Jay Jaffe: Hey folks, good afternoon and welcome to our NLDS Braves-Cardinals Game 4 chat. Tony Wolfe will be joining me. First pitch is coming in four minutes, and right now, in the only game that’s live, the Rays are pouring it on the Astros 8-1 in the fourth inning, so it looks like that series will not end with a sweep

Manta: Just a question, but why aren’t we talking about the Rays-Astros?

Jay Jaffe: We didn’t have enough bodies available to cover all four games today, and this time slot worked better for me when I planted my flag in our spreadsheet.

Roger: How long does Keuchel go with the platoon disadvantage and Teheran and Tomlin available?

Tony Wolfe: I have to think Keuchel gets a little bit of wiggle room. It isn’t as though Teheran is dominant against righties, though he did pitch well against St. Louis this season (10 IP, 1 R, 4 H).

Jay Jaffe: I imagine this will be dictated by results to some degree. He’s at a disadvantage (.314  wOBA vs RHB career, .267 vs LHB, against a lineup with 2 lefties). With a 2-1 lead, he definitely has a longer leash than if the Braves were down 2-1

Meg Rowley: Hey everyone — thanks for joining us. We’ll get started right around first pitch, but feel free to drop your questions in before that. Go baseball!

Josh Herzenberg: Yankees lineup (Paxton on the mound): DJ LeMahieu (R) 1B
Aaron Judge (R) RF
Brett Gardner (L) CF
Edwin Encarnacion (R) DH
Giancarlo Stanton (R) LF
Gleyber Torres (R) 2B
Gary Sanchez (R) C
Didi Gregorius (L) SS
Gio Urshela (R) 3B

Josh Herzenberg: Twins lineup (Berrios on the mound): Mitch Garver (R) C
Jorge Polanco (S) SS
Nelson Cruz (R) DH
Eddie Rosario (L) RF
Miguel Sano (R) 3B
Max Kepler (L) CF
Marwin Gonzalez (S) LF
C.J. Cron (R) 1B
Luis Arraez (L) 2B

Josh Herzenberg: Jay (who will be joining us here to chat a little bit later) wrote the preview for this series, which can be found here if you haven’t read it already: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/postseason-preview-new-york-yankees-vs-min…

Josh Herzenberg: Alright folks, let get this thing rolling

Nico Robin: over/under on 5 HRs per game this series?

Ben Clemens: Hey everyone, and welcome to the ALDS Game 1 chat.

Ben Clemens: We have a pretty good roster today- Dan, Jay, and Josh.

Ben Clemens: Some links for your pleasure:

Ben Clemens: First, today’s series preview:
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/postseason-preview-houston-astros-vs-tampa…

Ben Clemens: The ZiPS projections, artisanally crafted by none other than Dan Szymborski:
https://www.fangraphs.com/standings/playoff-odds/post-season-zips

Ben Clemens: And since I really enjoyed it (though it has no bearing on today), Jay on Mickey Callaway:

Kiley McDaniel: Hello from ATL! Scout is asleep sunbathing on the back porch, so I’m left to field your questions.

abgb123: First day time chat this week and it’s you, blah!

Kiley McDaniel: thanks for coming by, mom

Mary Anning’s Monster: Is it fairly clear that Hancock, Martin, and Tork are going in the top 3 and then what happens next is not clear?  If you were in the 4-10 range and needed a bat, who would you prefer?  Hassel?  PCA?

Kiley McDaniel: Good chance her to plug THE BOARD, which is our personal opinions of who to take amongst minor leaguers, draft and July 2 folks. It’s always being updated and the 2020 draft stuff has one more set of tweaks left before we announce “hey guys, come look at this, it’s new” but there’s over 500 guys on there, so you could say we’re pretty well informed

Kiley McDaniel: https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board/2020-mlb-draft/summary?s…

Dan Szymborski: It is time. A time for chats.

James: After last night Greinkes fangraphs war for 2019 past his 2015 war. Do you buy that he has been more valuable this year?

Dan Szymborski: Absolutely.

Dan Szymborski: Let’s not forget that offense is up more than a half-run a game since 2015

Dan Szymborski: And Arizona is still tougher than Dodger stadium

Adam: Which wild card contender is most likely to beat the Astros in the division series?

Kiley McDaniel: Hello from ATL! Swapped chats with Craig and am juggling calls scheduled for today that have been shifting a bit.

Kiley McDaniel: this may be slightly abbreviated, but to your questions, as Scout sleeps in the other room:

David: Assuming the Rays have the money available, who says no: Diego Castillo, Liberatore, and Honeywell for Kris Bryant.

Kiley McDaniel: for 2 years of Bryant? Cubs turn that down pretty easily

A big dumb idiot : Is it fair to consider Vladito’s rookie season a disappointment? This isn’t to say his star has dimmed going forward, just that more was expected in 2019

Kiley McDaniel: i guess? the projection systems have him as true talent level north of what he’s done so far this year…but he’s also a college sophomore aged player that’s better than league average with the bat, so hard to say it’s been more than a slight disappointment