Travis Sawchik: Happy eclipse, everyone

Travis Sawchik: I guess my first question is why y’all are here and not outside staring up into the Sun?

Travis Sawchik: But to those, like Nick Saban, uninterested in the moon passing before the Sun let’s get started …

Bork: Robot Umps can call a better game, sure, but can they release sick country albums like my boy Cowboy Joe West?

Travis Sawchik: They sure cannot and maybe that’s all that is keeping us from adopting robot umps

Tricky Dick’s KnuckleCurve: Do you welcome our robot umpire overlords with open arms or abundant caution?

Jeff Sullivan: Hello friends

Jeff Sullivan: Welcome to Friday baseball chat

Sterling Mallory Chris Archer: If Cistuli wrote your chat intro, what would it be?

Jeff Sullivan: Long and pointless

J: Are the Yankees or Red Sox better on paper?  Yanks have the better baseruns record but Sox are better by the projections.

Jeff Sullivan: I think the Red Sox are the better baseball team, but the Yankee bullpen is seemingly so very deep that they probably have some form of postseason advantage

Eno Sarris: Dude is playing OctFest in a couple weeks (Octfest.co) but also this song seems appropriate rn

The Average Sports Fan: Is Joey Votto actually peaking at age 34?

Eno Sarris: Such a cerebral dude, he planned this. In that, he said in our first interview that he was only interested in doing the things that would be the most repeatable and would age the best.

Mark: Start Berrios today?

Eno Sarris: Yes.

Sanjay: Howdy. Who would you prefer in a dynasty league, Gallo or Devers and why? Thank you!

Dan Szymborski: LET THE RECORD SHOW I TRIED TO BE HERE ON TIME!

Dan Szymborski: Oh god, there’s no queue!

Dan Szymborski: I’LL GET YOU FOR THIS CARSON

The Average Sports Fan: Are the Cubs a good team?

Dan Szymborski: Yes

Dan Szymborski: Oh, try to ask quick questions, I have an appointment so I still can’t stay past 3

Dave Cameron: Happy Wednesday everyone.

Dave Cameron: Let’s talk some baseball.

The Average Sports Fan: Last week you dismissed the Cardinals as a legit playoff contender.  The Cubs are still disappointing, and Cardinals are only 1.5 games back.  Sticking to your guns?

Dave Cameron: I didn’t dismiss the Cardinals; I said their WC hopes probably leaned more on COL/AZ falling apart than hoping the Cubs keep struggling.

Dave Cameron: That remains true. The Cubs are a very good team. If you think they’re going to suck for the next six weeks, you’re probably going to be disappointed.

Ed in Iowa: Giancarlo Stanton is probably priced about right at 10yr/$285. There is not a lot of surplus value there, but the contract is no longer under water either. Do you agree with this assertion?

Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning from Tempe. Summer updates to org top 10s have been going up this week, you know where to find those. Let’s get right into it.

groucho: Have you seen Adolis Garcia, in the cardinals system? Seems like he’s built, and plays, like a Puig type

Eric A Longenhagen: Yes, power/speed, very aggressive approach combined with fringe feel to hit had scouts projecting him as a fourth OF when he was in Cuba. I still think he’s likely to be something between that and a low-end regular but he’s hitting better than that at Triple-A.

Jim Lahey: Thoughts on Raul Mondesi? Still young, hitting well at AAA

Eric A Longenhagen: Yes and not looking so erratic at the plate. Hit a homer the opposite way from the left side last night, hit one from the right side with no stride (something he eliminates with two strikes) two days ago. I think he’ll be frustrating at times but there’s still prodigious physical skill there and I think he’ll be the everyday guy next year.

Buff: Stick a fork in Delvin Perez?

Travis Sawchik: Greetings, folks

Travis Sawchik: So I guess Devers can play a little bit, eh?

Travis Sawchik:

Travis Sawchik: I think that was the first LHH homer off Chapman since like 2011

Travis Sawchik: Devers is making Boston forget about Travis Shaw. On to your questions!

Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe: Travis, talk to me about the Nationals’ chances.

Jeff Sullivan: Hello friends

Jeff Sullivan: Welcome to Friday baseball chat

Jeff Sullivan: Feels like it’s been a while

Sterling Mallory Chris Archer: I appreciate you, Jeff.  You make Fridays so much better.

Jeff Sullivan: /pats self on back

Jeff Sullivan: Let’s just go ahead and appreciate me for the next couple of hours

Eno Sarris: Apparently this is obpmusic, so it can get on base or what

Eno Sarris: Let’s!

Hannah Hochevar: Vampire Tanaka struggled in the evening last night. Was it the dome? Or is there just no rhyme/reason at this point?

Eno Sarris: As much as I’ve advocated for the no fastball approach, I think it might lead to this sort of thing. Dave Righetti once told me that if you throw that many sliders, you’ll lose it for stretches. He was talking about Romo, who was the original All Breaking Ball Guy.

Jose: Has the flyball / swing revolution reached the minors? If not, how might that impact guys who look ready to make an impact?

Eno Sarris: Every day sees more FanGraphs readers in the minor leagues. Absolutely sure there are guys we can find. Look at Hoskins, he’s hitting 50% fly balls and loving life. Ryder Jones just told me he used plate discipline (like Bruce) to lift the ball better.

The Average Sports Fan: The Cardinals are now over .500.  Are they an actual playoff contender?

Dave Cameron: It will take either the Rockies or D’Backs falling apart. They aren’t going to catch the Cubs, most likely.

Rod: Dave, can I use the rolling charts in a blog article? Secondly, if so, is there an option to get a picture of chart? Screenshot?

Dave Cameron: Yes, you can always use any of our graphics in your posts, as long as you link to FG in the process. There’s a download image button coming soon, but for now, screenshot is the way to capture them.

christopher: Tigers fans complain about the JD return, A’s fans about the Yonder return, but those two + the crater of the bat only FA market last offseason means… that was about the reality? Has the market overcorrected?

Dave Cameron: I think there’s a decent argument to be made that bat-first players are now underpriced, yes.