2019 Opening Day Very Long Chat

by Meg Rowley

March 28, 2019

12:41

Jay Jaffe: Happy Opening Day 2019 v2.0, and welcome to our Very Long Chat. Craig Edwards, Paul Sporer and I are warming up at our respective keyboards, practicing our quips and disses, and crunching all kinds of numbers in order to scientifically predict every aspect of the baseb — wait, scrap that last one, it still can’t be one in 2019. In any event, we’ll get things started here around 1 pm, give or take, but feel free to fill the queue with your questions in the meantime.

12:48

Craig Edwards: We have lineups for actual baseball games that start during my normal waking hours, and in 15 minutes, we are going to be able to watch those games. Get excited.

12:53

Craig Edwards:

Which early game are you watching?

Orioles-Yankees (21.8% | 44 votes)

Mets-Nationals (65.6% | 132 votes)

Both (12.4% | 25 votes)

Total Votes: 201

12:56

FrodoBeck: I have done nothing at work all day and I blame baseball

12:56

Craig Edwards: Your afternoon doesn’t look much better from a productivity perspective.

12:58

Craig Edwards: Yankee stadium’s pump up music for the National Anthem is Daft Punk.

12:59

Jay Jaffe: Daft Punk is Playing at Babe Ruth’s House

12:59

Jeff: no kyle schwarber?! ugh…i get it’s lefty/lefty, but heyward is also lefty…i don’t like it…

1:00	Jay Jaffe: It’s always good to get that first complaint about the lineup out of the way early.

1:00	Craig Edwards: He now knows how many games he’ll be starting this series so maybe that plays into it.

1:00	Wolfes: What could ( relatively realistically) happen today that would cause you to declare this the best Opening Day ever?

1:01	Matt: Yanks against Cashner in the Bronx. Who scores more runs today, the Yankees, or the other 3 ALE teams not in this game combined?

1:01	Craig Edwards: The other ALE teams. Maybe Cashner surprises.

1:01	Jay Jaffe: Multiple no-hitters would do it for me as far as Best Opening Day ever. That or a 5-homer game by somebody, or two 4-homer games in the same contest

1:02	Jay Jaffe: I would also accept Vlad Guerrero Jr. tunneling up to home plate despite not being on the roster, and hitting a home run

1:02	I’m Not Happ-y: Ian Happ can’t homer on the first pitch today 🙁

1:02	Jay Jaffe: I’m taking the Yankees in that one. Cashner isn’t somebody I expect to catch lightning in a bottle

1:03	FrodoBeck: Who is the most underrated player in baseball?

1:03	Craig Edwards: Mike Trout

1:03	Matt: The Pirates will make the world series behind stellar pitching, Kang’s return, and a deadline trade for a bat to boost the lineup. Am I crazy?

1:03	Jay Jaffe: Jose Ramirez, who’s placed 3rd in the AL MVP voting in each of the past two seasons, gets my vote for most underrated

1:04	Craig Edwards: Probably, but the Pirates are a decent team and with a few breaks they could get in the playoffs. It’s possible mid 80s win gets the wild card with how close all the teams are.

1:05	concerned cubbie: how concerned should i be that the chicago cubs are starting david bote and mark zagunis on opening day?

1:06	Craig Edwards: Based on the questions we are getting, Cubs fans are in for a very stressful season no matter what happens. It’s Opening Day. Try and enjoy it.

1:07

Jay Jaffe: Maybe it’s the lack of familiar faces but I find the current Pirates team to be their most depressing collection in years. Outside of Chris Archer and Jameson Taillon, I can’t get excited about anyone on that roster, and I think they’ll bring up the rear in the NL Central by a much wider margin than we’ve projected.

1:07	Jay Jaffe: Somebody will have to convince me otherwise.

1:07	Tom: Play Ball!

1:07	Anonymous: base ball base ball base ball base ball base ball

1:07	Ian: Happy baseball, everyone!

1:08	Craig Edwards: Scherzer gets today off to a great start.

1:08	Mitch: Merry Baseballmas, Jay and Craig and Paul!

1:09	Jay Jaffe: First pitch at Yankee Stadium coming from Unanimous Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera, and I’ve got a case of the Feels

1:11	5 Run Homer: Lol that slider must have been a fun intro to MLB for Alonso

1:12	Craig Edwards: Alonso had as good of a PA you can have that ends at wailing away on a pitch well out of the strike zone. He got the count full and fouled one off at least. I don’t think pitchers in the minors are throwing that Scherzer pitch on 3-2.

1:13	Craig Edwards: Robinson Cano gets the Mets on the board. The trade worked.

1:14	BigTuna: No Renfroe in the SD lineup. He’s likely to be squeezed out this year, no?

1:14	RR: Is the Mets-Nationals pitching matchup the best opening day matchup in recent memory? All-time?

1:14

Jay Jaffe: With the Rays’ Blake Snell versus the Astros’ Justin Verlander, and deGrom-Scherzer as well, this is just the second time that both Cy Young winners have faced their runners-up on the same Opening Day. In 1979, Ron Guidry (Yankees) faced runner-up Mike Caldwell (Brewers) and Gaylord Perry (Padres) faced Burt Hooton (Dodgers). Given that Caldwell was pretty much a journeyman who had a big year and that only one of those 4 wound up in Cooperstown, compared to the possibility of more (Verlander and Scherzer have moved into “probably” territory for me, and that’s conservative), I’ll say that this is a better slate than that. But without looking for something involving Koufax/Drysdale/Marichal/Spahn/Gibson, or, like, Mathewson/Three-Finger Brown, where both starters went to the Hall, I am not sure about the all-time answer.

1:15	Craig Edwards: That’s a possibility, though there’s usually a path to playing for extra outfielders during the season.

1:15	Nate: Can someone tell the Baseball Tonight crew to tone it down re: Yankees. Yikes.

1:15	Jay Jaffe: Look, everybody is greenie’d up for Opening Day. Gonna take a few innings for the adrenaline to wear off.

1:16	Mike Gannon: will chris archer improve playing in the NL?

1:16	Craig Edwards: I don’t know about improve, but he should be able to get closer to the pitcher he had been with the Rays.

1:18	Craig Edwards: Hey! A win probability graph. https://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2019-03-28&team=Nationals…

1:19	Brewtown Kev: RE: Pirates, I think Adam Frazier will have a good season

1:19	Craig Edwards: I think something close to average is reasonable. He probably won’t hit as well as he did a year ago.

1:20	Scott: There’s your one run Degrom, good luck

1:20	Craig Edwards: That’s the old Mets. New Mets are different, maybe.

1:20	American Gothic: Matt Wisler was DFA’d by the Reds today. I bet his mother was upset.

1:20	Craig Edwards: I’ll allow it.

1:22	Anonymous: The road to 70 SB attempts starts now, Trea Turner

1:22	fivetoolnerd: Villar got hit by the ball baserunning but got thrown out anyway! Baseball bein’ weird as always

1:22	Jay Jaffe: Turner just swiped second, so there you go.

1:22	Jay Jaffe: Man, Jacob deGrom with short hair still looks weird to me.

1:22	Craig Edwards: weird play for sure. Not quite sure how the ump right there missed it. I assume another ump called him out.

1:23	Al Gone Quinn: So who gets the lion’s share of PA’s at DH in Toronto now that Morales is gone?

1:23	Jay Jaffe: I really hope it’s Large Adult Son Rowdy Tellez. I believe he’ll be in the mix but it sounds like it will be a rotation

1:24	Matt: Cano is a natural NY’er

1:25	Craig Edwards: let that narrative shine

1:25	Faithless Friar: In a seemingly inexplicable move, the Padres picked up Socrates Brito. Do you think this acquisition portends a trade?

1:25	Magic Mike: In your heart of hearts….how special will Robles be this season?

1:25	Craig Edwards: Ask Daryl

1:25	Jay Jaffe: Depends on whether hemlock is involved

1:26	Paul Sporer: As the fantasy guy here, I’m really excited about Robles. He can be an absolute monster on the bases with some punch (12-15 HRs). Not to mention, plus defense.

1:26	Jay Jaffe: I think Brito is more of an organizational depth piece than a real threat to see significant time on the 25-man roster. as for Robles, I picked him as my NL Rookie of the Year and am looking forward to seeing what he does in every phase of the game.

1:28	resumeman: Do you think the Mets will be shamed into releasing Mesoraco?

1:28	Mike Gannon: who will be this years AL & NL rookies of the year?

1:28	Paul Sporer: This will be of great interest to you: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/fangraphs-2019-staff-predictions/

1:29	Craig Edwards: Have to think something gets resolved there. Not sure if shame will be involved.

1:29	DrBio: I really love Aaron Judge despite being a Sox because: He’s a GREAT player, seems like a really cool guy, and my last name translates to Judge

1:29	Jay Jaffe: If you don’t like Aaron Judge for any reason (besides ingrained rooting against the Yankees), something is wrong with you. He really does seem like the real deal, with excellent makeup to go with his outstanding talent

1:29	Craig Edwards: Jeff McNeil makes a good play at third. Jed Lowrie being hurt resolved some of the Mets’ lineup questions.

1:30	Jay Jaffe: LUKE VOIT \O/

1:30	Paul Sporer: I adore Judge. Not fan of the Yankees in the slightest, but he’s a great superstar.

1:30	Paul Sporer: King Louis

1:31	Jay Jaffe: Greg Bird, please pick up the white paging phone

1:31	Craig Edwards: Not sure ESPN nailed the Voit backstory, but it seems to have worked itself out.

1:31	FrodoBeck: Villar in your 3-hole seems.. less than ideal. But for fantasy purposes I guess it’s not bad right?

1:31	Paul Sporer: Yes, I love it as a fantasy player, but holy hell is their lineup trash.

1:32	bombsquad rabbi: The best part about being in between jobs is days like this.

1:32	Craig Edwards: I like your attitude.

1:32	Wire Fan: Did ESPN just say 121mph on the Stanton single?

1:32	Craig Edwards: yes. he hit it hard

1:32	Paul Sporer: Sounds accurate

1:32	Paul Sporer: Cashner doin his thing

1:33	Mountie Votto: JOEY VOTTO GETS TO HIT BASEBALLS TODAY

1:33	Dave: Staff Ace Andrew Cashner is already in trouble

1:33	Jay Jaffe: years ago, I read about World War II necessitating people in some European country (Poland?) resorting to making vodka distilled from newspaper pulp. “Staff ace Andrew Cashner” turns my stomach almost as much

1:33

Al Gone Quinn: On a scale of 1 to 10, how prepared do you think Harper is in dealing with Philly fans, i.e. their rowdiness, booing, heckling and even propensity to use fisticuffs occasionally? (I’m not a Philadelphia sports fan but have encountered many at various venues. They have earned their reputation.)

1:33	Paul Sporer: Even in a chat, Jay weaves brilliant prose. I was wondering where that was going and loved how it turned out. Then vomited as Cashner allowed ANOTHER hit.

1:33	Craig Edwards: He’s played a lot of games in Philly. I think he’s plenty ready

1:34	Mad Max: Over/under on Scherzer 300 Ks?

1:34	Paul Sporer: 9.5, he’s been getting undeserved hate forever since that SI cover. He can handle his own fans being insane.

1:34	Matt: What’s the deal with Mesoraco? Did I miss something?

1:34	Jay Jaffe: Sheryl Ring covered the Mesoraco situation quite ably here https://blogs.fangraphs.com/devin-mesoraco-the-mets-and-the-dangers-of…

1:34	Craig Edwards: I’ll take the under.

1:35	Matt: Did you guys see the tweet with Votto’s shirt yesterday? It had an image of the aging curve. We do not appreciate what we have in Joey Votto.

1:36	Paul Sporer: Under is the safe bet re: Max Ks just because 300 is so hard

1:36	Craig Edwards: It was a a great shirt.

1:36	Paul Sporer: So good. Sr VP of Opening Day @RedsGM we don’t deserve Joey Votto 27 Mar 2019

1:36

Jay Jaffe: Under on Scherzer 300 K. It’s incredibly difficult to do once, let alone twice in a row — I think J.R. Richard and Curt Schilling are the last two to do it back-to-back.

On that topic, I’m very much hoping Verlander notches at least 294 to get to 3,000 for his career this year. I think that could seal the deal regarding his Hall of Fame bid.

1:36	LP: Charlie Blackmon mentioned the removal of the Marlins sculpture leaves a white background behind the pitcher which makes it more difficult to see the ball. Do you anticipate that’s a real issue?

1:36	Jay Jaffe: oh that’s an awesome shirt

1:37	Paul Sporer: And I resent not appreciating Votto. I absolutely love him.

1:37	Craig Edwards: I think if it is an issue, they will get it resolved. It’s already hard enough to hit there.

1:37	Paul Sporer: Agree with Craig

1:38

Alan: Cubs, Cardinals, and Brewers are all separated by 3 games, per ZIPs. Reds aren’t far behind. Surely these teams’ respective internal projections show something similar. All could use pitching help to help separate from the pack. Why on earth aren’t Keuchel and/or Kimbrel playing in the NL Central yet?

1:38	Paul Sporer: I’m just a clown who plays MLB the Show, but there can be some tough backgrounds making virtual hitting very hard. I cannot fathom adding that degree of difficulty to real life hitting.

1:38	Wire Fan: And Voit was the secondary piece…. For Chase Shreve!

1:38	Jay Jaffe: Who was just DFA’d by St. Louis

1:39	Craig Edwards: Good question. Cubs are out of money apparently. Cardinals got burned by Holland last year but Keuchel could make sense. Unfortunately, we still don’t know what the contract demands are.

1:39	Paul Sporer: Great question, Alan. Given the rumblings of Kimbrel to Milwaukee that then died down, I’m starting to believe more that his asking price is just too high for teams. Not necessarily the 6/100 we heard in December, but maybe even 3 years when teams want to give 1-2.

1:39	Jay Jaffe: I really think it’s going to take creativity to sign either of those two (Kimbrel and Keuchel) 1 + player option along the lines of the Cespedes deal or something with opt-outs and escalators like the Arrieta deal

1:40	zurzles: the removal of the marlins sculpture leaves a void in my heart more importantly

1:40	Andy: If anyone cares, FP Santangelo just accidentally merged Jake Arrieta and Aaron Nola on-air and said “Arreola” on a live broadcast. It got a solid chuckle out of me.

1:40	Craig Edwards: at you have the memories

1:40	Jay Jaffe: In the tradition of Bennifer and J-Rod. I love it

1:41	Henry: I thought teams had given up hitting the pitcher in the 8th spot?

1:41	Jay Jaffe: I hate the removal of the Marlins’ sculpture. Really, that organization can just be swallowed by the sea or moved to Montreal at any moment AFAIC

1:41	Craig Edwards: It still makes sense to do it with some players, so we’ll still see it occasionally. Because the benefit isn’t great, it’s hard to make a great case for it most of the time over the status quo.

1:42	Wire Fan: Speaking of teams that could use a starter or reliever… How are the Braves cutting 5-10M off their 2018 payroll, while seeing a massive increase in net profit?

1:42	Craig Edwards: Liberty Media.

1:43	dave in slc: speaking of cespedes, what are the odds we see him and how productive will he be this yr?

1:43	Paul Sporer: Fantasy-wise, I favor pitcher 8th in some cases bc it doesn’t curb the SBs of the 9 hitter, the most important example being the aforementioned Victor Robles

1:43	Craig Edwards: 50/50 on the former, probably not very productive given the time he’s missed.

1:43	Stephen: Why is there no West Coast night game on Opening day?

1:44	Craig Edwards: Like Wu Tang, MLB is about the children.

1:44	Jay Jaffe: shameless promotion time: my 10 Things I Look Forward to During the 2019 Season is now live https://blogs.fangraphs.com/10-things-i-look-forward-to-during-the-201…

1:44	Alan: Isn’t Alex Reyes still rookie eligible? I’m surprised I never hear his name come up in ROY discussion, despite the injuries.

1:44	Paul Sporer: Having made a foolish decision to see a concert tonight not realizing March 28th was opening day, I love it.

1:44	Craig Edwards: He is. I thought about putting him down, but if he’s only getting 100-130 innings, it will be tough for him to win.

1:45	Guest: Marlins fan here, would be somewhat disappointed if my team relocated!

1:45	Jay Jaffe: haha i’m going to a show tonight as well. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats (that’s one band) and Graveyard. Friend bought tickets in November or so and I never even looked to see whether Opening Day would be a factor.

1:45	Alex : Where did we land on the T-Mobile Park nickname?

1:45	Jay Jaffe: Is Reyes really rookie eligible? His B-Ref page says yes but he’s got exactly 50 MLB innings and i have to think he’s over on the service time

1:46	Craig Edwards: PSA: free mlbtv for tmobile customers,I think.

1:46	Paul Sporer: Same, Jay. These were a Christmas gift and I think I even said “Oh ya, late March, definitely before Opening Day”

1:46	Paul Sporer: You’re correct, Craig

1:46	Craig Edwards: you need more than 50 innings

1:46	Paul Sporer: Re: Reyes- Rookie Status: Still Intact through 2019

1:47	Jay: Think Torres ever becomes a 5 WAR type?

1:47	Craig Edwards: I do. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t have at least one 5-WAR season in the next four.

1:48	5 Run Homer: I missed Brandon Nimmo just booking it to 1st after a walk

1:48	Henry: The Nimmo dead sprint to 1st after a walk made me happy

1:48	Charlie: Run Brandon, Run!

1:48	Craig Edwards: The Eckstein

1:48	Paul Sporer: Yeah, considering the debut Gleyber had that was only slowed by an injury plus being a solid middle infielder, he’ll spike a fiver

1:49	Adam: I dislike the Nimmo sprint to 1st after a walk. It’s eyewash of the highest order.

1:49	Paul Sporer: There’s always one.

1:49	Wire Fan: How long before Torres is at SS, LeMahieu at 2nd with Tulo riding the pine?

1:50	Craig Edwards: Soon?

1:50	ohioastrosfan: odds that kimbrel sits the year out?

1:50	Paul Sporer: 5%

1:50	Jay Jaffe: zero. at worst he’ll sign after the draft

1:51	Craig Edwards: Robles put a good swing on that double.

1:51	Yankee Mustache: I saw one in the dugout

1:51	Jay Jaffe: Mustaches are allowed, but they have to be neatly kept. See Jason Giambi’s foray into facial hair several years ago.

1:52	London Yank: Is this Yankees squad the biggest team in history by body size?

1:53	Craig Edwards: Guessing yes

1:53	Craig Edwards: would need LB+ to compare for era, though.

1:54	Jay Jaffe: Cashman particularly loves him some tall pitchers. Betances and Sabathia aren’t even active right now!

1:54	Wire Fan: Thoughts on the Tatis, Jr decision? Will he be sent down sometime this year? Extended? Or did SD just burn a club controlled year?

1:55	Craig Edwards: He might get sent down, especially if the Padres fall out of the race. But if they have a hot start and get close to the playoffs, it isn’t something they are likely regret.

1:56	5 Run Homer: Didn’t Ben Lindbergh write a piece on the Yankees’ size?

1:56	Charlie: https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2019/1/16/18185070/dj-lemahieu-giancarlo…

1:56	Tyler: Kimbrel started last year off really well, and only struggled for the last 20 innings. Factor in that he had an amazing 2017 is this not the definition of a small sample size to punish him for 20 innings?

1:56	Hingle McCringleberry: I want Opening Day overreactions. I’m tweaking over here…

1:57	Paul Sporer: Cano is gonna hit at least 162 HRs, Hingle

1:57	Craig Edwards: It’s hard to know exactly how much he is being punished when we don’t know the ask or the offers.

1:58	Craig Edwards: deGrom got a bit lucky there. 2019 is already going much better for the Mets’ ace.

1:58	The Chipper Chicken: Who would you rather have: Paul Goldschmidt or Lukes Voit?

1:59

Jay Jaffe: from a longer-term standpoint, 2017 is the anomaly for Kimbrel; he was MUCH more dominant from 201-14 than from 2015-18, with that ’17 season the only one that would fit into the first set. We heard rumors of him pursuing 6/100 or at least outdoing Aroldis Chapman’s 5/86, but we don’t really have anything more to go on than that.

2:00	Porcho Villa: Thrilled that on this glorious Opening Day Jaffe NOT ONLY brought back Luke Voit = Steve Holt BUT ALSO coined a sort of Steve Holt emoji \O/

2:00	Craig Edwards: Luke Voit is a great story, but still taking Goldschmidt.

2:00	Jay Jaffe: I can’t take credit for creating that emoji or even bringing it to baseball (I think some Rangers fan did so for Mike Olt years ago) but thank you. It’s a fun one.

2:01	Anonymous: wLB+ would be a stat with some gravity

2:01	Paul Sporer: MIKE OLT! What a name!!!! I thought he was gonna be THE DUDE

2:01	Craig Edwards: But isn’t wLB+ already weighted.

2:01	Paul Sporer: Leave, Craig.

2:01	Dann: Cubs fan chiming in – happy with Bote and Zagunis starting. We’re not all pulling our hair out on opening day.

2:03	OddBall Herrera: My personal hot take so far is that we underrated the Orioles. They are only 9 runs a game worse than the Yankees.

2:03	Craig Edwards: So far

2:03	Anonymous: There’s no truth to the ‘Starting Pitcher had to sit in the dugout for too long and lost his mojo because he got too much offensive support’ narrative, right? More rest mid-game is always better?

2:04	Craig Edwards: Vintage Andrew Cashner

2:04	Jay Jaffe: I don’t think anyone has studied it directly but I do know from my own experience with maximum exertion (recreational downhill skiing) that one tightens up the longer one sits inactive.

2:04	dave in slc: thats not even a question, goldy is an established star and voit is a guy who may be able to play and stay in the majors. way too small sample size for voit to be in the conversation w goldy

2:04	Jay Jaffe: Hey Salt Lake City! that’s where I grew up and where my parents still live

2:04	Paul Sporer: There’s definitely a tipping point where it can be too much time. I imagine it’s different for every pitcher in every start so I wouldn’t apply it universally.

2:05	dave in slc: love you jay!

2:05	comsin: The fact that Judge is so good and so likeable makes me hate him for making me not hate every Yankee. Does that make sense?

2:05	Paul Sporer: 100%. I love Aaron Hicks, too. I can’t be having Yankees I genuinely enjoy!!!

2:05

Jay Jaffe: The link between Voit and Goldschmidt is because the Cardinals traded the former last August, only to see him blossom in New York. It’s not really a direct choice the team faced, but it’s kind of fun to think about given the relative size of the bodies of work. You’re right though. Very strong odds that Goldy is the better player in 2019 and beyond

2:06	Dave: Nope, wLB+ removes weight to give you mass

2:06	Craig Edwards: The school in Amherst? That can’t be right.

2:06	Paul Sporer: Perhaps they (Goldy/Voit) could be compared relative to their costs, too, no?

2:07	Jay Jaffe: that’s part of it, yes. And particularly relevant given the Yankees’ payroll — they could well have pursued Goldy in trade had they not hit big on Volt and already had Bird

2:08	Zach: Andrew Casher: Opening Day Starter is not going very well

2:08	Craig Edwards: It could be worse.

2:10

tnt9357: Jay, how can I get my 6 month-old as interested in baseball in the next two years as you’ve made your 2 1/2 yr-old? Did you ignore the pediatrician’s warnings about “OMG! No screen time before two! Your child’s brain will melt, and then you’ll need a million dollars to bribe them into college!”

2:10

Jay Jaffe: We’ve been pretty generous with screen time, yes. Since we’re both in baseball media, our high-pressure periods coincide, and sometimes you just put the Muppet Movie or Sing or Moana on and let ol’ Mr Screen do the work in order to cook a healthy dinner. We haven’t pushed baseball on Robin in particular, but it’s an ever-present part of our lives, and we’ve done things like get her a little Jackie Robinson t-shirt and take her to games, hoping she’ll enjoy the experience enough to feel positively towards it all.

2:10	dave in slc: i get it now. someone asked for opening day overreaction and we get the question if you would take voit over goldy. well done

2:11	Matt: THERE’S MORE BASEBALL STARTING!!!!!

2:11	Craig Edwards: I’m flipping over to Brewers-Cardinals

2:11	Keywrath: \O/ has been a thing for Brock Holt for awhile too

2:11

Paul Sporer: At the risk being an asshat bc I’m child-less, I just don’t see how the NO SCREENTIME initiatives are a great idea in the tech-driven world we live in. I wouldn’t want my child starting behind. Obviously you want to be smart on the volume of time, but banning screens unilaterally seems silly. Perhaps I’m influenced by the parents I know who do that are absolutely awful in every way.

2:11	Craig Edwards: Mets-Nats on the iPad

2:12	Paul Sporer: Os-Yanks on big screen TV?

2:12	Jay Jaffe: pardon me while I track down additional screens…

2:12	another bad dynasty manager: Yeah, as bad as Cashner is, if Bundy was starting the balls would be sailing out of the park. IIRC, he led all starters in homers yielded.

2:13	Paul Sporer: I don’t think he’ll repeat that again this year. The slider was still good despite his many struggles. Some fastball improvement and all of a sudden Bundy is pretty viable. I still have some hope for him.

2:14	OddBall Herrera: This isn’t going well, time to blow up my fantasy team and plan for next year

2:14	Paul Sporer: You tried. Maybe next year!

2:14	JACOBY ELLSBURY (FROM DL): Hey Guys, it’s me Jacoby! I bet I could homer off Cashner!

2:14	Craig Edwards: now that’s a bridge too far.

2:14	Paul Sporer: Jacoby, you’re on the IL now. You might want to get that right given how much time you spend there

2:15	Craig Edwards: Goldschmidt strikes out in his first Cardinals AB after leading the count 3-0. The trade did not work.

2:15	Paul Sporer: Diamondbacks knew it!

2:15	Jay Jaffe: Luke Voit >>> Paul Goldschmidt

2:16	Jay Jaffe: BRB, building the Voit/Goldymeter. it will just be a knob and an arrow that will change daily

2:16	Jay Jaffe: or from at-bat to at-bat

2:16	Al Gone Quinn: Ellsbury once put up 9 WAR in a season.

2:16	Craig Edwards: Facts

2:17	Anonymous: We should get lots of looks at bullpens today, yeah? Fully rested, can be aggressive on the hook (despite ‘ace day’)

2:17	Craig Edwards: Certainly a possibility, but most managers aren’t going to pull a starter going well on Opening Day.

2:17	Franmil “Meal Ticket” Reyes: over under .335 OBP for the meal ticket this year?

2:18	Craig Edwards: Shouldn’t is just be Franmil Ticket Reyes? I’ll say over. Hope he does well.

2:18	billc: Is $100/yr sub to DAZN worth it for the MLB whip around show with the TriviaHQ guy and CespedesBBQ?

2:19	billc: <– three little kids. you gotta have some screen time so parents can maintain sanity.

2:19	Jay Jaffe: I have a tough time conceptualizing having a 2nd kid, despite growing up with a brother 2 years younger.

2:19	Craig Edwards: Good question. I’ll be interested to see how it works, but I don’t know yet if it will deliver on MLBs Red Zone. I hope it does.

2:20	Adam: brb, gonna get some glue to make the voit/goldymeter point only to our one true savior, Lucas Linwood Voit III

2:20	Matt: IT’S BIG BALL CHUNKY TIME

2:20	Paul Sporer: Kinda feel like MLB Tonight already is an MLB Red Zone, plus MLB does the Strikezone thing on Tue/Fri as a Red Zone analog

2:20	losingseason: this Os lineup feels even worse IRL than it felt on paper

2:20	Craig Edwards: and paper doesn’t feel good at all.

2:22	Anonymous: Jhoulys Chacin (sp?) just struck out the side.

2:22	Dave: The Yankees can’t really keep Andujar at 3B all year, can they?

2:23	Yankz: What would a knebel rehab timeline look like he opts to not have surgery?

2:23	Jay Jaffe: Masahiro Tanaka missed 2 1/2 months with his partial UCL tear/PRP treatment. Seth Lugo was 2 months. Michael Lorenzen 3. That’s the best-case range i think, without knowing the severity of the tear beyond the fact that it’s not automatically sending him down the TJ path

2:23	Paul Sporer: Did he just flub one? Defense is the one thing that hard work alone can really improve so he could get better.

2:23	Craig Edwards: Who are you going to bench? especially when Hicks comes back. I think they live with the defense for a while and hope it gets better.

2:24	Anonymous: What are GMs feeling today? Relief? Excitement? Just another day at the office?

2:24	Craig Edwards: I would imagine they are excited.

2:24	mph: I’m not watching because I’m at work but does anybody know what Miles Mikolas’ facial hair situation is

2:24	Craig Edwards: It’s exactly what you think it is.

2:24	Ray Liotta as Sholess Joe: I know this question gets asked often, but what do we do about the out-of-market viewing for cord cutters? There is no incentive for me not to steal streams from the darker corners of the internets.

2:25	Jay Jaffe: Have you read my pamphlet, “So You’ve Decided to Steal Streaming Baseball?”Because that should set your mind at ease. Steal all you want.

2:25	Jay Jaffe: Rob Manfred’s heavies aren’t coming to your house

2:25	Paul Sporer: If you’re out of market, isn’t MLB.tv an option?

2:25	Jay Jaffe: *this advice does not constitute legal information.

2:26	Craig Edwards: out of market or in market? because out of market has MLB.tv. In-market, there are a few cheaper, streaming options like sling, youtube, directv, hulu that might be decent options.

2:26	Paul Sporer: I typed and re-typed a msg about blackouts as I don’t think wants me dropping 527243 f-bombs in one msg. But I truly hate blackouts. Not entirely related to the out of market question, but just wanted to rant

2:26

another bad dynasty manager: Hey: does anybody know when mlb.tv will change its policy about blackouts? IIRC, a couple of yrs. ago, the commissioner was on TV and saying they’d relax the rules. But because I live btw Baltimore and D.C., I still can’t watch their games unless I want to pay for a bunch of useless cable stations I can’t afford.

2:26	Jay Jaffe: Nobody knows anything. It’s a situation that MLB really needs to rectify, though, because it’s costing the sport a percentage of its fans.

2:27	Paul Sporer: Whoa, I basically anticipated dynasty mgr’s Q lol

2:27	Craig Edwards: baseball’s real problem isn’t existing fans finding baseball, it’s getting newer fans to the sport.

2:27	Paul Sporer: Exactly

2:27	Jay Jaffe: and that’s part of it, too

2:27	Paul Sporer: And this horsepoopoo doesn’t help that

2:27	Orioles: Orioles would be a very good college team this year.

2:27	Craig Edwards: but could the troops beat them?

2:28	Paul Sporer: Are you sure? My Longhorns are pretty stout

2:28	Guest: The Orioles have scored a run, so it could be worse

2:28	Jay Jaffe: This is what you say when you’re on a raft surrounded by sharks, without food, and only one of your two legs having become chum

2:28	Craig Edwards: Your 2019 Baltimore Orioles: It could be worse

2:29	Matt: Did Scherzer strike out the side in the first (K-K-HR-K)?

2:29	Craig Edwards: I say no.

2:29	Adam: That andujar “error” was really on Birdy.

2:29	Matt: That E Andujar got was a great attempt at a really tough play.

2:30	Anonymous: I know we’re all ironically talking up Luke Voit today, but is it sneaky possible he’s actually a bit better than his 115-120 wRC+ projections?

2:30	Jay Jaffe: I’m not trying to be ironic. I certainly think he can do the job for the Yankees, and yes, I think the range of possibilities includes him outhitting his projections.

2:31	Jay Jaffe: Long Wong Bomb

2:31	Craig Edwards: The Dexter Fowler Rehabilitation tour gets off to a good start when he doesn’t realize he got a walk and goes to first after a 30 second delay. Aguilar makes fun of him at first and then Kolten Wong knocks it.

2:31	Craig Edwards: Now Bader

2:32	Craig Edwards: Cardinals have some questions offensively at the bottom of the order with Fowler and glove first guys in Wong and Bader, but that’s a really good start.

2:32	Andrew: Geez deGrom and Scherzer are both dealing. That’s like the 5th time the side has been struck out

2:33	Craig Edwards: they are already midway through the sixth. Scherzer and deGrom can solve pace of play by pitching every game.

2:37	Dan: What’s the difference between the green and grey line on the win probability graphs? Neutral verse team adjusted?

2:37	Craig Edwards: Correct

2:38	EonADS: Chris Davis looks totally lost. That last AB was really bad, he swung through Tanaka’s sinker twice.

2:38	Jay Jaffe: I don’t know how that guy gets out of bed these days

2:38	Al Gone Quinn: Re: mlb.tv blackouts. It always boggled my mind how penalized Iowa residents were while I lived there.

2:38	Craig Edwards: Yes. Iowa and Vegas are the worst spots.

2:38	Jay Jaffe: I think Mike Bates (who lives in Iowa) kept a running count one year and it was something like 37%

2:39	Mozeliak: Is it rational for me to want Fowler to suck so I can play Tyler O’Neill?

2:39	Craig Edwards: No, though fandom isn’t rational. It is rational to want to see O’Neill flex.

2:40	Chris Davis: 0-2 2K. This, uh…. this is not going to end well.

2:40	Craig Edwards: It arguably didn’t start all that well.

2:40	Jay Jaffe: LOL

2:40	Chris Davis: Honestly, I feel for him. There’s clearly something going on emotionally (he had an adderall prescription a few years ago, right?), and I empathize. But also it’s hard to watch.

2:41	Monsignor Martinez: Which do you think will have the lowest WAR in 2019: Judge, Hicks, Stanton, or the entire Indians outfield combined?

2:41	Craig Edwards: Cleveland

2:41	Jay Jaffe: speculation on my part but I really wonder about his performance issues in light of the ADHD diagnosis for which he has a therapeutic use exemption. Maybe he really does have trouble maintaining focus from pitch to pitch and it’s a matter of using the right medication.

2:42	Brian: What is the limit of “it could get worse” for the Orioles?

2:42	Wire Fan: I miss bitter Schowalter face after something bad happens. With him and Scioscia gone, who is next in line?

2:42	Craig Edwards: 1988

2:42	Jay Jaffe: Clint Hurdle is still capable of turning purple

2:43	Soto: Would Jason Heyward be a good launch angle candidate?

2:43	Jay Jaffe: I’ll take the Indians’ outfield’s collective WAR as lower than any of the aforementioned Yankees.

2:44	ADHD: I had this, undiagnosed, as a kid, and it really messed with my performance. I was also, like him, occasionally brilliant. I figured it out, but I wasn’t exactly on the public stage. He can definitely afford treatment, so I hope he gets the right help.

2:44	Craig Edwards: In theory, but the Cubs tried it in 2016 and he was awful, undoing most of his positive work in St. Louis the season before. That, plus the wrist injury.

2:44	Nate: You can’t leave forget Bochy’s Resting Bitch Face.

2:44	Jay Jaffe: That’s Resting Boch Face, please. it was right there for you.

2:45	Wire Fan: Team most likely to regress (negatively) this year?

2:45	Craig Edwards: If the Red Sox only win 95 games, they are 13 games worse. That’s a pretty big potential fall.

2:46	Matt: So, What future are we seeing for Jose Martinez? Are they really going to keep that bat and give it platoon PAs? I get that it takes two teams to trade, but shouldn’t they be liquidating that talent and cashing it in for something else?

2:47	Craig Edwards: Martinez didn’t hit for power in the second half and the first base experiment went horribly so you’ve got a bad corner outfielder or a DH. There is a limited market for that. If the Cardinals could have traded him in the offseason, they probably would have.

2:47	Craig Edwards: 450 PA was probably more valuable to the Cardinals than whatever offers they were getting.

2:48	FrodoBeck: Pick one for the next 5 years: Trout at his new salary $36M or Judge at $15M

2:48	Craig Edwards: Trout. Judge + a $20 M player isn’t getting me up to Trout’s level.

2:49	Mariners: will regress bigly.

2:49	Jay Jaffe: It’s tough to call what they’re about to go through regression. It’s turnover-induced decline

2:50	Craig Edwards: MLB.tv has commercials now, huh?

2:50	RR: Mets are taking deGrom out after 93 pitches and 6 IP. I guess maybe the bullpen is well rested…

2:50	Jay Jaffe: The A’s, OTOH, seem ripe for regression. they won 97 and are projected for 82. Unlike Craig’s hypothetical regarding the Red Sox, that’s a huge hit to their playoff odds

2:51	Craig Edwards: Will they get to Diaz with that one-run lead.

2:52	Marz: As a parent who, while not absolutely banning screen time, severely limits it for my ten year old I will say: familiarity with screens doesn’t buy you anything. It’s not like you’ll encounter one somewhere and not know how it works. My child reads books and is engaged with the world.

2:52	Jay Jaffe: I would feel worse about our daughter’s screen time if she didn’t already have a yen for books, like her parents. Since around the 18-month mark, she would wander down the hall and start pulling books off the shelf and “reading” them for long periods of time. She takes board books to bed

2:53	Craig Edwards: Who is ready for the Merandy Gonzalez era in St. Louis?

2:53	Matt: Jay, your 2-year old buys books with Yen? Wow, I can’t even figure that conversion rate out

2:53	BASEBALLLLLLL: The Braves Radio Network Pre game hype just used Marvel Soundtracks overlayed with Braves audio highlights and i am beyond excited. Hard to contain it here at work

2:53	Jay Jaffe: /checks Amazon one-click settings

2:53	Craig Edwards: I’m a sucker for hype videos. Everyone should do them.

2:54	mph: Merandy for Merandy

2:54	Salty: Just throwing it out there – Trea Turner’s 67 SBs away from 70.

2:56	Craig Edwards: Christian Yelich going for another MVP. Three-run bomb

2:56	Khaki Segura: Greg Bird: 0-3, 3K

2:57	Craig Edwards: He was going to have a tough time staying on the roster over the first month of the season, regardless, but this game has gone just about as badly for his future role as possible.

2:57	Johnny5Alive: Scherzer v DeGrom is exactly like we expected. Its so exciting! Happy Opening Day!

2:58	Craig Edwards: Now, Seth Lugo.

2:59	Anonymous: Home Runs haven’t gone anywhere, in case y’all were worried

2:59	Craig Edwards: Oh, they are going somewhere.

2:59	Guest: Is the KC/Sox game going to happen today or rainout?

3:00	Craig Edwards: I’m no Phil Connors, but I’ll say no rainout.

3:00	Dan Szymborski: Hello people!

3:00	Wire Fan: Adam Ottavino warming in the 6th

3:00	Craig Edwards: Super Bullpen

3:01	Dan Szymborski:

3:01	Chris: Yikes, Nats leaving Scherzer in the game down 1

3:01	Craig Edwards: Kind of need a run, guys

3:02	Dan Szymborski: I will have to sneak out at some point, I haven’t had a hot dog yet. Didn’t have time because I parked halfway to Columbus

3:02	Nick: Seth Lugo bruh.

3:02	Al Gone Quinn: So Dan, what you’re saying is that the Marlins have a chance. How about the Orioles?

3:02	Dan Szymborski: I can’t say there’s a chance.

3:02	geoff78: Everyone in unison: Hi Doctor Dan!

3:02	Oliver: Kind of wish someone like Eric Thames or Mark Reynolds could be starting in Chris Davis’s place. Seems like if a rebuilder is giving AB to a veteran 1B, it might as well be one of the better veteran 1B without a starting job.

3:02	Dan Szymborski: they’re paying Chris Davis until I’m 60 or so!

3:03	Oliver: The Orioles could use Jose Martinez, no?

3:03	Austin Houston: Is Dallas Keuchel just waiting for the first team to have a guy go down holding his arm?

3:03	Craig Edwards: and what are they giving up that doesn’t hurt their future that the Cardinals would want?

3:03	Dan Szymborski: He’s Homer Simpson with the pumpkin futures.

3:03	Conner from AZ: I’m a little disappointed none of the other FG chatters have taken advantage of the ability to have avatars in chat. I think we at least need Meg in her catcher’s mask

3:04	Dan Szymborski: I don’t even remember now why I made my avatar Andy Reid Taft.

3:04	Wire Fan: Is Joe Girardi managing the Nats, Phil’s or Cubs next year?

3:04	Jay Jaffe: hey Dan!

3:04	Dan Szymborski: yo jay!

3:04	Dan Szymborski: where are you on this opening day?

3:05	Jay Jaffe: at my palatial estate in Brooklyn ($1, Up and In Podcast)

3:05	Craig Edwards: Good question. Probably somewhere, and all three of those are good spots. Tell me what their record is at midseason and you might have the answer.

3:05	Dan Szymborski: there’s a scott schebler dent behind me where I sit in the press box, still sad I was not there for that game

3:06	DAVEY: Why are the Mets carrying to 1B on their roster, Alonso and Dom Smith? Do they realize the NL has no DH?

3:07	Craig Edwards: Well they have three second baseman so this might be an improvement.

3:07	Wire Fan: The CWS-KC game is the mlb.com free game of the day. Right price or still too expensive?

3:07

Justin: I will say this a lot, but I went to a rival private school of Ottavino’s, and in 8th grade, while I sat on the bench, that team had this really really good player who dominated everything named Adam (he’s one year older than I am, same grade). And it took me until this offseason to realize it was the same kid.

3:07	Craig Edwards: Eloy debut worth the price of admission, let alone free.

3:07	Matt: In an interesting turn of events, it seems likely that Scherzer might get deGrom’d against deGrom.

3:07	Craig Edwards: It’s not over yet.

3:08	Matt: I hedged, Craig

3:09	HappyFunBall: I feel like Scherzer would pitch 1,458 outs in a season if his manager let him. Davey needs to learn to tell Max “no”.

3:10	Craig Edwards: and he had a really good excuse being behind with scherzer up.

3:10	Billy Beane: Hi Dan, I just wanted to let you know that your ZiPS division Matrix was a really cool, really transparent way of conveying complex information about the distribution of outcomes for the ZiPS projections.

3:10	Dan Szymborski: THANKS LOVE YOUR BOOK MONEYBALL!

3:11	RR: What is more surprising taking deGrom out after 93 pitches or letting Scherzer pitch 110+ and not PH for him?

3:11	Dan Szymborski: More seriously, I hope I explained it in a way that it gets rid of the questions about what mean projections are!

3:11	Craig Edwards: Scherzer, but barely.

3:12	BKJ: Assuming player-owner revenue split stayed the same, would you support the MLB minimum plus year end WAR based compensation for all players? Would this be more or less fair than what we (they) do now?

3:12	Dan Szymborski: Really hard to implement, impossible to get approved, I think.

3:12	Thanks for the Chat!: Two more SOs in the Mets-Nats game and it will be 50% of the outs…

3:12	Derek: Can we please get Jose Martinez in the AL? That guy can hit. That guy also can’t play defense.

3:13	Dan Szymborski: You’d essentially be turning MLB salaries over to FanGraphs or Baseball-Reference, which isn’t happening. Or you’re negotiating a WAR formula like those Elias FA compensations, which will also be horrible.

3:13	Dan Szymborski: And you’d need to negotiate a new revenue-sharing plan, because something like that would end up destroying small-market teams under the current system.

3:13	Craig Edwards: I think if he were a 130 wRC+ hitter, he would be passable enough on defense to be a decent starter, though maybe the DH is coming to the NL soon.

3:14	Dan Szymborski: He’s better than Kemp

3:14	Matt: Why don’t you do nice projections, Dan?

3:14	RickyB: Really don’t understand what the Nats were doing w/ Scherzer there. At this stage of the game how does giving up a PA to get what amounted to 2 more outs from Scherzer make any sense?

3:14	Dan Szymborski: I’m more an antagonist stathead.

3:14	Andrew: The 2019 Orioles projections were pretty mean.

3:14	Craig Edwards: Narrator: it did not, in fact, make sense.

3:14	Anonymous: Your face is better than Kemp

3:15	Dan Szymborski: No way, Kemp’s way handsomer than I.

3:15

Billy Beane: Dan, article idea blatantly stolen from another commenter: Are there any AAA teams that project similarly to the 2019 Orioles? It feels like the Blue Jays AAA team might have better position players because Vladito probably has as high a WAR projection as 1/2 the Orioles position players put together.

3:15	Dan Szymborski: I suspect no. Even the O’s project to 10-12 WAR

3:15	Dan Szymborski: the second-tier AAA talent drops off a LOT

3:15

Dave: For the love of all that is holy, everyone stop suggesting the abomination of the DH is coming to the NL. You have your bastardized version of baseball and when you meet your maker you’ll be judged accordingly. Please leave the rest of the good folk alone to enjoy the purity of baseball as it should be.

3:16	Dan Szymborski: I feel that once daily interleague play happened, the eventual DH in the NL became inevitable.

3:16	Bird and Tulo: This might not last very long.

3:16	Matt: Am I the only one who is completely agnostic to the DH?

3:17	Dan Szymborski: No, I really don’t mind either way.

3:17	HappyFunBall: I know Davey Martinez is a rookie manager, and this is the first game of the season. He’ll learn soon enough, right? What’s that you say? Oh boy …

3:17	Dan Szymborski: You get out of practice and forget about how pinch-hitters work, kinda like how you write the previous year on stuff until like January 20th

3:17	Ron: Sure would be sweet if the Braves let their best player bat in the first inning instead of letting Ender Inciarte watch 3 straight pitches. Just one guy’s 2 cents

3:17	geoff78: So the phillies fan on my twitter timeline seem, um rather happy

3:18	Tim Tebow’s Thunder Thighs: With so many teams obviously tanking – in some ways, baseball has mirrored the shrinking middle class in America – how long until we see another epic 2003 Tigers-esque team? Could that next team be the Tigers?

3:18	Jay Jaffe: i mean, the Orioles are RIGHT HERE

3:18	Jay Jaffe: Harper’s first official plate appearance as a Phillie

3:19

Craig Edwards: The Braves have sort of a Cubs situation from last year with multiple middle of the order hitters and nobody who can hit leadoff. The best solution is probably Acuna at leadoff but somebody has to hit third when you want Freeman cleanup. That was a long way to go to say I agree that Inciarte shouldn’t be leadoff.

3:20	Neal: After the huge disappointment with Gordon Beckham and the lackluster start to Moncada’s career, the White Sox fans are desperate for Eloy to be the real deal right away. Is he the player you guys are most excited to watch today?

3:20	Craig Edwards: In terms of debut, I’d say yes. I’d like to see Reyes pitch today.

3:20	Jay Jaffe: Harper grounds out. Contract is a waste of money. Boo.

3:20	Joe: I never understand the “purity of the game” argument. The game has fundamentally changed countless times over the years and will continue to do so

3:21	Jay Jaffe: But the 45-foot pitching distance is sacrosanct! Wait…

3:21	Matt: Wait. Harper is a Phillie?!

3:21	Nate: ESPN calling McCutchen a “former Yankee” is like calling Paul Konerko a former Red.

3:21	Jay Jaffe: Former Dodger Paul Konerko, former Giant Andrew McCutchen

3:22	Dan Szymborski: Former Mariner, Carlos Santana

3:22	Tyler: Tatis Jr. and Eloy are definitely the two I’m most excited to watch

3:22	Guest: Ben Lindbergh convinced me on the DH

3:22	Matt: Who are the potential mid-season rentals this year? Anyone of note?

3:22	Dan Szymborski: Bumgarner!

3:22	Craig Edwards: Debuts are great. It is good for baseball and is exciting.

3:22	Eamus Catuli: White Sox legend Ken Griffey Jr.

3:23	Chris: Former Marlin Mike Piazza

3:23	Dan Szymborski: Beloved Ranger Jason Hammel

3:23	Moncada Hype Man: Moncada is going to be good. His plate discipline is improving! Last year he was 18th overall in O-Swing%

3:23	Jay Jaffe: Marlins legend Ichiro Suzuki

3:23	Walter Whitehurst: Is Trey Mancini interesting?

3:23	Craig Edwards: I think Moncada is going to get better. Easier to coach aggression at the plate than the reverse

3:24	Jay Jaffe: he’s less interesting than Henry Mancini

3:24	Dan Szymborski: Mainly if the Orioles and The Godfather, Part III are in the same universe and he’s Andy Garcia’s son.

3:24	Mike: If anybody is watching the Phillies game, Gameday just showed a ball down the center of the zone (pitch 2). Can anyone confirm? Could be in running for worst of season!

3:24	Craig Edwards: a Rays employee I know might be interested in that bit of info

3:24	Derek: I don’t understand why people want to watch (and actively argue for) watching people who are terrible at hitting and not in the MLB because of their hitting ability hit. I’ve yet to hear any cogent argument for it (“purity” or “tradition” don’t make sense as reasons either)

3:24	RR: PETER ALONSO GOT A HIT AND NO ONE SAID ANYTHING. GREATEST HITTER OF ALL TIME. (it was a bloop single)

3:24	Jay Jaffe: But Bartolo! is really not a great answer

3:24	Dan Szymborski: Mr. Blue Sky on the organ!

3:25	Guest: doesn’t the nats removing miller after facing 1 batter violate the new rule?

3:25	Craig Edwards: New rule doesn’t start until next year

3:25	Oliver: Waiting to see Hanley Ramirez make his debut for the Cleveland baseball team.

3:25	Craig Edwards: Baseball fever. Catch it.

3:25	Anonymous: Adam Ottavino’s still good, you guy. Just heads up

3:26	Dan Szymborski: YOU TOLD ME TO CATCH SCARLET FEVER AND THAT SUCKED

3:26	bombsquad rabbi: Harper 0 for his Phillies career. TO THE PILLORY WITH HIM

3:26	HappyFunBall: Peter Alonso is batting 1.000 against pitchers not named Max Scherzer

3:26	Dan Szymborski: Howard 2.0!

3:26	Ray Liotta as Sholess Joe: Former Mariner, Mallex Smith. Current Mariner, Mallex Smith.

3:26	Ray Liotta as Sholess Joe: Is Davey Martinez a bad manager? I feel like he was a good hire and I am not trying to go off of a 2019 sample by any means, but I am finding myself easily convinced that he is a bad manager.

3:27	Dan Szymborski: Erasmo Ramirez is always in the process of being shopped to the Mariners or by the Mariners.

3:27	Meg Rowley: I hear this is where you go to chat with friends about baseball?

3:27	Craig Edwards: I have no idea, though managing is hard and he’s still relatively inexperienced so he could be getting a lot better. Maybe not, though.

3:27	Jay Jaffe: It’s TV’s Meg Rowley! Welcome

3:27	Tim Tebow’s Thunder Thighs: Mike: I saw that pitch, it was guffaw-worthy.

3:27	Dan Szymborski: Hi Meg!

3:27	LFC Mike: I hope the press box in Cincinnati is serving up some delicious Skyline Chili… with beans!

3:27	Dan Szymborski: I haven’t checked the cafeteria. I usually go down to Porkopolis for hot dogs

3:28	Al Gone Quinn: Speaking of Hanley… is his career just like Ernie Banks’, i.e. moving from SS to 1B?

3:28	Craig Edwards: Sure, why not? It’s opening day. We can engage in flights of fancy.

3:28	Billy Beane: Rank these baseball things/people in terms of excitement: Khris Davis, Giancarlo Stanton, JD Martinez, Nelson Cruz, Shohei Ohtani, a double-switch.

3:28	CubFan: Does the recent signing of Morales to the A’s doom the chances of Barreto being relevant this year? Is a change of scenery his best bet to be a full time player?

3:29	Craig Edwards: there’s still time and positions for him to be sueful at.

3:29	Dan Szymborski: The O’s keep everything fluid. And Kendrys Morales can’t doom anyone these days

3:29	Dan Szymborski: A’s

3:29	Dan Szymborski: not O’s

3:29	Bdf : Philie legend Pedro Martinez

3:29	Jay Jaffe: It was a short run but damn, he was fun in that 2009 postseason. That afternoon pitchers’ duel with the Dodgers’ Vicente Padilla and then his 1st start against the Yankees, Game 2 of the World Series, which I attended. They got the better of him eventually but he made them work for it.

3:29	Eric A Longenhagen: Ahoy from Tempe

3:29	Meg Rowley: Shohei Ohtani, Giancarlo, JD Martinez, Double-Switch, Davis (from most to least)

3:29	Wire Fan: I have one slice of bread. If I throw some cheese, turkey and tomato on it and fold it in half, am I eating a sandwich? What if I cut the bread in half first?

3:29	Meg Rowley: Well hello!

3:30	Craig Edwards: Stanton, Martinez, Ohtani, Jhoulys Chacin batting, Cruz, Davis, double switch

3:30	Dan Szymborski: You have to cut it.

3:30	Jay Jaffe: wait, a double switch is more exciting than the uncanny consistency of Khris Davis and his .247 AVG?

3:30	Dan Szymborski: Sandwiches can’t be hinged.

3:30	Jay Jaffe: the hell they can’t

3:30	Meg Rowley: If we’re doing food talk, I’m leaving.

3:30	Dan Szymborski: I was never prouder of ZiPS than when it spat out a .247 BA for Davis

3:30

Derek: I’ve been seeing “Pete Alonso” listed a lot of places the last couple days, but only ever saw him referred to as “Peter Alonso” until now. Is he Pete or Peter? Did he make an announcement that he wants to go by Pete now that I missed? Or did some members of the media just suddenly decide to call him Pete? This is bothering me more than it should.

3:30	Craig Edwards: Yes.

3:31	Dan Szymborski: Sandwiches are baseball-related. If not, we’re sullying the memory of Eno

3:31	CubFan: Do you expect Eloy to stay up all season? If so, what kind of numbers do you expect?

3:31	Craig Edwards: Yes, and somewhere in the top-20 for hitters in the AL.

3:31	Jay Jaffe: there’s no functional difference between a baguette/roll sliced incompletely and stuffed than sliced completely and pieced back together.

3:31	Anonymous: JHOULYS CHACIN JUST HOMERED

3:31	Jay Jaffe: Sorry, Meg

3:32	mcm: He asked to be called Pete

3:32	Dan Szymborski: Hinge ruins it. It’s like having a grilled cheese with mayonnaise

3:32	Monsignor Martinez: Jhoulys Chacin!!!

3:32	mcm: Familia is not fun to watch

3:32	Gritty: Ronald Acuna!

3:32	Ray Liotta as Sholess Joe: Jhoulys Chacin!

3:32	Meg Rowley: Do you think Rollie ever regrets growing the mustache?

3:32	Meg Rowley: Like, he’s locked in forever.

3:32	Meg Rowley: What if his tastes changed?

3:32	Dan Szymborski: Chacin’s average more exclamations

3:33	Dan Szymborski: Without the mustache, he’s just Gary Fingers, forgettable reliever.

3:33	Meg Rowley: He is more than just a baseballman, Dan

3:33	Ian: Meg! It’s baseball!

3:33	Meg Rowley: Can confirm, it is true.

3:34	Sonny: Pete is infinitely better, tough name, like the kind of guy you’d want on your side in a back alley knife fight

3:34	Dan Szymborski: once you’re a baseballman, you’re a baseballman to stay, from your MLB debut to your Royals-signing day.

3:34	Craig Edwards: or you could avoid knife fights altogether and hang out with your good pal Peter.

3:34	Jay Jaffe: OK i just made an av

3:34	Luke Voit: I can’t not get on base, apparently.

3:34	Jay Jaffe: photo by Dylan Higgins from the recent staff trip to Arizona. Other members of this chat barely visible by the cropping.

3:35	CubFan: Do any of you find it odd that KC let Goodwin go and sign Duda? Then start Merrifield in RF, Owingd at 2B and DH Soler. Since they are in rebuild mode it would seem Goodwin would be of more value down the road whereas Duda wont be. Really odd.

3:35	Craig Edwards: yes. it is quite odd.

3:35	Jay Jaffe: I want to see Duda play 2B.

3:35	Dan Szymborski: I’d find it odd if it were a well-run team.

3:36	Dave: Peter Parker would seem to be a good guy to have on your side in a knife fight

3:36	Craig Edwards: I can’t stress this enough: Avoid knife fights

3:36	Dan Szymborski: You can’t use spider webs in a knife fight

3:36	Dan Szymborski: or it would be a knife-and-web fight

3:37	Craig Edwards: I’m not getting myself roped into a chat about the rules for knife fighting, Dan.

3:37	Zihuatanejo: Jaffe: “bruschetta is a sandwich.”

3:37	Craig Edwards: because knife fights are to be avoided.

3:37	Adam: Meg, are you leaving if we talk about various fighting techniques as well?

3:37	Dan Szymborski: YOu can’t always just avoid knife fights. Sometimes the person in front of you will get the last taco

3:37	Yankees: 2018 Yankees broke HR record and Judge/Stanton/Sanchez hit 83…

3:37	Meg Rowley: No but only because I feel the need to be a hall monitor.

3:37	Travis: With the Braves’ signing of McCann, how much p.t. does Suzuki get this year? And in the land of the (awful) catching replacement level, why doesn’t he get more respect for his batting profile changes?

3:38	Eric A Longenhagen: A well-positioned Victor Robles just robbed Wilson Ramos of an oppo gap single. I thought I’d have switched over to StL/MIL or PHI/ATL by now but this game has had great pace.

3:38	Lawrence Peter: Since Ohtani has just started taking on-field BP and could DH by May, couldn’t Yanks do same with Didi by June?

3:38	Craig Edwards: I don’t think McCann is anything close to an everyday player.

3:38	Dan Szymborski: Yeah, but Didi’s not interesting as a DH

3:38	eno sarris: what if you brought a loaf of bread to a knife fight?

3:38	Dan Szymborski: Ohtani is because he hit better than anyone had any right to expect

3:39	Andy: hey Dan what’s your favorite John Fogerty song

3:39	Dan Szymborski: the little known track “Opener”

3:39	Dan Szymborski: “Let me start coach…I’m ready to face….one batter.”

3:39	Juiced Balls: Look out 2019 here I come!

3:39	Craig Edwards: Domes and decent weather help, too.

3:39	Ryan Brasier: I’m a good closer!

3:39	Meg Rowley: Add Barraclough to the list of dudes I had forgotten had switched teams.

3:39	Billy Beane: Do you think of Frank Thomas swinging rebar as a sort of DriveLine-style innovator because he was more or less using weighted bats in the 90’s?

3:40	Brodie: Suzuki is on the Nationals. Does he mean Tyler Flowers?

3:40	Craig Edwards: I’m guessing, yes.

3:40	Wes: Better hair from a former SEC standout: Dansby Swanson or Aaron Nola?

3:40	Craig Edwards: Swanson

3:40	Jay Jaffe: Re Didi as DH… it comes down to whether Tulowitki can outhit Gardner. Odds are that the Yankees need the DH spot to clear up their OF logjam (Judge, Stanton, Hicks, Gardner) moreso than to keep Tulowitzki and Gregorius in the same lineup

3:40	Dan Szymborski: Barraclough is pronounced bear-claw which is food!

3:41	Orioles: David Hess has thrown 39 pitches. This is gonna be a fun year.

3:41	Jay Jaffe: I have something on McCann/Flowers and Russell Martin/Austin Barnes in the works, in light of our new pitch framing stats

3:41	Matt W: Also, mayo the outside of your grilled cheese before you grill it. It turns out perfectly every time.

3:41	Dan Szymborski: In an unrelated note, how do we ban people FOREVER?

3:41	Johnny5Alive: So it seems that today’s Mets game is going to live and die by BVW’s big offseason deal.

3:41	FiveToolNerd: As a Sox fan, I’m bummed that they start at 7 on OD and a LONG West Coast trip to start the year. The defending champions should always start at home, on primetime, versus either a rival or a playoff rematch like the NFL does.

3:42	Mike: Do we feel like MLB schedulers are silly boys and girls who repeatedly put cold weather teams against other cold weather teams instead of warmer/domes? For instance, Cleveland plays in Minnesota, then Cleveland, then Detroit until mid-April.

3:42	Adam: Eff yeah mayo on exterior of Grilled cheese. You don’t taste it, it just crisps the exterior perfectly.

3:42	Dan Szymborski: that’s why the apostles gave us butter

3:42	Craig Edwards: not to mention the added confidence that made sure deGrom pitched like a winner.

3:42	Meg Rowley: No one wants to give up mid-summer home games is the thing

3:42	London Yank: The announcing combo of David Cone and Paul O’Neill is interesting. Cone takes the job very seriously and is very forward thinking. O’Neill is just a goofball.

3:42	Jay Jaffe: Cone does his homework and is an exemplary player-turned-analyst. I feel like O’Neill’s version of research is showing up with a working pen.

3:42	Kiemaier’s Ankylosing Sondylitis: How did we win 90 games last year and will we do it this year? What will Mr. Honeywell contribute this year?

3:43	Dan Szymborski: I always root for screwballers

3:43	Dan Szymborski: I don’t think they’re a 90-win team without some good luck though

3:43	Dave: Isn’t really that no one wants to give up Opening Day. Even bad teams sell a bunch of tickets on OD

3:44	Meg Rowley: I meant more generally.

3:44	Billy Beane: Do you think Matt W is Matt Wieters and is it fair to attribute 100% of his decline to using Mayo on grilled cheese?

3:44	Meg Rowley: And sure, teams want a home opener but they really want games in June, July, and August when kids are out of school

3:45	Craig Edwards: everybody does well opening day generally, the few days after can see a big drop in the cold-weather areas. Those teams would much rather have games in the summer when people are on vacation and school is out and the weather is good.

3:45	London Yank: Wow, what a double play by the Orioles! I’ve probably watched 10,000 baseball games in my life, but never seen anything like that.

3:45	Tim Tebow’s Thunder Thighs: Is there a left handed knuckleballer anywhere in the minors, or is that just a phenomenon we aren’t likely to see in our lifetimes?

3:46	Meg Rowley: Edwin Diaz in for the save.

3:46	Meg Rowley: He’s fun. Watch Edwin, imo.

3:46	Craig Edwards: left-handers don’t have to give up and try something else. They can just try to get lefties out. Maybe the secret design of the three-batter rule is to unearth lefty knucklers. Probably not, though.

3:46	Jay Jaffe: Ryan Feierabend is not a full-on knuckleballer but he throws one, I assume he’s remaining in the Blue Jays’ organization somehow. Wrote about him here https://blogs.fangraphs.com/ryan-feierabend-and-the-disappearing-knuck…

3:47	Orioles: Do the Orioles take Zion Williamson with their first pick?

3:47	Eric A Longenhagen: I’d make Vaughn and Rutschman the favorites right now. Maybe the more interesting question is: If a rep-less 19-year old like Zion were dropped into baseball’s best player dev situation, how good could they make him by age 25?

3:47	Wire Fan: CB Bucknor has missed a runner getting hit by a batted ball and calling an infield fly rule. How is he employed?

3:47	Matt W: Mayo is just oil, it adheres very well, and you don’t taste it once it’s cooked. Most diners and restaurants use this trick, so chances are if you’ve ordered a grilled cheese somewhere, it was mayo’d.

3:47	Dan Szymborski: Never buying a grilled cheese again!

3:48	Guest: How was that not an infield fly?

3:48	Josh: Any non-headliner storylines, you guys are particularly interested in?

3:48	Davy: I just wanted to mention that in addition to the mistake of letting Scherzer bat, Martinez made an arguably bigger mistake in bringing in Matt Grace instead of one of his (several) better relievers in a high leverage situation. 2019=2018.

3:48	Dan: infield fly, 2-2-5-4-6-4 putout. Ok, that seems normal.

3:49	greenfrog: With the Dwight Smith Jr. and Kendrys Morales trades, the Jays have added $1.5m in international pool money that has to be spent before the June deadline. Who might they be able to acquire with that money?

3:49	Eric A Longenhagen: If they like Yolbert Sanchez that’s approaching the $2mil Kiley and I have been told he has on the table for 2019 period. Yennier Cano worked out in Miami this week, he throws pretty hard and doesn’t have enough foreign pro experience to be exempt from pool

3:50	Craig Edwards: I’m really interested in seeing how Kris Bryant performs this season and the Cubs generally. Ton of tension right now. And I’m fascinated by the Rangers and Pirates for some reason.

3:50	Andrew: What is your favorite MLB broadcast team? I’m partial to Len and JD for the Cubs

3:50	Craig Edwards: They are up there. Both Chicago teams are really good.

3:50	Andrew: Seeing Charlie Montoyo so happy making his Jays managerial debut makes me happy. That is all.

3:50	Craig Edwards: Opening Day is great.

3:51	Conner from AZ: I see Jay has caught Avatar fever! Things are really starting to trend up around here

3:51	Craig Edwards: Sounds scary

3:51	Anonymous: 25 Strikeouts and 10 hits in the WAS-NYM game. This is not a pace of play problem. But it might be a problem.

3:51	Pikachu: When/where do you think will Keuchel sign?

3:52	Eric A Longenhagen: With whatever team whose rotation suffers the first serious injury. Thought maybe St Louis was in play after the Carlos Martinez stuff.

3:52	Craig Edwards: Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom is pretty atypical as far as starting tandems go.

3:52	Meg Rowley: Well the 2018 Mariners just had a great game in DC.

3:53	Billy Beane: Jay, I had missed that piece about the knuckleballer. Cool!

3:53	Jay Jaffe: Thanks! Further research: Feierabend was assigned to Buffalo in late February.

3:54	Eric A Longenhagen: Only lefty knuckler I’ve ever seen

3:54	Jay Jaffe: He’s currently listed on their roster http://www.milb.com/roster/index.jsp?sid=t422

3:55	Nick: Gary / Keith / Ron (Mets)

3:55	Craig Edwards: they are good as well

3:55	Nick: Need some help. Mets game over, what’s the best game to tune in to now?

3:55	Jay Jaffe: Wilbur Wood had a long, successful career as a lefty knuckler, FWIW.

3:55	Meg Rowley: I’m watching Braves/Phillies

3:56	Craig Edwards: I’m watching Cardinals/Brewers

3:56	Jay Jaffe: Home run for Greg Bird, so his day isn’t a total loss

3:57	Mozeliak: Fowler just popped out with guys on first and third. I think just one of Tyler O’Neill’s biceps would have put up a more competitive at bat.

3:57	Dan Szymborski: If only there was some kind of hitting, like in a “pinch” that batters could have been put into a game for the Scherzer or something.

3:57	Dan Szymborski: I know that’s crazy

3:57	Tyler: The U.S. population has increased by 30 million since we last had expansion. With players like Gio having to take a minor league deal, it has to be time for expansion. How many years till we see two more teams?

3:57	Jay Jaffe: How many more years until we see the stadium situations in Tampa Bay and Oakland resolved? Because that’s what Manfred said has to happen first, circa 2017

3:57	Craig Edwards: but is he better than Jose Martinez. I think there is a decent argument that the depth chart should be Martinez-O’Neill-Fowler, but Fowler is going to get a shot to show he can still play.

3:58	Eric A Longenhagen: I’ve now got TB/HOU on

3:59	LFC Mike: What wins in a fight: The Twins new 24 inch chili dog called “The Boomstick” or the Rangers new “Fowl Pole” a 2 pound chicken tender battered and fried served on a bed of waffle fries. Cardiologist not included.

3:59	Jay Jaffe: Evan Grant @Evan_P_Grant Oh, yeah, you need to know about food at the ballpark, right? Or maybe you just need another NSFW shot of me & a chicken log: bit.ly/2U9pjUl 28 Mar 2019

3:59	Jay Jaffe: That’s Rangers beat writer Evan Grant with the Fowl Pole

3:59	Jay Jaffe: I can’t believe that’s not his av

3:59	Johnny5Alive: Keuchel should end up in the NL east somewhere, I’d imagine. Phils or Mets?

3:59	Eric A Longenhagen: I’d not want the Phillies infield playing behind him.

3:59	Dan Szymborski: Shoot, we were talking about it. I can eat a lot of chicken

3:59	Meg Rowley: Not always sure we deserve to make it as a species

4:00	Jay Jaffe: oh heavens no, Meg

4:00	Dan Szymborski: I don’t want two more teams because we’ll inevitably have eight divisions

4:00	Nate: How many more years does it take for the stadium situations in Oakland and TB to get resolved? Seems like they’ve both been going on forever, and it’d be jus tto see those finally get resolved at some point

4:01	Meg Rowley: Oakland is pretty far along in their process as far I’ve heard; Tampa has stalled out.

4:01	tan mom: craig – how long a leash does shildt give dex? i’m afraid it’s gonna get awkward

4:01	Dave: Don’t worry Meg, in the long run we won’t make it as a species. The heat-death of the universe is inevitable

4:01	Jay Jaffe: Coastal flooding is going to do a whole lot of damage first. And much more quickly

4:02	Jim Atkins: Angels off to their usual start with Andrew Heaney going in for an elbow exam.

4:02	Jay Jaffe: I still think Keuchel is a fit in Anaheim with that flimsy rotation.

4:02	Craig Edwards: If he doesn’t hit well the next couple weeks, the month following when he is starting regularly is going to be really awkward. I think he’ll get six weeks to see, though others could creep into that playing time from the start.

4:02	NotGraphs Revivalist: How dumb is it that Kimbrel is not in the Atlanta bullpen today.

4:03	Craig Edwards: Julio Teheran, opening day starter is arguably weirder.

4:03	The Nomad: Ybor City wants the Rays

4:03	Derek: Will Snell-Verlander live up to Scherzer-DeGrom?

4:03	Jay Jaffe: “Ybor city is tres speedy but they throw such killer parties. “

4:03	Craig Edwards: Not likely, bird in hand situation, there.

4:04	Zack: I don’t think we can seriously consider expansion until we’ve found a way to incentivize trying to win every year. I know we’ve always had “rebuilding” teams, but we have to find a way to make owners of the Marlins and the Orioles care about the difference between losing 100 games and 120.

4:05	Craig Edwards: thinning out the talent pool might help that situation and make it harder to have the really great teams, thus giving more teams a reasonable opportunity to compete.

4:05	NotGraphs Revivalist: Hey, Teheran looks good early!

4:06	Conner from AZ: Would/should baseball just move to the NHL-style standings with 32 teams & 8 divisions? Where divisions only really matter for scheduling? Standings are determined by overall finish in respective leagues?

4:06	Craig Edwards: I like fewer divisions and more wild cards

4:06	Appa Yip Yip: Rays should just move to Montreal TBH

4:07	Dan Szymborski: Hi Jonah!

4:07	Meg Rowley: As someone who lost her NBA franchise, I wouldn’t want to get one back through relocation.

4:07	Dave: The competitive incentives for losing are really really small. The problem is that the financial incentives are completely out of whack

4:07	Dave: Jay, there are solutions for flooding and global warming. But Entropy is undefeated.

4:07	Craig Edwards: that is a problem, though i don’t think it is that difficult to get things back in order

4:07	NotGraphs Revivalist: My work laptop is playing Verlander-Snell. My personal laptop is playing MIL-STL. My TV is playing ATL-PHI. Can I still tell my boss that I worked from home

4:07	Jay Jaffe: There are solutions but they all involve removing the Party of No from power in the White House, Senate and House all at once. Which isn’t easy to pull off. But you’re right, Entropy will win out

4:08	Meg Rowley: Yes, this is your note from the managing editor.

4:08	Dan Szymborski: If Jay can talk politics I CAN TALK SPIDERMAN KNIFE FIGHTS!

4:08	Dan Szymborski: And food

4:08	Billy Beane: I can’t decide whether I should feel bad for Rusney Castillo, because he is stuck in AAA despite probably being a solid 4th outfielder, or happy for him because the thing that keeps him out of MLB is also making him insanely wealthy.

4:08	Kiermaier’s Piercing Green Eyes: Dan, you talk about politics all the time. Sandwich construction and jury nullification.

4:09	Craig Edwards: that’s a really weird thing happening, though it is less likely now that the loophole is closed.

4:09	Defenestrater: That one is Wong Gone!

4:10	Craig Edwards: Two homers in a single game Kolten Wong.

4:10	London Yank: Jay what are your thoughts on the new framing inclusive WAR totals? Are Brian McCann and Russel Martin really HOFers?

4:10	Craig Edwards: maybe he’ll get the gold glove now.

4:10	Meg Rowley: I’ve been thinking about it, and I’m still not happy with any of my Austin Meadows puns, but I want you all to know, I am working on it.

4:10	Jay Jaffe: Thoughts on this forthcoming, London Yank.

4:10	Marz: Yankees bringing in Chapman here is just a transparent attempt to pump the Orioles up.

4:11	HappyFunBall: What is a Hanser Alberto, and why is it batting against Aroldis Chapman?

4:11	Craig Edwards: I believe Austin Meadows are well known for drum circles

4:11	Eric A Longenhagen: Austin Meadows took Verlander oppo to leadoff TB’s year. 1-2 fastball on outside corner

4:11	Dan Szymborski: The O’s had Hans Alberto, but wanted a Hanser one.

4:11	Jay Jaffe: well, there goes Verlander’s HOF bid

4:11	Dan Szymborski: Just wait till they call up Hansest Alberto

4:11	Meg Rowley: Only if Zunino goes deep, Jay.

4:11	NotGraphs Revivalist: Does this chat allow expletives? I get very emotionally agitated when watching baseball.

4:12	Dan Szymborski: I have to be good, the grownups are here

4:12	Gritty: Kolten Wong this years breakout slugger?

4:12	Jay Jaffe: Sporer sullied this conversation with some swears. I have been known to do so in the past but I have been a good boy today

4:13	Mike: Rusney Castillo is a great example of how Boston can afford to miss (Castillo, Sandoval, Hanley Ramirez, Dustin Pedroia 2018) and still sign or trade for other expensive players (JD Martinez, Chris Sale, David Price, Ian Kinsler) until they get it right.

4:13	Eric A Longenhagen: Correct, whereas it seems the Yoan Lopez debacle in Phoenix is what facilitated the Touki/Arroyo salary dump to Atlanta.

4:13	Dan Szymborski: First K of the year for Luis Castillo

4:13	Craig Edwards: He’s had periods where he showed this type of power and there are some times when he’s been more of an OBP-singles/doubles guy and other periods when he’s just not been good. I think 15-20 homers is a reasonable possibility is something I should have said yesterday.

4:13	Dave: Is Meg now the grown-up? Cause Carson certainly wasn’t

4:13	Nate: Watching this Orioles team: how bad was Alcides Escobar that he couldn’t make the team?

4:13	Meg Rowley: I’ve been mistaken for one yes.

4:14	Blue: Is there a way to view positional power rankings by team? Like all the tables and blurbs for say, the diamondbacks, in one place?

4:14	Dan Szymborski: She’s our best approximation

4:14	Craig Edwards: Nate, that’s a pretty circular statement

4:14	Meg Rowley: There is!

4:14	Dan Szymborski: It’s hard to justify Alcides even at AAA, IMO.

4:14	LFC Mike: Austin Meadows sounds like nice subdivision to live in.

4:15	Eric A Longenhagen: Pretty sure Brandon Lowe will exhaust his rookie eligibility today

4:15	Dan Szymborski: aaaaand Luis Castillo’s first walk

4:15	Meg Rowley: Blue, just above where the rankings start in any given position (you won’t see it in the intro or summary) there is a bar with all the positions laid out. Just under that is a “View by Team” drop down.

4:16	Meg Rowley: Lowe pronounced like Now, right?

4:17	Dan Szymborski: Unfortunately yes.

4:17	Blue: Found it. Thanks Meg!

4:18	Craig Edwards: That name again is Mr. Lowe.

4:18	Dan Szymborski: lol

4:18	Dan Szymborski: He better be good if he wants me to prounounce Lowe different than every other person named Lowe that ever existed ever.

4:19	Dan Szymborski: You can’t be Alcides Escobar and then tell people your last name is pronounced “Ecto-cooler”

4:19	Eric A Longenhagen: Michael Brantley struck out, repent, repent!

4:19	druidiful: Dan, wouldn’t that mean that Escobar was actually tradable?

4:20	Dan Szymborski: good point

4:20	Craig Edwards: Harper just struck out.

4:20	Dan Szymborski: WORST SIGNING EVER

4:22	Tommy Hunter Bishop: wait Peter Bourjos is still around?

4:22	Anonymous: How fast does Aroldis Chapman usually throw again?

4:22	Eric A Longenhagen: Can still run and go get it in the OF, LAA was light on 40-man OFs heading to spring training.

4:22	Jay Jaffe: OK folks, I’m going to bow out here. fistbumps to my fellow FG staffers and thank you to our readers for tuning in.

4:22	Craig Edwards: Maybe he was just taking it easy today.

4:22	Dan Szymborski: cya Jay!

4:22	Wonger Donger: Kolten Wong has 2 HR. Is he the new Altuve?

4:23	Craig Edwards: Opening Day is so great.

4:23	Dan Szymborski: Wong is Right, some hacky editor somewhere is writing

4:23	Eric A Longenhagen: If glovin you is Wong?

4:23	ummmm: Do you not want your name to be “ecto-cooler?” That would be badass

4:24

The Electrician: With THE GAME being gone, do you ever think about the day baseball is gone? Like, do you think it will take a catastrophic event for MLB to end, or will it wane in popularity until it’s just not really a thing anymore? Do you think it lasts another 50 years? 100 years? Is the game played on floating fields atop a water world?

4:24	Dan Szymborski: I think these things most likely will fade

4:24	Dan Szymborski: I think it lasts 50

4:24	Dan Szymborski: Star Trek Deep Space Nine had it ending somewhere in the 2030s, I beleive

4:24	Dan Szymborski: In one of the Buck Bokai episodes

4:24	Dan Szymborski: He was suppposed to debut already

4:25	Chris: Should but Buck Bokai on THE BOARD tbh

4:25	Sean: Does Marcell Ozuna get a one year or multi year deal next year?

4:25	Meg Rowley: Well as someone who won’t be retirement age in 2030 that’s not at all concerning.

4:25	Jkim: I still don’t know how Joc actually makes contact with the ball with that swing. when he does he just murders the ball though!

4:25	Dan Szymborski: Do baseball writers REALLY retire?

4:25	Craig Edwards: i would think he could at least get brantly’s deal even if he repeats last season.

4:25	Meg Rowley: I plan on walking into the sea.

4:25	Dan Szymborski: I imagine i’ll be 80 in 2058 going on insane rants about stupid cyborg players

4:26	Craig Edwards: better to burn out, than it is to rust

4:27	Craig Edwards: and on that note, I think I’ll call it a day.

4:27	Dan Szymborski: I think MLB lasts longer than the NFL. I think the additional focus on the physical toll of the game can’t be put back in the box

4:27	EonADS: Whelp, Klubers Slydra is as nasty as ever. Nelson Cruz knew he was out halfway through his swing.

4:27	BASEBALLLLLLL: fistbumps for craig

4:28	Chris: I think thematic exits for sports writers are a good idea, like Meg the Mariners fan walks into the sea, although the Mets fan death of being eaten alive by pizza rats is considerably grimmer

4:28	Meg Rowley: (excusing myself briefly to retrieve chips, guac, etc.)

4:28	Dan Szymborski: NOW I’M IN CHARGE BRIEFLY

4:29	Dave: Has anyone, ever, left Dan in charge?

4:29	The Electrician: DAN WHILE YOU’RE IN CHARGE MAKE SOME SWEEPING CHANGES TO THE GAME, THE LEAGUE, THE WEBSITE, THE GOVERNMENT, ETC

4:29	Dan Szymborski: OBP NO LONGER INCLUDES SACRIFICE FLIES IN THE DENOMINATOR

4:29	Dan Szymborski: IT IS SAID

4:30	Jkim: Dodgers writer turns into skeleton while waiting in traffic going into Chavez Ravine

4:30	NotGraphs Revivalist: DAN, THROW OUT SOME EXPLETIVES BEFORE MEG COMES BACK

4:30	Meg Rowley: I’m back.

4:30	Dan Szymborski: She’s not going to be gone long enough for me to dare that.

4:30	Dan Szymborski: See?

4:30	Eric A Longenhagen: Driver uses corpse to access HOV lane while leaving Dodgers Stadium

4:30	Dan Szymborski: You guys could’ve gotten me in trouble!

4:31	Appa Yip Yip: Fans already wearing Guerrero Jr jerseys.

4:31	Meg Rowley: Almost like he’s one of the most exciting hitters we’ve seen (or not seen, as the case may be) in a while

4:31	BASEBALLLLLLL: Meg did you bring enough snacks to share with the whole class?

4:31	Dan Szymborski: Aren’t most of you guys millennials? I would assume you already have avocados.

4:32	Dave: Greinke looks like the most disheveled ball player I can remember

4:32	Galileo Speaks: We are out of food and the hedgehog is in the toilet.

4:32	Eric A Longenhagen: Willy Adames’ spikes are a bit much

4:32	Dan Szymborski: I fed the cats before I left! Last I saw the hedgehog was in the hallway

4:32	BASEBALLLLLLL: dave (or anyone) who is the most sheveled ball player you can remember?

4:32	Meg Rowley: Oh that’s a look.

4:32	Eric A Longenhagen: eh, I take it back

4:32	Dan Szymborski: That Wil Myers TV interview

4:33	Jkim: Before Seager’s injury in 2017 he was puttin gup .300/.400/.500 – it’s so great to have him back, and man he’s got such a great approach at the plate esp how much he swings at the first pitch yet can walk so much

4:34	Chris: Adames cleats>Bryce’s cleats (they look like crocs imo)

4:34	Meg Rowley: I thought maybe they let him murder the Phanatic as part of the deal.

4:35	Meg Rowley: What, too much?

4:36	Dan Szymborski:

4:36	Khaki Segura: Dave: You have clearly never seen David Wells. He wears a crown of used fast food wrappers.

4:37	Rox Fan: Ian Desmond is still on the Rockies. This does not please me.

4:39	Dan Szymborski: Making fun of the Rockies and Desmond is one of my faves!

4:39	Galileo Speaks Again: We ate all the food already .. no one here to tell us not to do that.I am not being named put the hedgehog in the toilet on purpose.

4:40	Nate: Can I nominate Yankee fans who put names on the back of jerseys as the worst fans? Please?

4:40	Eric A Longenhagen: it is a bad look, isn’t it?

4:41	Meg Rowley: the worst part is that a lot of official replica jerseys come with player names… just… what is that?

4:42	Dan Szymborski: yeah, if you have a yankees jersey with a name, fans are legally allowed to strip you bare and set it on fire

4:42	bmstretch: announcers never fail to mention shadows between the mound and home and how it advantages the pitcher. has any research been done on this? I think their argument makes sense, but numbers behind it would be valuable! “Batters have x-points lower OBP with shadows” or something

4:42	Dan Szymborski: i’d kinda be curious about shadow splits

4:42	LFC Mike: Wong HR total over/under … 320?

4:42	Dan Szymborski: Don’t be silly, he’s not going to hit more than 150 homers

4:43	Fat Matt: My wife bought me a replica Judge jersey with the name on the back….that was tough to deal with

4:43	mike sixel: All jerseys should have player name, it’s hard for fans, especially new ones, not to have them there. It’s like they want to do the things that are worst for marketing….

4:43	Eric A Longenhagen: i reject the premise that marketability uber alles. Like I’ll be bummed when sponsorships end up on jerseys.

4:43	Dan Szymborski: my gf wouldn’t buy me anything baseball since she doesn’t know anything about baseball. She mostly tags along to baseball things as an opportunity to drink

4:45	Dan Szymborski: At the staten island meetup, she came along, and didn’t understand a single thing anybody said, so she just knit all weekend and drank about 40 beers

4:45	Dylan R: Can we acknowledge how dope it is that the A’s got Jurickson Profar for only a decent prospect and a supplementary draft pick??

4:45

Mike: I wish I had chips and guac and etc. I also wish I could hear the game I’m trying to listen to at work. Is there some rights issue with streaming MLB games on the internet? My boss has an actual radio in his office with the game on and I’m trying to stream the same station and it has something different online.

4:46	Dan Szymborski: don’tthink there’s typically an issue with radio

4:46	Dan Szymborski: like when you have a blacked out game, mlt tv gives you a radio feed

4:46	HappyFunBall: Replica jersey with names on the back are the worst! Everyone’s going to know you’re not ACTUALLY on the team!

4:46	BASEBALLLLLLL: mike i had that same issue with 680 the fan in atlanta

4:46	Derek: also Matt Chapman: still really freaking good at defense.

4:47	NotGraphs Revivalist: OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD LORENZO CAIN

4:47	Bring back DeSpaniel Hair: How the yuck is melky C the second hitter for Pittsburgh?

4:47	Eric A Longenhagen: Springer 3-run dinger off first-pitch curveball. 3-1 ‘Stros

4:47	Dan Szymborski: what happen? I can’t have 8 games on here on the press box wireless or they’ll murder me

4:49	Cardinals Fan: Cain bleeping brought Jose Martinez’s home run back to end the game.

4:49	Dan Szymborski: I just saw tales of a bourbon slushie here at the park, I need to go find it

4:51	Scott: How old is the average FG reader/commenter? I’m 43.

4:51	Dan Szymborski: I always assume about 30? I don’t know if we’ve ever done any study of demographic information

4:51

Billy Beane: For a second, I thought Dan left a hedgehog free-roaming in a house full of cats and was very concerned for the hedgehog’s well-being. Then I remembered the hedgehog is a toy and then was concerned about my own well-being. why do I know this much about the toys of a baseball writer’s cats?

4:52	Sonny: Fun fact, Paul Goldschmidt is only 2nd on the all-time bWAR leaderboard for players born in Delaware, behind Wilmington’s own Sadie McMahon by .5 WAR

4:53	Dan Szymborski: Josh Bell just got Bucknered

4:53	Dan: I second billy b. You folks chat about things sane people shouldn’t be interested in and yet I come here daily and don’t regret a moment.

4:54	Jkim: Harper already getting boos LOL

4:54	Eric A Longenhagen: (sigh) I miss my homeland

4:54	Dan Szymborski: How Old Are You? Under 18 (0.3% \| 1 vote) 18-30 (44.4% \| 115 votes) 31-49 (42.4% \| 110 votes) 50-68 (8.4% \| 22 votes) 69 (0% \| 0 votes) 70-90 (0.3% \| 1 vote) 90-100 (0.7% \| 2 votes) 100+ and also a liar (3.0% \| 8 votes) Total Votes: 259

4:54	Eric A Longenhagen: man, look at those slacker millennial go!

4:56	Kiermaier’s Piercing Green Eyes: You know that scene from IASIP where Charlie has this insane conspiracy theory on his walls? That’s what I feel like with four screens in front of me trying to show my partner how Blake Snell got screwed on a missed third strike.

4:56	Dan Szymborski: Rockies signed Pepe Silvia.

4:57	Eric A Longenhagen: LOL at Michael Brantley’s hands. Just dropped the bat head and turned on 93 in on the black, lifted it 10 rows deep.

4:57	Meg Rowley: Brantley!

4:58	Call Me Willy: Have we hit peak meme with Elvis Andrus and Baby Shark? (PS he just hit a bomb)

4:58	Wes: Votto just hesistation deked Josh Bell, a real bad two batters to be Josh Bell

4:58	Dan Szymborski: I don’t get Baby Shark at all

4:58	Tyler: If you thought the avg age was 30, you might not have wanted to put 30 as the ending for one and 31 for the start of another.

4:59	Dan Szymborski: I’M NOT A PROFESSIONAL DEMOGRAPHER I TRY MY BEST

4:59	Rox Fan: What were the terms on the Silvia signing?

4:59	Dan Szymborski: 5/80 because they assumed a randomly selected person would be better than desmond

4:59	Wire Fan: Dan, without giving too much away, how does ZIPS do defensive projections for minor leaguers? Is it scouting reports? Any MiLB data used?

4:59	Dan Szymborski: I do some location parsing and have a rudimentary Total Zone measure

5:00	Aaron: Angels pitching is just going to make me so sad this year.

5:00	Dan Szymborski: Also a scouting report parser, but it’s been more effort than benefit, so I’m reethinking that

5:00	Eric A Longenhagen: Griffin Canning was mostly 90-92 the other night, too.

5:00	Russell: Hi just got to the chat, does anyone know why Tyler Naquin is in the 3 hole for Cleveland? Sorry if this was already brought up

5:01	Dan Szymborski: Because the Indians have two good players in the lineup and one of them is out with an ankle sprain.

5:02	Financial Flexibility: Rob Manfred was just in the Pirates booth for a half inning and was slurring his speech.

5:02	Dan Szymborski: i assumed inebriation is how we got magic extra innings runenrs

5:03	Mike: Carlos Santana is also rather good.

5:03	Dan Szymborski: Meh, it’s 2019.

5:03	Tim Livingston: Myers just hit a tank. 450+ to right-center. Strong.

5:04	Alcides Escobar: Szymborski shows up and the baseball chat goes all pear shaped. His people have arrived. Don’t go Meg.. please.

5:04	FrodoBeck: Also nobody look but neither the Tigers nor the Blue Jays have a hit through four innings

5:04	Scott: Looking at that poll, I would’ve thought there’s more people over 40 here. Baseball’s not dead, hooray!

5:04	Kosch: I just cracked my first beer of the day; working from home is awesome (I’m in CO, for those East Coasters who also are cracking their first beers); I cheers you

5:05	Dan Szymborski: I didn’t know there was a Szymborski Crü, separate from the normal Fangraphs readership

5:05	Wireless Joe Jackson: How are the Indians projected in the standings tool for 6th highest runs per game? Leonys Martin leading off and Tyler Naquin hitting third.

5:05	Dan Szymborski: I don’t think it’s ZiPS!

5:05	Eric A Longenhagen: because that’s not gonna be their lineup on year and the projection system likes that Lindor guy in the lineup

5:05	Dan Szymborski: And yeah, Lindor + Jram

5:05	Dipoto’s Next Trade: Hey Meg, do you think that the Mariners can really turn their team around with the new pieces they have? Thanks!

5:07	Tim: Kluber is still really good.

5:07	OddBall Herrera: If a no hitter happens in a Jays/Tigers game, does it make a sound?

5:07	Rox Fan: For the record, I do prefer the Silvia contract over the Ian Desmond Contract (aka: The Gift That Keeps On Giving).

5:07	dave in slc: odds kluber is traded this yr? odds its to san diego as reported earlier that they were in talks?

5:08

Meg Rowley: Not this year, and obviously a lot has to break right with the guys they’ve acquired. I still think they’re going to face a dearth of quality starting pitching when their “step back” ends, but the position players are intriguing. That they will be prepared to spend in a free agent market that is already pretty picked over after this year is Very Mariners.

5:08	Dan Szymborski: If you asked me a month ago, I’d have said likely, but I gotta think he’d be traded by now if he was going to be traded

5:08	Dan Szymborski: Meg and Eric, you around for a bit?

5:08	Meg Rowley: Yeah for a bit.

5:08	Dan Szymborski: I want to find the hot pork schnitzel and the bourbon slushie

5:09	Meg Rowley: Kiley has informed me that he is bound for a high school game To Do Prospect Stuff, and will not be able to join us. He apologizes.

5:10	NotGraphs Revivalist: I know I’m too invested in the results of Game 1 of 162. But I can’t help it. Everything hurts right now

5:10	Dave: Spiderman has superhuman reflexes and Spidey sense. He hardly needs webs

5:10	Eric A Longenhagen: Right but then the young adult coming-of-age subtext isn’t as rich. Sorry if you’re eating!

5:11	Meg Rowley: lol welcome to FanGraphs!

5:12	OddBall Herrera: Can a condition of Kiley’s employment be that if he goes to scout high school games he actually has to dress up like and pretend to be a high schooler, 21 Jump Street style?

5:12	Meg Rowley: I’ll ask Appelman. We might have existing contract language to that end.

5:14	FrodoBeck: The Tigers and Royals game (that nobody is watching) is shaping up to be an all-timer

5:14	Meg Rowley: Ah the well-dressed and distinguished older woman behind home plate is there, I am sold.

5:16	Eric A Longenhagen: Tigers list drops tomorrow btw

5:16	Anonymous: Tatis drops a sneaky bunt for a hit. 2-2

5:16	Eric A Longenhagen: well that’s fun

5:18	Nate: And then Tatis gets picked off…

5:18	Meg Rowley: every good story needs some drama

5:21	Billy Beane: Eric, is there anyone in the minors who has a 70 or 80 pickoff move? It seems like if you’re good at it, that would be pretty valuable for a little while and then it wouldn’t matter because guys would just not lead off as much.

5:22	Eric A Longenhagen: I have trouble remembering which guys have good moves off the top of my head and I also don’t have a set placve to write it down. Travis Blackley had the best I’ve ever seen in person

5:26	Mac: Not sure if this has been covered, but why do 14 teams get an off day tomorrow?

5:27	Meg Rowley: They’ve built more off days into the front end of the schedule to allow for weather postponements. Same reason the season is starting earlier.

5:29	Caleb: I have been informed the player is not the Knighted Anthony Dominguez, but in fact Seranthony Dominguez

5:29	Meg Rowley: very good

5:29	fitch: why would off days one day into the season help with weather postponements? wouldn’t it make sense to have more frequent off days starting a week or so in?

5:30	Meg Rowley: probably… though there is probably some get enough of a series in logic at play

5:31	graham: off day in day 2 is in case of an opening day rainout

5:31	Scott: There’s always snow issues in March/April, especially in the Central divisions.

5:32	Tommy La Sort Of: Jordan Zimmerman perfect with 55 pitches. Wow.

5:34	Tim: Most teams have off days Oak plays 18 straight games after starting the season on the other side of the world!

5:34	Dan Szymborski: Back. Struck out on the bourbon slushie and schnitzel, I’ll try the other side of the stadium later.

5:34	Meg Rowley: ohh goodness

5:34	Dan Szymborski: So I settled for a hot mett and shotgunning a couple rheingeists

5:35	Dan Szymborski: If Jordan Zimmermann throws a perfect game, I think they reboot the season and hope it’s less buggy after a restart

5:36	RR: What ballpark has the best food?

5:37	Dan Szymborski: I’m partial to PNC

5:37	Dan Szymborski: Really, you can great food at any park these days

5:37	Dan Szymborski: But I haven’t been to all the west coast parks – I generally stay east coast/midwest

5:38	Yorman Bazardo: rest in peace to Zack Greinke, who has been murdered by the Dodgers

5:39	bucs_lose_again: pirates lineup without polanco and marte is…well, its not ideal

5:39	Dan Szymborski: The hot mett was good, they have them on these hot pink buns

5:39	Tim Tebow’s Thunder Thighs: Who is the most “by default” opening starter you can remember? Zimmerman was at least very good for a couple of seasons. Even Andrew Cashner, opening day starter for the O’s, was good at one point.

5:40	Dan Szymborski: I think Jack Morris started like 12 opening days and was an actual star in like 3 of those seasons

5:40	Stephen: Ho many people have had a heart attack in Arlington today because of the Fowl Pole?

5:40	Dan Szymborski: It’s not THAT Much chicken

5:41	Dan Szymborski: as extreme food goes, a two pound chicken tender barely budges the needle these days!

5:41	Nate: What ballpark has the worst food?

5:41	Dan Szymborski: veterans stadium did

5:41	Tim Livingston: Oracle Park has the good (and expensive eats) but nothing along the lines of a 2 foot chicken tender. (Ah, Texas.)

5:42	Meg Rowley: Ah shucks

5:42	Anonymous: Really aggressive hook on Luis Castillo. Thought he looked good

5:43	Dan Szymborski: He was at 91 pitches and his command wasn’t perfect

5:44	Dan Szymborski: although the hook doens’t look good now

5:44	Tim Tebow’s Thunder Thighs: Shots fired at Morris? I meant more like “Well, our best guy is a number 4…”

5:44	Dan Szymborski: Oh, I didn’t know that’s what you meant by default

5:44	Dan Szymborski: there’s also bulgogi egg rolls here somewhere, but I’ll have to research where those are

5:44	Dan Szymborski: and Morris was kinda a number by the last half of his career

5:44	Tim: Well now pobodys nerfect!

5:45	OddBall Herrera: If it’s two feet long it’s an emu tender, not a chicken tender

5:45	graham: where is there 2 linear feet of chicken on the bird?

5:45	Dan Szymborski: I’m sure it’s reformed into the shape and not a literal tender

5:45	Welp: Not to promote an alternate site, but: https://www.sbnation.com/2016/4/4/11303310/the-complete-oral-future-of…

5:46	Dan Szymborski: Can always make exceptions for the wonderful Grant Brisbee.

5:46	NotGraphs Revivalist: 7 ER in 2 IP from the Braves bullpen. If only there was somebody we could get to help out.

5:46	Dan Szymborski: Is he related to the mice from secret of nimh?

5:46	Wire Fan: Are the Braves going to regret not bolstering the rotation and pen this off-season?

5:46	Dan Szymborski: The pen for sure

5:46	Dan Szymborski: I think the ortation will be fine

5:46

Billy Beane: The Oakland Coliseum now has pretty great food, not because of the food in the stadium (which is vastly improved but not especially notable) but because you can get food from foodtrucks parked at the stadium during the game. Chicken Tikka Masala on crosscut sweet potato fries may have been my favorite, but some nights you can get vegan Philipino food, which is pretty crazy for a place that just 5 years ago only had terrible hot dogs and nachos

5:47	Tim Tebow’s Thunder Thighs: If the meat is reformed (processed?) then isn’t it by definition a chicken nugget? Is there a physical size limit for a tender? This feels like the sandwich argument morphed into another food.

5:47	Meg Rowley: I have a lot of affection for that ballpark as flawed as it is

5:47	Dan Szymborski: I’m not familiar with the nugget/patty/tender precedents.

5:47	Iwest: The Marlins’ starters the past few years (Urena, Volquez, Chen, etc.) are all decent candidates for that ‘default’ OD starting pitcher

5:48	Dan Szymborski: The Marlins #1 starter is always the best guy who is available to work for nothing.

5:48	NotGraphs Revivalist: the only move the braves made to address the bullpen this offseason was to release Sam Freeman.

5:49	bucs_lose_again: Taillon looks sharp. Only 60 pitches thus far

5:49	Eric A Longenhagen: Was my “let’s do something nutty” Cy Young pick

5:49	Dan Szymborski: Blister in the Sun is always a little weird to see little kids clapping along to

5:50	mike sixel: just heard from someone at the Twins game that they’ve run out of food and beer at at least one of the areas. How is that possible?

5:50	Dan Szymborski: “We cant’ be expected to feed thousands of people!”

5:50

RJ: Ramos C        Taillon SP
DMurphy1B        Thor SP
T Shaw 2B        Hand RP
MiMous 3B        Strahm RP
DeJong SS        Hicks RP
K Bryant OF        Yu Darvish P
Pollock OF         E Rodriguez P
Pham OF         C McHugh P
Voit         UTIL Alvarado Bench
JRam UTIL Strickland Bench
Albies Bench Kyle Gibson Bench
DSanta Bench
Bauers Bench

5:50	RJ: Whoops. Meant to say: How Sleeper and the Bust is this squad? haha.

5:50	bucs_lose_again: JB Shuck…looking less sharpy

5:51	Dood Guy: Josh Collmenter – Arizona Diamonbacks 2015 Opening Day Starter.

5:51	Anonymous: ALERT: Ian Desmond has accrued one (1) “barrel”. This is not a drill.

5:51	Dan Szymborski: SPOILER: They’ve given up on him being a baseball player and now the team is having him make barrels for sale to earn his keep.

5:51	Szymborski Cru: We are always with you Dan. You are the only chat host who understands that chili debates what defines a sandwiche and baseball can coexist in a chat session.

5:52

Tim Tebow’s Thunder Thighs: I feel like a Chicken Tender Alignment Chart (similar to something like this for sandwiches: https://imgur.com/r/funny/5yzsKJ5) would end up with Structure Purist/Ingredient Purist being contiguous meat and traditional bread crumbs against Radical Tender Anarchy being chicken hot dogs on a pancake

5:52	Wireless Joe Jackson: Hey, the Marlins have a lot of hungry young pitchers. They’re pitching for a sandwich!

5:53	Wire Fan: Should MLB tweak the schedule so there are a few more glamour series matchups opening day? The NFL and NBA seem to do a better job at this (opening game, holidays, etc)

5:53	Dan Szymborski: MLB schedules are so tricky since you have to stuff so many requirements into a 162 game season

5:53	NathanLazarus: Ian Desmond…more like Ian Cooper!

5:53	Billy Beane: The A’s seem like they’re going to go Trivino – Soria – Treinen for the 7, 8, & 9 even though they are up 4 and while that seems a little wasteful, that’s also a fearsome bullpen.

5:54	Dan Szymborski: Gotta EXERT YOUR AUTHORITE

5:54	Eric A Longenhagen: Marwin just hit a ball so hard that Leonys Martin couldn’t cut it off in the gap and CJ Cron was able to score from first

5:55	Dan Szymborski: just call him BILLY HAMILCRON

5:56	Tim Livingston: Lauer out after only 70 pitches? Bigger head-scratcher today: That pull or Scherzer after 109?

5:56	Eric A Longenhagen: I’m not sure where either of them maxed out during ST but that’s a piece of info I’d wanna know before judging either.

5:57	Dan Szymborski: dropping CRONic flakes

5:57	bosoxforlife: Expect a lot of 0-0 scores deep into Indians games this year, With Lindor on the IL the team on the field looks like the Orioles.

5:57	Dan Szymborski: THe injured list is a better name than the disabled list, but they should still have the abbreviation for injured list be DL.

5:58	Dan Szymborski: If David Jonathan Drew can be J.D. Drew and J.A. Happ be “Jay” Happ I think it’s OK to call the injured list the DL.

5:58	graham: a chicken tender is a calzone

5:58	Nate: Oh dear gawd. The Padres are going to change pitchers every batter this inning. Can the new rule be implemented now, please?

5:58	Billy Beane: The injureD List, perhaps?

5:58	Dan Szymborski: OK guys, 6:00 coming up and we’re going to wind down this chat in a couple.

5:59	Dan Szymborski: Any last minute shenanigans, this is your moment!

5:59	LFC Mike: Meg… infield analysis for Mariners? Beckham outlook? Thx

5:59	Me Grow Ley: Angels offense is pathetic

5:59	NotGraphs Revivalist: I only have one shenanigan. Can’t afford any more.

5:59	Meg Rowley: Don’t think they’re sold on him.

5:59	OddBall Herrera: In positive news for the Twins, Rocco Baldelli has made it through almost an entire game without being hurt

5:59	Tyler: Never really called it the Disabled List in the past, it was always just the DL. It is going to take a long time to start calling it the IL.

5:59	Dan Szymborski: I keep thinking guys were sent down to the International League

6:00	Dan Szymborski: WHY IS FRANCISCO LINDOR ON THE IL, ARE THEY PLAYING SERVICE TIME ISSUES?!?!

6:00	Billy Beane: Dan, no, you can’t leave! On the west coast it’s only 3 PM! What am I going to do for 2 more hours while my employer thinks I am working!

6:00	Dan Szymborski: Twitter’s still a thing

6:00	Dan Szymborski: And I gotta find that bourbon slushie

6:00	farve: did u guys say shenanigans?

6:00	Meg Rowley: And I need to edit a Tigers list.

6:00	Dan Szymborski: OK, ABOUT TO DO 30 SECOND WARNING

6:00	Eric A Longenhagen: (peace)

6:01	Old Timey Fellow: Danforth and Megglsworth, wherefore must you leave?

The Super-Duper Official Final Preseason-2019 ZiPS Projected Standings

10 Things I Look Forward to During the 2019 Season

Meg is the managing editor of FanGraphs and the co-host of Effectively Wild. Prior to joining FanGraphs, her work appeared at Baseball Prospectus, Lookout Landing, and Just A Bit Outside. You can follow her on twitter @megrowler.

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