Dan Szymborski: And we are here! There’s no queue, so feel free to ask anything off the top of your head.

Dan Szymborski: I had some technical difficulties.

Champdo: What are your thoughts on Kerry Carpenter and Ryan Kreidler

Dan Szymborski: Definitely curious to see Carpenter’s ZiPS this year. His improvement in power this year has been insane, more than can be explained by the big bump in offense in the minors

Dan Szymborski: He’s in the right organization to continue to get opportunities.

Dan Szymborski: Would be funny if he turned out to be Spencer Torkelson instead of Spencer Torkelson

Dan Szymborski: ITS A CHAT

Camrin: Initial thoughts on the Tigers signing Scott Harris?

Dan Szymborski: We’re not there yet, but I’m only 8 years older than Scott Harris, so I know the day is coming not just when GMs are my age, but GMs could THEORETICALLY BE MY KID

Dan Szymborski: Really, it all comes down to how the ownership/Harris relationship goes.

Guest: Does ZiPS think that Logan O’Hoppe should be the Angels starting C in 2023?

Dan Szymborski: Looking at his ZiPS, I think that ZiPS would think so

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks, and welcome to today’s chat! It’s a crisp fall day in Brooklyn, appropriate for the September stretch run.

Jay Jaffe: I’ve got a piece today on Kevin Gausman https://blogs.fangraphs.com/fip-or-flop-why-kevin-gausman-isnt-part-of…

Jay Jaffe: yesterday I wrote about Trayce Thompson https://blogs.fangraphs.com/trayce-thompson-makes-a-splash-as-the-dodg…, and the day before that the very slumping Juan Soto https://blogs.fangraphs.com/juan-soto-isnt-having-a-juan-soto-year/

WildCard: If you were a fan of one of the three (likely) AL wildcard teams— would you secretly be rooting for third to trade home field advantage for a matchup against the AL central winner? Or would you rather home field advantage against one of the other stronger (by record at least) WC teams?

Jay Jaffe: This really is a bit of an unintended consequence of the way MLB came up with the new format. Zach Crizer wrote about it at Yahoo just the other day https://sports.yahoo.com/race-for-last-how-the-new-mlb-playoff-format-…

Jay Jaffe: My instinct tells me the odds are better by facing a weaker Cleveland team even if I’m on the road, but I worry about getting too cute by trying to steer myself to one opponent rather than another, and my gut tells me that keeping the home games might be better.

Dan Szymborski: It’s a-me, Szymio!

Scotty: Gunnar flipping Henderson, am I right?!

Dan Szymborski: Correct.

Slapshot: Is the Mets getting swept at home by the Cubs the most Mets thing the Mets could possibly Met?

Dan Szymborski: I think the most Mets thing would have been if an outfielder threw firecrackers at a group of war widows and the GM got busted for going on a DUI bender with a mail truck

Josh Nelson: Is Taco Bell’s Mexican Pizza actually a pizza?

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks, and welcome to another Friday chat!

Jay Jaffe: I’ve got a piece up today about the Rays’ surge into the top AL Wild Card spot https://blogs.fangraphs.com/amid-a-slew-of-injuries-the-rays-have-surg…

Jay Jaffe: And yesterday I wrote about the Mets losing Max Scherzer and (briefly, for now) first place in the NL East https://blogs.fangraphs.com/mets-lose-scherzer-and-momentarily-their-n…

Jay Jaffe: Also, I bantered with Dan Szymborski about Ohtani, Judge, and the AL MVP race as well as Zac Gallen chasing Orel Hershiser’s scoreless streak on this week’s FanGraphs Audio https://blogs.fangraphs.com/fangraphs-audio-catching-coordinator-bobby…

Jay Jaffe: Bear with me for a moment as my lunch just arrived…

Guest: Thoughts on the new rule changes reported yesterday? I’ve wanted pitch clocks for awhile but actually looking at the rule there’s 50 different ways that the batter or the pitcher can break the rule. I’m worried it’s gonna feel ridiculous when the Sox lose to the Twins because Aaron Bummer forgot how many times he stepped off the rubber or whatever.