Dan Szymborski: ITS A CHAT!

Ben Cherington: Does Henry Davis even need Triple A? At what point does he just head to Pittsburgh.

Dan Szymborski: It’s a bit tricky – I don’t generally like skipping catchers too aggressively, but they can’t play both him and Endy Rodriguez.

Dan Szymborski: And it’s a little awkward to stick him in a non-catcher position in the majors

Dan Szymborski: Unless the Pirates have the guts to bench Santana

Thank you Dan,: very cool!

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks! Welcome to another edition of my Tuesday chat. I just published a piece on Will Smith’s outstanding work, particularly since coming off the 7-day concussion injured list https://blogs.fangraphs.com/with-the-return-of-will-smith-the-dodgers-…

Jay Jaffe: Yesterday I wrote about Drew Rasmussen’s injury and the blow it dealt to the Rays https://blogs.fangraphs.com/after-dominating-yankees-drew-rasmussen-be…

Jay Jaffe: And now, on with the show

Chip: Is Manoah cooked? He’s looked pretty bad.

Jay Jaffe: He looked terrible last night and his numbers this season are undeniably bad. However, the guy is 25 years old and was brilliant last year, so it seems a bit early to start declaring him cooked. Obviously, he and the Jays need to fix things. For now, he’s taken a detour off the road to success, not unlike dozens upon dozens of other pitchers in baseball history.

Guest: Where do you think Satchel Paige ranks among the best pitchers of all time?

Dan Szymborski: And I have returned from a lengthy vacation and a Thursday in which I was way behind on an article I had to finish up!

26 Pitchers: Logan Webb or Joe Ryan rest of season/career?

Dan Szymborski: I’m still a Webb slinger, but I’m quite bullish on Joe Ryan. And hey, ZiPS never disliked him and that splitter’s been kickass

B Snit’s Bongos: Should a manager ever put on a sacrifice bunt?

Dan Szymborski: Yeah, there are specific situations it’s useful

Dan Szymborski: for example, you don’t need a high probability of a sacrifice bunt becoming a hit to make it worthwhile

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks, and welcome to my first chat of the month — apologies, as I had to punt last week’s due to other responsibilities.

Jay Jaffe: I’m fresh off a double-whammy on the Cardinals, first a look at their slow start and puzzling set of decisions regarding Willson Contreras: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-nl-worst-cardinals-are-panicking/

Jay Jaffe: …and, live as of moments ago, a closer look at Nolan Arenado’s season-opening slump. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/nolan-arenados-slump-adds-to-cardinals-woe…

Jay Jaffe: Next up will be some words on Vida Blue

Jay Jaffe:

Yeah Well Hiura Towel: What are the chances Manfred & the other owners will get sick of the Athletics stadium search clown show and force Fisher to sell?

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks!

Jay Jaffe: Sorry for the brief delay. I was immersed in details about Bryan Reynolds’ extension, which I’ll be covering for FanGraphs tomorrow. Today I have a piece on Logan O’Hoppe’s season-threatening labrum injury https://blogs.fangraphs.com/logan-ohoppes-promising-rookie-season-may-…

Jay Jaffe: And yesterday I tapped into some Max Power https://blogs.fangraphs.com/muncy-is-back-to-showing-maximum-power/

Jay Jaffe: Anyway, on with the show

International Baseball: The Montreal Expos have one of the most iconic logos of all time  and there seems to be a renewed interest in baseball. Can Montreal or Mexico City be taken seriously as expansion teams? How does the calculus of not being an American team factor in?

Jay Jaffe: I think not being an American team complicates things exponentially. I know there’s a lot of sentiment when it comes to returning baseball to Montreal but it’s not at all clear that anyone can get a ballpark built there, and without that, you’ve got bupkis.