Any surprises in the lineups today? thank you.

8:33
Dan Szymborski: I think Bradley moving up a spot and catcher swapout for Red Sox only changes from yetserday

8:34
AdamZ: Confession: I have never watched a baseball movie

8:34
Dan Szymborski: Honestly, I find most baseball movies to be terrible.

8:34
Craig Edwards: a little surprised about Devers over Nunez again, but not a shocker, and also what I would have done.

8:34
Dan Szymborski: There’s something about baseball’s cultural status that results in everything being over-manufactured tripe.

8:34
Tyler: What % changeups do we see tonight from Price?

8:34
Mockcarr: price’s beard looks like it was groomed with a lacrosse helmet in mind

8:34
AdamZ: Actually, does the Naked Gun count?

8:34
Craig Edwards: I’ll say 40%.

8:34
Dan Szymborski: If it does, it’s the baseball movie.

8:34
Dan Szymborski: best baseball movie

8:35
Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe: I don’t care that I live in SoCal. The only people who should wear shorts are surfers and mailmen.

8:35
Dan Szymborski: Consider me a mailman of baseball data.

8:35
Stringer Bell: Eight Men Out is a good movie.  Probably the only baseball movie I like

8:35
Tyler: Devers is better than Nunez on D

8:35
Craig Edwards: correct

8:35
Dan Szymborski: Eight Men Out is more of a political thriller written about baseball!

8:35
Planet Dust: Have any of you watched Naked Gun recently? Curious how it holds up.

8:35
Mockcarr: Umpires need to view that movie yearly

8:36
CamdenWarehouse: the Naked Gun was the original Ump Show, he even ejected Joe West!

8:36
John: Price has indeed had a “zen” air about him for the last two starts

8:36
Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe: Dan, I have it on good authority that you love Fever Pitch.

8:36
Dan Szymborski: THAT IS A LIE

8:36
Dan Szymborski: I bet you love Summer Catch.

8:36
Henry: True or false:  Price’s career has been a disappointment

8:36
Dan Szymborski: F

8:36
I like baseball movies: Sandlot is a classic

8:37
Srhkthew2: Obligatory mention of Major League

8:37
Craig Edwards: Price has had a great career and he’s only just turned 33. He’s not done.

8:37
Dan Szymborski: I’ve always loved felt the Rachel Phelps Invented Moneyball ending to be the more logical one.

8:37
Dan Szymborski:

8:38
Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe: Dan’s favorite Adam Sandler movie is Anger Management for the Jeter/Clemens cameo.

8:38
Dan J: Joe Kelly likes Major League

8:38
Craig Edwards: Joe Kelly is a treasure.

8:38
CamdenWarehouse: this was a good read if you haven’t: http://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/naked-gun-baseball-game-scene-…

8:39
Nate: Bob Uecker is in Major League. That should be enough for everyone.

8:39
Planet Dust: It seems like there are very very few major league guys whose careers are  true disappointments, though depends on when you set the expectations.

8:39
Dan Szymborski: Like Gregg Jefferies wasn’t actually a *bust*. He was a legitimate major leaguer for a long time.

8:40
The Only Nolan: Colby Rasmus comes to mind.

8:40
Bartolos_Colon: Q: Does JD Martinez have offspring
Q2: Does JD Martinez make his children watch footage of themselves eating their food or using an adult toilet

8:40
CamdenWarehouse: We’re all disappointments, Planet Dust

8:40
Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe: I have it on good authority that Dan doesn’t like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off because even though Ferris caught a foul ball and kept it in his pocket until the end, you never notice the bulge of the ball and he can still run throughout his neighborhood without it impeding his mobility.

8:40
Dan Szymborski: No way, I love Ferris Bueller

8:40
Planet Dust: Sidney Ponson got a friggin’ knighthood.

8:40
Dan Szymborski: HE KILLED THE BLACK KNIGHT

8:40
Craig Edwards: Bogaerts just missed it.

8:41
John: Maybe G2 is the pitching duel we deserve?

8:41
HaloMan: What if this chat is solely compromised of 1 person changing their username 100 times a second

8:42
Dan Szymborski: Who says it isn’t

8:42
Chris: Aren’t most true disappointments the guys that only prospect hounds know? Guys like Brandon Wood for instance

8:42
carrotjuice: Matt Bush may be the most disappointing player who spent at least a few years in the big leagues.

8:42
Nixmith: I always felt bad for Jeremy Brown. Always rooted for him to become a star.

8:42
Dan Szymborski: Milledge is way more disappointing of guys that stayed up for a bit

8:43
Planet Dust: Who are the current Aruba/Curacao guys? Xander, Jansen, Didi, Simmons? Has FG written about their per capita MLB production?

8:43
Craig Edwards: Delmon Young I think takes it

8:43
Dan Szymborski: Profar, Schoop, Albies too

8:44
Dan Szymborski: I THINK that Bogaerts is the only player for Aruba to not be an Oriole

8:44
Guy Smiley: Mystery solved! CamdenWarehouse = Carson Cistulli.

8:44
tommy: this chat could also be just dan chatting with different iterations of himself

8:44
Super Benintendo : “Almost framed by Barnes….” 2018, y’all.

8:44
carrotjuice: I have no idea what John Smoltz is saying

8:45
Dan Szymborski: Both managers can’t have the same unique way, John.

8:45
CamdenWarehouse: That’s wasn’t nice Guy

8:45
Kirk: I do love watching ryu’s curveball not get hit every time he throws it

8:45
Nate: How can we mention the Antilles without the great Brave….. Jair Jurrjens!!!

8:45
Dan Szymborski: I’m still not sure what the accurate, correct way to say his name is.

8:45
Dan Szymborski: I still call him Yar yaryar

8:45
Chris: Its like when your dad picks up on your cool teen lingo and just utterly butchers it

8:46
Biz Marquis : Maybe this chat is Dan chatting with himself, like Garfield Without Garfield….

8:46
Planet Dust: Dan is going to have to murder all of the other personalities in this chat one-by-one in order to…save his own sanity or something?

8:46
Dan Szymborski: Smoltz and Reynolds really have made me miss McCarver.

8:46
Blake the Rake: Kinsler did a thing!

8:46
carrotjuice: Ghosts of Kinsler Past

8:46
Local Radio: One of the local radio guys was talking about how the new Baseball with their managers managing and their bullpens was ruining the game. How both Sale and Kershaw were pulled after 4.
If there’s one thing that I get excited about, it’s watching 2 pitchers combine for 8 IP and 8 ER for a high-quality 9.00 ERA.

8:47
CamdenWarehouse: I think Dan thrive’s on nonsense chats. He chatted before he was a FG employee

8:47
Chris: Important to note that Smoltz still isn’t as bad as Cal Ripken

8:47
Dan Szymborski: Ripken barely says anything when he’s around.

8:47
3 and 2: Ryu on today? thanks

8:47
Dan Szymborski: So that’s an improvement.

8:48
Craig Edwards: Bunch of hard hit balls this inning, but bailed out Kinsler running and the Dodgers defense did a good thing, so mark that one down.

8:48
Nate: Who would dare said something negative about Cal Ripken? Or even Billy “Rick Face” Ripken for that matter?

8:48
Dan Szymborski: Billy just hated Roy Face.

8:48
The Only Nolan: Kinslayer = Rallyslayer

8:48
Dan Szymborski: Only  homers kill rallies.

8:49
Dan Szymborski: A third out isn’t a rally killer like a homer

8:49
Dan Szymborski: You’re saving your psychic energy for next inning

8:49
Neil: What was the break even point for Kinsler going for third there?

8:49
Dan Szymborski: The conventional wisdom of not making the first or third out at third is actually pretty good for conventional wisdom

8:49
Nixmith: More like Kinsl-aren’t, right?

8:49
Craig Edwards: what Dan said.

8:50
CamdenWarehouse: Homer Bailey does NOT kill rallies

8:50
tommy: why is it good wisdom?

8:50
Dan Szymborski: It actually matches up decently with base/out states

8:51
Guy Smiley: Because if you stay at second, you’re already in scoring position, especially with two outs.

8:51
Dan Szymborski: And with two outs, most non-infield hits should be scoring anyway

8:54
Dan Szymborski: I don’t have it in front of me, but the difference between runner on 2nd 2 outs and runner on 3rd 2 outs is like 0.05 runs or something.

8:54
Gila Monster: Is it me or would Puig be the perfect Marlin?

8:54
Dan Szymborski: Doesn’t he like getting paid?

8:54
AdamZ: Is it a rule that once you win a cy young, you must always be referred to as “cy young winner whoever”?

8:55
Dan Szymborski: Yes

8:55
scott: Jeff King, 1986 #1 overall pick, “disliked baseball so much that he retired the day after his MLB pension fully vested”

8:55
Hank: I get the media likes to romanticize the amazing and aggressive Boston baserunning, but they are at -5.1 this year (20th).

8:56
Dan Szymborski: When he was young, Adam Dunn told people that he hated playing baseball, but it was his job.

8:56
Dan Szymborski: He softened up later, IIRC

8:56
Craig Edwards: Betts, Bradley, Jr., Benintendi and Devers were all good-great so it does make some sense. But they have a few guys who are really on the negative end like Martinez, which you would expect and Nunez, who I still associate as the guy who can’t keep his helmet on with the yankees.

8:56
Planet Dust: I guess in some ways Doc Gooden was a disappointment.

8:57
Planet Dust: Hank, they are just “making things happen,” and it gives them “another way to beat you.”

8:57
5 Run Homer: I think if you win a Cy Young you should just be renamed Cy. Cy Kershaw, Cy Kluber, Cy Porcello, etc.

8:57
CamdenWarehouse: “He’s not pitching like a Cy Young winner tonight.”
“I always pitch like a Cy Young winner for I have won a Cy Young.”

8:57
AT: keith foulke got a lot of crap in Boston when he said baseball was just a job.

8:57
Craig Edwards: if you set your expectations high enough, everything is a disappointment.

8:57
Dan Szymborski: I mean lots of guys love playing, but for some, it’s just a job they don’t really care for but makes them fabulously rich.

8:57
Dan Szymborski: I’d happily fry up big macs all day if I made $10 million a year doing it.

8:58
Planet Dust: Was Cy short for like Cyrus or was that his full name (I’m checking)

8:58
Dan Szymborski: It wasn’t short for anything

8:58
Dan Szymborski: Well, it was short for his nickname

8:58
Dan Szymborski: which was cyclone

8:59
Planet Dust: It was short for CYCLONE, Dan!

8:59
Guy Smiley: It was short for Cyclone. That was his nickname.

8:59
Super Benintendo : Cyborg Young. It’s where the word cyborg came from, obviously.

8:59
Craig Edwards: I was looking through old leaderboards and was generally astonished by how short most of the names where. People were lazy with names back then.

9:00
Dan Szymborski: As names go, whiel I support JA Happ’s feelings on bagged milk, I cannot condone pronounced your initials “Jay” as if that’s a name.

9:00
Guy Smiley: Is a cyclone a genetic replica of a cyborg?

9:00
Nick: Psy Young

9:00
Planet Dust: I complain about announcers a lot because they are terrible and I am a whiny person. Recently I’ve been thinking that a lot them could get a lot better by just not talking quite so much. I have literally never heard someone complain about how an announcer doesn’t say *enough*, BUT people must like the normal amount of background chatter, right? The market can’t have failed this badly.

9:00
Guy Smiley: Denton True Young. 500 wins and 300 losses.

9:00
John: awful call

9:00
5 Run Homer: Sigh Young

9:00
Craig Edwards: Not trying to fill silence is incredibly difficult

9:01
CamdenWarehouse: I’m doing a draft in 1901 for a sim league right now. I disagree, the names are great.

9:01
Super Benintendo : So I have a silly question … is Cora’s insistence to use Kimbrel “as a closer” in any way related to Kimbrel’s contract? We see Cora being quite inventive with his bullpen otherwise, but even in the regular season, Cora would generally only pitch Kimbrel in “save” opportunities.

9:01
Dan Szymborski: Tormund is 0-2.

9:02
Dan Szymborski: Tormund Groundersbane

9:02
CamdenWarehouse: Dummy, Klondike, Brickyard

9:02
Craig Edwards: Using someone as just a closer is also a good way to limit innings. 8th inning guys can often get overworked because they use them so much. It isn’t always ideal, but it is definitely easy and there’s some logic behind it.

9:02
Dan Szymborski: In a Diamond Mind sim league, I once had four pitchers named Lefty

9:02
CamdenWarehouse: Boileryard

9:03
The Only Nolan: Do you remember Chuck E. Carr? I think he must’ve liked forcing everyone to pause when saying his full name. Sort of the opposite of J.A. Happ.

9:03
The Only Nolan: That is why I set my expectations as low as possible.

9:03
Dan Szymborski: Did you know Chuck E. Cheese’s full is actually Charles Entertainment Cheese?

9:03
Craig Edwards: middle ground maybe?

9:03
5 Run Homer: High Pockets Kelly is still the best old times baseball name

9:03
Planet Dust: Were all four of them left-handed pitchers Dan?

9:03
Dan Szymborski: Yes

9:03
Dan Szymborski: I always called Tim Collins Low Pockets, which really annoyed some people for some reason

9:04
Biz Marquis : Death To Flying Things……dont remember his real name but thats the best nickname IMHO.

9:04
Dan Szymborski: Bob Ferguson

9:04
Dan Szymborski: There’s also Hugh “Losing Pitcher” Mulcahy

9:05
Dan Szymborski: Luke Appling’s Old Aches and Pains is an underrated one

9:05
Super Benintendo : Craig … fair … but in the playoffs that makes less sense, right? And aside from mopping up last night’s game (still in the 9th, though) Cora still brings in Kimbrel as “the closer” … it just strikes me as odd considering how flexible he is when managing all of his other pitchers (starters included).

9:05
Dan Szymborski: or Gabby “Old Tomato Face” Hartnett

9:05
Craig Edwards: given his earlier outings, I’m not sure there was much cause for doing any more with him.

9:05
Srhkthew2: Who were the 4 Lefty’s?

9:05
Dan Szymborski: Gomez, Grove, Stewart, Weiland

9:05
CamdenWarehouse: my personal favorite is Boom Boom Beck because he got his name from his teammates for sucking one game when all of the opponents hits went “Boom”

9:06
Planet Dust: What is up with the nickname “Dutch” for non-Dutch people like “The Gipper”?

9:06
Dan Szymborski: You see Dutch a lot for Germans since Deutsch looks kinda like it

9:06
Guy Smiley: I wish there were still Rubes and Chicks.

9:06
MCM: Is “Joc” his real full name?

9:06
Dan Szymborski: His full name is Jocular Pederson

9:06
Joe: How many postseasons in a row would your team have to lose for you to consider that maybe you were in a really weird version of hell?

9:06
Craig Edwards: Ryu leaving the ball up there, Betts gets to it.

9:07
Dan Szymborski: 10

9:07
Japes: “Chuck’s official backstory is that he is an orphaned mouse who does not know his own birthday. To make up for never having a birthday party of his own, he hosts parties for children. After winning a Pong tournament, Chuck moved to New York and started working as a singer at an Italian restaurant, where he also met and befriended a musically-inclined chef named Pasqually. Eventually, he moved to California and created his own restaurant franchise, with Pasqually becoming his star chef and later joining his band.”

9:07
Planet Dust: Yeah like Pennsylvania Dutch I guess

9:07
5 Run Homer: Joc’s brothers are named Tyger and Champ. Weird parents

9:08
Dan Szymborski: Laynce and Jayson Nix. It’s a family based on being always Y instead of sometimes.

9:08
Craig Edwards: Whatever Chuck did, he should’ve left Showbiz pizza alone.

9:08
tommy: maybe kimbrel doesn’t feel comfortable pitching earlier than that

9:08
Blake the Rake: Kimbrel has indicated in the past that he is uncomfortable with being used in less structured ways.

9:08
Guy Smiley: Why are people from the Netherlands called Dutch in the first place??

9:08
Dan Szymborski: I assumed ingrained stupidity

9:08
Biz Marquis : If Pederson got a really bad rash would he go on the DL with Joc Itch?

9:08
tommy: does 4 lefty’s make a right?

9:08
Neal: I feel like natural disasters always make for good nicknames.

9:09
Craig Edwards: i believe 4 lefty’s make a straight line.

9:09
Johnston: ‘Ronald Reagan was first called “Dutch” as a young child by his father. According to Reagan’s autobiographies, he received the nickname soon after his birth, from his father’s remark that he looked like “a fat little Dutchman.”‘

9:09
Craig Edwards: or a square

9:09
5 Run Homer: I knew a family once who named every kid something starting with J. There where a lot of them, it got weird

9:09
Planet Dust: I’ve known a few of those “J” families.

9:10
Dan Szymborski: Hopefully they were actual J names, not names with J added.

9:10
Craig Edwards: Buck talking about Yadier Molina, who won the Clemente award. It is well-deserved for Molina who did a ton of work in his (and Clemente’s) native Puerto Rico to help out after the hurricane.

9:10
Dan Szymborski: “Here are the brothers, J’Kyle and J’Corey Seager.”

9:10
3 and 2: Last clear chance would be a great race horse’snname

9:10
Guy Smiley: I knew an extended family that named all their daughters after trees, including Chestnut and Apricot.

9:10
CamdenWarehouse: Jristopher was pretty awkward

9:10
Guy Smiley: So that was the 3rd inning, huh?

9:11
Craig Edwards: yep. right in at an hour.

9:11
Dan Szymborski: we’re on pace for only a 3:15 game

9:11
Johnston: I’m part of a J family. Jack, John, James, Jerald, Joseph and Jacob.

9:11
3 and 2: great pitching there by Ryu, would love to see you put more focus on the game, thanks.

9:11
Dan Szymborski: Sorry, I try to keep my contributions light and airy to keep things bubbly and lively, but if people want more game-focused stuff, I’ll be good.

9:11
Chris: I’d like to see less focus if that evens things out

9:11
Joe: I’d prefer more focus on cats, thanks.

9:13
Dan Szymborski:

What Was Really Wrong With Chris Sale?

Belly button ring infection. (16.2% | 14 votes)
 
Just likes chilling at hospitals. (24.4% | 21 votes)
 
Actually ate a belly button ring. (8.1% | 7 votes)
 
Corn syrup replacement to keep his stretchiness. (20.9% | 18 votes)
 
OMG WE’RE HAVING A CHRIS..Sale (30.2% | 26 votes)
 

Total Votes: 86
9:14
Jart: Do you think Betts is excited that he’s feeding America tacos?

9:14
Dan Szymborski: Bad tacos.

9:14
Craig Edwards: Freese loves the cold weather.

9:14
Dan Szymborski: Acutally looked like it bounced on Betts’s face.

9:15
Craig Edwards: strikes and gutters

9:15
Super Benintendo : Arrested Development references should win all things always.

9:15
John Smoltz yells at cloud : Here comes playoff Price!

9:15
Dan Szymborski: When Price is pitching in the playoffs, whether good or bad, you just feel the bad narrative swirling in the air

9:15
Craig Edwards: We going to get any bunt talk?

9:15
Dan Szymborski: NEVER BUNT talk

9:16
Jart: Doritos tacos were invented by taco scientists to satisfy every terrible urge of humanity

9:16
Craig Edwards: there it is!

9:16
Dan Szymborski: Doritos Locos Cronuts

9:16
Super Benintendo : I’d eat those, Dan.

9:17
Dan Szymborski: I don’t think Taylor’s bunted in years.

9:17
No, FIP Yu: Boston announcer said “Price is in a Pickle here.”

9:17
Fresh: I worked at a place that once did a Taco Bell Burrito eating contest where all 200 burritos (For 15 contestants) were bought by the boss. First to 20 burritos (Or most in an hour) won. Winner: An intern who finished all 20 in 48 minutes (As well as all non-participants). Losers: All other participants.

9:17
Dan Szymborski: Imagine eating 19 burritos and winning nothing.

9:18
Guy Smiley: Odds Machado spikes Kinsler on a DP ball here?

9:18
Johnston: Giving America gas.

9:18
Dan Szymborski: Machado should go for the kick the leg jump kick and then yell Cobra Kai

9:18
Blarg: Is it just me or is Chris Taylor the new Josh Reddick, i.e., Mr. Unclutch in the playoffs?

9:18
Craig Edwards: That’s what David Price just did.

9:18
Dan Szymborski: Taylor was really good in the first two series

9:18
Clive K.: Can we get some bundt talk?

9:18
CamdenWarehouse: I think the intern was also a loser, it just took a little longer

9:18
Chris: Well you win the terrible knowledge that you can eat 19 burritos at one time and really, that’s something that stays with you forever

9:18
Craig Edwards: We talking cake?

9:19
Joe: If you eat 19 burritos you must have won 19 burritos.

9:19
kevinthecomic: Joined the chat late so catching up — we all have a chance to create the single greatest nickname in baseball history.  There’s a pitcher in the Marlins system named Jorgan

9:19
M Scwartz: Can someone tell me again why you can’t argue balls and strikes?

9:19
Dan Szymborski: If you argued every crappy ball/strike call, all games would be like Red Sox/Yankees 15 innings games

9:20
Craig Edwards: almost framed it.

9:20
Jsto: Dan and Craig, are you watching Fox or streaming?

9:20
Dan Szymborski: Streaming here.

9:20
Eddie Stanky Leg : 19 Burritos sounds like a Wallflowers song that they hate playing live because its 11 minutes long.

9:20
Joe: Buck and Smoltz have been trashing Taylor for 8 games, he’s hitting 321 this postseason.

9:20
kevinthecomic: and the bases are full of Dodgers with none out!

9:20
Craig Edwards: I generally use YoutubeTV but since the World Series is on FOX, I’m on the antenna.

9:20
Dan Szymborski: I think the fundamental question is if this chat is about baseball or the chat we have with you guys while we’re all watching baseball?

9:20
AT: now price is making everyone in new england unhappy, much like usual

9:20
Mockcarr : The Dodgers have their nickname on their road jerseys, do they really expect us to know where they’re from?

9:21
Dan Szymborski: I have three giant TVs in my office, but the one with the cable box the remote is nowhere near me

9:21
Craig Edwards: Matt Kemp making it to Opening Day was an upset. Making it to taking important at bats int he World Series is kind of amazing.

9:22
Dan Szymborski: So i’m watching the stream on the 52 inch

9:22
Dan Szymborski: The fact that he’s a legitimate member of the roster is amazing

9:22
Dan Szymborski: It’s not like he was added when the whole team got legionnaire’s disease

9:22
5 Run Homer: Holy shit someone actually uses YouTube TV

9:22
Craig Edwards: yep

9:22
Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe: By the way Craig, your article today was great.

9:22
Joe: It’s mc escher’s chat, Dan

9:22
Dan Szymborski: CRAZY STAIRS

9:22
Assistant to Mr. Betts: Seconding Mockcarr, road jerseys should have the location name on the front and the player’s name on the back. Home jerseys should have the nickname on the front and no player name on the back

9:23
Joe: Is it weird that I’d feel like a badass if I got legionnaires disease?

9:23
Dan Szymborski: You just have a Roman soldier fetish

9:23
CamdenWarehouse: I’ve been bothered by this for a while – why is the team name called a “nickname”?

9:23
Dan Szymborski: Nobody invented a better word

9:23
Kirk: There’s that nice helpful la on the sleeve in case you’re unsure

9:23
bananas: Craig your article was just relevant – that sac fly had a negative WPA for the dodgers

9:24
Phil: I use YouTubeTV too – highly recommend

9:24
Craig Edwards: Phil gets it.

9:24
Hank: Is Kike Hernandez the only player with two ‘  in his name?

9:24
Dan Szymborski: You gotta be careful with Kiké since you’re so close to being a slur.

9:25
Dan Szymborski: True story: Sean Forman had to change Kevin Youkilis’s name in the database for similar reason

9:25
Craig Edwards: thanks to those saying nice things about my piece today. The main lesson should be get outs whenever you are not at bat and try not to make outs at the plate or on the bases.

9:25
Dan Szymborski: Because by the naming convention, Youkilis’s ID was Youkike

9:25
Eddie Stanky Leg : I call him Keekay just to be safe.

9:25
tommy: i have sling tv. its nice.

9:25
Guy Smiley: You’d think he could spell it Kique

9:26
Adrián González: I have two but I don’t play anymore

9:26
Dan Szymborski: A lot of people, myself included, are lazy with accents

9:26
Dan Szymborski: Even Szymborski in Polish I believe has some ungodly diacritical mark

9:26
Hank: I’d go quiqui and put two ‘ if I knew how.

9:27
Dan Szymborski: I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend my life typing out Sžymborski or whatever.

9:27
kevinthecomic: I like that two dot accent above the “u” in Motley Crue — sorry, don’t have it on my keyboard

9:27
Dan Szymborski: That one’s easy alt-0252

9:27
tommy: how many people are chatting tonight?

9:27
Dan Szymborski: At this instant, 238

9:28
Kirk: I’m panicking and I’m just watching good lord

9:28
Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe: @kevinthecomic: It’s called an umlaut.

9:28
FanGraph’s Lurker: most of us are lurkers

9:29
Hank: K-K Hernandez

9:29
Benny and the Mets: Fwiw, I’ve lurked on Fangraphs for the better part of 7 years. This is the first year I’ve been active in the Fangraphs chats/comment boards. Its great fun!

9:29
Dan Szymborski: Is it still legal to call them boards?

9:29
kevinthecomic: Dodgers with their first lead of the series!

9:29
Dan Szymborski: Wow, I should find that remote, Puig’s just getting ot the plate on the stream

9:29
Craig Edwards: Price gets the big second out, but Puig muscles it to the outfield on a not bad inside pitch from first look.

9:30
Joe: FG playoff chats are the best thing

9:30
M Scwartz: Can Puig go away? He’s a menace

9:30
tommy: i am about 30 seconds behind the comments

9:31
kevinthecomic: Umlaut (noun): a mark (¨) used as a diacritic over a vowel, as ä, ö, ü, to indicate a vowel sound different from that of the letter without the diacritic, especially as so used in German. — I’ll be damned.

9:31
bananas: feature request: add a comments delay

9:31
Ashnod’s Coupon: Chat updates faster than my stream, I found out about the dodgers lead before Puig got that hi

9:31
Dan Szymborski: I’ll be more careful

9:32
kevinthecomic: anyone at FG ever write an article about what happened to Austin Barnes this year vs. last?  This year’s playoffs he got Grandal’s job by default, but last year he took it away from him!

9:32
Dan Szymborski: I think it’s just “250 PA seasons are volatile”

9:32
Chris: This is probably Price’s last batter right? Seems unlikely that Cora lets him go through the top of the lineup for the third time

9:32
carrotjuice: We should make up stuff to keep people on their toes. BARNES HIT A HR

9:32
Tyler: Price is losing 2-1 but I feel like he has pitched really well

9:32
Craig Edwards: i think Jay was working something up on Grandal.

9:32
Dan Szymborski: I think he has pitched pretty well generally

9:33
Mike: Hernández is the most attractive Dodger change my mind…

9:33
Dan Szymborski: When we were at Coors, my gf swooned over Charlie Blackmon

9:34
Craig Edwards: I think the game has been pretty well played thus far. Both teams have sort of capitalized on opportunities, but neither team is giving the game away at this point.

9:34
tommy: people in brooklyn probably love justin turner

9:34
Super Benintendo : David Freese has “classic movie star” looks. Which I think means he’d look good smoking a cigarette in the back of a yellow cab taxi…

9:34
Craig Edwards: he’s pretty good in an imo’s commercial

9:35
carrotjuice: Charlie Blackmon is secretly a serial ax murderer change my mind

9:35
Sum: Remind me: LI as listed on the page is for the play referenced, not the residual LI after the listed play, correct?

9:35
Mockcarr : Poor Grandal, he was only one letter away from becoming a monster

9:35
Dan Szymborski: I believe so.

9:35
Craig Edwards: Actually…

9:35
Yoshi: Yankees fans really don’t appreciate having a good hitting catcher like Gary Sanchez as much as they should

9:36
John Smoltz yells at cloud : Which free agent is most likely to get a surprise large contract?

9:36
Craig Edwards: Nobody appreciates their catcher as much as they should except for Cardinals fans.

9:36
Dan Szymborski: Eovaldi?

9:36
Dan Szymborski: And there’s always the chance the Royals go hilariously insane over Wade Miley

9:36
Super Benintendo : ..and two letters from a wandering grey wizard/Maia….

9:36
Kirk: Watching the baseball not drop at all when machado throws it to first is a joy

9:36
Dan Szymborski: Dude has an arm

9:36
Mike: Wade Miley is the Royalest pitcher ever

9:37
AT: why is it important to not allow a run right after your opponent has given one up?   I mean, more important than normal?

9:37
Dan Szymborski: Well, you’ve given up two! or something something

9:37
Rob Madfred: I’d be worried if Machado didn’t have an arm

9:38
Mike: It’s important as the road team because you’re not really ahead by much in win probability when the opponent has more outs left if you’re only up a run

9:38
Craig Edwards: McCutchen maybe in terms of a surprise.

9:38
Mike: You have like a .4 run lead

9:39
Dan Szymborski: I’m excited to see which player the Rockies sign in a deal that indicates they aren’t actually aware of their team’s needs.

9:39
Kirk: Oh I love ryu so much

9:39
Mark: I just thought of the mashup of ‘Joe Buck Martinez’ and I’ve preemptively poured bleach into my ears.

9:39
Craig Edwards: nailed it

9:39
5 Run Homer: Nick Markakis is such a Rockie

9:39
Mike: Look at yesterday the Dodgers never achieved 50% win probability when they tied the game because they always gave up the tie again before getting to bat

9:40
Dan Szymborski: I don’t have the evidence in front of me, but I think the zone has been more inconsistent than anything tonight

9:41
Dan Szymborski: I wouldn’t object (as much) to the Glavine Call if it is called consistently

9:41
John Smoltz yells at cloud : Rockies could sign Joe Mauer and he’d win a batting title because that’s what happens to all former Twins

9:41
Hyun-JIn Ryu: Ryu may be the best pitcher in the series.

9:41
Craig Edwards: the Dodgers were at 50% just once, when they tied it 2-2 in the 3rd, but they were playing catchup all game.

9:41
Mike: I dont mind the glavine call as long as its called on hitters of both handedness.  The lefty strike is awful

9:41
Dan Szymborski: Now, I wish we just had the damn robots.

9:42
Dan Szymborski: There’s still plenty of non ball-strike calls for umpires to screw up

9:42
Super Benintendo : A robotic umpire somewhere giggles.

9:42
Ted: Ryu is pretty good.

9:43
Dan Szymborski: Ryu’s not playing as cutesy-poo around the edges as Price has, I think

9:43
Dan Szymborski: The problem with Skip Bayless commercials is that the 15 seconds uses up how much Skip Bayless I want to see in a year.

9:43
CamdenWarehouse: The first pitch down the middle the robot umps doesn’t pick up and they have to do it again will cause riots

9:43
Srhkthew2: My roommate said we can’t have robot umps because then people would start wanting robot players.  I was speechless

9:43
Dan Szymborski: Robots are mostly flying planes

9:43
Dan Szymborski: I think we can trust a robot to identify where a white sphere passes over a pentagon

9:44
Benny and the Mets: cutesy-poo(TM)

9:44
Nate: I’ll take Skip Bayless commercials over political ads.

9:44
Dan Szymborski: My personal nightmare:

9:44
Dan Szymborski:

9:45
Mockcarr : I would love to hear players argue about how the drone was poorly calibrated

9:45
Dan Szymborski: You only have to have a drone eradicate two or three players before they learn to not fuss

9:45
carrotjuice: Why is David Price still pitching?

9:45
Dan Szymborski: I’m surprised honestly

9:45
Mike: At least harold likes baseball

9:45
Dan Szymborski: True

9:45
Dan Szymborski: Outside of his analysis, I’ve got no personal beef with him.

9:45
Nixmith: If we get robot umps, I want full-on robot umps. Big square heads, claws for hands. Treads.

9:46
John Smoltz yells at cloud : What’s the record for most left handed starters in a best of 7 series?

9:46
Mike: Boston bullpen isnt deep they’re not configured to pitch 5 ip per game

9:46
Craig Edwards: 1973 WS had 10.

9:46
Dan Szymborski: Nice knowledge bomb there! I’d have to look it up

9:46
Chris: Like Mr Clanky in Backyard Baseball

9:46
Super Benintendo : To be fair … the replay calls have generally cut down on-field arguing about calls. Generally. I have no stats to support this. But I think this is true?

9:46
Dan Szymborski: Arguing is fun.

9:46
Mike: If every Boston starter exits in the 5th theres gonna be a lot of Drew Pomeranz and the Dodgers will be very happy

9:47
CamdenWarehouse: all robot umps should be Johnny Five

9:47
Kirk: I’d love a robot ump with a screen displaying the human ump FaceTiming in

9:47
Dan Szymborski: I liked how Benintendi did kinda like a ballerina leap thing

9:47
Guy Smiley: Nice play. Anyone watching?

9:47
Super Benintendo : A not terrible catch.

9:48
Hank: Did Alex Cora just say he put his best reliever in a bad spot asking him to come into a high leverage spot?

9:48
Mike: Was that the hardest Dozier has hit a ball since August its possible

9:48
Dan Szymborski: Dozier crushed that foul ball earlier in the AB

9:48
Guy Smiley: Right-handed LF doesn’t make that catch.

9:48
Chris: There is not a worse look in baseball than the rolled up cowl on the neck, its looks like half saw punishment collar, half elizabethan era ruff

9:48
Mockcarr : Red Sox D is not a minor difference

9:49
Dan Szymborski: A team should have an Elizabethan ruff night. It’s better than the camo uniforms.

9:49
Hyun-JIn Ryu: Justin Turner, JD Martinez, Marlon Byrd, Josh Donaldson and Daniel Murphy saved baseball with a full embrace of launch angles and true outcome baseball.

9:49
Craig Edwards: Brewers-Dodgers just had 10 as well. Braves-Pirates in 91, too.

9:49
Kirk: I’m surprised price isn’t going high fastball against Turner, seems like the brewers abused that pretty well – unless it only worked because they were all also throwing at 97?

9:49
Sum: Dan, we need to run a model that evaluates the predictiveness of hard fouls in, say, the first half on wOBA in the second.

9:49
Ashnod’s Coupon: Can’t do Elizabethan unis when Sale is throwing

9:51
Dan Szymborski: I gotta find my Sale Scissors Kick GIF

9:51
Cutesy-Poo: So how many Benintendi ballerina catch photoshops we gonna see tonight

9:51
Craig Edwards: Easy inning for Price in the box score. Getting hit a bit harder though.

9:52
Dan Szymborski: I’d prefer we don’t do expletives, Super Benintendo

9:52
Nate: Can someone please photoshop that Benitendi catch with someone like Joe West?

9:52
tommy: that catch would be good for the baseball players drawn adequately twitter account

9:52
Dan Szymborski: Here it is

9:53
Dan Szymborski: Dammit

9:54
tommy: it appeared for a second!

9:54
Guy Smiley: The Chevy desert truck commercial is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.

9:55
Dan Szymborski:

9:55
Craig Edwards: Good on Ryu to get over the bag there.

9:55
kevinthecomic: interesting thing about that catch —  a nanosecond after Benny secures the ball in his glove, his head swivels to find the wall — that is some disciplined concentration

9:55
Super Benintendo : Yep. Totally fine, Dan. I promise I was not trying to be raucous … just figured the joke was funnier with it. Queen of Scots those babies? Queen of Scots those bad boys? Yeah. Poop.

9:55
scott: ryu is “a much better athlete than people might not know” –smoltz

9:56
Dan Szymborski: “Like Tim Matthews of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He’s 58 and lost a foot to diabetes. Ryu can outrun him easily.”

9:56
Kirk: Chevy has been doing terrible commercials so long that the parody YouTube channel for them has outlived it’s welcome for me lmao

9:56
Radio broadcast: That’s why I listen to the radio broadcast, scott.

9:56
Craig Edwards: pitchers are athletes, too.

9:56
Nate: Don’t tell John Smoltz that pitchers are athletes.

9:57
Kirk: But that’s not as important as Ryu continuing to be awesome!

9:57
Mike: Man we have a user named Ashnods Coupon

9:57
biased red sox fan: Ryu has gotten a wider strike zone than Price tonight, right?

9:57
Dan Szymborski: I actually think so, but can’t prove it.

9:59
Dan Szymborski: Doens’t really look like it at a quick glance

9:59
Chris: Cmon Smoltzie take credit for Stop The War

10:00
sawxfan: came here to ask about the strike zone also.  homer or legit unfair??

10:00
Dan Szymborski: It’s not as bad as it’s felt

10:01
ChatzMcGee: Why is Dave soooooo slow to the Pen this time around? Gonna cost him again.

10:01
Craig Edwards: really hard not to try and get one more out, esp with platoon advantage.

10:01
Cutesy-Poo: If Mike Petriello live streamed commentary on Periscope or Twitch or something, I’d mute this game so fast

10:01
Dan Szymborski: The thing is, Betts at 2nd isn’t SUPER useful in a game with a DH given the REd Sox roster

10:02
Craig Edwards: not without the express written consent of major league baseball.

10:02
Guy Smiley: Ryu’s last batter here. Let’s make it count.

10:02
Craig Edwards: yep.

10:03
Dan Szymborski: Yeah, even if h makes the out, I can’t seem him back out

10:03
Dan Szymborski: he’s not going to come in and face pearce in the 6th

10:03
Chris: Is there any chance that Mookie goes back to 2nd long term? Has to be way more valuable there than in RF?

10:03
Dan Szymborski: Probably not, but it has value

10:03
tommy: wouldn’t getting JD martinez in the lineup by moving betts be a big deal?

10:03
Dan Szymborski: in a DH-less game

10:03
Guy Smiley: RF defense is very valuable in Fenway.

10:04
Craig Edwards: he’d have to be like +10 at 2B so not a guarantee.

10:05
Dan Szymborski: Remember, if you put J.D. Martinez in a position now, you lose the DH for the rest of the game

10:05
Dan Szymborski: If he were just a so-so outfielder, it’d be more strongly worth trying

10:05
Cutesy-Poo: leave me alone youtube tv 🙁 my apartment forces me to pay for cable

10:06
Craig Edwards: i think against a tough lefty, Betts to CF and Martinez to RF might make some sense.

10:06
Dan Szymborski: It’s also an advatnage because 3-2 is better than 2-2 for the batter…

10:06
Chris: Youtube TV should run fox adds during these quick words from Youtube TV

10:06
Super Benintendo Chalmers: if the sawx win, its steamed clams (chowder) for everyone

10:06
Craig Edwards: hams?

10:06
kevinthecomic: Best thing about this chat:  I can stay up to date with the baseball game while watching Wheeler Dealers!

10:07
Dan Szymborski: I miss Edd China

10:07
Super Benintendo : THERES ANOTHER SUPER BENINTENDO?! WHAT? Nonsense.

10:07
Super Benintendo 64: We are legion.

10:07
Brian Snitker: Rob Manfred having an aneurysm this half-inning

10:08
Craig Edwards: That is it for Ryu after the 2 minute delay to throw one juuuuust a bit outside.

10:08
Guy Smiley: I believe it’s Ryu with the aneurysm…

10:08
Kirk: Damn, did not see Ryu getting pulled before Price with the way the earlier innings went 🙁

10:08
Benintendo Wii: Howdy fellas

10:09
Dan Szymborski: We’ve got enough Benintendos. How about a Wii Yu Darvish?

10:09
Tilebreaker: The Capital One guy looks like Smoltz

10:09
Craig Edwards: Roberts got burned last night relieving Baez with Wood and then Cora going with Nunez. Wonder if we see the same tonight.

10:09
Cutesy-Poo: We don’t speak of the Wii U here

10:09
Guy Smiley: My buddy and I call Benintendi “GameBoy”.  See how we did that?

10:09
Dan Szymborski: In FFXIV, I have an archer/bard named Yew Darvish

10:10
Craig Edwards: as long as you Benintended it, just keep it rolling.

10:10
tb.25: Was the Baez move really that bad? From the batter side – bringing Wood in either gets the lefty on lefty versus Devers or gets a sub par bat in the game

10:11
Guy Smiley: Oh good, the stupid Chevy desert ad again.  If that really sells trucks, our politics really start to make sense.

10:11
Craig Edwards: they must not think Moreland can field.

10:11
Dan Szymborski: I like how Mitch Moreland always seems to start out looking like a star and then finishes the season with a Mitch Moreland Year.

10:11
Guy Smiley: Pearce has to take two strikes here.

10:11
Chadhouse: I call for random offseason chats that begin at 3am with no moderation and we just see how it goes

10:11
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Betts is a cutesy-poo

10:11
Blake the Rake: Glad it’s still Pearce here. Moreland with the PH penalty is just flart out worse, even against RHP.

10:11
Chris: The key to understanding the Chevy ad is that they don’t let the actors out of the desert without buying a chevy truck

10:12
Dan Szymborski: “Dammit guys, the focus group said that people liek desserts, not deserts.”

10:12
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: I feel like Ryan Madson would have reverse platoon splits

10:12
Craig Edwards: oh boy.

10:13
tommy: i always assumed chevy gave actors a chevy lease and didn’t pay them, so they “weren’t actors”

10:13
Tyler: uh-oh now maybe the best hitter in the game up with the bases loaded

10:13
Eddie Stanky Leg : Ryan Madson is only 38?!!?

10:13
5 Run Homer: JD MOMENT COMIN UP

10:13
kevinthecomic: this is where i remind everyone that Madson gave up the David Bote walk off grand slam

10:13
Craig Edwards: that’s a tough break.

10:13
Cam: Enough is enough. Dave Roberts bullpen usage has been bloody awful over the last game and a half. His insistence on using his worst guys in the highest leverage situations is ridiculous.

10:14
5 Run Homer: That wasn’t the moment I was expecting but hey 2 RBI

10:14
MCM: Didn’t Nats On kinda lose the game for them last night? Do they not have any other relievwrs?

10:14
Lou Trivino’s Fighting Baseball: More like Ryan Bad-son amirite?

10:14
Dan Szymborski: Large Adult Bad Pitcher Son

10:15
Tyler: That was so a JD moment going opo like that

10:15
tb.25: Madson: “lemme throw fastball” *cant find zonr

10:15
tb.25: ”lemme try slider” *eats dirt*

10:15
Nate: Somewhere, Joe Maddon is sitting at home smiling about the managing decisions.

10:15
Ryan Madson: Where I was once the Bridge to Lidge, I am now the Advance Man for Jansen

10:15
Brendan: Roberts will be second guessed on his bullpen choices in this series basically forever

10:15
Tyler: Bogey could go deep right here

10:16
Craig Edwards: Madson’s been really good for the Dodgers in regular and postseason. Coming in with the bases loaded is a bad situation for any reliever. That’s probably where Roberts erred.

10:16
Dan Szymborski:

Puig was 319 feet deep on Martinez’s hit.

Average RF vs JD Martinez: 302 feet.

Average RF in Fenway vs RHB: 294 f… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

25 Oct 2018

<script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

10:16
Cutesy-Poo: Ryan is going to have one Mad-Son when he gets home to LA if he’s the reason they blew this game (I didn’t fact check if he has a son)

10:16
Joe: I’d literally rather the Dodgers go 0-162 than this BS.

10:17
Imagine Dragons: BELIEVER! BELIEVER !

10:17
Matt: The Dodgers (Dave Roberts) made the same process error two nights in a row.  Kershaw should not have seen the top of the order a third time in under 2 hours last night, and Ryu should not have, either.  They’re being repaid for their process error.  Neither Kershaw nor Ryu have the ‘stuff’ to face an elite caliber offense a third time thru the order, and especially not in a close game / must-win game.

10:17
Chris: But in this situation, where getting out of the inning is critical, why not go to Kenley?  Don’t you have to go in on the lead you have?

10:17
Dan Szymborski: I would have

10:17
Craig Edwards: I think it depends on the game and situation, but that’s a pretty good synopsis the last two nights.

10:17
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: How many pitches would a pitcher pitch if a pitcher (Madson) could pitch pitches?

10:18
Craig Edwards: We’ll see what happens with Price now.

10:18
Dan Szymborski: I’d be too aggressive about leverage possibly. I’d have pinch-hit for Buehler with the bases loaded that time

10:18
Tony womack: Roberts is taking the fun out of the world series

10:18
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Using Kenley in the fifth makes Pedro Báez your closer; not good

10:18
Dan Szymborski: But you take the high leverage situation you KNOW exists over the one that MIGHT

10:19
Dan Szymborski: If someone’s having an anaphylactic shock from a bee sting, you don’t hang onto the epipen just in case they’re stung by two bees later on.

10:19
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: But Dan, based on how the offense has performed, the Dodgers would likely have a 1-run lead in the 8th where you could bring him in

10:20
Dan Szymborski: Jansen increases the odds you actually HAVE a one-run lead

10:20
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Now I’m not a fan of a traditional closer, but in this case Roberts made the right decision

10:20
Dan Szymborski: I will disagree on this one!

10:20
Cam: There’s no excuse for not going to Jansen, or at least Baez there. Madson has been hittable all year – 1.4 WHIP on the season (1.3 w/ the Dodgers). A Closer is of ZERO use to a team sitting on the pine with the team behind.

10:20
Tilebreaker: Will Mia Sara be at the game in LA when Buehler pitches?

10:21
kevin: I’m just not convinced that if Roberts goes to Jansen there, and Baez gives up the lead in the 9th, we don’t all change our mind about Roberts choice…

10:21
Dan Szymborski: I didn’t change my mind about pinch-hitting with Schoop early the other dya

10:21
Craig Edwards: I think it was a either a batter too early or too late. Pull Ryu before he gets the bases loaded or let him pitch to Pearce. Bases loaded is a bad spot to come into the game.

10:21
Dan Szymborski: For some reason, Buck being made to say Harry Potter names amuses me.

10:22
Leverage Index: The Leverage Index for the Pearce walk was 4, and the JD single was 3.6. Those are really high leverages.

10:22
Eddie Stanky Leg : Buehler jokes are worse than any commercial during the World Series, prove me wrong.

10:22
Dan Szymborski: If I was an obnoxious billionaire, I might produce a big movie called Dweeble’s Big Drippy Adventure and pay for Buck to have to say it during the World Series

10:22
Craig Edwards: anyone?

10:22
Matt: craig edwards:  I agree with situation and game … thats why I said “especially not in a close game / must-win game”

10:22
Cam: Bases loaded is a bad spot to come into for any reliever, for sure. So use a reliever who is actually good, in those tough situations – not your worst righty. Bases loaded, one run game, Pearce/Martinez due up – it doesn’t get much higher leverage than that.

10:22
Super Benintendo : I have to say that Ryu pitching to Pearce is all kinds of unhood if you are Dodger fan … right? I mean … yes … sample size … but Pearce has hit well against left-hander pitchers as of late.

10:23
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Craig, how would you know *if* Ryu would get the out or not? Playing devil’s advocate here

10:23
Craig Edwards: can’t manage on hope.

10:23
Craig Edwards: commit early.

10:23
Tyler: Price is still bringing it

10:23
Super Benintendo : Ungood! Ha. The chat autocorrected me there.

10:23
Re: kevin: Sure. Post-facto, every decision that is part of a loss is bad, but that’s why we have frameworks for calculating the importance of at-bats.

10:23
Craig Edwards: he had a nice break.

10:23
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Numbers tell us that pitchers, unless they’re an Oriole, have the advantage with two outs

10:23
Planet Dust: Dan, this goes back to an old hobbyhorse of mine–why don’t billionaires do more interesting/hilarious things. Where are our eccentric billionaires?

10:24
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: And although Boston has had success with two outs, not predictive

10:24
AT: smoltz says “the team that gets a crooked number usually wins”…  well, the dodgers got a crooked number earlier, so what was his point?

10:24
Kirk: eccentric billionaires are often known as millionaires

10:24
Dan Szymborski: To be an eccentric billionaire, I’d really need to have an extra billion or two cushion, for su re.

10:24
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Billionares are millionaires with more money

10:25
Super Benintendo : Numbers say pitchers pretty much ALWAYS have the advantage … ha.

10:25
kevinthecomic: I’m a multi-thousandaire

10:25
Cam: Eccentric billionaires are tomorrows millionaires.

10:25
Planet Dust: You could do tons of hilarious stuff for mere tens of millions.

10:25
Dan Szymborski: If I only have tens of millions, it would affect the scale of my obnoxiousness

10:25
MikeMETS: I would rather anyone from Fangraphs to be the mets next GM then any of the current 3 candidates… including the graphics designer that is.

10:26
Dan Szymborski: At least it won’t be Littlefield

10:26
Lou Trivino’s Fighting Baseball: I have many tens of dollars

10:26
Tyler: Price getting through the 6th was ideal.  I do not think we see him in the 7th.  let the reliever start a clean inning.

10:26
Japes: Wonder what Price mutters to himself in between pitches

10:26
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: The Price is right

10:26
Dan Szymborski: Banned

10:26
Craig Edwards: Go ‘Dores

10:26
bananas: PSA – if you want to add a delay to this chat, and are technically inclined, right click in the chat itself, “Inspect Element”.  Click on “Console” and then paste this in:
timeoutSeconds = 10; x = addMessageToChatArea; addMessageToChatArea = function(a,b){ console.log(“RECEIVED: “+a.message.substr(0,10)+”…”); setTimeout(function(){ console.log(“POSTED: “+a.message.substr(0,10)+”…”);; x(a,b); }, timeoutSeconds*1000); }

10:27
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Sorry, I had to [The police have been called -DS]

10:27
stever20: something tells me that what Price mutters to himself between pitches would not be airable on TV…..

10:27
YouTube TV: Chaim Bloom seems competant but apparently Doug Effing Melvin is the front-runner right now soooo…yeah

10:27
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Dan, you don’t know where I live

10:28
Dan Szymborski: I know everything about everything

10:28
Cutesy-Poo: Didn’t Doug Melvin say like 3 years ago he was too behind the times to run a front office. Has he even learned what Excel is since

10:28
Dan Szymborski: Melvin may be a good team president, but he shouldn’t be making day-to-day decisions

10:29
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Dan, if you know everything: How do Chileans make chili?

10:29
Dan Szymborski: Pots and heat.

10:29
Craig Edwards: need to see benintendi photoshopped jumping over those three dodgers fielders.

10:29
Planet Dust: This game is kind of moving along, it seems.

10:30
Dan Szymborski: I do feel the need to make some kind of benintendi photoshop

10:33
Matt: Theoretical:  Put yourself in the Red Sox shoes.  For the sake of this discussion lets says that Kimbrel represents option A, Braiser option B, and everyone and anyone else option C.  If Price goes out in the inning and gives up a home run to make the game 4-3, and then the next hitter reaches base safely with zero outs … who do you bring in?  Option A, B, or C?  Shouldn’t you immediately bring in Option A in order to ensure the best chance of maintaining the lead and take your chances with options B & C closing out the 8th and 9th innings?

10:34
Craig Edwards: If he gives up a homer, you have to take him out immediately, and getting Kimbrel up and down just in case probably isn’t the best for him based on his preferences and past usage. Also, we all want to believe pitch tipping solved the problem, but that’s far from a sure thing.

10:35
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Joe Kelly does not seem like the best option here

10:35
AT: Barnes

10:35
Craig Edwards: it is an interesting choice.

10:36
John: What are the odds that we have a WS rematch next year? Probably low because FG is in love with NYY and HOU?

10:36
Craig Edwards: it’s low.

10:37
John Smoltz yells at cloud : What situation produces the highest possible leverage index?

10:37
Craig Edwards: not positive but down by a run with bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth maybe.

10:38
Guy Smiley: Thanks for coming out, Max.

10:38
Craig Edwards: that would be a 10.9 LI which seems really high. https://www.fangraphs.com/tools/wpa-inquirer

10:39
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Down by a run, runners on 1st and 2nd, 2 out, 9th inning (according to Jeff’’s piece on David Bote’s ultimate swing I believe)

10:40
stever20: so Dodgers have left Joc Pederson and that’s it….

10:40
Craig Edwards: Roberts did that a bunch against Milwaukee. Less dangerous with the DH.

10:41
Guy Smiley: If Kelly can throw that curve for strikes, he’s tough.

10:41
Craig Edwards: really good inning by Kelly there.

10:42
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Sorta feels like the Dodgers are six outs away from losing the World Series

10:42
Dan Szymborski:

10:42
Craig Edwards: They’ve got a pretty big advantage the next two games and the Red Sox won’t have the DH. Things are far from over.

10:43
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Thank you Dan!

10:44
Dan Szymborski: ZiPS will say 78-22 if the Dodgers hold on and lose

10:44
Dan Szymborski: Not bad for a 10 minute photoshop, I feel

10:44
JD Drew: I’ll never get  how someone with that fastball and that curveball isn’t lights out all the time

10:44
Craig Edwards: sinkers just don’t miss bats.

10:45
Matt: Craig Edwards – Understand your point about Kimbrel’s past usage and preference.  However, the underlying point is … shouldn’t that be the process?  To have your best come in during the most important current (known) situation, and play the following important (unknown as of present) when it occurs?  Therefore, the pitching staff would been used to this (usage during the entire season would have been thru this process) which would negate the pitchers being unfamiliar.  In short … shouldn’t this be the process for all teams moving forward?

10:46
Planet Dust: Why is Dan’s (presumed) photoshop not loading it is killing me.

10:47
Dan Szymborski:

10:47
Mitch: Looks like Eovaldi for the 8th. Interesting choice using him over Barnes or Brasier

10:47
bananas: @Matt – that requires buy-in from Kimbrell, who is in a contract year looking to be The Closer available on the FA market.  Maybe saves don’t matter but if his perception that saves = $ then good luck convincing him to change his role

10:47
Planet Dust: Thanks!

10:47
Dan Szymborski: Did it work that time?

10:47
Craig Edwards: In theory, but pitchers can’t pitch 100 games and they can’t pitch 60 games but warm up in 100 games. Generally speaking the highest leverage appearances are going to occur in the ninth inning, and you aren’t just risking unfamiliarity, you are talking about overusing your best reliever and using him in warmup situations that might prevent him from coming in important games.

10:48
AT: I don’t understand Eovaldi when you have Brasier and Barnes available.

10:48
Craig Edwards: i wonder about barnes if there is something about using him too much.

10:48
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Who pitches game 4 now? Eovaldi still?

10:48
Craig Edwards: i would think so.

10:48
Craig Edwards: 2 days off from short appearance.

10:49
Dan Szymborski: I agree. They’re not going to let Eovaldi throw 30 pitches or something today

10:49
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Somebody had a chat ID “Sir Mookleton McBetts” a while ago and I just wanted to thank them for making me remebember random things

10:49
kevin: I feel like sometimes we think about subbing in relievers like we’re making substitutions in a video game. Guys need to warm up.

10:49
John: There’s a reason Cora hasn’t named a starter. This is scriipted; E-Rod to pitch g3

10:50
stever20: any shot with the Dodgers struggles vs lefties of Pomeranz or Rodriguez?

10:50
Craig Edwards: probably not today.

10:50
Sir Mookelton McBetts Jr.: My dad says you’re welcome @Nick Mar

10:51
Dan Szymborski: That Babe Ruth complete game was the highest WPA game by any pitcher in postseason history

10:51
ChatzMcGee: Vasgersian talking about bringing back Kershaw early, but no way they do that right, it’s not like him on regular rest was particularily useful.

10:52
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: I miss screwballs

10:52
Craig Edwards: if they are down 3-0

10:52
Super Benintendo : WHAT … not the Jack Morris game?!

10:52
Planet Dust: OK this camerawork–not just hits look like HRs that are short, there are shallow pop-ups that look like routine flyballs; infield pops that looks like short OF flies. What’s the deal? Is it me?

10:52
Craig Edwards: the one in Houston felt like we were getting trolled.

10:52
Dan Szymborski: Morris’s was 6th

10:53
Dan Szymborski: After Ruth, McNally ALCS Game 2 1969, Art Nehf WS Game 8 1921, Hubbell WS Game 4 1933, Preacher Roe WS Game 2 1949

10:54
Benintendo: Any ideas why Eddy Rodriguez isn’t a better pitcher? He’s got the stuff to be great

10:54
Craig Edwards: Injuries mostly. He’s generally pitched well the last couple years.

10:54
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: If Chris Sale added even an average cutter, would he be virtually unhittable?

10:54
Craig Edwards: Is he not already?

10:55
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Don Larsen Dan?

10:55
Dan Szymborski: A mere 91st

10:55
Dan Szymborski: Now, by *Game Score* Larsen is 5th

10:56
Tyler: I still think E-Rod could become a number 2?

10:56
Dan Szymborski: By Game Score, best ever was Roger Clemens Game 4 ALCS 2000

10:56
Lou Trivino’s Fighting Baseball: Chris Sale should learn a knuckle ball

10:56
Craig Edwards: not unreasonable

10:56
Nate: “Erica, your personal assistant”

Why not Andrew, your personal assistant? Why are they all women?

10:56
Dan Szymborski: Capital One has Eno

10:56
Dan Szymborski: Erica is because it’s Bank of AmERICA

10:56
Craig Edwards: to be clear my last answer was about ERod, not chris sale’s knuckleball.

10:56
Dan Szymborski: They could do Ric though

10:56
Dan Szymborski: WOO!

10:56
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Bank of AmERICA, Nate

10:56
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Jinx, Dan!!

10:57
Dan Szymborski: I win since I choose the order of posting!

10:57
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Dan owes me a drink

10:57
Dan Szymborski: Lies

10:57
John Smoltz yells at cloud : Eric?

10:57
Dan Szymborski: Oh yeah, Eric

10:57
Dan Szymborski: Getting tired

10:58
anotherYX: If I must have a robo voice answer all my stupid questions I’d rather it to be a woman’s voice…

10:58
bananas: Why does every company assume i need to talk to my phone??  What’s wrong with good old fashioned buttons?  Get off my lawn!

10:58
Craig Edwards: I remember thinking it was stupid for phones to have cameras. Good times. Good times.

11:00
Lou Trivino’s Fighting Baseball: Mitch Moreland is pointless

11:00
Craig Edwards: We call them runs. Mitch Moreland is runless.

11:01
Blake the Rake: Why is Steve Pearce so wildly underappreciated?

11:01
Super Benintendo : But it’s former Gold Glove winner Mitch Moreland….

11:01
Craig Edwards: he’s on the wrong side of a platoon. He plays a valuable role, but it is a bit of a luxury one.

11:03
Craig Edwards: Kelly to Eovaldi is interesting.

11:04
anotherYX: Is Evoldi’s arm going to fall off after this series ala Keith Foulke?

11:04
Dan Szymborski: It’s already fallen off!

11:05
Kirk: Is there any sort of stat that measures how often the top/middle of the order appears in high leverage situations versus the bottom?

11:05
Craig Edwards: You can do this on the splits leaderboards. https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/splits-leaderboards?splitArr=19,72&s…

11:06
Craig Edwards: leadoff at 1791 PA, cleanup at 2009, 7th, 2066,

11:07
Blake the Rake: Pearce has a 102 wRC+ vs RHP, and The Book style regression bumps that up more. From what data we have, he’s a legit starting 1B.

11:07
Craig Edwards: It shouldn’t be that hard to find a lefty to take 400 PA from first base with something much better than that, though.

11:08
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Eovaldi seems impossible to hit, like most major league pitchers

11:09
Obvious Alias: Is Eovaldi a top candidate for comeback player of the year?

11:09
Dan Szymborski: He’s better than when he left!

11:09
Scout1: Curious to fangraphs writers thoughts on this:  I was at an MLB game this year.  Radar gun on the board (and corresponding on the television) was the same.  A 95 mph FB on the stadium gun was registering at 92 mph on my Jugs gun.  The scout I was sitting with had an R-gun that was popular / standard issue with MLB teams in the early 90s, the same pitch 95 mph pitch was reading 89/90 consistently.  The scout made the suggestion that guys pretty much throw just as hard as they used to (there are just more guys who throw hard now, but not actually harder than they used to, if that makes sense).

11:09
Dan Szymborski: I don’t know enough about the guns, honestly.

11:09
Ohtani 2600: Padres fans should not look up the career wRC+ for Pearce and Hosmer.

11:10
AlGoneQuinn: Bad branding on YouTube tv. We expect YouTube is the place we go for free videos. $40/month doesn’t compute.

11:10
Dude: Is velocity any harder to hit in cold weather?

11:10
Craig Edwards: compare it to cable or comparable streaming services

11:10
Nick: I think we could give soft tossers a confidence boost by telling them their speed in KM/hr. The next market inefficiency.

11:11
Nick Mar – Cake is GoodThat: Oh, so NOW you bring Báez in???

11:11
bosoxforlife: I would be very happy to see #25 on Steve Pearce’s Red Sox uniform next season.

11:12
Super Benintendo : @Scout1 More or less the same point the Fastball documentary makes at some point regarding Nolan Ryan if I recall.

11:12
Nick Mar – Cake is GoodThat: Netflix and MLB dot TV are good enough

11:12
Craig Edwards: just depends on how much sports you need.

11:12
Dan Szymborski: Budweiser is good at making commercials that make their beer sound WAY better than it is

11:13
Kirk: Cody is a pretty good outfielder hunh

11:13
Nick Mar – Cake is GoodThat: Guys, someone else is using the “Nick Mar – Cake is Good” tag and this worries the paranoid side of me

11:13
Adam: I like Geico ads more than the announcers

11:13
Josh R: My Lord, Cyborgs got Buck and Smoltz!

11:14
Super Benintendo : Is there a chance the batters are swinging at the first Baez pitch they see because they … just … don’t … want … to … wait…..

11:15
Craig Edwards: Dodgers have one more shot.

11:15
Mike: We now interrupt these commercials to show you a baseball game.

11:15
Eddie Stanky Leg : That might have been the fastest Pedro Baez inning in the history of Pedro Baez.

11:16
Dan Szymborski:

Food artist @pedalstrike made Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel out of dried cranberries.
25 Oct 2018

<script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

11:16
Craig Edwards:

Does the series get back to Boston?

Yes (55.5% | 40 votes)
 
No (44.4% | 32 votes)
 

Total Votes: 72
11:16
Kirk: Can we go back to old kimbrel, I liked that version much more than the ‘pitch very well and beat the dodgers easily’ version that came in last night

11:16
Scout1: @super benintendo (and all others interested) … the scout was an advance scout for an MLB team.  He said that essentially pitchers who are recognized as big fastball guys don’t actually throw any harder than they ever had.  So, the example he used was Mark Wohlers.  He said that if you go back and watch Mark Wohlers throwing 98/9 in the playoffs back in the day, that was on the same gun that is reading guys today throwing 95 (which would have registered at 89 back on the television at the time).  And so, Mark Wohlers would be throwing in 103+ on today’s guns.  Also used the example on several others players that I don’t recall as well as I recall the Wohlers example.

11:16
Obvious Alias: Hey! Joe Kelly had a slower pace than Baez this year.

11:17
Eddie Stanky Leg : Just this morning I was lamenting how long its been since Ive seen a picture of Craig Kimbrel made from cranberries…..I hop on Fangraphs and BAM!

11:17
fan: if JBJ had elite speed, would he be the best defensive OF in either league? i doubt he wouldve gotten dirty for that play bellinger just made just cause he gets a much better read on fly balls

11:17
Craig Edwards: Will try to be respectful of those behind this inning.

11:18
Tyler: I did vote it gets back to Boston, however Boston has not lost on the road this post season

11:18
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Can Kimbrel actually not see or is that setup for dramatic effect?

11:18
Super Benintendo : So … a question from honest curiosity … how common is it for a first basemen to actually be a strong center fielder defensively? In MLB that is. Are there many precedents for what Bellinger is doing this year?

11:18
Dan Szymborski: Pretty rare, can’t think of one offhand

11:18
Planet Dust: Remember when those Phillies fans behind home plate all mocked Kimbrel’s bird arm thing? That was a funny visual.

11:19
Guy Smiley: Two more outs to 2-0. And I know LA has some sort of “big advantage” coming up, Craig, but the Sox are 5-0 on the road this postseason.

11:19
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: @Tyler, not predictive!!

11:19
Jackson C.: Praise Eric Gagne?

11:19
Matt: Baseball: We have enough downtime in games to play ads in between pitches

11:19
Craig Edwards: Not buying the road thing. They are winning some road games because they are good.

11:19
bananas: ian desmond was a legit CF converted to an awful 1B so there’s that.

11:19
Super Benintendo : @Scout1 … that is basically what the folks behind Fastball argue about Ryan as well .. they mention the outdated radar guns and suggest the the Texas Express might have actually been gassing it in above 105 … that seems to make sense.

11:20
Guy Smiley: Kimbrel started doing that when he was a rookie and didn’t have contact lenses. He still does it even though he now has contacts.

11:20
Nick: Remember how bad the Red Sox bullpen is guys?

11:20
Craig Edwards: They are only bad compared to the Yankees. Otherwise, pretty good.

11:20
Super Benintendo : @ bananas. Ha.

11:20
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Chris Taylor doesn’t know the word “adjust”

11:21
Mike: Theres a difference between bad and “not deep” and indeed they’re using eovaldi creatively to make up for that shallowness

11:21
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: How good actually is Brasier?

11:22
Craig Edwards: He’s pretty good, but he’s also a reliever so who knows next year.

11:22
Nick: Brasier makes me want to watch Frasier.

11:22
Guy Smiley: The Sox also lit up the Yanks bullpen.

11:22
Planet Dust: Echoing Nick Mar – feels like Brasier cannot actually be good.

11:22
stever20: Dodgers have to beat Boston now 4 out of 5 games.  A Boston team that has won 117 games now this year…..

11:22
Craig Edwards: Brasier makes me want to watch Seinfeld.

11:22
Guy Smiley: Dodgers got 2 runs on 3 hits in the 4th inning.  Zero runs on zero hits in every other inning.

11:23
Nick Mar – Cake is Good: Thanks for chatting!

11:23
Craig Edwards: Thank you.

11:23
Dan Szymborski: The Red Sox only had a single 1-4 stretch all season, games 71-75.

11:23
Dan Szymborski: Thanks for coming everyone!

11:23
Craig Edwards: Dodgers will need to hold serve. We’ll see if they can do it.

11:23
Craig Edwards: Good night everyone and great work Dan.

11:24
Dan Szymborski: And thanks for putting up with my nonsense Craig!





Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.

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lemurinemember
5 years ago

I am a big fan of this site, I found the chat last night unenjoyable. Mainly because I am into the Series and I thought a lot of the questions didnt relate to the game.