Eno Sarris Baseball Chat — 4/6/16

Eno Sarris: Two things are funny to me about this video. 1) When I grew up in Jamaica, I heard reggae covers of everything, I learned the words to Billy Jean that way. 2) The early season is sort of strange and new, but also something totally normal and comfortable. Like a cover.

Ben WMD: Who’s more worthless – Delino DeShields or Travis Jankowski?

Eno Sarris: DDs bats from the right side, so it’s him.

Hannah Hochevar: Read all your advice, listened to all your pods, and somehow the only thing I took away was that I needed to get Lonnie Chisenhall on my team…

Eno Sarris: P Weird.

RotoLando: Who do you believe in more, Eric Thames or Jesus Aguilar?

Eno Sarris: Thames.

Erik: I ended up very pitching-heavy in all my leagues, due to naive misuse of the auction calculator, I think. Do I remedy that by a) aggressively trading pitching for hitting to get a balanced lineup, or b) keeping my strong pitching and hoping to upgrade from poor to middle-of-the-pack hitting by winning the waiver wire?

Eno Sarris: I’d trade for hitters.

Z: I know, I know, it’s only one game (against the Phillies no less), but Brandon Finnegan looked great. The 9K’s are nice, but the 1BB in 7 innings is equally impressive. Do you think Finnegan could be a 3.40ERA/1.20WHIP guy with 180+ K’s over a full season? Would you sell high or hold?

Eno Sarris: You guys know I love Finnegan. He kept some of the gains with his changeup and may have improved them a little bit. Velo gap was up a bit, drop was better. Possible his velo is up, too. 1.5 ticks up, which is still up a bit after you minus out the Trackman Bump. Looked good, got reaches, turned balls into strikes.

Moltar: Ugh, Sam Dyson. How long before I cut bait? Bush is on the wire, as is Holland and Rodney. FAAB processes tonight, do I pull the trigger?

Eno Sarris: Can’t drop him yet.

RotoLando: Are The Royals bad? They looked bad.

Eno Sarris: What makes them good? There aren’t really any pre-peak position players left. (I don’t think Mondesi is that good.) Maybe a whole season of Duffy gives them upside, but the rest of the rotation is middling to poor. The bullpen is not what it used to be, it’s hard to keep that sort of thing going.

Ampersand: It’s Craft Brewers Conference week in DC next week. On Monday, should I go to the Hazy IPA event with Aslin, Civil Society, SingleCut, LIC Beer Project, Heist, and Lawson’s Finest Liquids? Or the all-styles event with Bissell Brothers, Other Half, Suarez Family, The Veil, and Trillium? BTW, the whole week is like this

Eno Sarris: Oh good lord I should be there. I’ll be there next year. Veil, Bissel, OH, and Trillium and you don’t have to blow out your palate with hazy IPA after hazy IPA? That’s the one I want.

Kyle: Small sample size, sure, but Buxton hasn’t looked great at the plate. Any reason for optimism that he’ll make progress on the contact issues?

Eno Sarris: I think he’s just going to have blistering months and long poor stretches where it looks like he can’t hit anything. I don’t like his hitting mechanics. Defense will keep him on the field.

Moelicious: K-Rod only throwing 86/87 – how long does he last as closer without any velocity on the fastball?

Eno Sarris: He’s my pick for first guy to lose his job. It sucks that Rondon is down too. Justin Wilson is the lefty, but maybe he’s the guy to own.

Connie Mac N’ Cheese: Are we seeing the dawn of the Sano breakout this season?

Eno Sarris: I love it. I don’t know what his strikeout rate will look like, but I’ve been saying that he has 40+ HR power and just needs to stay healthy and is too young to call injury prone.

Ghost of Greg Maddux Past: What do we do with this early-season pitch-tracking data when trying to see if pitcher’s stuff is behaving differently? In addition to the velocity readings being greater with Statcast, it also looks as if there’s a leftward shift (from the catcher’s perspective) in the way horizontal movement is being recorded/reported. I guess at some point we’ll be able to apply a uniform adjustment to the old Pitch FX pitch tracking data to put on the same footing with the new Statcast pitch tracking data.

Eno Sarris: I’m sad. It’s so much work, I didn’t realize it would be. What I’ve been trying to do is just compare players’ stats to themselves. Just look at them in this year. How does the package look if you were looking at it for the first time. There are movement issues but I believe they are from calibration park to park. Those calibration issues are different from the last calibration issues.

Erik: Gary Sanchez and Manuel Margot for JT Realmuto and Christian Yelich. Which side do you take and by how much?

Eno Sarris: Sanchez and Margot by a bit.

CarrotJuice: What are your thoughts on Mike Montgomery’s curveball? According to Verducci, the Cubs targeted Montgomery, and think his future is in the rotation, because of that pitch.

Eno Sarris: Decent spin, great depth, good velo. To me, it’s the fact that he has a really good curve AND a really good change. That’s why I’ve liked him.

Jonathan: Hi Eno, What is Amed Rosario’s best player comp should he reach his potential?

Eno Sarris: I think Lindor is where you want to look. Plus glove, good bat based on making good contact.

JVizzle: Could you see Scott Schebler having a mini Adam Duvall breakout this year?

Eno Sarris: Yeah he averaged like 93 in exit velocity late last year. He can hit the ball hard. Has a little bit better sense of the zone, too.

Hannah Hochevar: Love to Reggae covers. Recommend Tony Curtis’s Faith (via Queen Majesty’s radio show).

Eno Sarris:

Borkins: Ello, mate!

Eno Sarris: Ello!

JVizzle: Jeffress the handcuff to own in Texas?

Eno Sarris: Bush IMO.

Twoseamers: Buy, sell or hold – Graveman & Morton

Eno Sarris: Sell & Hold. Graveman could be Stroman or Sanchez at best but I’m not buying that he’s quite got that Sanchez sinker and the latter, as a ceiling… might be worth exploring trade options.

Hannah Hochevar: Looked like Charlie “The Salt” Morton touched 96 last night with a solid curve. Were you pleased with his performance?

Eno Sarris: Averaged 95, so if that’s an old 94, still great. Tons of fade and sink on that nasty sinker. Curve only got three whiffs but averaged 81/82. (I don’t even know how to report velocity any more so I’m just going to do old/new.) Threw six splitters with decent velo gap and drop, got two whiffs. Really nice outing. Might have even thrown a cutter. Plus, nobody is giving you anything for him. Hold.

Jordan: Is it crazy to think that Taillon could be better than Come right now? Cole is so volatile and Taillon looked great last year and even better last night.

Eno Sarris: Threw eight bad changeups, which is okay news for having actually thrown that many, but didn’t get a whiff, didn’t have impressive movement or drop. I dunno man. Cole has his issues of course. Also needs to trust his change (and slider!) more.

Sonny: Cotton’s first 3 runs last night were results of pretty soft contact/unlucky hit placement. I still believe.

Eno Sarris: Yeah, man. Simmons took a curveball a foot-plus off the outside corner and barely put it inside the line. Maldanado fisted an inside fastball to the same line. A foot of difference, combined, on those two balls in play, and He pitches five innings of one-run ball with four or five strikeouts and two walks.

Dylan Bundy: DYLAN. BUNDY.

Eno Sarris: Good. Lord. PFx didn’t pick up a cutter but I saw some fastballs in the low 90s with different movement that made the hitters think. Otherwise the changeup got a ton of whiffs with great movement, and its possible some of those were sliders/cutters, and the curve decent.

The Kyd: I love Tai Walker, but his troubles with HRs have been well documented. Will his tendency to give up bombs be too much to overcome at Chase to make him shallow 10-team worthy?

Eno Sarris: Yeah man, he improved his strikeout and walk rates this spring and still gave up homers. Seemed like the same guy as ever in his start yesterday. Maybe the NL evens out some of the Chase issues and he’s about the same as he was before. I’m not sure I see a breakout coming.

Wes : Braves fan here. Someone (I think Paul) made a comment during the opening day extravaganza that choosing between th Mets and braves feed was the easiest decision ever. Last night I decided to try the Mets broadcast for the first time and it was the most unbelievable thing I’ve ever listened to. Gary was great Ron and Keith had the most unbelievable insight. I looove Keith’s old fashioned look on the game. At one point, darling is talking about deGroms mechanics and talking about how he needs to stay balanced or else he won’t be able to throw the ball straight, and Keith goes “yea, just like d’arnaud.” I was dying. And then Keith starts bashing all the new rule changes and such and Gary goes “slow down Keith, we want you to stay around for a little while”

Eno Sarris: They’re very good. Even when I’m annoyed with things Keith is saying, I enjoy them.

James: I know you’re not a huge fan of Keuchel for various reasons but you have to be encouraged by that start right? Tons of ground balls and 85 pitches through 7IP

Eno Sarris: He threw 28% of his pitches in the zone. That’s such a crazy number that I’m going to peace out and see what happens in the next start. 40% is average. Even when Keuchel led the league in fewest pitches in the zone he was above 30%. And you have to get batters to swing at those pitches outside the zone, or you are screwed.

Frank: Great Treinen call…who you like in these pens: OAK, TEX, AZ, PHI

Eno Sarris: Backwards: Neris, Bradley, Bush, Madson.

Eno Sarris: Mostly I look for high velocity high K righties that have been used in wins.

Pretty Tony: Detroit’s weather for opening day tomorrow: high 30s, sleet, snow, rain, misery

Bork: The city of St. Petersburg wants to build a new ballpark on the existing site of Tropicana Field. Does this count as a lude because it’s absolutely ridiculous.

Kyle: Devenski!!!!!!!!!!

KJ: FINNEGAN!!!

Eno Sarris: We can do better.

Jessi: Do you like Eickhoff in a deep NL only as much as you liked John Lamb last year?

Eno Sarris: Way more. Lamb was a dollar guy. Eickhoff is like a five-plus dollar guy in those leagues.

Hannah Hochevar: Candy is dandy, but Yandy is quicker

Pretty Tony: Jharel’s pitches should be called Cotton Balls

Long John Silver: Does yer chat have a theme song? I be needin new speakers. Yarrr.

Eno Sarris: That’s better.

Mikey: Archie looked really good for Az in relief. What’s his future? Can he pitch this well in relief all year?

Eno Sarris: At 96 with a good breaking ball, he is the classic ‘couldn’t be a starter but could be a closer’ guy.

Maxamuz: Hunter Pence is going to prove all you doubters wrong.

Eno Sarris: Who’s doubting him? Pretty established dude.

Gary: Would it be possible to add QS as an option on leaderboards? A lot of fantasy leagues use them and would love a custom sheet including them.

Eno Sarris: They’re in the auction calculator. I’ll bug the powers that be to get RoS projections in that thing this year.

Nick: What’s happening Eno! Thoughts on Peralta’s start last night?

Eno Sarris: Same guy as ever. Plenty of ups and downs on the back of his command of that slider.

RotoLando: My contribution:

JRK: Thoughts on Ryon Healy?

Eno Sarris: Still like him as a gap to gap hitter with good bat control, adjustment-fed power that won’t be in the projection systems, .280/25 type.

Eno Sarris: I do plan to ask him about standing further away from the plate. Could help power, but could hurt contact.

Chet Steadman: Thoughts on Richards’s “bicep cramps?”

Eno Sarris: Sucks. Can’t drop because he’s not ‘hurt’ and can’t sell and just have to hold on to this boat in a storm.

Alex: Eno, any recs on canned/bottled hazy IPAs in so cal?

Eno Sarris: V Hard to find in cans and bottles generally. I don’t love what Mumford is doing as much as some others, but they have some on tap and are in LA proper. Monkish is in Torrance and great. Half Door in SD is doing it. I’m… starting to be ambivalent about them.

Sonny: Eric Thames’ forearms are scaring my children, those are falsies right?

Eno Sarris: I haven’t really interviewed him but I get a sense of realness from him in our few interactions.

2-D: Is the circle-change the most popular grip used for a changeup? What is your best guess, percentage wise, of non-circle-change changes?

Eno Sarris: Yes. Tons of weirder ones are still variations of the circle.

Jake: How concerned are you about Arrieta’s velo dip?

Eno Sarris: There’s been talk that all the numbers were off in the park that day. I would like to see two starts.

Clayton Richards: Is he for real? nice and easy delivery with lots of sink. There were few hard hits by the Dodgers. How do you think he does this year?

Eno Sarris: Dropping down is good for sink and fade, but his changeup is now worse for it, meaning he’s a two-pitch sinker/curve lefty.

Eno Sarris: Gonna get blown up in a few outings by a team with good righties.

jmo: eno – this is probably a dumb idea but what do you think about this trade: getting madbum and jake lamb – giving lucroy carlos santana and gerrit cole…

Eno Sarris: I’d do that.

Aspergillus: Hi I just wanted to say I saw the team pages feature today and I appreciate that fangraphs continues to improve the site and enhance the content. So thanks fangraphs

Eno Sarris: P cool right?

Kerry : Btw I named my team “Earth, Lindor, Fire”

Eno Sarris: HAH.

Marty: Chris Devenski: if he’s a setup guy / closer / SP, he’d be of interest, where do you think he ends up in a month

Eno Sarris: 100 IP RP.

Big Tuna: I was offered D. Peralta for Pearce in an OPS league. What are your thoughts in a vacuum?

Eno Sarris: I’d take the lefty for the righty.

Olly: Last year, Gary Sanchez took the baseball world by storm by hitting 10 homers in his first 85 PA. Hunter Renfroe’s now at 5 in 45.

Eno Sarris: He’s got real power.

Guest: In 1997 Greg Maddux threw 232 innings, won 19 games and walked 20 people.

Borkins: Finally caved and purchased mlb.tv and discovered last night they have QUAD BOX if you stream from computer! LUDE-TASTIC!

PD: WHATS WRONG WITH GARY SANCHEZ?!?!?!?!

Eno Sarris: yes, this was a good one.

Estuary: What are the separating factors between Carlos Rodon and Brandon Finnegan besides health?

Eno Sarris: Good question! Used to be velo and maybe change, but at this point Finnegan has closed the gap on both.

Estuary: Can you give me the rundown on what makes devenski good?

Eno Sarris: Great changeup with movement partially achieved by falling off the mound?

Nelson: Obviously growth of craft beer is increasing, but are they taking from macro or is overall beer drinking going up in relation?

Eno Sarris: Mostly taking from macro.

Big Tuna: What stats should I be tracking as I evaluate early season performances for fantasy purposes?

Eno Sarris: Velocity, spin on the four-seam, pitching mix percentages for pitchers. Strikeout rate / swSTR for hitters, in a bit, GB/FB.

Lars: Dylan Bundy a 10-team arm for you after what we saw?

Eno Sarris: Yes.

Tim: Had an owner in my 20 teamer trade Tanaka for Bird and Kluber for Renfroe in panic moves, to the same owner no less. How do you deal with that type of league altering stuff?

Eno Sarris: Engage that owner in trade talks immediately and plan for a replacement next offseason if possible somehow in league rules.

The Kyd: DeGrom’s velo started off strong last night (97 and even 98 a couple times), but noticeably dropped off in the 5th and 6th (92-93). I know that velo doesn’t necessarily hold throughout a start, but this drop seemed kind of significant. Is this normal for a pitcher in the early going, or is it something to monitor?

Eno Sarris: The average drop is less than one mph. I didn’t notice that!

B: Quick question this year only: Finnegan or Cotton?

Eno Sarris: I had Cotton late sixties and Finnegan in the eighties, I’d say they’re probably both in the 70s. Finn might have an adjustment in his rear view that Cotton needs to find. This is not a crazy switch to make.

BASEBALL!: Is James Paxton for Brandon Belt a good trade? I have Joey Votto and a volatile rotation.

Eno Sarris: I’d take Paxton yes.

Gsellman man man: Finny had 14.90 Vmov last night on the heater…That’s crazy right? How early does movement stabilize?

Eno Sarris: I’ve seen some difference in vertical movement numbers. Kershaw was 12 last year and 14 in his first start. We just have to be careful right now.

You’re a Big Kitty: How excited should I be for Daniel Norris?

Eno Sarris: I’m p excited.

Snarfle: One of the pigeons outside my cafe is being hella agro. No one likes the agro pigeon, but we’re all just trying to get by.

Max: Strasburg only pitching out of the stretch this year….is there any big takeaways that can be made if a pitcher does this all year or is it more of just a comfort thing? Will it cost him Ks or other changes in his stats possibly?

Eno Sarris: Some guys (like Mengden) have velo differences in each situation, but across the league, it’s about even.

Dat Dude: Would you rather own Finnegan over any of Folty/Bundy/Lynn in 12 team 5×5?

Eno Sarris: Maybe Folty, yeah.

Snarfle: Is Soler a post-Eno hype sleeper or is he mostly just sleepy?

Eno Sarris: Finally gets to play every day, but from what I’ve seen wrt breaking balls and contact, I think he’s more of a .260/25 guy than anything much better.

Hugh: Hi Eno- any recommendations for Toronto breweries? Thanks!

Eno Sarris: Bellwoods was the one to visit. Great stuff.

Chano: A drum, a drum, McCullers doth come

80 grade question asker: please tell me i shouldn’t freak out about matt strahm

Eno Sarris: No command right now. Don’t know what to say. His usefulness as a reliever in the bigs might be in question, but he still has multiple pitches and velo. Maybe they send him down to stretch out again.

HappyFunBall: Early thoughts on Blake Treinen: Dominant Closer ?

Eno Sarris: It’s not just about that nutty sinker.

Skip: A was pleasantly surprised with Cobb’s start yesterday, but definitely trade bait if he proves himself healthy right? Cubs come calling?

Eno Sarris: I’m selling. The splitter isn’t back yet. I don’t know what happened to that pitch. Used to have three to four inches more drop.

Miketron: Can Waino be a mid-rotation arm again? He looked pretty good the other day

Eno Sarris: I’d like to see him throw the curve 40% of the time and embrace his old. Could be decent that way.

romorr: You must love answering questions after only 2 games. With that said, Orioles are 2-0, chances they finish 162-0?

Eno Sarris: Happening.

Eric: Start Triggs today vs. LAA? Already got burned by Cotton last night and I believe Triggs gave up 20 ER in his last few spring starts

Eno Sarris: I’d wait and see. So funky but they’ve seen him before.

Eno Sarris: oh wow just got to the second page and there’s a third page.

Eno Sarris:

Dabo Dabo Sweeney: What were your thoughts on Cotton’s outing last night? See anything you liked/didn’t like?

Eno Sarris: Curve was meh. Got a little unlucky.

Borkins: Re: Buxton, So you’re saying Buxton is the plus plus defensive version of Jay Bruce?

Eno Sarris: hah

Quincy : If Noah is Noah and deGrom is 2015 deGrom do the Mets win the NL east?

Eno Sarris: Best rotation in baseball is a good place to start. Now they just need to iron out the ups and downs on the hitting side.

Snarfle: There are literally trillions of bees on planet Earth.

Eno Sarris: There are chickens than people.

2-D: Am I seeing this right, Bundy with 14 whiffs on the cutter last night?

Eno Sarris: That’s the change.

Marty: When I lived in Jamaica, they blasted James Blunt’s ‘you’re beautiful’ over and over…well, the first 45 seconds over and over. I hate James Blunt.

Eno Sarris: LOL. Man I wonder what song it is I hate. I’m sure there’s one that would trip the wire from that time in my life.

Moltar: I see some people saying Keuchel is a sell high candidate, but with the new emphasis on swing plane and fly balls, isn’t his repetoire perfect for counteracting that? Can’t hit fly balls if everything is down in the zone.

Eno Sarris: The new swings are actually designed to do exactly that: hit fly balls by taking the low ball out. But Keuchel was below the zone even further. It’s more about batters swinging at it or not swinging at it and forcing him to throw it in the zone.

DTH: obviously it’s always good to extend young players at team-friendly prices, but would the Royals have been better off trading duffy for prospects? seems like he’s just going to waste away for a few years while they’re non-contenders, but help them win games which will hurt their draft status

Eno Sarris: Can still trade him on that contract, still a good idea.

Lagniappe: Warthen is great teacher of soldersMets throw great sliders. Mets lead planet in are injuries. Casual or invite tal?

Eno Sarris: The biggest link to injury is velocity and the Mets lead the world in velo.

brad: Mazara looks good so far. Can he eventually turn into a top 20 player on offense?

Eno Sarris: I think he could be a .300/30 guy at peak.

Mr Cotton: Jharel looked pretty bad last night…made me sad

Eno Sarris: I don’t think he looked that bad at all. Made Trout look silly on two separate pitches. Cutter was fine. Couple of oppo hits that are usually foul, couple of meh curveballs.

Rick: What do you think about Zach Davies?

Eno Sarris: Let’s say he is Kyle Hendricks, which is possible. He’s Kyle Hendricks in front of that defense with that bullpen behind him.

Dave: Eno, your advice has won many fantasy leagues for me. Today, I request this advice: in an h2h league using OBP instead of average and no RBIs, should I give up deGrom for Matt Carpenter?

Eno Sarris: deGrom is going to be great this year.

Thump Day: Why does Fangraphs show Bruce Rondon’s 2017 velocity from his opening day outing at 97.6 mph but Brooks at 93.4? Aren’t they pulling from the same Trackman data?

Eno Sarris: Good lord. Even weirder, the raw number that came through on the 4th was 96.7. I know Brooks cleans up the data more, and that Rondon was down a bit in the Spring.

joe: Are you trying to distance yourself from fantasy baseball in hopes of an MLB job?

Eno Sarris: Hah. No, that hasn’t been a problem in the past. I like beer, found the site intriguing.

Bert Campaneris: Thanks for spending some time with us, Eno. After the impressive outing he had against a dangerous Cubs lineup, what are your odds for C-Mart to take the Cy Young,considering he lives in the same neighborhood as the Kershaw guy, and the one they call Thor?

Eno Sarris: That’s your trio if you ask me, with deG as a dark horse.

biffyclryo: Your chats seem like one big inside joke that I’m not a part of. Any recommendations on how to get into them?

Eno Sarris: Relax and realize that there is no inside and there is no making sense of it. The only thing you need to know, I guess, is that interludes/ludes are when I post silly things you people write. That’s it! Otherwise, the things that show up here confuse me as much as they confuse you.

Zwibi: If you were to buy shares in the twins bullpen how would it look? I don’t see Kintzler holding the job but can’t see a clear replacement.

Eno Sarris: I was hoping for Chargois as a dark horse but he’s not even on the team. Pressly? Dunno.

Ken: Rank these prospective pitcher pick-ups? Finnegan, Graveman, Bundy

Eno Sarris: Bundy Finn Grave

Erik: Is there any track record of pitchers throwing several mph slower in their first start but being totally fine and uninjured and back to normal by the end of April? In other words, are you worried about Jake Arrieta?

Eno Sarris: Three starts gives you p much all the information you need to know, velo wise, absent an injury tanking velo later. Two starts is almost enough.

Hunky Dory: Why does Michael Pineda suck so hard?

Eno Sarris: My story is that he’s a two pitch guy that gets behind and then goes to the fastball with only okay command. They know it’s a fastball and it’s a fastball and it’s in the zone? Boom.

No Beer: I’ve been abstaining for a week due to my belly grading at 55/70+ future girth. It was either beer or after meal sweets 🙁

Eno Sarris: Tank the sweets.

Skaggs vs Triggs: The two guys who I keep getting confused are pitching today!

Eno Sarris: All those Gs.

Maxamuz:

Another classic cover

Eno Sarris: lol

Avg. Tool: What type of upside do you think Andrew Toles could have this year?

Eno Sarris: .280/.330/.450 with 15 steals

Foul Odor: Over under 30.5 HR for Rougned this year?

Eno Sarris: over. 23! He’s 23!

DTH: of the high level Reds pitchers, who do you see as having a rotation future? and do you anticipate Disco being traded at the TDL? there always seem to be small rumblings about him lately

Eno Sarris: Doubt you can trade a guy that spent the first half of the season hurt. Disco/Finn… they need to find another starting pitcher this year.

Marty from Moldova: DONGmingo Santana = 30 boners this yr? Yes or No

Eno Sarris: I’m… I’m not in that bedroom.

Sam: What’s a good widely available saison? I’ve had short sleeve by ommegang and Brooklyn’s Sorachi Ace. Looking to expand my saison palate

Eno Sarris: My favorite is Saison Dupont, and they have a whole slate that are great.

Houzer : do you see any mechanical improvement from Heyward this year for optimism? Is .260 / 12HR / 15SB his probable finishing line?

Eno Sarris: He spent the spring working on getting his hands further away from his body, and a few other mechanical fixes… There’s still upside in there, but I feel like he’s thinking too much at the plate.

Ken: Any reason to hang onto Shawn Kelley at this point? 12-tm redraft league

Eno Sarris: Not really, there are better pickups out there like Bush and Neris. And because there were soooooo many Dyson questions: I think he has more leash left. But it’s prudent to pick up Bush if you can.

Idealist: OK – so Buxton’s defense will keep him on the field. BUT WHY IS HE BATTING THIRD?!!!

Eno Sarris: To put more pressure on him natch.

Arschbombe: Ich bin muss Klo

RotoLando: Holy Gumballs! I have Scott Feldman on my team! I’ll be right back….

Boners: What’s your favorite Excel formula?

Eno Sarris: Vlookup

Matt: They might be the McDonalds of Reggae covers, but Easy Star All Stars are still the bee’s knees.

Eno Sarris:

Eno Sarris: lol

Moltar: What to look for in Musgrove’s start today?

Eno Sarris: Swinging strikes. Throwing balls on purpose and not going to the middle of the zone when behind in the count.

Michael Fulmer: Can’t wait til my dude pitches! I think he would look epic with a Hulk Hogan horse shoe mustache.

Eno Sarris: And all that grunting and those mechanics, yes.

Baloo: Believe in the arm-slot change for Boyd? Crazy K:BB rates in ST, too. What to watch for during his start this afternoon?

Eno Sarris: Swinging strikes in particular for him, because I’m not sure he has an outpitch. Try to decide if the curve is that pitch.

CubFan: Rondon isn’t down. He pitched the 8th the other night and was hitting 97/98 mph.

Eno Sarris: Bruce? Weird! Spring he was 95ish. Maybe normal spring stuff. But team even mentioned him being down. Hector? Velo doesn’t seem to be the problem but something is.

Eno Sarris: I’ll say this, if Rondon’s velo is not down, he’s a good AL closer spec pickup.

Sonny: home office lunches > office lunches

Eno Sarris: yes.

80 Grade aka 10/10: Describe to me an 80 grade sandwich.

Eno Sarris: Crunchy, salty, spicy but also sweet and creamy.

German Music: Thoughts on the bands: Annenmaykantereit
Clueso

Eno Sarris: Hey that’s p awesome

Guest:

humidor in AZ alert

Eno Sarris: Bassit was all over this. Singled out AZ and sliders and that problem. Greinke won’t give it to me though.

Jay: Green tomatoes on sandwiches. Your thoughts? Tried the other day and it was life changing.

Eno Sarris: Good wrinkle. I like replacing tomatoes with cucumbers too.

Jerry Steinfeld: Keith Hernandez once asked me to help him move out of his Brownstone. And we barely knew each other!

Bob: Would you drop Lynn or Gsellman tp pick up Urias off waivers?

Eno Sarris: if you can afford to wait for you innings, absolutely.

Dolemite: Exit velocity of each RBI hit off Cotton last night:
Simmons – 65 MPH
Espinosa – 65 MPH
Trout – 76 MPH
Pujols – 80 MPH

Eno Sarris: This is great.

Just give the guy a chance: We all know he isn’t going to win any awards but I think you’re being overly harsh with Clayton Kershaw….he’ll be decent…someday

joe: You’re that confident in Neris over Benoit? Any reason? Benoit has been mostly a consistent reliever – and keeping Neris’ cost down could actually entice more teams to deal for him

Eno Sarris: I think the Phils are starting to build towards winning. They’ve got close prospects.

A. Reitz: Ha, your analysis of a great start by Taillon against a loaded Red Sox team, followed by your defense of Cotton against a crap Angels team…really is priceless. It shows…some guys just like certain guys, not matter what the numbers say.

Eno Sarris: I’m being honest to my style of analysis and not looking too far into ball in play / one game results.

Eno Sarris: I really really like Taillon’s sinker and curve.

Eno Sarris: I hate his change.

D: What did you make of Danny “screaming roller coaster” Salazar’s start yesterday?

Eno Sarris: So much stuff, no command. I actually love watching him pitch, but I can’t say that I know when his best year will come or if it hasn’t already. Command is one of those things that’s really hard to measure or improve.

Landphil: One time, he pooped an entire plum…..I WAS PLUM SURPRISED

Eno Sarris: Like this. There is no prepping or explaining this. It just is. And it’s beautiful.

Steve: I thought Sculpin was low on flavor for such a highly rated beer.

Eno Sarris: Things have changed over time.

Eno Sarris: Like, for instance, maybe you! And also other beers.

Dmitry : Eno! My friend bet me dinner at a nice restaurant that Adrian Beltre won’t make it into the HOF by his 2nd year. I say he does. Who’s gonna win?

Eno Sarris: I think you might lose. I bet he gets in, but a large part of his appeal will be defense and that’s not usually second ballot stuff.

Mort: BELIEVE IT OR NOT, ENO ISN’T AT HOME
PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE AFTER THE BEEP
HE MUST BE OUT OR HE’D PICK UP THE PHONE
WHERE COULD HE BE?
BELIEVE IT OR NOT, ENO’S NOT HOMEEEEEEEE

Eno Sarris: to the tune of

Goose: So do you ever drink liq and if so whats your drink of choice?

Eno Sarris: Scotch with my bro in law (Lagavulin/Laphroig or Caol Isla if he’s feeling frisky).

Brian: Any thoughts on the latest October article about no beer being too expensive? I’m worried that some of these great beers I drink that are readily available to me for a reasonable price (10 dollar bombers 12 dollar six packs) are gonna see some major price inflation the next few years. I can’t afford 20-25 dollar six packs of 3 Floyds or Alpine.

Eno Sarris: It’s still a luxury good. There are some good cheaper beers like Elysian Space Dust and Lagunitas Hop Stoopid that you can switch to, or find a local brewpub. You’ll be okay. Just don’t stand in line for a $50 stout.

over / under: mallex gets 350 abs? steals 25 bases?

Eno Sarris: I don’t see it.

KJ: Rookie Davis toeing the rubber today for the Redlegs. What’s your opinion on him?

Eno Sarris: Want to see his fastball velocity and his secondaries. I think at his best he was a high velo and slider guy, so is there a curve or change?

GDUBSS: Speaking of QS and auction calculator. Does anyone have a problem using it? Whenever I put QS as an option and calculate the QS never gets added and my check mark goes away

Eno Sarris: Change your projection system.

Robert Gsellman: Correct pronunciation: Jizzleman? Seems legit

Eno Sarris: I’m not your man but sounds plausible.

Eno Sarris: Oh god there’s a fourth page and I just got to the third.

Snarfle: Small sample size, but do you think the Himalayas are for real, or will we be talking about entirely different mountain ranges next century?

gee: Who would you rather have from May 1 forward, Desmond or Dahl?

Mikey: Adelberto Mejia, just a guy or legit #3 potential?

Eno Sarris: Sorry: Desmond might love that BABIP boost in Colorado, might have a plus BA to go with normal power/speed. I think I take him.

Eno Sarris: Mejia: probably 4/5 but I think a starter and enough intrigue that I’m watching. I’d put him on my Lamb level: $1+ in ALO.

Moltar: Yesterday’s Mets game was cold and they lost a boring game in extras, but god damn if that Pat LaFrieda steak sandwich doesn’t make it all worth it. Grade 80 ballpark food.

Eno Sarris: You don’t have to wait in line at the Shake Shack sheeple.

Mike: Why can’t Jared Miller be the guy in AZ?

Eno Sarris: Lefties get picked to be closer half as often as you’d expect given the population of lefties. I don’t think they’ll go with him. But he does have weird stuff and is fun to watch.

Huston Streets Ahead: Ziggy Marley’s reggae cover of Cars “Drive” is pretty solid as well… can’t find it anywhere though!

Eno Sarris:

Sonny: How common is Cotton’s method of pronating his CU? Thought a circle change was more of a ‘set it and forget it’ delivery

Eno Sarris: Not very common. Almost a screwball, really. More in common with Honeywell than most changeup people.

mikeE: Whats this new/old velocity jargon you speak of?

Eno Sarris: Baseball switched from PITCHf/x to Trackman and all velos are up a mph or so.

mario mendoza: Do you buy a Kiermaier offensive mini-breakout (800 OPS) or is he basically a known quantity?

Eno Sarris: Has great eyesight, great tools, I could see him tapping into that with learned skills.

Hank: There is always a closer that comes out of “nowhere” who is a top 10 guy the next season. Edwin Diaz last season is a great example. Is Raisel Iglesias that guy this year?

Eno Sarris: Iglesias isn’t coming out of nowhere, that would be more like Bradley taking the AZ job and running with it (possible). I do like Iglesias, though, always have.

2-D: Wily Peralta barely threw sinkers and instead pumped high 90s four-seam gas. Seems worth mentioning.

Eno Sarris: That is a little different! Still not a lot of precedent for guys making it work with just a fastball and a slider. And that velo is not as up as it might seem.

Guest: If dropping down is good for sink but bad for changes, do guys basically have to make a choice between the 2?

Eno Sarris: Ziegler is the only submariner to throw a change, so at the extremes, yes, it is like that. Collmenter can’t get any wiggle side to side because he’ so over the top. In the middle, there’s an ideal slot for everyone.

hscer: Tips for getting over dumb trades you make?

Eno Sarris: Playing in 10 leagues so you don’t remember them.

Hot Dog Sandwich: Do you ever worry about how your first name was such a common phrase uttered on “Entourage”?

Eno Sarris: Man I hear it everywhere. Yunno? WHAT???

Fiskadoro: Eno, haven’t we gone way too far with the panics over isolated velocity readings? A guy is down a tick for a couple of outings, especially early in the reason, and 100 articles get written about his decline. I’m only slightly exaggerating. Pitchers don’t throw their average fastball every time to begin with FFS.

Eno Sarris: Two games of fastball velocity = more than stable.

Rated Rookie: Are you saying that Finnegan and Rodon have comparable ceilings?

Eno Sarris: I can’t imagine that Rodon doesn’t throw harder but here we are, in a sea of nothingness, without mooring.

UCLABruin: Believe in Grandal’s “retooled” right-handed swing for loft? Another spring story? Opening day bombs from both sides is just cool man

Eno Sarris: Could be good. Shoulder health good too.

@OutfieldGrass24: Fact: I enjoy hazy IPAs. Is their weakness, however, that there’s not much differentiation? What’s driving your ambivalence? The “fad factor?”

Eno Sarris: I’m starting to have meh ones, have had a few now, that’s part of it, and I bet you get there too the more you have. And then, I had a clear Hazy Train from Fieldwork that was everything a hazy brew was, made the same way, ended up clear. And then I talked to a major brewer that said, what do you want? Soft, grassy, fruity, nice aroma, not too bitter? I can make that for you without haze.

Useful Spin: Eno, at what point does a SP prospect know he should be a sinkerballer or solely a 4 seamer type guy? Is there significant overlap of guys who do both?

Eno Sarris: Lots of teams make you throw the 4s to get command, then add 2s later. I know Pirates do this.

Ryan: Toronto Breweries: Great Lakes, Steamwhistle, Bellwoods

Eno Sarris: was a little underwhelmed by Steamwhistle. Is Ball’s Falls close?

Try my homebrew: And I will give you a kiss. That’s the name. “And I will give you a kiss”. Let’s not make this weird

Rick: ENO! Love the chats…(my boss probably doesn’t)…anywho, my OF consists of Justin Upton, Jay Bruce, and Byron Buxton (with Dahl DL’d)…was thinking of dumping Buxton for Thames…who would you go with?

Eno Sarris: I’d shop Buxton first, as a two-for one maybe.

ryan: what’s the difference between a sinker and just throwing the ball downward?

Eno Sarris: Funny. The Sinker has fade, it goes more towards the pitcher’s arm side.

Wade boggs’ head:

Marty: There are far fewer bees than there were 15 years ago. Like, an alarming amount fewer.

Eno Sarris: Yes, this is also true.

Erik: Drop Hellickson for Bundy/Finnegan?

Eno Sarris: Bundy.

Erik: Would Syndergaard’s slider be consider as crazy if it was classed as a cutter? It definitely has cutter velocity. Is it as much of an outlier among cutters as it is among sliders?

Eno Sarris: Would have a ton of drop for a cutter, like league-leading drop for a cutter.

Travis: I’ve noticed that the vertical movement from the PIrates and Red Sox game is much higher than last year. Is this a result of statcast or something else?

Eno Sarris: yeah it’s a calibration issue. have to recalibrate again.

Moltar: Do you agree with your boy Dave Cameron that McCullers can win the CY? He looked so good in his start, made me glad I reached for him this year.

Eno Sarris: Sure. Has three pitches, velo. Only health holding him back.

BASEBALL!: When people say deep league, what are they generally referring to 14+ or 12+?

Eno Sarris: I usually think 15+ or Only.

mike sixel: It’s unclear if Stillwater Brewing still makes them, but their saison are/were excellent, and can be found all around.

Beer is Good: Big fan of Purple Monkey Dishwasher from the Evil Genius Beer Company based out of Philly. No question here, just a delicious chocolate peanut butter porter.

Shin soo-Choo Express: I found some kbs this year, wasn’t really looking but had in years past. rumor is they made more this year? My GF thinks I’m nuts for spending $6 on a beer, but I had to try one. what can I expect?

Eno Sarris: It’s good but p hot, as in you get the alcohol.

HappyFunBall: INDEX(MATCH()) is to VLOOKUP as FIP is to ERA

MS Excel: index/match > vlookup

Eno Sarris: Man, alright, I’ll learn it.

Eno Sarris: Okay okay I gotta work.

mike sixel: Is there any analysis available of how ratings have changed for beers? Like the Sculpin question, are ratings lower now?

Eno Sarris: The effect of acquisition of ratings on BeerGraphs is your google term!! I do have to go.