Dan Szymborski: Greetings! I have a 1 PM appointment, so pretty strict on time today

CK: I noticed your Bengal reference and I appreciate it

Dan Szymborski: I made one?

Em: Do you think that first basemen would get fewer hamstring injuries, since they have to be flexible to receive throws from the other infielders?

Dan Szymborski: I’m not sure, I’m not expert enough on the human body to know why this effect, if it exists, might exist

Dan Szymborski: but it might be itneresting to study actual hamstring injuries by position

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks, and welcome to the post-Memorial Day edition of my chat. I had a weekend of solo parenting that was filled with activity, including taking my 6 1/2 year old daughter to a Yankees-Padres game on Friday night, but didn’t see much baseball otherwise until last night when I had Bobby Miller on one device and Bryce Miller on the other.

Jay Jaffe: anyway… no article from me today due to travel. ON Friday I checked in on Trea Turner’s struggles https://blogs.fangraphs.com/trea-turners-slide-has-not-been-smooth/ and the day before that on Carlos Correa’s foot https://blogs.fangraphs.com/carlos-correas-rebound-from-a-slow-start-h… Surprisingly, the latter has avoided the IL for now

Chairman Meow: What are your thoughts on  Francisco Alvarez after his hot start, future star or even current star?

Jay Jaffe: I’m impressed so far. I mean, who wouldn’t be given his .269/.327/.558 start through 113 PA?

Jay Jaffe: He’s +4.9 runs in framing, too. Didn’t see that coming

Jay Jaffe: He graded out as a 60 FV prospect, which is All-Star caliber. I haven’t seen anything to suggest he won’t be one though I don’t expect him to maintain a 142 wRC+

Dan Szymborski: It is chat time!

Well-Beered Englishman: What’s a weird historical hot take you had that you can fess up to? This morning, I was remembering when I used to think, “How will the Angels make room for Mike Trout when they already have Peter Bourjos?”

Dan Szymborski: I liked the Soriano-Wilkerson trade. The Wilkerson part.

Blake: Is Mitch Haniger going to get it going?

Dan Szymborski: To an extent.

Ray: When does Shane McClanahan get universally recognized as a top five pitcher in baseball?

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks, and welcome to my weekly chat!

Jay Jaffe: I’ve got a piece today on the Yankees DFAing Aaron Hicks https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-yankees-have-finally-cut-bait-on-aaron…

Jay Jaffe: Yesterday I wrote about the Dodgers’ rotation mess in the wake of injuries to Dustin May and Julio Urías https://blogs.fangraphs.com/injuries-to-dustin-may-and-julio-urias-lea…

Jay Jaffe: And last Friday I had a piece on Manny Machado’s injury and struggles that was published prior to his going on the IL https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-padres-offense-is-broken-and-so-is…

Jay Jaffe: I may revisit that one, there are a couple of loose ends. Anyway, on with the show…

Daniel: Ben Clemens said yesterday he thinks Outman has a substantial lead for NL ROY. Do you agree? Corbin Carroll is slightly ahead by WAR, so I don’t immediately see why this would be the case.

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?