Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon folks. I’m in a brief delay here as I get today’s piece, on the Indians’ failing offense, off my plate. Back in about 15 minutes.

Jay Jaffe: OK folks, I’m back. Couldn’t quite beat the clock…

JD Drew Barrymore: Is the Indians offense really failing? D- maybe? What’s the key to a turnaround? JRam getting right probably would go a long way on its own

Jay Jaffe: The Indians have the largest wRC+ fall-off from last year to this one 26 points (104 to 78); they’re scoring 1.13 fewer runs per game. Jose Ramirez’s slump has been brutal, but their failure to secure some production from their corner outfielders — which was quite apparent all winter — has really bit them hard as well. Note that they’ve withstood the losses of Kluber and Clevinger reasonably well; it’s the offense that’s let them down.

stever20: How much longer will the Nats give Dave Martinez?

Jay Jaffe: I honestly don’t know, but yikes, those vultures must be getting tired of circling. I wouldn’t be surprised if his number comes up by the end of this month; if they get embarrassed by the Marlins in this upcoming four-game series, as the Mets did with their three-gamer, that could be all she wrote.

Eric A Longenhagen: Hello from Los Angeles. Let’s get to it.

Tim: When’s the next mock?

Greg: Any new top 10 buzz?

Big Fan: Can we hope, wish and dream about a new Mock Draft soon?

Tommy N.: Any draft rumblings for the top 10 specifically with the Padres?

Eric A Longenhagen: yeesh, it’s barely been a week, guys.

Dan Szymborski: Unleash the Chatken!

Egg: How impactful are hitting coaches really? Do you think there is anything to the correlation between Mets, Cubs, and Red Sox all struggling under Chili Davis, with a complete lack of power?

Dan Szymborski: That’s a tricky thing in that’s it hard to really separate out a hitting coach’s contribution. It’s more of a leadership role for the manager to figure out than anything that is data driven.

Dan Szymborski: Unless someone smarter than me has found a way to isolate hitting coaches.

Voldemort: Do you have confidence in Matt Carpenter and/or Jesus Aguilar to turn things around this year?

Dan Szymborski: Carp more.

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon and welcome to another edition of my (mostly) weekly FanGraphs chat. I’m going to take a couple minutes to let the queue fill up; in the meantime, here’s yesterday’s piece on Tommy La Stella, who made me look smart by homering again just hours after its publication https://blogs.fangraphs.com/tommy-la-stella-is-doing-mike-trout-like-t…

Jay Jaffe: And here’s about 30 minutes of me discussing baseball on the Wharton Moneyball podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wharton-moneyball-post-game-…

Big Joe Mufferaw: Do you think Jeter gets 100% like Mo?

Jay Jaffe: It *should* happen; lousy fielding metrics aside, there’s no defensible reason why a professional who has done his homework would neglect to include a player who ranks among the all-time top 10 in hits while playing a pivotal role on five championship teams and seven pennant winners, that while completing the feat of spending 20 years in the Big Apple spotlight without getting involved in any notable scandal.

Jay Jaffe: Will it happen? it’s entirely possible some asshole out there holds a grudge, and let’s face it, Jeter isn’t winning any friends in his current gig running the Marlins. But if I had to bet, I’d bet yes, he gets 100%

Big Joe Mufferaw: Can you explain to me why writers treat Steroid offenders differently? Like voters will hate Palmeiro and Sosa, but chose to completely ignore Ortiz’s failed test for example. Is it because of how they like the guy? His Career? I don’t understand

Kiley McDaniel: Hello from ATL, running around a lot today after a five-day trip through the Carolinas and I’m flying to Chicago tomorrow to see Quinn Priester, so there’s lots of maintenance things to get done today

Paul: WHEN IS THE NEXT MOCK

Kiley McDaniel: Oh yes and in case you missed it, there was a new mock yesterday and we already have a solid half dozen more pieces of dope to go in the next one…which will be whenever we think is time for a new one

Kiley McDaniel: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/mock-draft-2-0/

mark: What is the domino effect if Vaughn goes 1 to BAL?

Kiley McDaniel: Not completely sure, but my best guess would be:
1. BAL – Vaughn
2. KC – Rutschman
3. CHW – Abrams
4. MIA – Witt
5. DET – Greene
6. SD – Bleday

Meg Rowley: Hello, and welcome to the chat!

Meg Rowley: It is rainy in Seattle today, and I have some sad tunes on. Let’s see if a little chat can’t shift the mood.

Confused Dodger Fan: Struggling with the Julio Urias news. I want to be able to like the players who play for my favorite team.

Meg Rowley: Drat. It’s really a bummer. It is very hard for the continued existence of cases like this to not alter one’s appreciation for the sport in a meaningful way. Or at least, it is difficult for me. This stuff care ware you out.

Professor Hulk: Is all hope lost of Keuchel and Kimbrel playing this season?

Meg Rowley: I don’t think so.

Dan Szymborski: OK, I’m here!

Dan Szymborski: I’d like to say something out of my control happened, but I tend to start Twitter rants two minutes before I have to be somewhere

Matt: The chat post is messed up – showing the HTML code

Dan Szymborski: Should be fixed now.

Voldemort: Do you have confidence in Jesus Aguilar to turn things around this season? He’s looked sharper the last week or so.

Dan Szymborski: He’s certainly looked better. There’s still hope.

Eric A Longenhagen: Howdy from lovely Tempe. Chat is starting early today so I can hit Extended at 10, so I’ll spare you the links (you know where to find stuff) and get to the Qs

Tommy N.: Chances of MacKenzie Gore making the big leagues this year?

Eric A Longenhagen: Pretty slim. The big club would have to be in some kind of race down to the wire (seems possible) and they’d have to think he were one of the best few options in the org AND the workload stuff needs to line up properly which, after the blister stuff last year, seems tricky

Greg: When’s the next mock out?

Eric A Longenhagen: when we have sufficient info to run one, probably sometime next week

Jon: Eric, hello! I’ll be in Lehigh Valley over the summer; any food recommendations?