Author Archive

Mike Podhorzer RotoGraphs Chat — 7/18/13

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July 18, 2013
11:48
Mike Podhorzer: I’m here, I’m here! It’s my first RotoGraphs chat so treat me well. I’ll start answering questions at noon and go until 1, so start asking away!
11:59
Mike Podhorzer: Okay, I can’t wait any longer, let’s do this!
11:59
Comment From bdhudson
Hey Mike, thanks for hanging out. Who do you think are the most over and undervalued fantasy players? Pitcher, hitter, whatever

11:59
Mike Podhorzer: I’m going to give you general types, rather than specific names- Undervalued hitters are guys who do a little of everything, like Norichika Aoki. Pitchers, especially in the minors, are ground ballers who don’t have great strikeout rates
12:00
Mike Podhorzer: Overrated in fantasy is definitely power hitting first basemen. The top guys are routinely overvalued in my auction. Pitching? Guys whose ERAs are well below their SIERA marks the previous year?
12:00
Comment From Oscar
Thinking about proposing my Fielder for Holliday and Minor. I have a big lead in a H2H league so I am looking ahead to the playoffs where ATL has one of the best pitching schedules and STL has one of the easiest hitting schedules. ATL also has one of the best pitching schedules ROS. I have Hosmer and Rizzo clogging up my util positons so this trade would give me a little more flexibiltiy too. Don’t sugar coat it … would I be stupid to propose this trade?

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Chicago FanGraphs/BeerGraphs Meetup: Tonight

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July 18, 2013

Yes. We will do more of these. Because they are fun. On July 18th, we won’t have baseball to watch, and that will make this a support group meetup of sorts. Come talk to us about the first half of real baseball, or fantasy baseball, or about brewing, or about beer, or about life.

Thanks to all of these great writers that have agreed to come for this informal Q&A session. Ask for the FanGraphs event, as we’ll have our own space. Sorry youngsters, this is a 21 and over event.

July 18, 4pm — 8+pm, Fizz, Chicago

Eno Sarris (BeerGraphs, FanGraphs)
Michael Bates (NotGraphs, SBNation)
Carson Cistulli (FanGraphs)
Dayn Perry (FanGraphs, CBS Sports)
David Wiers (FanGraphs)
Bradley Woodrum (FanGraphs)
Cee Angi (SBNation)
T.K. Gore (CSNChicago/NBCSports)
Dan Hayes (CSNChicago)
Kevin Holden (CBS Milwaukee)
Harry Pavlidis (BrooksBaseball)
Sahadev Sharma (ESPNChicago)
Scott Skillings (STATS)
JJ Stankevitz (CSNChicago)
Matt Dennewitz (BeerGraphs, Pitchfork)
Greg Sasso (BeerGraphs)
J.R. Shirt (BeerGraphs)
Jeff Gross (Hardball Times, SaBEERmetrics)


Bobby Parnell: More Than Captain Fastball

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July 12, 2013

Bobby Parnell hasn’t been pitching long. As he puts it, he “played a position” when he was little, and hit the mound for the first time in college. Because he threw hard, he kept climbing that mound for three years, was drafted, shuttled through the Mets minor league system, and plunked into his role as a late-game reliever in New York.

Some things — like that gas — stayed the same throughout, but there are a few aspects to his game that have weaved in and out of his game as his career has progressed. Now that he’s getting comfortable at the big league level, it’s all coming together.

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Eno Sarris Chat — 7/11/13

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July 11, 2013
8:49
Eno Sarris: Be here at the top of the hour!
9:00
Eno Sarris: Lyrics of the day are easy, but I’m headed to Pitchfork Fest to see these guys next week (come to the meetup, Chicago, July 18 at Fizz) and they like baseball, so there you go.

The catcher hits for .318 and catches every day
The pitcher puts religion first and rests on holidays
He goes into cathedrals and lies prostrate on the floor
He knows the drink affects his speed he’s praying for
a doorway
Back into the life he wants and the confession of the bench
Life outside the diamond is a wrench
9:00
Comment From LarryA
If I recall correctly, during the offseason there were tons of questions about Erasmos ability to succeed, including from you. Now the FG community is falling over itself to pick him up

9:02
Eno Sarris: Well, a few things happened that are worth watching. He put on 4mph of gas, and who knows if that can continue. That has helped his K%, so his projections in that cat are low. Also, I saw AN Erasmo Ramirez pitch in winter ball, and he wasn’t good, and I’m STILL not sure which Erasmo that was. And it might have been one game is all. I wrote about him, and there are some issues (curve sucks, slider is only average), but I like what he’s got going and he was 92-94 in rehab.
9:02
Comment From Benny
Cards just called up Martinez. Is he going to start ROS? Do I drop Kluber, Cingrani,or Nolasco for him?

9:03
Eno Sarris: Well this is interesting! I thought they were protecting Wacha’s innings for this role, but if they called up C-Mart now, must mean that Wacha is next in line. I’d drop Nolasco for him actually. More upside. I don’t hate Nolasco, but I just see downside there, especially away from home.

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Jeff Samardzija On the Evolution of His Pitches

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July 10, 2013

Although Jeff Samardzija is dealing these days, and was a fifth-round pick who scored a major league deal when he was drafted in 2006, baseball wasn’t easy for  in those in-between years. He walked too many batters in the minors, and it only got worse when he hit the bigs. He could have been forgiven for a little despair. But he opted for evolution instead, working on each of his pitches to find the combination that has led him to where he is now: a top-25 pitcher by WAR with a top-10 strikeout rate among qualified pitchers.

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Eno Sarris Chat — 7/5/13

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July 5, 2013
8:45
Eno Sarris: Here in 15! Hope you will be!
8:54
Eno Sarris: Lyrics of the day! Fourth of July theme!

Round here… Round here they call me independie / ‘Cause of how independent my pen be / Movin’ on that paper, movin’ on that paper.
8:54
Comment From Suggested lyrics
American Girls, they want the whole world. They want every last little light in New York City. — The Gaslight Anthem

8:54
Comment From Daniel
I’m warming up with “Interlude with Ludes” by Them Crooked Vultures.

8:55
Comment From Meano Eno
Actually I have to go, this is terrible. Please don’t h8 me

8:55
Eno Sarris: But I do. I do.

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Kevin Gregg With A Wider Base

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July 3, 2013

Talk to a few Cubs about advanced stats and you’ll get a mixed bag of responses. Quiet appraisal from Luis Valbuena. Internalization and response from Jeff Samardzija. “NERRRRRRDD” yelled jokingly at the correspondent by Darwin Barney. But one the most remarkable turnaround stories in the clubhouse, Kevin Gregg had an equally nerdy response to the numbers: “Mechanical change.”

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Eno Sarris Baseball Chat — 6/27/13

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June 27, 2013
8:46
Eno Sarris: I’m sure my thumb will be fine in 15 minutes. *cuts thumb off* See you soon!
9:00
Eno Sarris: These are probably super easy, but lyrics of the day are injury-themed, appropriately:

I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar’s chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
9:00
Comment From V
Just wanted to say thanks for doing this chat every week. It’s both highly informative and extremely fun at the same time.

9:00
Eno Sarris: AND I”M DOING IT IN PAIN
9:00
Comment From Richard III
My kingdom for a thumb.

9:00
Comment From JEB
pain in thumb whilst typing might be the biggest first world problem ever

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Zack Wheeler Is Tipping His Pitches

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June 27, 2013

Apparently, Zack Wheeler is tipping his pitches, and it’s so obvious that the Mets manager Terry Collins got ten text messages on the subject during the game in Chicago on Tuesday. Is it obvious enough that we can tell?

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Casey Janssen: “I’m a Strike Thrower”

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June 25, 2013

Sort relievers backwards by velocity, and only four closers are in the bottom 30. Sergio Romo and Huston Street live on their sliders, Koji Uehara has his splitter, and then there’s Casey Janssen, humming along with his cutter and a 90 mph fastball. I asked him how he does it, and he graciously answered without resorting to fisticuffs.

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