2014 World Series Game Two Live Blog

7:58
Dave Cameron: It’s Game 2! It can’t be worse than Game 1!

7:58
Dave Cameron: “Billy Butler is Miguel Cabrera!” *everyone laughs*;*

8:01
Comment From Guest
Will Yost even consider switching up his “roles” in the bullpen if he gets 5 solid innings out of Ventura?

8:01
Dave Cameron: He did in the ALCS.

8:01
Comment From Jaack
It can always be worse. You underestimate the power of the Giants to suck fun out of baseball.

8:02
Dave Cameron: Pablo Sandoval is the Reggie Jackson of our generation? Let’s go to the numbers.

8:02
Dave Cameron: Career postseason line: .328/.373/.550, .390 wOBA, 153 wRC+.

8:02
Dave Cameron: Pretty good.

8:03
Dave Cameron: Reggie Jackson: .278/.358/.527, .392 wOBA, 152 wRC+.

8:03
Dave Cameron: Verdict: Good call, Harold!

8:04
Comment From Sabean
hahahaha, the first “good call Harold” of the playoffs.

8:04
Dave Cameron: He had a few decent insights yesterday.

8:04
Comment From Nick
How many at-bats against a specific pitcher would you want a batter to have in order to realistically determine if the batter excels against that pitcher?

8:04
Dave Cameron: More than exists in a reasonable time frame.

8:04
Dave Cameron: By the time you get a decent BvP sample, the data is so old as to not be useful anymore.

8:06
Comment From Dan
What about when the evidence is overwhelming? Like Goldschmidt vs Lincecum?

8:06
Dave Cameron: Still irrelevant. There’s a great chapter on this in The Book.

8:06
Comment From Hipolito Pichardo
What are the odds Erik Kratz gets into a game?

8:07
Dave Cameron: (1 – odds of Salvador Perez dying)

8:08
Comment From Guest
they showed regular season numbers on Ventura!

8:08
Comment From Guest
Giants

8:09
Dave Cameron: Welcome to 2014, when announcers are joking about a 96 mph pitch not being a guy’s best stuff.

8:10
Comment From Guest
Marlins fan is back. Wonder how much money he’s spent ever on all these games.

8:10
Dave Cameron: He said the Marlins help him get tickets, I believe.

8:10
Dave Cameron: He’s been a season ticket holder there forever.

8:10
Comment From Hipolito Pichardo
He spent $8,000 for Game 1 seats

8:11
Comment From Jaack
50% of the Marlins budget is that dude going to WS games

8:11
Comment From Guest
He didn’t even stay for the whole game.

8:11
Dave Cameron: To be fair, I wanted to stop live blogging after about 6.

8:11
Dave Cameron: Gregor Blanco!

8:11
Dave Cameron: Pitcher velo + guessing fastball = little guy goes boom.

8:12
Comment From Brendan
the white shark! who would have thought SF could miss Pagan so little?

8:12
Dave Cameron: Blanco would be playing either way. No Pagan = Ishikawa in left.

8:13
Comment From Fletch
So higher pitch velocity leads to higher batted ball velocity?

8:13
Dave Cameron: Yep.

8:14
Dave Cameron: I think the last thing I read on it said it was something like 1 mph by pitcher = 2 mph increase in batter exit velo.

8:15
Comment From Guest
The thing at saber seminar comparing aluminum to wood and how the ball comes off was fascinating

8:16
Dave Cameron: Everything at Saber Seminar is fascinating, but yes, Alan’s talks are always great.

8:16
Comment From Larry Bernandez
I don’t understand the velo statement. That means that for every 1mph of pitcher velocity, the batter provides an extra 2 mph? A 100 mph fastball would therefore have 300 mph off the bat, which is way too much.

8:17
Dave Cameron: No, it’s within a certain range, not linear across the whole spectrum. So, say, the difference between 90 and 94 can lead to an 8 mph difference in exit velocity, but that doesn’t hold up for 40 to 80.

8:17
Dave Cameron: I could also have the ratio wrong, since I’m going off memory

8:18
Comment From Ruki
Perhaps it is 2 MPH on the pitch = 1 MPH on the ball when hit?

8:18
Dave Cameron: Possible!

8:18
Comment From Ernie14
Where’s Sullivan?

8:18
Dave Cameron: Stuck in a storm.

8:19
Comment From Ruki
Is it just me or do the Rob Lowe commercials make him out to be a rich douchebag type, who is “better” than the poor and the awkward?

8:19
Dave Cameron: You might be reading too much into a commercial.

8:20
Comment From David
As a Canadian, find it disgusting MLB didn’t give a little moment of silence for what happened in Ottawa

8:20
Dave Cameron: Do we know they didn’t? Maybe Fox just didn’t show it?

8:21
Dave Cameron: Brandon Crawford, error machine.

8:21
Dave Cameron: That’s a pretty difficult play, though.

8:21
Comment From Guest
Alcides Escobar, hit machine!

8:22
Comment From Guest
so not an error?

8:22
Dave Cameron: Yeah, they ruled it a hit.

8:22
Comment From Chris Singleton
Hello, guys. Chris Singleton here. Going to track you a little while.

8:23
Dave Cameron: Hi, person who may or may not be Chris Singleton.

8:23
Dave Cameron: It’d be neat if you were, though.

8:24
Dave Cameron: That was a Hunter Pence type dive.

8:24
Comment From Chris Singleton
I’m sitting in the radio booth in KC.

8:24
Dave Cameron: I actually believe you. Say hi to Boog for me.

8:26
Comment From Newguy
Why isn’t Alex Gordon hitting in the top third of this order? What’s the rationale there?

8:26
Dave Cameron: “Stick with what got us here.” It’s kind of silly.

8:26
Dave Cameron: Chris Singleton status: confirmed!

8:26
Comment From Guest
What is your general assessment on Ventura’s offspeed stuff based on what you have seen this year? Think he has what it takes to keep his platoon split in check going forward?

8:27
Dave Cameron: Curve is good, change is up and down.

8:27
Dave Cameron: I’m not sure he actually tagged him.

8:27
Dave Cameron: At least not when he went down.

8:28
Comment From Guest
See, stuff like that I like Harold for. He’s right in saying that letting the ball travel on steals helps. Ball is faster than hands. Great point

8:28
Comment From Matt
Does Posey have yellow nail polish on?

8:28
Dave Cameron: Helps the pitcher see the signs better.

8:28
Comment From Chris Singleton
Lorenzo Cain’s bat stays in the zone a good while.

8:29
Dave Cameron: Nice attempt by Ishikawa, by I think a real LF gets that.

8:29
Dave Cameron: Not a great route, and an awkward dive angle.

8:30
Comment From Gret
Peavy is almost blind. Thats why Posey wears nail polish for him. He thought Ishikawas homer was a double. http://sports.yahoo.com/blo…

8:30
Comment From francis
Mike Morse ?

8:30
Dave Cameron: Mike Morse doesn’t even get close to it.

8:30
Comment From Ruki
If only the Giants had a real LFer.

8:30
Dave Cameron: They do. He’s in center.

8:31
Comment From Chris Singleton
Like how Hosmer is zoning in Peavy in this at bat. Peavy wants Butler.

8:32
Dave Cameron: Yeah, that looked like a pretty unintentional intentional walk.

8:32
Comment From Gret
I have a Petit feeling for tonight. He actually had a better SIERA than even Bumgarner this year (granted some of that was from the bullpen)

8:32
Dave Cameron: The Petit decision is interesting, because you kind of want him around for Vogelsong’s day too.

8:33
Comment From Guest
Not sure why Peavy wants Butler, his numbers are atrocious against him.

8:33
Dave Cameron: Batter vs Pitcher numbers are useless.

8:34
Comment From Sabean
Completely useless?

8:34
Dave Cameron: Yep.

8:35
Comment From Jesper
lorenzo cain definitely wasn’t worried about ishikawa’s arm, heh

8:35
Comment From Guest
Butler try to steal here?

8:35
Comment From Guest
you don’t think a certain number of ABs can tell you whether a batter sees a pitcher well?

8:35
Dave Cameron: You cannot tell from the results.

8:35
Comment From Sabean
I don’t know Dave, there are certain guys that just see a pitcher better. Whether it’s a comfortable release point, etc. A small sample is certainly useless, but all?

8:35
Jeff Sullivan: Oh my goodness I survived

8:36
Jeff Sullivan: Hello everybody, a half-hour late!

8:36
Dave Cameron: These things can be true, but it doesn’t mean you can use past match-up numbers to find those things.

8:36
Comment From Compton
Batter v Pitcher *type* worth anything?

8:37
Dave Cameron: Yes, you can make better generalizations by using pitcher families, or pitch types, or velocities.

8:37
Dave Cameron: But just this guy versus that guy? Useless.

8:37
Comment From Jimbo
I would like Chris to comment on whether anyone from the Giants will talk to Peavey about not backing up the plate on Butler’s hit.

8:38
Jeff Sullivan: Example of where it works: Oakland against low-ball pitching sinker types

8:39
Comment From bucs_lose_again
Does anyone else’s MLB.tv player keep resetting to the national anthem every ten minutes?

8:39
Jeff Sullivan: No, the game is really doing that

8:39
Jeff Sullivan: 99, up and in, Pence’s helmet comes off…

8:39
Comment From Jon
And Royals fans cheer

8:39
Comment From Dan
And Buck finds it hilarious

8:39
Jeff Sullivan: What’s that 99 with the location’s effective velocity boost?

8:40
Jeff Sullivan: I’ve noted this before, but one of my great fears with the way people pitch Trout now is that it puts him at greater risk of a beanball

8:41
Dave Cameron: Has Ventura thrown a first pitch non-fastball yet?

8:41
Dave Cameron: Doesn’t feel like it.

8:41
Jeff Sullivan: nope

8:41
Jeff Sullivan: although he’s varied between 94-100

8:41
Dave Cameron: That is something, at least.

8:42
Jeff Sullivan: I like what Chris Young said about how a fastball can be a bunch of different pitches

8:42
Comment From Compton
Is effective velocity greater on pitches up and in than pitches down and to-the-same-degree-of in?

8:42
Jeff Sullivan: The theory says yes

8:43
Dave Cameron: Where did Belt think that was?

8:43
Dave Cameron: A 97 mph two-seamer is rough, though.

8:43
Jeff Sullivan: Somebody vomited Skittles all over the man sitting next to Joe Torre

8:44
Comment From Guest
Hey guys, thanks for stopping by. Do you think there’s any interest or way baseball can switch to a different format than 2-3-2?

8:44
Jeff Sullivan: What would be the point? At least this way there’s no extra day off

8:46
Comment From Guest
In regards to 2-3-2 format, I always felt there was very little handicap by getting Games 3,4,5. If anything I see it as an advantage. Pivotal games.

8:46
Comment From Brandon
What is the biggest factor in a pitcher who throws as hard as Ventura not getting K’s? deception? extension? movement?

8:46
Jeff Sullivan: Depends on the pitcher but sometimes it’s where they put the fastballs, and sometimes it’s people just sitting fastballs because they eliminate the other stuff

8:46
Dave Cameron: How about 4-3, with the team with HFA getting the first four? Guarantee four home games to the better team.

8:47
Dave Cameron: And only 1 off day.

8:47
Comment From francis
4-3 is bad, because it means home fans will rarely get to see their team clinch.

8:47
Jeff Sullivan: Only thing missing is that then the worse team gets the highest-leverage potential home games

8:47
Comment From MJ
except it’s not necessarily the better team these days since the ASG determines home field

8:47
Comment From Jake
What is Ventura’s ceiling? Solid number one?

8:48
Jeff Sullivan: I don’t mean to be a dick but that’s most pitchers’ ceiling

8:48
Jeff Sullivan: The word doesn’t mean anything

8:48
Comment From Jaack
Kevin Correia, future number 1

8:49
Comment From TomH
What would be your “Dream Team” Broadcasting Crew? Pick 3.

8:49
Dave Cameron: Vin Scully and two mute people.

8:50
Jeff Sullivan: Correia was the Giants’ #6 prospect before 2004. 7 was Travis Ishikawa! 1 was Merkin Valdez.

8:50
Dave Cameron: I can’t believe someone named their kid Merkin.

8:50
Jeff Sullivan: Pitcher mic…

8:50
Jeff Sullivan: Can’t give Jake Peavy a pitcher mic.

8:50
Dave Cameron: Omar Infante and Gregor Blanco providing the power.

8:50
Jeff Sullivan: This is going to be more foul than grunting.

8:51
Dave Cameron: I bet the fans in the second row love the guys in the first standing up and spreading their arms out.

8:52
Comment From Sabean
A number one is not most pitchers’ ceilings. Most don’t have the stuff or durability to do that.

8:53
Jeff Sullivan: We can’t measure durability and Tom Glavine was a number one for a while

8:53
Jeff Sullivan: Give a guy command and a changeup and he’s awesome

8:53
Comment From magic johnsons chequbook
Buster Posey is probably the best starter in this series. Who is the worst?

8:53
Jeff Sullivan: Ishikawa

8:53
Dave Cameron: Cliff Lee was a #5 until he was a #1.

8:53
Dave Cameron: Jake Peavy is not long for this game.

8:54
Jeff Sullivan: Fastball right over the middle and Escobar has to fight it off somehow

8:54
Jeff Sullivan: But! Today I learned Escobar posted a 94 wRC+ this season

8:55
Comment From Yoopka
Why is Peavy so angry all the time?

8:55
Jeff Sullivan: They call it fiery

8:55
Jeff Sullivan: He’s a football player playing baseball

8:55
Comment From Henry
…SF could use Timmy today if Peavy needs to be yanked early but they probably won’t right?

8:55
Dave Cameron: Not unless it gets out of hand.

8:55
Comment From Yoopka
Who has the most unusual batting stance in MLB? Cause I think Aoki has to be up there

8:56
Dave Cameron: Hunter Pence has the most unusual everything.

8:56
Jeff Sullivan: Aoki is a lot of fun to watch hit for someone who isn’t very good

8:56
Comment From Jesper
coolest possible player to hit a ws-winning walkoff?

8:57
Jeff Sullivan: Bumgarner, extra-innings PH

8:57
Dave Cameron: Ben Revere.

8:57
Dave Cameron: Or Tommy Hanson.

8:57
Jeff Sullivan: I totally missed that he homered a second time

8:57
Jeff Sullivan: It’s like the first one ruined his stathead appeal

8:57
Comment From Black Jesus
What happened to Aoki this year??

8:57
Jeff Sullivan: He was exactly the same?

8:58
Comment From Larry Bernandez
Is WRC+ position relative, or is it simply relative to all hitters in the league?

8:58
Comment From Goblin Seaman
Santiago Casilla if you remember the PA where he reached

8:58
Jeff Sullivan: all hitters

8:58
Jeff Sullivan: So far Peavy has two swinging strikes, Ventura has one

8:58
Jeff Sullivan: And Ventura’s velocity, obviously, is back

8:59
Comment From Guest
You say Aoki isn’t very good. What do you guys define good as? He has a career .287 AVG .353 OBP with a 106 wRC+…that’s not too bad…

9:00
Jeff Sullivan: “not very good” means “not very good”. it doesn’t mean “not good”

9:00
Dave Cameron: I hate the “back out of the box” play

9:00
Dave Cameron: So silly.

9:00
Comment From Guest
without seeing even half of MLB catchers I am comfortable stating salvador perez is the WORST pitch framer i’ve ever seen

9:00
Dave Cameron: Ryan Doumit.

9:01
Dave Cameron: Eric Hosmer really needs to stop diving into first base.

9:01
Jeff Sullivan: That’s two of those this month for him

9:01
Jeff Sullivan: He is going to get stomped on

9:02
Jeff Sullivan: Very specific Hosmer praise from Verducci

9:02
Dave Cameron: Announcers love anything that looks like hustle.

9:02
Comment From Guest
At what point does a hitter become a good candidate for a shift, statistically?

9:03
Jeff Sullivan: Every hitter, in theory, warrants a unique alignment

9:03
Comment From Bob
Now would be a good time for Posey’s first extra base hit these playoffs

9:03
Dave Cameron: Is there ever a bad time?

9:03
Jeff Sullivan: Yesterday

9:03
Dave Cameron: Not bad, just less efficient.

9:04
Comment From Brett W
Bad time for XBH = top of 9th, leading by 3 runs, and manager won’t use best RP if you score again

9:04
Dave Cameron: No reliever is so much worse than the best reliever that it makes scoring another run bad.

9:05
Comment From Cowboy Buttsex
You clearly haven’t seen enough Carlos Marmol on an off day

9:05
Comment From Ruki
Now I’m interested: How big of a difference between theoritical relievers would we need to be worth more than the run?

9:06
Dave Cameron: A 9.0 RA/9 difference. In other words, you’d need some guy who isn’t good enough to pitch for even a decent college team, versus Craig Kimbrel.

9:06
Jeff Sullivan: That’s even worse than position players pitching!

9:07
Comment From Ernie14
C’mon you guys. That was a big league play by Hosmer. By diving to the bag he took the risk out of the toss to Ventura. And he slid his hand onto the edge of the bag. No change of getting stomped — unless the runner does it intentionally.

9:07
Dave Cameron: The decision isn’t “dive or flip”. Just run through.

9:07
Jeff Sullivan: Maybe he thinks that’s more dangerous

9:08
Comment From Dylan
Is there any metric/way to measure 2 out RBIs?

9:08
Jeff Sullivan: RBI with 2 outs is a good one http://www.baseball-referen…

9:09
Jeff Sullivan: Guy next to Hudson can’t stop spitting

9:09
Jeff Sullivan: why so much chewing and spitting

9:10
Jeff Sullivan: who spits?

9:10
Dave Cameron: Baseball players.

9:10
Dave Cameron: All the time.

9:10
Dave Cameron: They’re gross.

9:10
Jeff Sullivan: But like, why?

9:10
Jeff Sullivan: Why is that considered appropriate? Everyone is watching!

9:10
Dave Cameron: Dip.

9:10
Jeff Sullivan: Filthy people.

9:10
Dave Cameron: The grossest habit.

9:11
Jeff Sullivan: Wouldn’t mind if that were banned.

9:11
Dave Cameron: Co-sign.

9:11
Comment From Guest
Don’t dip, will never dip. But seeds, preferably ranch, are a must when I play baseball

9:11
Comment From Dave S.
I don’t think he’s dipping either. He’s just spitting like a damned camel.

9:12
Jeff Sullivan: I value the ability to blow a critical snotrocket, but there’s a time and a place

9:12
Dave Cameron: Does Rob Lowe look like Uncle Jesse from Full House?

9:12
Dave Cameron: Or is it just me?

9:12
Jeff Sullivan: Only from a distance

9:12
Jeff Sullivan: Uncle Jesse is still much better looking

9:13
Comment From Skuggs
it’s the leather jacket, Dave!

9:13
Comment From Dan
Does anybody enjoy these player interviews during the game?

9:13
Jeff Sullivan: One of yesterday’s was pretty good

9:13
Comment From Joe
I love in-game player interviews because I need a distraction from this one-run game in the World Series.

9:14
Dave Cameron: That Taco Bell breakfast thing looked as gross as dip.

9:14
Jeff Sullivan: Rather eat that or the Wendy’s pulled pork?

9:14
Dave Cameron: That comment from Joe is plagiarism of a Ben Badler tweet.

9:14
Comment From Guest
Taco Bell flavored dip? Do it!

9:14
Jeff Sullivan: How are you chatting and on twitter at the same time?

9:14
Dave Cameron: CIL window not maximized, Tweetdeck behind CIL window, so I can see my stream.

9:15
Jeff Sullivan: Our brains work very differently

9:15
Dave Cameron: How many batters don’t get to third there?

9:15
Jeff Sullivan: In that yours works better

9:15
Jeff Sullivan: Well we haven’t seen that one very much this month

9:15
Jeff Sullivan: Suuuuuper difficult play but how many of you figured that was going to be caught anyhow?

9:15
Dave Cameron: I assume all non-HRs will be caught.

9:16
Comment From hscer
Nobody told Joe Buck the Royals have one SB since the ALCS started.

9:16
Jeff Sullivan: And multiple failures!

9:16
Comment From Jesper
I really don’t understand how a professional athlete gets so heavy. Keeping weight down aint exactly rocket science.

9:16
Dave Cameron: It’s just not really necessary for him, though. He’s a good defender even while he’s fat, and he’ll never be fast.

9:17
Jeff Sullivan: Yeah, I mean, Sandoval has been Sandoval while looking like this

9:17
Jeff Sullivan: He’ll have a lousy older adulthood but for now he maintains

9:17
Comment From Guest
I know productive outs are still outs. but a ground ball to the right side is at least more productive than not moving him right? Way to measure that? is that part of RE24?

9:17
Dave Cameron: Yes, RE24 gives you credit for that.

9:18
Dave Cameron: OF defense failures get SF a run.

9:18
Jeff Sullivan: Another mistake!

9:18
Jeff Sullivan: Dave’s ahead of me!

9:18
Comment From hscer
Wasn’t that an RBI anyway? Yeah, I know Sandoval.

9:18
Dave Cameron: Yeah, he scores no matter what, but just saying the run scored, basically.

9:19
Jeff Sullivan: Defense never slumps

9:19
Dave Cameron: Brandon Crawford made another error before you got here, by the way. They ruled it a hit, but it was an error.

9:19
Jeff Sullivan: Was listening on radio

9:19
Jeff Sullivan: I’d moved about 100 feet since hearing that Blanco led off with a dinger

9:20
Comment From Guest
is that true, defense not slumping? has that been tested for individual players? teams?

9:20
Dave Cameron: He was kidding.

9:20
Jeff Sullivan: Yeah, jokes!

9:20
Jeff Sullivan: One tough misplay + one regular misplay = tie game

9:20
Comment From Guest
but then, does defense slump? is defense streaky?

9:20
Dave Cameron: Yes, there’s no reason to think that defense is immune to random performance fluctuations.

9:20
Dave Cameron: Players are not robots. Sometimes they’ll get a good jump, sometimes they won’t.

9:21
Jeff Sullivan: At the very least, the opportunities are streaky and inconsistent

9:22
Comment From Compton
How did Michael Morse ever play shortstop?

9:22
Dave Cameron: Poorly.

9:22
Dave Cameron: Not a good way to make the last out, Brandon.

9:23
Comment From Guest
TOOTBLAN!

9:23
Jeff Sullivan: That was an inning riddled with mistakes

9:23
Comment From Black Jesus
terrible throw…it looked like he was safe!

9:24
Comment From Ernie14
Saw Morse play shortstop in Tacoma. He was a lot, um, sleeker then.

9:24
Comment From magic johnsons chequbook
Are you peasants really not using (at least) dual monitors?

9:24
Jeff Sullivan: I want fewer screens in my life, not more

9:24
Dave Cameron: I saw a year of it when he was in Winston-Salem. It was the worst defensive performance I’ve ever seen.

9:24
Jeff Sullivan: The days when Dave was a scout

9:25
Jeff Sullivan: ish

9:25
Comment From Phil
As someone who saw very little KC baseball this year I expected their OF D to be amazing. Not impressed through 13 innings.

9:25
Dave Cameron: I don’t have the observational skills to be a scout. I went to a ton of games anyway, though.

9:25
Jeff Sullivan: Important to understand that elements of the KC game through the earlier bits of the playoffs were executed with almost literal perfection

9:25
Jeff Sullivan: /enter Humberto Quintero anecdote

9:25
Dave Cameron: My favorite one.

9:26
Dave Cameron: How many times have you heard that story?

9:26
Dave Cameron: 10?

9:26
Jeff Sullivan: Thereabouts. I still like it!

9:26
Jeff Sullivan: It’s like the best anecdote that gets told by your partner

9:26
Comment From Skore
Anecdote, please!

9:27
Dave Cameron: Between innings, I will.

9:27
Dave Cameron: Wind seems to be an issue.

9:27
Jeff Sullivan: Explains Cain’s play some

9:28
Comment From Guest
How accurate are 1st/3rd base umpires actually on calling swing/no-swing?

9:28
Jeff Sullivan: A problem is that there isn’t exactly a defined point at which a non-swing becomes a swing

9:28
Jeff Sullivan: Whole thing’s subjective

9:28
Comment From Black Jesus
The Royals are going down quickly the last few innings.

9:29
Comment From hscer
How did Michael Morse ever get the opportunity to play shortstop?

9:29
Jeff Sullivan: Pablo Sandoval caught

9:29
Dave Cameron: Another example of “tons of line drives early” not being predictive

9:29
Comment From doug k
as a licensed ump i can tell you the training is if you see the barrel head it is a swing

9:29
Dave Cameron: Okay, Humberto Quintero story time.

9:29
Jeff Sullivan: 8:53

Dave Cameron:
Jake Peavy is not long for this game.

9:31
Dave Cameron: Quintero was the W-S catcher, and very good at throwing out runners. Super quick release, strong arm, etc… So I’m at a game watching with a scout friend, and the road team tries like 6 or 7 steals in the first five innings or something. Quintero throws almost all of them out, maybe all of them, I don’t remember exactly. Lots of caught stealings though.

9:31
Dave Cameron: I ask the scout what the deal is, and why they’re running on him so much. Scout says the manager of the road team just likes watching Quintero throw, so he’s sending everyone to enjoy the show.

9:32
Comment From hscer
LOL. Was it a true story?

9:32
Dave Cameron: He didn’t say it like a joke, and there was no other explanation for it.

9:32
Jeff Sullivan: Who are these Fox Sports Live hosts?

9:32
Jeff Sullivan: Should I know them?

9:33
Dave Cameron: I don’t know, I was typing up my anecdote.

9:33
Jeff Sullivan: I was politely chuckling along

9:33
Comment From Guest
Q wasn’t a WS catcher, was he? Back up for the M’s.

9:34
Dave Cameron: W-S is Winston-Salem, not White Sox. This happened in A-ball, in a day game.

9:34
Comment From buster
AA ball, Dave

9:34
Dave Cameron: Carolina League is A-ball.

9:35
Jeff Sullivan: Quintero in the majors: 33% caught steal rate

9:35
Jeff Sullivan: MInors: 43%. but 20/29 in 2007!

9:35
Comment From francis
My guess is that the Royals bullpen loses this one. Lose one run via CS, one via shoddy D, and one via bullpen.

9:35
Comment From hscer
Fox with the breathtaking, unbelievable story about World Series tickets being expensive.

9:36
Comment From Yoopka
Jay and Dan used to do Canadian Sports Centre, they were really popular up here

9:36
Jeff Sullivan: Are they good?

9:37
Comment From Black Jesus
Is the game as fun when you pay 5,000 dollars for a ticket?

9:37
Jeff Sullivan: Feels a lot more like gambling

9:37
Dave Cameron: I like how they’re talking about Brandon Finnegan like no one watching this game has ever heard of him.

9:37
Dave Cameron: We all just skipped the first few rounds of the playoffs, I guess.

9:37
Jeff Sullivan: Casual baseball fans who tune into the World Series and skip literally everything else I guess

9:38
Dave Cameron: But why assume that 100% of your audience is casual baseball fans?

9:38
Jeff Sullivan: I was joking again. It’s weird.

9:38
Jeff Sullivan: Did FOX cover the Royals’ series before?

9:38
Jeff Sullivan: Maybe it’s new to *them*.

9:38
Comment From Erin
I’m guessing they assume that people like us are used to zoning out the commentary anyway.

9:40
Comment From Marsupial Jones
I think Joe Buck is getting bored.

9:40
Dave Cameron: That was not a good announcing inning.

9:40
Jeff Sullivan: I completely zoned out, like Erin said

9:40
Jeff Sullivan: Did Harold Reynolds just basically ask people not to change the channel? Who would change the channel?

9:41
Comment From hscer
They got worse the exact moment we wondered why they were talking about Finnegan.

9:41
Comment From Compton
I talked to a few people today who didn’t watch a single regular season game, but tuned in last night. Also, the media has to play to the lowest common denominator, that’s just the way it has to be.

9:41
Comment From Jake
Am I the only one who think Joe Buck is really good at his job?

9:41
Jeff Sullivan: Obviously FOX does

9:42
Jeff Sullivan: He is pretty good at a difficult job, all things considered

9:42
Comment From Scot
B Finnegan not ready for this stage? A lot to ask of college player?.

9:42
Jeff Sullivan: He handled his time in the one-game playoff and that was insanely stressful

9:42
Comment From Jaack
Harold Reynolds is secretly following this chat and doing everything he can to spite us.

9:43
Jeff Sullivan: I hope Harold keeps talking!

9:43
Comment From BDF
Jeff Sullivan, you hippie. Joe Buck is the *worst*.

9:43
Jeff Sullivan: He’s not even the worst in his own booth

9:43
Comment From casual baseball fan
Some times when I read pitchfork reviews I have no idea what they are talking about but I still like that fact that smart people are telling me things.

9:44
Comment From Jaack
This should be Peavy’s last inning right?

9:44
Dave Cameron: Yes.

9:46
Comment From Aaron
So do you think Butler and Moose will be starting for KC next year?

9:46
Dave Cameron: Moose yes, Butler no.

9:46
Jeff Sullivan: That was a differently embarrassing strikeout for Escobar

9:46
Dave Cameron: That’s an easy option to decline.

9:46
Jeff Sullivan: I could see Butler returning on a cheaper multi-year deal but I don’t know if KC is actually interested in that

9:46
Jeff Sullivan: If they see past his alleged popularity, they should avoid him

9:47
Jeff Sullivan: I think at this time yesterday we were in the second inning

9:47
Dave Cameron: Not quite, but this is moving along pretty briskly.

9:47
Comment From Guest
okay, what’s Peavy doing differently?

9:47
Dave Cameron: Better location.

9:47
Jeff Sullivan: And we were in the top of the third like 30 or 35 minutes ago, feels like

9:48
Comment From Erin
Jeff, I have to disagree with Joe being good at his job. A play-by-play guy is supposed to tell you what is going on before the play, and show some excitement when something good happens. Joe RARELY tells you some key points: 1. the count 2. men on base. The best he will say is “one out… here’s the pitch”

9:48
Jeff Sullivan: I think Joe knows he’s broadcasting on TV, not radio

9:48
Jeff Sullivan: But I don’t have strong feelings about him either way. He’s just fine, and I think his job doesn’t get enough credit for being super hard

9:49
Dave Cameron: Seriously, that Taco Bell breakfast looks so bad.

9:49
Jeff Sullivan: I think I’d be pleased of that thing if I created it in my own kitchen but I expect more from real establishments

9:49
Comment From Guest
How many line drives has Peavy given up?

9:49
Jeff Sullivan: Been stuck on 5 for a while

9:50
Dave Cameron: Dyson already in for Aoki.

9:50
Jeff Sullivan: 4 for Ventura. Both have 5 swinging strikes

9:50
Comment From Shrewd Cat
How much of the ‘times thru the order penalty’ is due to pitcher fatigue?

9:50
Jeff Sullivan: I don’t think we know. Impossible to separate fatigue from familiarity

9:51
Comment From Yoopka
Where do you guys see Butler ending up?

9:51
Jeff Sullivan: We both agree, Seattle

9:51
Comment From Jake
Should Dyson just start over Aoki? He wasn’t that much worse offensively and he’s way better defensively

9:51
Jeff Sullivan: I could see him starting in 2015, but for now Yost probably likes the option of having him available as a pinch-runner

9:51
Dave Cameron: And Dyson doesn’t catch one. This game is all about screwing with the narratives.

9:52
Jeff Sullivan: Well I’ll be jiggered, another ball drops in the outfield

9:52
Jeff Sullivan: So this is what this can look like

9:52
Comment From Marsupial Jones
Is Butler even really an everyday player (even at DH) at this point?

9:52
Jeff Sullivan: Lower-third DH

9:52
Jeff Sullivan: Maybe lower-fifteenth

9:52
Comment From Ben
Peavy is becoming a better pitcher with age. He throws more strikes, and batters are swinging at more of his offerings outside the zone and fewer inside it. Of course, his fastball velocity is down at least 4 mph from his early years, so there’s no longer the anticipation of a no-hitter whenever he takes the mound. Much has been made of his so-called “improvement” in 2012, but in many ways he was the same pitcher, with similar FRAs and strikeout-to-walk ratios in each season.

9:53
Dave Cameron: His numbers have gotten much worse over the last few years.

9:53
Jeff Sullivan: STOP COMPARING PITCHERS TO PEDRO MARTINEZ

9:53
Dave Cameron: Short, hard-throwing, right-handed, non-white guy? Pedro!

9:54
Jeff Sullivan: Ramon Ortiz comparison lives forever

9:54
Dave Cameron: Herrera coming in. Good job, Yost!

9:54
Jeff Sullivan: Gotta replace Yordano Ventura with basically Yordano Ventura

9:54
Jeff Sullivan: Great move, though

9:55
Comment From Jake
what changed with Yost that he is suddenly proactive?

9:55
Dave Cameron: My guess is the KC analytics guys got someone to talk to him.

9:55
Jeff Sullivan: Eiland got in there a month and a half ago

9:55
Jeff Sullivan: Or so goes the story

9:55
Jeff Sullivan: Right after the Aaron Crow game

9:56
Comment From busterrr
It’s not only analytics guys who think that it’s a good idea to use your best players

9:57
Dave Cameron: 101.

9:57
Dave Cameron: Heh.

9:58
Comment From Nicholas
How are you so far ahead?

9:58
Jeff Sullivan: Now HERE’S a guy whose strikeout rate doesn’t make sense

9:58
Dave Cameron: Managing Editors get time machines.

9:58
Comment From BDF
MGL puts the fatigue portion of the thru-the-order pentalty at less than 50%.

9:58
Comment From Skore
Verducci just talked about the times through the order penalty. Credit where it’s due.

9:59
Jeff Sullivan: I wonder how Herrera’s extension is

9:59
Dave Cameron: Short-arm guy, so probably not great.

10:00
Jeff Sullivan: Practically an average contact rate for a reliever. So odd

10:00
Jeff Sullivan: For the record, 30% of fly balls against Herrera this year were pulled, vs. average of 42%

10:01
Dave Cameron: Breaking balls generate low contact rates, and he doesn’t have a very good one? That’s my theory.

10:01
Jeff Sullivan: Yet his strikeouts were up a lot a year ago

10:01
Jeff Sullivan: Something changed

10:01
Dave Cameron: 100 mph with tail!

10:01
Jeff Sullivan: His stuff looks better than his 2014 results, except for, you know, the no dingers

10:01
Dave Cameron: I don’t even know.

10:02
Comment From Compton
I’ve never seen a triple-digit two seamer before. Did that exist before a minute ago?

10:02
Dave Cameron: Daniel Bard, maybe?

10:03
Jeff Sullivan: PITCHf/x data on that:

10:03
Comment From Jeff
Thru the order penalty debunks the need to “get to good pitchers early,” correct?

10:03
Dave Cameron: Yep.

10:04
Comment From Marsupial Jones
Well, getting to good pitchers at any time is probably advisable.

10:04
Jeff Sullivan: 101.2 mph, -8 pfx, 9 pfz

10:05
Comment From Jake
is that good? that sounds good

10:05
Jeff Sullivan: Herrera’s got some fluctuation to his horizontal movement. Not much sink, but he can add and subtract run

10:05
Jeff Sullivan: Or it’s all an accident. Whatever, he’s a freak

10:06
Comment From Henry
Jeff and Dave, what do you guys think of Verducci?

10:06
Jeff Sullivan: I have completely subjective issues with his voice

10:06
Jeff Sullivan: I like that he’s been given an opportunity as a non-player

10:06
Dave Cameron: A little strange that the Giants don’t even have anyone warming up here.

10:07
Comment From Anonymous
David Eckstein’s ’02 postseason: 20 hits, all singles, .294/.338/.294. Buster Posey’s postseason: 15 hits, all singles, .294/.339/.294.

10:07
Jeff Sullivan: Bullpen working, now

10:07
Jeff Sullivan: Wonder why they waited an at-bat

10:08
Dave Cameron: Especially with the lefty up second.

10:08
Dave Cameron: Would think that if you’re going to warm Lopez, want him to face Hosmer and Gordon, not just one of the two.

10:08
Jeff Sullivan: Imagine being a manager trying to pull Peavy from a decent start around 60-70 pitches

10:08
Jeff Sullivan: he might literally eat you alive

10:09
Jeff Sullivan: And this is why a lefty should’ve been warming sooner

10:09
Dave Cameron: It’s kind of funny that we all thought Peavy would get pulled early and now Bochy stuck with him too long.

10:10
Jeff Sullivan: So difficult to look past such a low pitch count

10:10
Jeff Sullivan: There’s a really good pitch

10:11
Dave Cameron: Fox with the through the order graph!

10:11
Jeff Sullivan: Reynolds thought the 3-1 pitch was a mistake

10:11
Dave Cameron: Neat.

10:11
Jeff Sullivan: It was perfect!

10:12
Jeff Sullivan: That was less perfect

10:12
Dave Cameron: So they let Peavy walk the lefty and now pull him with a righty up.

10:13
Jeff Sullivan: I don’t think Peavy even made eye contact with Bochy as he approached

10:13
Dave Cameron: So is Machi a one batter reliever here?

10:14
Comment From hscer
Bunt buzz on Twitter

10:14
Comment From Jake
how many at bats are needed for player vs pitcher performance is statistically significant?

10:14
Dave Cameron: Butler has 1 career bunt in the bigs.

10:14
Jeff Sullivan: More than you get. Players change over time before samples accumulate

10:15
Comment From Evan
Does low pitch count lead to any reduction in TTO penalty due to less familiarity, or are the differences too small to matter?

10:15
Jeff Sullivan: Interesting question

10:15
Jeff Sullivan: Probably, though, too small

10:15
Comment From Nick
Bunt leads to bases loaded for Perez. Yost can’t want that.

10:16
Dave Cameron: Yeah, you want Gordon to bat.

10:16
Dave Cameron: A bunt-and-run could be intersting, and maybe Butler bunting makes it hard for Posey to throw.

10:16
Dave Cameron: Just tell him to pull it back at the end so he doesn’t pop it up.

10:17
Jeff Sullivan: This is a girthy pitcher/batter matchup

10:17
Comment From busterrr
Why not petit?

10:18
Jeff Sullivan: Petit couldn’t warm that fast

10:18
Comment From Jimbo
You described a fake bunt, not a bunt and run.

10:18
Dave Cameron: That works too.

10:18
Jeff Sullivan: Wow, that was a godawful throw

10:18
Jeff Sullivan: Was that on purpose?

10:18
Dave Cameron: Ishikawa can’t throw.

10:18
Jeff Sullivan: No kidding

10:19
Dave Cameron: And Machi was a one batter guy.

10:19
Jeff Sullivan: Never even got to throw his splitter

10:20
Comment From umung
Is Andrew McCutchen a 5 tooler?

10:20
Jeff Sullivan: No arm

10:20
Comment From chuckb
Ballgame. That’s what Bochy gets for staying with Peavy too long.

10:20
Jeff Sullivan: Always remember that both Peavy and Machi also failed to execute

10:21
Jeff Sullivan: Bochy swung the odds a little. Players swung the odds a lot!

10:21
Dave Cameron: A little odd to have Gore PR for Butler with a man ahead of him on the bases.

10:21
Comment From Marsupial Jones
Lozreno Cain seems to get really good reads on hits. Or is that just me?

10:21
Jeff Sullivan: Awesome baserunner

10:22
Comment From Twatmaster
GO FOR THE THROAT WITH A BUNT

10:23
Dave Cameron: Another pitching change!

10:23
Jeff Sullivan: Slow this game down!

10:23
Dave Cameron: Remember when this game was going quickly, Jeff?

10:24
Jeff Sullivan: I wanted to see my Romo/Perez showdown 🙁

10:24
Jeff Sullivan: Strickland isn’t nearly so equipped to make Perez look like a fool

10:24
Comment From Drew
At what point would you consider past pitcher/hitter stats to have any predictive meaning? 30/30 with 30 HR? 0-30 w/30 K’s? How many PAs and how extreme of numbers?

10:24
Jeff Sullivan: Goldschmidt/Lincecum is about as close as I get and it doesn’t even matter because now Lincecum is bad

10:25
Dave Cameron: I think the most extreme “ownage” any hitter in The Book’s study had was like a .600 wOBA over 40 PAs or something, and it didn’t predict anything.

10:25
Comment From Bob
Lopez walked way too many guys this year

10:25
Jeff Sullivan: Not lefties

10:26
Comment From umung
Are there any true 5 toolers in baseball right now?

10:26
Jeff Sullivan: Puig, Tulo, maybe Carlos Gonzalez, maybe Harper…

10:27
Comment From hscer
hey wait that looks like the mlb statcast. or did we know that?

10:27
Dave Cameron: Yes, that was Statcast.

10:28
Comment From Henry
How would you guys react if someone proposed limiting number of pitching changes in a game (or an inning; excluding injuries)?

10:28
Jeff Sullivan: I’m listening

10:28
Jeff Sullivan: Well that’s a problem

10:28
Dave Cameron: You can’t enforce it. Pitchers would just get “injured” a lot more often.

10:28
Jeff Sullivan: I think I know why Strickland isn’t elite yet

10:29
Jeff Sullivan: Should’ve been Romo 🙁

10:29
Dave Cameron: 9 outs, Herrera/Davis/Holland, 3 run lead.

10:29
Dave Cameron: This isn’t over, but it’s close.

10:29
Jeff Sullivan: Basically over

10:30
Jeff Sullivan: When Perez can eliminate the breaking ball, he doesn’t suck

10:30
Dave Cameron: Now it’s over.

10:30
Jeff Sullivan: You are way ahead of me

10:30
Comment From hscer
that got out quick

10:31
Jeff Sullivan: Some playoffs for Hunter Strickland!

10:31
Comment From Sabean
and now it’s over

10:31
Jeff Sullivan: They are just not even the slightest bit worried about his breaking stuff

10:31
Comment From hscer
He seems a little headcase-y

10:31
Jeff Sullivan: Strickland maybe not a fan of giving up five dingers in a month

10:32
Dave Cameron: Pretty sure we don’t see Strickland again this series.

10:32
Jeff Sullivan: So he’s out, and Lincecum is out

10:32
Dave Cameron: Lincecum might pitch today, now that this is over.

10:32
Dave Cameron: And they’ve burned half their pen.

10:32
Jeff Sullivan: Bryce Harper’s yelling at his massive television as we speak

10:33
Comment From Guest
Posey’s reaction was great. He looked at Strickland and was like dude just chill

10:34
Comment From Jesper
what would the pitching equivalent of 5 tools be?

10:34
Jeff Sullivan: Velocity…fastball command…secondary command…durability…

10:35
Jeff Sullivan: movement?

10:35
Dave Cameron: Intelligence.

10:35
Jeff Sullivan: Not a factor in the hitting 5 tools, really

10:35
Dave Cameron: Lincecum warming up.

10:35
Dave Cameron: Intelligence more important in pitching than hitting.

10:36
Jeff Sullivan: I feel like pitchers yelling a lot isn’t new to the game, Harold

10:37
Comment From alex
With the win probability favoring the Royals to the tune of 98% – you have to just let Lincecum do anything he wants, right? Like underhand the ball to the plate? Save your stamina for game 3? or is that stupid, any odds of winning are worth fighting for?

10:37
Dave Cameron: You punt this one and let Lincecum pitch until its over.

10:38
Jeff Sullivan: Thankful for that DP speeding things up. The rest of this game is practically unnecessary

10:38
Jeff Sullivan: Now we just sit back and watch the beautiful beautiful fastballs

10:38
Jeff Sullivan: If they even bother using Wade Davis

10:39
Comment From Chris
So all the people who said the Royals were done because of last night…they were wrong, yes?

10:39
Jeff Sullivan: They were wrong yesterday. Who would say that? That’s stupid.

10:39
Comment From Jaack
How awful would it be if the Royals went to the dumpy relievers instead of Wade Davis and lost because of it.

10:39
Dave Cameron: Zero chance that happens. They haven’t pitched in a week.

10:39
Dave Cameron: He’d use them just to get them work.

10:39
Jeff Sullivan: And you can also very quickly go to Davis in the event of emergency!

10:40
Comment From alex
welp, these were two not-close games

10:41
Jeff Sullivan: This was close for a while, which is something. Only blew up in the bottom of the sixth

10:41
Comment From Jesper
how is intelligence not as important in hitting? They’re the 2 sides to the fundamental game

10:41
Dave Cameron: The pitcher has to decide what to do. The hitter reacts to that decision. One is a planned out thought process, the other a split-second reaction.

10:42
Dave Cameron: Intelligence isn’t nothing for a hitter, but it’s a bigger part of the pie for a pitcher.

10:43
Comment From Adam
story told on KC broadcasts this year: Scout goes to see high school Billy Butler. He tells Billy’s dad that he likes his pitchers smart and his hitters dumb. Billy’s dad says “You’ll do great son!”

10:44
Comment From francis
That Billy Butler story was a Bazooka Joe comic.

10:44
Dave Cameron: Think I might get Herrera out now.

10:45
Dave Cameron: ~20 pitches, including some very high leverage ones, with a five run lead.

10:45
Jeff Sullivan: I’m still amazed he’s able to pitch this month after the discomfort scare

10:45
Comment From Drew
Has Bochy been over-reliant on Strickland? Sure seems like it, he hasn’t been good but seems blinded by the fastball.

10:45
Jeff Sullivan: In fairness, who expects five dingers? And Strickland was awesome yesterday

10:46
Dave Cameron: He gave up four HRs in the regular season, minors and majors combined.

10:46
Comment From guest
do high leverage pitches add to fatigue?

10:46
Dave Cameron: The pitchers say yes.

10:46
Jeff Sullivan: Smarter managers always monitor high-leverage pitches vs. regular pitches. Stressful innings are believed to be more taxing

10:46
Jeff Sullivan: Don’t know if it’s true but it sounds fine to me

10:47
Dave Cameron: The fact that relievers seem to tire after ~20 suggests there’s something to it.

10:47
Dave Cameron: Yeah, you have to take Herrera out now.

10:47
Dave Cameron: Sitting 96, shaking his arm.

10:48
Jeff Sullivan: Arm shaking is never a promising sign

10:48
Jeff Sullivan: Aaaaaaand sticking with Herrera…

10:48
Dave Cameron: Finnegan probably isn’t a quick get-ready guy, given his pedigree as a starter.

10:49
Comment From francis
A fan should streak to give the pen some time.

10:49
Dave Cameron: Davis getting up now too.

10:49
Jeff Sullivan: 95

10:49
Dave Cameron: Different guy this inning.

10:50
Jeff Sullivan: A single there would’ve made this a lot more fun

10:50
Comment From Rated Rookie
Has Salvador Perez always been this vulnerable to non-fastballs? Or has this worsened more recently?

10:50
Jeff Sullivan: surprising fun fact: not bad against sliders this season! http://www.fangraphs.com/st…

10:51
Jeff Sullivan: almost at 30 pitches

10:51
Dave Cameron: 100

10:51
Dave Cameron: But not close

10:51
Jeff Sullivan: “Purpose pitch” Reynolds politely suggests

10:52
Comment From jocephus
yeah thats the ticket

10:52
Dave Cameron: Be interesting to see how that carries over to Herrera’s usage in games 3-5.

10:53
Dave Cameron: Off tomorrow, but then three straight days with baseball. Probably can’t use him in all three after this.

10:53
Jeff Sullivan: He’s not just pitching after his little injury — he’s being used heavily.

10:53
Dave Cameron: That guy doesn’t sound like he looks.

10:53
Jeff Sullivan: Pretty fortunate that he’s able to take the mound at all

10:53
Jeff Sullivan: This has to be a fake voice.

10:54
Comment From John
Assuming the Royals hang on to win, are the Giants still favored from this point having 3 home games?

10:54
Jeff Sullivan: Probably pushes things to about 50/50

10:54
Comment From Guest
Are there any kind of alarm-bell peripheral statistics that would indicate a pitcher who might be prone to an elevated hr/fb ratio?

10:54
Jeff Sullivan: Sinkerballers

10:55
Comment From xolo
Is Dyson really better than Cain in center?

10:55
Jeff Sullivan: They seem to be similarly elite, but Cain might be more comfortable in RF

10:55
Dave Cameron: Dyson’s a little faster, I think.

10:56
Jeff Sullivan: Cain probably has the better arm

10:56
Comment From Only Potatoes
Jeff last night you did the BABIP for winning and loosing pitchers, but we don’t care about pitcher wins….is there a way to find the BABIP of every win vs loss this season? is baseball all luck??

10:56
Jeff Sullivan: .330/.265

10:56
Jeff Sullivan: Which makes sense, since hits are good for winning teams

10:56
Comment From Yahtzee
Who is the best defensive CF in baseball?

10:57
Dave Cameron: Lagares or Bourjos would be my vote.

10:57
Jeff Sullivan: Lagares is stupid good

10:58
Jeff Sullivan: In the year 2014, Tim Lincecum is getting mop-up innings in the World Series

10:58
Comment From enf
Would the Royals be Better just starting Dyson in from inning one?

10:58
Dave Cameron: I think so.

10:59
Jeff Sullivan: That was a fun play by Crawford

10:59
Dave Cameron: He got him by a lot, based on the bounce.

10:59
Jeff Sullivan: Such a quick transfer

10:59
Jeff Sullivan: Lovely changeup

10:59
Dave Cameron: Verducci just said the words “high leverage”

10:59
Dave Cameron: Normal for us, but not for TV guys.

11:00
Jeff Sullivan: Is that an intuitive word? I feel like that’s not an intuitive word

11:00
Comment From Yahtzee
i’ve heard a lot of guys reference leverage on tv in the past year or so…i think it’s one of the more accepted saber terms

11:00
Jeff Sullivan: woof

11:00
Jeff Sullivan: I feel like WPA and WPA-like metrics are easy to sell to broadcasters and fans

11:01
Jeff Sullivan: They’re numbers you can “feel” as you watch

11:01
Comment From jocephus
have you guys been to kauffman? and if so, did you enjoy it?

11:01
Jeff Sullivan: I’ve never left my apartment

11:01
Dave Cameron: Yeah. And they aren’t really value judgments about players, so they don’t challenge preconceived ideas.

11:02
Jeff Sullivan: Leverage Index sounds weird and complicated until you get to sense it in a game. Then it’s just the most awesome thing that we have numbers for it

11:02
Comment From Chris
It’s literally a quantification of excitement. Based on aLI, we can actually say that Game 1 of the World Series was the least exciting of the entire postseason. That’s cool that something like that has a reliable stat.

11:03
Comment From francis
Would you steal off of Timmy ? It’s kind of bad form, but I think you have to.

11:03
Comment From hscer
I hear the Nutella part of the nutella and go things are like, only half as tall as the package

11:03
Jeff Sullivan: Every single time

11:03
Jeff Sullivan: The nutella component is indeed disappointly little

11:03
Dave Cameron: I feel like this would be a very easy package to make yourself.

11:03
Jeff Sullivan: Like most things that are convenient for on-the-go people

11:03
Dave Cameron: Just buy a real nutella, scoop some into a regular tupperware, pack with other stuff.

11:04
Comment From Daniel
or don’t buy nutella because it’s gross

11:05
Comment From Yahtzee
Daniel is out of his mind. Nutella is the nectar of the gods.

11:05
Comment From Dano
Nutella is just alright.

11:06
Jeff Sullivan: It’s among the best spreadables

11:06
Jeff Sullivan: I wish I didn’t say that word

11:06
Dave Cameron: So every time the Royals get a lead, we’re going to get James Shields trade rationalization, aren’t we?

11:06
Dave Cameron: Delicious

11:06
Jeff Sullivan: /stops preparing identical poll

11:06
Comment From Tripp
Why in the world is Wade Davis pitching tonight?

11:07
Jeff Sullivan: work

11:07
Comment From alex
I get the feeling that dave would be unbearably impossible to go to a restaurant with – “well, you could just grow your own rice, go out on your shrimp boat, go to the middle east and pick your own saffron and make your own paella, paying somebody to do it is a total ripoff”

11:08
Dave Cameron: I like going out to eat, and have no problem paying for convenience. I just don’t see that particular product being all that convenient.

11:08
Jeff Sullivan: Dave is constantly giving restaurant recommendations

11:08
Dave Cameron: Speaking of which, I should plug this ice cream I just found last week. Best ice cream I’ve ever had.

11:08
Jeff Sullivan: salt & straw beats it

11:09
Dave Cameron: It’s called Gelato Fiasco. Based out of Maine. Insanely good.

11:09
Dave Cameron: I’ve had Salt and Straw. This is better.

11:09
Jeff Sullivan: no

11:09
Dave Cameron: (I’ve had 1 flavor at Salt and Straw, once)

11:09
Comment From Sean
Yeah. We don’t get that in Minnesota. Never heard of it.

11:09
Dave Cameron: They ship!

11:09
Jeff Sullivan: well you have my attention

11:10
Dave Cameron: Gelato Fiasco. Check it out. It’s crazy good.

11:10
Jeff Sullivan: flavors?

11:10
Jeff Sullivan: also, one inning left in the baseball game!

11:10
Dave Cameron: We’ve tried their dark chocolate caramel sea salt and toasted marshmellow smores.

11:10
Comment From The Big Dipper
Dave have you ever been to the gelato shop by hanes park?

11:10
Dave Cameron: Yeah, the lady who runs it is awesome.

11:10
Jeff Sullivan: oh sea salt/caramel blends are always unfair

11:10
Dave Cameron: This one’s good because of the chocolate though.

11:11
Dave Cameron: (This is what you get when two boring games in a row happen)

11:11
Jeff Sullivan: I might just have to buy some tonight!

11:11
Jeff Sullivan: At least we had two hours of interesting baseball!

11:11
Dave Cameron: Warning: It’s not cheap

11:11
Jeff Sullivan: That’s okay, I make huge money from my employer FanGraphs.com

11:11
Dave Cameron: $7.50 per pint at Fresh Market (east coast Whole Foods type store), $10 per pint shipped.

11:12
Comment From Marsupial Jones
Pitches better then Wade Davis’ cutter?

11:12
Jeff Sullivan: maybe 5-10 of ’em

11:12
Comment From guest
which is more annoying to hear revisited: shields trade or cespedes trade?

11:12
Jeff Sullivan: Shields trade

11:12
Comment From Jerome Walton
Will having at bats against Davis this game help the Giants hitters later in the series?

11:13
Jeff Sullivan: Doubt it

11:13
Comment From Dano
Did any of you guys play the Tony LaRussa Baseball computer games? Is there anything like that now?

11:13
Dave Cameron: I loved those. Played them after we upgraded from Earl Weaver Baseball 2.

11:14
Comment From Guest
Is there a particular skill set that translates from failed starter to amazing reliever?

11:14
Jeff Sullivan: really good primary pitch

11:14
Dave Cameron: Sinker/slider RH.

11:15
Comment From The Big Dipper
what happened to lincecum? is it simply a matter of losing his velocity?

11:15
Dave Cameron: He sucks with men on base. No one knows why.

11:16
Jeff Sullivan: I suspect a surprising part of it is that he’s so easy to steal against

11:16
Dave Cameron: The batting lines against him go way up too.

11:16
Jeff Sullivan: didn’t happen that way in 2013

11:17
Jeff Sullivan: Did, obviously, in 2014!

11:17
Dave Cameron: And 2012.

11:18
11:18
Jeff Sullivan: I remember the article, Dave.

11:18
Jeff Sullivan: I remember everything you write.

11:18
Dave Cameron: What did I think of Drew Henson as a prospect?

11:18
Jeff Sullivan: I say we leave it at mechanical inconsistency!

11:19
Jeff Sullivan: You hated him

11:19
Dave Cameron: Nope! I liked him a lot.

11:19
Dave Cameron: And Lincecum is done.

11:19
Jeff Sullivan: Wait!

11:19
Jeff Sullivan: I was thinking of that other Yankees guy

11:19
Jeff Sullivan: Duncan?

11:19
Dave Cameron: Seems like he’s favoring his knee.

11:20
Dave Cameron: And no, I didn’t like Shelley Duncan, but he was never a great prospect.

11:20
Jeff Sullivan: No, not him

11:20
Jeff Sullivan: Eric Duncan

11:20
Dave Cameron: Oh, yeah, I liked him.

11:20
Jeff Sullivan: Welp, I’m all backwards

11:20
Dave Cameron: You know what’s amazing?

11:20
Dave Cameron: People are still here.

11:21
Comment From francis
KC fans might be seeing their last inning of ball at home this year.

11:21
Jeff Sullivan: Probably not going to have a three-game SF sweep in either direction

11:21
Jeff Sullivan: I mean, the Royals lose the DH, but their DH is Billy Butler

11:22
Comment From Alex
Have y’all ever studied pitching biomechanics and stuff like hip-shoulder separation an shoulder external rotation? Data like this would show why Lincecum lost his velocity I think

11:22
Jeff Sullivan: Safe to say, no, we have never done that.

11:23
Comment From Bryan
Well Giants lose their DH Morse to

11:23
Jeff Sullivan: Does Lincecum get that K?

11:23
Comment From chuckb
A little anti-climactic

11:24
Comment From jocephus
greg dutch, greg netherland, greg holland

11:24
Comment From Daniel
espn has Casilla as getting the K

11:25
Comment From Cat
Looking into your crystal ball, what do you see for Strickland’s career?

11:25
Jeff Sullivan: Decent reliever, surgery

11:25
Dave Cameron: Every time he gives up a HR in the future, someone will say “here he goes again”

11:26
Jeff Sullivan: Like Octavio Dotel

11:26
Comment From Matt
What is the average Runs Allowed for the Royals “Big Three”? If you are behind in the 7th inning, is it worth it to just punt the game and save them for another game?

11:26
Dave Cameron: Pinch-hitting for Morse. Interesting.

11:26
Jeff Sullivan: I mean, it depends on the deficit, but true talent they’re probably 2.00 RA-ish

11:27
Jeff Sullivan: Probably just wants Susac to get some work

11:27
Dave Cameron: Their chances of winning is like 0%, but I’m surprised to see them admit it like this.

11:28
Comment From Tank
Any FG,BR,etc. writers have medical doctorates?

11:28
Jeff Sullivan: I don’t think anyone goes that far so that they can make a lot less money writing about a game

11:28
Jeff Sullivan: Oh, Rany

11:28
Dave Cameron: Yeah, he’s the only one I can think of.

11:29
Jeff Sullivan: Carleton presumably has some kind of masters

11:29
Dave Cameron: Psychology, though.

11:29
Jeff Sullivan: BOOM

11:29
Comment From Henry
Any Ph.D. Fangraphers?

11:29
Dave Cameron: Dave Allen doesn’t write for us much anymore, but he has one.

11:29
Dave Cameron: Matt Swartz too.

11:30
Jeff Sullivan: Swartz writes like it

11:30
Comment From Marsupial Jones
Better pitch; Davis’ Cutter or Holland’s slider/Splitter thing?

11:30
Jeff Sullivan: Cutter, serves a broader purpose

11:30
Comment From John
Holland throws a slider and splitter

11:31
Jeff Sullivan: Now I disagree with myself

11:31
Comment From Jon
Wendy is a “doctor of laws”

11:31
Comment From Guest
Carelton has a Ph.D in Clinical Psychology. I’m surprised a person with a such as degree hasn’t had various job offers for every team. Mental Health is probably a HUGE frontier in baseball….at least from what we know.Sad there is such a stigma

11:31
Dave Cameron: He worked for the Indians.

11:32
Dave Cameron: He may have very well decided life outside of baseball is better.

11:32
Jeff Sullivan: Which is probably the correct opinion

11:32
Dave Cameron: It’s one I hold.

11:33
Jeff Sullivan: It’s one I hold now, as opposed to a few years ago

11:33
Comment From Cat
Long term, Susac replaces Posey as the everyday catcher with Posey moving to first?

11:33
Jeff Sullivan: Or third, sooner

11:33
Dave Cameron: And Greg Holland is still good.

11:33
Jeff Sullivan: Kansas City won a World Series game

11:34
Comment From Shrewd Cat
When Mike Morse is in LF does that count as ‘defensive indifference’.

11:34
Comment From Cat
Is there life outside of baseball?

11:34
Jeff Sullivan: You have an offday to find out!

11:34
Dave Cameron: Thanks for hanging out again, everyone. Jeff and I will pick up the chats next Tuesday for Game 6, if they get that far. You’ll have a motley crew of fun hosts this weekend.

11:35
Jeff Sullivan: Thanks everyone! Thanks Dave!

11:35
Dave Cameron: Night all.





Dave is the Managing Editor of FanGraphs.

19 Comments
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Avattoir
10 years ago

Tellya what, Rags: all this ‘Bochy’s a genius’ buzz is gettin’ outta hand. Gonna put a stop to it, this game.
– What’s the plan?
Waal, Peavy’s shot all ta hell by now, so rather’n take him out before he gets flayed alive, I’ll just leav’im in there long enough to get the bullpen into a real fix, then go to Strickland.
– Gawd, Boch, that’s just brutal. They already saw him last night, now he’s so full of himself after not giving up more dingers, it’ll be worse than sending a faun into den of ravenous wolves. It’ll look to obvious; you need a diversion.
Whattaya suggest?
– You could maybe send the LOOGY in to get one out, which’ll allow you to open the blood sluices and declare it national holiday for predators.
Good thinkin’, Rags; knew I could count on you. HEY UMP – TIME OUT; GONNA CHANGES PITCHERS.

Joseph Gladstone
10 years ago
Reply to  Avattoir

I chuckled, but what the hell did I just read?

Avattoir
10 years ago

It’s a source-confirmed official transcript of an entirely theoretical conversation between Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy and Giants’ pitching coach Dave Righetti, while they observe the Giants’ at bats preceding the last half inning of Jake Peavy’s time on the pitcher’s mound this evening.

Jordan Z
10 years ago
Reply to  Avattoir

No it isn’t.

Avattoir
10 years ago
Reply to  Avattoir

Oyp. We’re receiving confirmation that there’s an alternative transcript. Here’s a partial transcript – which, before playing it, we preface with a warning about some of the language used and more significantly some of the apparent syntactical allusion. It appears to be a combination of typically boorish alpha-jock b.s. and genuinely unacceptable racist a-holery on the part of Strickland.

Avattoir
10 years ago
Reply to  Avattoir

Jordan Z – If by “No, it isn’t”, you’re somehow asserting that i am WRONG in asserting that something I myself completely made up AND am prepared to admit I completely made up AND in fact in the very post you’re responding to, the one I admit to being “theoretical”, i.e. to wit etc. made up, a.k.a., with the conversation in it portraying Bruce Bochy and Dave Righetti talking, is not made up or unreal or fictional, but is true, then, I for one am prepared to assure you that a highly attentive readership of at least one is ready, willing and able to read your further post on this subject, wherein, as I gather, you will seek to convince all readers, including me, that I was factually accurate in reporting an actual conversation of those persons.

Please take as much time and space as you feel you need.