Archive for Chat

Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning from Tempe, where the temps are going to hit 100 and (it looks like) stay there for the foreseeable future. Brendan and I are working on the Orioles system writeup, I’m working on draft update. Enjoying another day in in the desert. Thanks for being here.  

GB: Lonbard get a grade bump?

Eric A Longenhagen: Not just yet, it’s gonna be fascinating and instructive to see him and Volpe side by side for the next little bit.

Erick: not sure what you can do about this, but christian scott’s stuff+ numbers from last night aren’t showing on his page / game log despite last night’s showing for other players. just thought i’d pass it along

Eric A Longenhagen: What I’m looking at has them visible:

Eric A Longenhagen: Christian Scott – 2026 Pitching Game Logs | FanGraphs Baseball

Brendan Gawlowski: Hello everybody

Brendan Gawlowski: First, a poll

Brendan Gawlowski:

Brendan Gawlowski: House keeping items: I published a Padres list last week. Eric and James pushed the Cubs list out the door yesterday.

Brendan Gawlowski: Eric and I are working on the Orioles. It is a very different flavor of system than KC and SD to say the least

Brendan Gawlowski: Tri-City and Spokane is going on in the background… And away we go

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks, and welcome to my first chat of May! Happy Cinco de Mayo to those celebrating, and a belated happy Star Wars Day if that’s your thing.

Jay Jaffe: On Friday I wrote about the league scoring environment through the end of April, noting that walk rates are up, likely due to the impact of the new ABS Challenge system https://blogs.fangraphs.com/more-walks-more-runs-an-early-look-at-offe…

Jay Jaffe: On Sunday I had a bizarre gardening accident, but fared better than the average Spinal Tap drummer https://bsky.app/profile/jayjaffe.bsky.social/post/3mkxvubesl22v

Jay Jaffe: Yesterday, I wrote about Ildemaro Vargas’ unlikely hitting streak. (https://blogs.fangraphs.com/ildemaro-vargas-is-suddenly-a-hitting-mach…), and last night I went up to Yankee Stadium to do some reporting to supplement a tribute to longtime Yankees radio play-by-play broadcaster John Sterling, who passed away at age 87. That will be up tomorrow.

Jay Jaffe: Sterling, of course, is famous in the site’s lore https://x.com/JSterlingCalls/status/1300580776464068608

Jay Jaffe: and one final programming note: next Tuesday evening I’ll be accompanying MLB.com’s Michael Clair to Word Bookstores in Williamsburg to moderate a discussion of his book on the Czech Republic’s national baseball team and its unlikely rise: https://bsky.app/profile/michaelclair.bsky.social/post/3ml4k6v4zqs2u

Eric A Longenhagen: Morning, readers, welcome back. Let’s hop to.

Stashin: Who comes up first – De Vries or Emerson?  And who has a bigger impact this year and next?

Eric A Longenhagen: That’s a good one. Obviously, the Emerson extension makes him feel more proximate at the start of the discussion. JP Crawford has a .390 xwOBA right now and Cole Young has found his footing. So those two are holding serve at the moment. Emerson has been fine, he’s not kicking the door down…

Eric A Longenhagen: De Vries has now been at Double-A for a little over 200 plate appearances. He could justifiably be promoted soon. If he sustains this level of performance at Triple-A for another four-to-six weeks while Hernaiz continues to look like he has, there’s a more obvious vacuum there.

Eric A Longenhagen: I think De Vries will hit for power immediately. Emerson’s swing is less dangerous in ways and places that pitchers can access.

A dummy: As a prospect dummy, should I get excited over Pedro Ramirez or is it just a case of the cubs writers pumping up their guys?

Brendan Gawlowski: Hello everybody

Brendan Gawlowski: Usual housekeeping items… Last week I published the Royals list, so give that a look if you haven’t already. Eric and James are working on the Cubs right now and I’m most of the way down the trail on Padres. We’re gunning to publish both this week.

Brendan Gawlowski: I suspect Giants will follow those two before we pivot to the Florida teams to finish things out.

Brendan Gawlowski: Let’s get to it

drplantwrench: the angels bullpen is a goddamn disaster, and only partially because of injuries.  is there anyone in their minor league system that could provide backup?

Brendan Gawlowski: They’re thin, particularly if they’re going to use Urena as a starter. I was surprised Cody Laweryson didn’t stick, as he’s a perfectly fine fungible reliever, but he’s also hurt now, so.

Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning from the kitchen island in Tempe, I’m happy to be home and chatting from my usual spot for the first time in a month. The Nats list ran today, so go check that out. Brendan published Royals Wednesday, enjoy that, too.

NFP: Victor Figueroa real or no real?

Eric A Longenhagen: Watched a bunch of him this week while tying loose ends on Nats and his swing does look different.

Eric A Longenhagen: More viable, actually accessing the power. Let’s see if the spray changed…

Eric A Longenhagen: Looks pretty similar. Contact rate actually down compared to last year, but it’s early… Needs more info.

Pirates: Talk me off the ledge regarding Konnor Griffin. Is this still adjusting? Right now nothings working for him