Carson Cistulli: Hello. The chat will begin in earnest momentarily. Dan Szymborski will be here. Maybe Craig Edwards. Possibly other writers. Also possibly not them.

Carson Cistulli: In the meantime, please consider responding to a poll.

Carson Cistulli:

Ozzie Ozzie Albies Free: What are the drinking game rules for today?

Carson Cistulli: Drink anytime you want but also employ reason while doing so.

bosoxforlife: Couldn’t care less who wins but can’t wait for the game to start.

Craig Edwards: Hello everyone. Chat/Live Blog to begin shortly. Feel free to load up the queue.

Craig Edwards:

Craig Edwards: Just so everyone is aware, the game is on ESPN, so plan accordingly.

Dave: Odds we see Josh Hader if the Brewers are down 3+?

Craig Edwards: 10%? If the team is down three, you are probably going to want multiple innings from him tomorrow, which would preclude an appearance today.

5 Run Homer: I’d just like to say that MLB is very rude for scheduling these games while I have assignments to do and classes to attend. Why can’t they cater to my specific needs?

Kiley McDaniel: Apologies for the delay, ran late on a scout call

Kiley McDaniel: We’re chatting at this odd time since I’m traveling this week and we have day baseball today in 90 minutes

Kiley McDaniel: I’ve been around instructs this week — ATL, DET, TOR, NYY, TB, BOS — and put out the most recent podcast last week: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/fangraphs-audio-presents-the-untitled-…

Kiley McDaniel: we also have a new prospect land page where you can find all of our content: https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/

waks: does nick senzel’s bout of vertigo do anything to his projections? i forget how nick esasky dealt with it, but can it be a recurring thing?

Kiley McDaniel: don’t have a ton of experience with this in baseball, so we’re just assuming he returns back to where he was until there’s evidence to the contrary

Jeff Sullivan: Hello friends

Jeff Sullivan: Welcome to Friday baseball chat

Jeff Sullivan: Our final Friday baseball chat of the regular season

stever20: How concerned should Red Sox fans be with Chris Sale and his velocity the other night?  Was he just holding back?

Also, do you remember a bigger x factor type of situation entering the playoffs as we have Sale this year?

Jeff Sullivan: This is what’s being referred to: http://www.brooksbaseball.net/velo.php?player=519242&b_hand=-1&gFilt=a…

Jeff Sullivan: Pretty massive drop-off since Sale came off the disabled list

Jay Jaffe: Hey folks, good afternoon and welcome to the latest edition of my Thursday chat. It’s tending towards chaos here at my palatial Brooklyn estate because I’ve overextended myself a bit, with a piece on the season and Hall of Fame chances of Zack Greinke (a chat suggestion from last week, I believe), a podcast appearance, and a much-needed haircut in anticipation of my appearance on MLB Networks’s MLB Now tomorrow from 4-5 PM. So I’m going to keep this a bit brief, but let’s get the show on the road…

stever20: how worried should Red Sox fans be with the velocity of Sale?

Jay Jaffe: Honestly, it’s really tough to judge. The raw numbers (from Brooks Baseball) are rather frightening:

BOS@BAL (8/12/18) 98.17
TOR@BOS (9/11/18) 96.19
NYN@BOS (9/16/18) 94.38
BOS@CLE (9/21/18) 93.47
BAL@BOS (9/26/18) 90.21

On the other hand, there’s been virtually nothing at stake for the Red Sox in the games Sale has pitched in since his return; the playoff berth, the division and the top seed were more or less secure by that point, and it’s understandable that he wouldn’t push himself to the max instead of just getting his work in. That’s the real question — was he deliberately throwing with less than full effort? Given his history of wearing down late in the year, if I’m a Sox fan I’m hoping that’s the case, because otherwise, they may have a problem.

natsfan: So you think Bauer makes CLE rotation for 1st round against the Astros?

Jay Jaffe: yes, I think so. FWIW, his velo in his last start (avg four-seamer 93.78 mph per Brooks) was down about 1.5 mph relative to his last pre-injury start, but we know what a scientist he is when it comes to this sort of thing. I wouldn’t worry.

Outta my way, Gyorkass: Does deGrom or Baez have a chance at NL MVP, or has Yelich iced it by now?

Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning from Tempe, where the heat just won’t quit.

Eric A Longenhagen: I have two links for you

Eric A Longenhagen: The first is our updated draft rankings which shifted based on the summer festivities on the Cape, showcases, etc.  http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/fall-equinox-draft-board-update/

Eric A Longenhagen: The next is https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects which is where you can find all our prospect resources in one place.

Eric A Longenhagen: I think I might be having some technical issues with the chat software right now, so please be patient if there’s a gap between responses today as I might be playing with stuff to try to get things running smoothly.

GPT: Are you still going to be visiting Giants camp during fall instrux even though they won’t be playing games?

Meg Rowley: Hello and welcome to the chat!

Gerald: Do you like prospects? Baseball prospects to be clear.

Meg Rowley: Gerald, we’ve already talked about this.

Omar Linares: Can we please take a second to laugh at Mike Rizzo for trading away Blake Treinen and Jesus Luzardo for Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle?

Meg Rowley: That seems like too big a reaction, and an unkind one.

Meg Rowley: Doolittle has been hurt for stretches but still managed a two win season this year, and I don’t think most people thought Treinen would be quite this good.

Joseph: Do you see the dodgers keeping Urias as a RP? How does May and White look based on #s

Dan Szymborski: I think the Dodgers are going to try to get him in the majors as a starter until he proves conclusively that it’s in their interests to not do do.

Dan Szymborski: They’re just being slow right now – if they were on the fence, I think they would have kept him totally relief in the minors until next year

Bo: Who are your two bets for home field in the NLDS?

Dan Szymborski: I think Cubs or the Brewers if they catch the Cubs have enough of a cushion to be a very good favorite.

Dbo: Both chicken tenders and boneless chicken wings are just different types of chicken nuggets

Jeff Sullivan: Hello friends

Jeff Sullivan: Welcome to Friday baseball chat

squeeze bunt: Why is anny Margot so bad at stealing bases?

Jeff Sullivan: Why is Rougned Odor even worse?

Jeff Sullivan: Margot wasn’t particularly bad last season. Been worse this year. Stolen bases are about a lot more than raw foot speed. He might just somewhat struggle to get good reads of first moves

WP41: How much value would you guess Javy Baez being able to play multiple premium positions has provided to the Cubs this season?