Dan Szymborski: Will the circle-change be unbroken, by and by, by and by? The answer to this and a percentage of other questions asked coming up next, on the Dan Szymborski Baseball-Related Chat of Doom and Ultimate Destruction!

Comment From zack
Homer Bailey or Lance Lynn rest of season?

Dan Szymborski: Irish Creme by a sip.

Comment From Tim
Can you explain why HBP and BB have different weights in wOBA?

Dan Szymborski: It’s from historical data. Most likely is that HBP is more random — some unintentional walks are going to be “partly” intentional and those “partly” intentional walks are, on average, going to be given in slightly lower leverage situations.

Comment From Ray
Curious as to what you expect from Grandal once he comes back. I did not see ZiPS on his player page. Would you expect more of the same as last year or would you discount his offense as a result of the positive PED test?

JD Sussman: Hey everyone, sorry for running a few minutes late. I know you’re thrilled that Mike will not be joining us. Post questions!

Comment From LarryA
Do you take Roto Questions?

JD Sussman: Whatever your heart desires, LarryA. Though, like Mike, I’ll only take questions on guys I’ve seen or guys I’ve heard a good deal about.

Comment From TK
I know he’s repeating low A but is Rossell Herrera playing his way back into relevance? Top 100 guy down the road? Position?

JD Sussman: I’d bet on Herrera’s tools. I need to cut the video of him from spring training, but he’s a LONG athletic kid. Really love what he was doing from the left side. I just took him in a deep 14 team league, and I’d advise grabbing him. But, he isn’t a SS.

Comment From OJones
Roman Quinn had a little hot streak last week but has fallen back a bit. I know Mike was very high on him through the offseason, do you see him starting to perform to Mike’s lofty expectations?

Eno Sarris: be here in 15

Eno Sarris: Super upbeat lyrics of the day! Because… Rankings week.

Feel it come, I don’t know how long
It’s gonna stay with me, I’ll let desire be, desire go
Oh, dare I face the real world

Everyday, back and forth, what’s it for?
What’s it for? Back and forth, everyday
Everyday, back and forth, what’s it for?
I don’t know, I’ll get out, won’t have to check my watch.

Comment From person hscer
ghost Eno returns

Comment From Nicky Numbnuts
Think I got a problem down here…

Comment From Mark
Cathartic experience of the day: Dropping B.J. Upton. I feel like I did when I dropped CJ Wilson last year.

Eno Sarris: strange interlude.

Dave Cameron: It’s chat day again, so we’ll spend an hour or so talking about baseball related things. Not fantasy baseball related things, though, because I don’t know anything about fantasy baseball.

Dave Cameron: The queue is now open, so go ahead and get your questions in.

Comment From zack
Do you have any concerns about Strasburg other than the fact that he is a pitcher and could get hurt at any time for no reason?

Dave Cameron: No, I don’t think there’s any reason to be any more concerned than usual.

Comment From Benzedrine
Does Derek Dietrich get the starting nod the rest of the season?

Dave Cameron: Seems like a good use of playing time. When you’re not trying to win, giving chances to fringe prospects to see what they can do makes sense.

Paul Swydan: Hi everybody!

For the second straight week, I am flying solo, because both Chris and Jeff will be watching live baseball in stadiums. It’s almost like they don’t like you guys anymore. But I still love you, so join me tonight at 9 pm ET, and I’ll cram some baseball down your cramhole.

Get your questions in and I’ll see you soon!

Paul Swydan: One sec guys. Cracking a Shipyard Summer real quick. The people have spoken!

Comment From AJT
Is Chris and Jeff skipping out on everyone. Should they be punished?

Paul Swydan: Don’t worry, they will be!

Comment From William
With reinforcements coming, could you see the Yankees pulling away?

Paul Swydan: Nope. I think the AL East is still a five-team race. Not ready to even declare the Blue Jays dead and buried. Maybe in a couple more weeks though…

Jeff Sullivan: It’s always something, isn’t it? This time my router wasn’t working. All right, full steam ahead!

Jeff Sullivan: Is this working? Is this working yet?

Jeff Sullivan: Okay, weird CiL hiccup. Uhhhh this has not been a very promising start

Jeff Sullivan: Let’s turn to the audience for questions!

Comment From Aaron
So the Braves and their strikeouts became a big deal over the weekend as many Braves fans and radio hosts freaked out over a 3 game losing streak to a good team on the road. I know you’ve written on it, but any new thoughts?

Jeff Sullivan: No new thoughts. The Braves are going to strike out a little more than most teams do, but that’s only one of their characteristics. Why would the strikeouts matter more now, as opposed to when the Braves were 12-1? Why was it fine then, and problematic in May?

Dan Szymborski: It begins. 30 seconds to turn down your speaker.

Comment From zack
could you see any smaller market fringe contender like Pittsburgh, Colorado, or Baltimore going all in and trying to deal for Cliff Lee?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t think so. Even if they were willing, I don’t think the Phillies are living in reality land.

Comment From tylersnotes
which happens first: keppinger walk, hr, or sb?

Dan Szymborski: starting to think sun turns into a red giant first.

Comment From Archer
Espinosa vs. Daniel Murphy RoS in a 12-team H2H 5×5(OBP)?

Mike Newman: Hello all. Welcome to this week’s chat. We’ll get started at noon, but feel free to start posting questions.

Comment From Rags
I don’t have a question but my boss didn’t show up for work today. Hooray Friday!

Mike Newman: My kind of Friday! I’m sure every reader in here is in the same situation. Right?

Comment From Aaron
What are your feelings on Braves pitching prospects? Alex Wood has looked GREAT so far. Where do you rank him, Cabrera, Sims, Graham, and so on?

Mike Newman: I’ve seen all four. Graham and Wood are very good pitching prospects. Not elite, but mid-rotation/high leverage reliever types. As for Sims/Cabrera, I just submitted a piece with HD video on both to FanGraphs.

Comment From Guest
Who reaches the majors first, Byron Buxton or Miguel Sano?

Eno Sarris: 15 minutes!

Eno Sarris: lyrics of the day are FRESH (at least for this old man)

Out of control but you’re playing a role Do you think you can go til the 18th hole Or will you flip-flop the day of the championship? Try to go it alone on your own for a bit

Comment From person hscer
Am I in the right place? This is where we talk about baseball and other things, right?

Eno Sarris: Sure. Or whatever.

Comment From Steve
What does a full season of Prime Anthony Rizzo look like?

Eno Sarris: I’d hate to get all gushy about him, but I think he could have more than one .290+/40+ season on his ledger.

Dave Cameron: Hey all – we’ll go ahead and get started in 15 minutes, but the queue is now open. Get your questions in now.

Comment From Pete
What are your thoughts with regard to swinging at the first pitch as opposed to being more patient at the plate?

Dave Cameron: If you get a middle-middle fastball, let it loose. There are certainly times when first pitch swinging is the right plan. You shouldn’t be looking to take pitches just to take pitches. The point is to swing at hittable pitches. If you get a first pitch hittable pitch, swing at it.

Comment From JEB
Do you think Tazawa has a chance to take over the closer role? Or do the Sox have too much money in the other guys to keep him in there?

Dave Cameron: Tazawa’s an extreme fly ball guy, and closers don’t always love putting guys like that in the closer’s role because of their HR problems. But, I think he could hold the job until Bailey’s healthy.

Comment From Koby
How many Ks does Darvish finish the season with?