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?

Paul Swydan: Hi everybody!

There’s a 95% chance that I’m flying solo tonight. Chris is definitely not going to be here, and Jeff probably won’t be. So you’re stuck with me and all of my nerdly glory!

Get your questions in, and I’ll be back at 9 p.m. ET to tackle as many of them as I possibly can.

Paul Swydan: Jeff wants to know – what ballparks do you believe are affected the most by a specific wind direction? Let me know your thoughts and I’ll post them.

Paul Swydan: Alright, let’s do this thing!

Comment From Stuck in a Slump
No one seems to be talking about Scott Feldman, but the guy went 7 innings and limited the Rangers to 3 base runners. In his last four starts he has a 1.63 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP with a 7.5 K/9 rate. Is this for real?

Paul Swydan: Well, he’s not good enough to consistently post a 1.63 ERA and 0.80 WHIP, but he is an underrated play, and the K/9 could definitely stand up. I like him as a 4th/5th starter in mixed leagues, and even better in NL only leagues.

Comment From shirley
did clay cheat? Is Eckersley just a wee bit too protective of him?

Jeff Sullivan: Okay! Let’s start late like usual.

Jeff Sullivan: Ordinary caveats:

Jeff Sullivan: (1) I am not a fantasy baseball expert
(2) I am not a baseball expert
(3) There are a lot of questions that go in the queue

Jeff Sullivan: One-time caveat:

(4) I’ve been out of town due to a wedding and I just got back late last night so I’m not at all caught up on what’s going on in baseball. Six-day blind spot!

Jeff Sullivan: So know ahead of time that this is going to be the least satisfying live chat in FanGraphs history. At least, in my FanGraphs history. I apologize and next week will be normal. You may see yourselves out.

Comment From Delusional Braves Fan
SIMMONS! Suck it haters

Dan Szymborski: Szymborski ist angekommen. Zittern unter seiner nerdlichen Blick!

Comment From Guest
Soriano or Minor RoS for fantasy?

Dan Szymborski: Depends what you need, really.

Comment From Guest
Will Ian Kennedy rebound?

Dan Szymborski: Yeah, but he’s more like 2012 and 2010 than 2011.

Comment From Mike
Marcell Ozuna have a good year?