Last one for me, let’s make it count. Chatting from 11am until 12:30pm ET

11:07

Comment From Vliet Jason – Is not a good time to sell high on Ventura or Gray and what level of position player can I expectin return?     Jason Collette: I think that time has passed on Ventura & for Gray, just ride it out. Great team, great park, enjoy the ride

11:08

Comment From Guest will Fielder be ok next year? do guys lose power after the surgery?     Jason Collette: Anything related to the back is never a good thing for a power hitter. I don’t see myself ranking him in the top 50 next year.

11:08

Comment From PS IT WORKS     Jason Collette: I’m such an idiot

11:08

Comment From Chet Lemon Drop T. Hunter for B. Shaw?     Jason Collette: Tommy? Yes. His closing career is circling the drain.

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2 hours today beginning at 11am ET – and, no, I have no idea if the Rays will yank Grant Ball-four from the closer role and who they will replace him with.

11:01

Comment From RotoLando What are The Ray’s    Jason Collette: A disappointing baseball team. Next question

11:02

Comment From Graham Messed up. I’m 124.1 over for my projected IP max currently. Should I trade some pitchers or just allocate my innings better? or both?    Jason Collette: Be more choosy about who you use moving forward. Also, don’t understand the obsession with leagues putting caps on innings. Floors – sure, but if someone wants to punt saves to max out their K’s & wins, let them.

11:03

Comment From RotoLando What are The Rays’ problems this year? Seems like the AL East is as wide open as it has ever been, but they can’t capitalize.    Jason Collette: Bullpen has been overtaxed because of too many five and dive outings. They have 13 quality starts as a team, which last I checked, is worst in baseball. Also lack a deep bench so they have been victimized by suboptimal matchups in key situations late. When you lose 60% of your rotation and your top pitching reserve, stuff like this happens.

11:04

Comment From RotoLando Juan Carlos Montoya Lopez Nunez Oviedo!    Jason Collette: Prepare to die!

11:05

Comment From Schilling and Pence Two questions: (1) What’s your guess as to how Singleton performs when he gets up? (2) Is Kuroda a buy-low candidate, or is Kuroda done?    Jason Collette: 1 – He’ll struggle. 2 – I’ve always been fine owning Kuroda until mid-August when he fades off

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If one were to review the data for pitchers with the highest strikeout rates in baseball (at start of play Thursday), they would rightly expect to see names like Kenley Jansen, Jose Fernandez, and Max Scherzer near the top. All three are in the top 15, but a surprising name owns the top spot on that leaderboard – Wade Davis.

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11:36

Comment From Steve Z Is Juan Francisco for real?     Jason Collette: His power is legit, but his playing time is crowded with Lind back and Lawrie not exactly sounding happy about playing second base. Play him in matchups & anything is possible but I don’t think Milwaukee was wrong for letting him go as they did despite the short term success thus far.

11:36

Comment From wes Got offered Abreu for my Fielder in 10-team redraft with OPS. Should I do it?     Jason Collette: Yes, Fielder may hit for a better average, but Abreu is going to finish with 8-10 more homers

11:37

Comment From John When is my favorite prospect being called up     Jason Collette: June 31st

11:37

Comment From Smalls Do I keep holding onto Sandoval?     Jason Collette: Take the round you drafted him and subtract that from 26 weeks. That’s how long you have to hold onto any player.

11:38

Comment From Manchester Steve Predictions on Abreu and Morneau’s stat lines to finish the year(R/HR/RBI/AVG). Thanks!     Jason Collette: Abreu: 75/44/110/.268 ; Morneau: 66/22/82/.285

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Twice this offseason, Joey Votto has uttered a comment that goes against the baseball orthodoxy that lineup protection is best done behind the hitter. Votto believes it is done in front of him, and is best done by Billy Hamilton.

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11:57

Michael F. Weber via Twitter :   Zorilla has a message for #RedSox fans. #Rays #BeatBoston #DHSweep pic.twitter.com/mOVM7K4ven

11:58

Comment From I changed names! The angels put Mike Trout on the block (hypothetically), how many teams have the chips to actually get him?     Jason Collette: Chips & cash? One – Boston

11:59

Comment From Rated Rookie Better things ahead for Chris Archer? Seems like not so many strikeouts and lots of hard contact. I mean, that’s what it looks like when MLB.TV isn’t buffering.     Jason Collette: He looked fantastic yesterday through the first 4 innings and then completely lost his release point.

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11:30

Comment From Graham Do you think Danny Duffy gets a spot in the Royals rotation anytime soon?     Jason Collette: Not unless they waive the white flag on the season and trade Shields, or someone gets hurt. They’re not going to demote guys they just signed this offseason and Ventura sticks in. Their main problem is the abyss that is Billy Butler’s stat line right now. Yikes

11:31

Comment From Quinton McCracken Can you justify Josh Lueke’s roster spot for the Rays? Unless there is a compelling options-related reason or some explanation beyond that, I just can’t see it.     Jason Collette: I would rather see Brad Boxberger in the spot. Boxberger has passed the eye test as a MLB reliever and has swing and miss stuff. Lueke is a low-leverage type, but the Rays have always been hesitant to give away any pitching asset.

11:32

Comment From Pale Hose I’m going to Progressive and PNC for the first time next week. Any suggestions?     Jason Collette: 2 of the 8 parks I have not yet visited. I would say you need to go to the Great Lakes Brew House while in Cleveland; it’s not near the park but it is still very much worth the trip.

11:32

Comment From Biff Reasonable ROY projections for Viciedo? 10-team mixed worthy?     Jason Collette: 20 HR, .260. Barely 10 teamer

11:34

Comment From The Cell Anything to suggest Adam Dunn can keep it up this year?     Jason Collette: K rate is the same, drawing more walks, but everything else is right in line with what he has done in the past except he’s not as pull happy with his batted balls.

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12:01

Comment From Shawn Kelley Am I worth hanging on to after David Robertson returns?     Jason Collette: In AL leagues, yes, you still have value

12:02

Comment From Autodraft Problems My autodraft left me with Andrus, Segura and A. Ramirez. Any advice on moving a surplus at one position?     Jason Collette: Play one at utility unless you have a dire need elsewhere.

12:03

Comment From randplaty Are getting swinging strikes more important than getting called strikes? Should we worry about Andrew Cashner, who has an extremely low swinging strike rate this season?     Jason Collette: Just get strikes. If the stuff is moving so much it is fooling batters and locking them up so be it. Zero concern with Cashner on my end.

12:04

Comment From Alam What are your thoughts on Matt Cain?     Jason Collette: More hittable right now and all of those flyballs that never left the yard in previous years are catching up with him now.

12:04

Comment From Guest Arenado for Homer. What side do you like OBP, and Whip leauge     Jason Collette: Bailey’s worst baseball is behind him. I’d be trying to buy him up everywhere I could right now.

12:05

Comment From Tony the Tiger Hi Jason. Thanks for doing the chat today! I have to replace Calhoun for the next six weeks, and the only half decent options available are J.B. Shuck and Daniel Nava. Who would you target of the two?     Jason Collette: I’ll go with Nava – more upside in the bat.

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Matt Moore’s injury afforded an opportunity for his naysayers to point back to their predictions for him in 2014. Bradley Woodrum did a great job in pointing out Moore’s flaws in his Fangraphs+ player profile:

But Moore needs to improve his control and his swinging strike rate if he wants to develop into anything more than an innings eater who doesn’t eat innings. Add to the warning flags: He missed a month in elbow inflammation and his fastball slowed almost two miles per hour from 2012. On the merit of his tools alone, Moore is still worth keeping on a roster, but he has too many shortcomings at his point to expect much more than 175 innings and a league-average FIP. Whether he’ll beat his FIP or not depends on how you see his career-best .259 batting average on balls in play.

There were those issues, and there was no overlooking the fact that Moore’s velocity was in decline. However, that was not the only indicator in decline for Moore and it did not take this most recent injury to find a problem with him.

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11:58

Comment From Pale Hose What’s the deal with Drew Smyly? Is he still a starter?     Jason Collette: Yes, schedule issues have permitted them to skip over the 5th starter and let him work long in the pen. The rain delay led to the first one, and the second one made sense because of how the schedule was at the time. First start coming here in a few days.

12:00

Comment From Sam How can I find swinging strike % for each of a pitcher’s individual pitches?     Jason Collette: BrooksBaseball.net has the on the pitcher cards. Here is the one for Roberto Hernandez, who has the second-highest SwStr% in the league right now!

12:00

Comment From Jeff Which pitcher will the Mets trade for a bat?     Jason Collette: Montero

12:01

Comment From yojiveself Is Morse/Cingrani a fair offer to Heyward or am I offering too much?     Jason Collette: It’s fair. I have not been a Morse guy as I thought he looked done last year, but the early start is surprising.

12:02

Comment From Tron Are you sitting Eovaldi @PHI?     Jason Collette: It isn’t a good matchup for him. Philly is one of the better teams in the league (dating back to start of last year) vs RH pitchers featuring FB/SL as Eovaldi does.

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