Yankees vs. Indians Wild Card Game 1 Chat

7:00
Avatar Dan Szymborski: And welcome to the FanGraphs live chat for Yankees vs. Indians!

7:00
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I am your currently unsupervised host, Dan Szymborski, also of same site.

7:01
Avatar Dan Szymborski: And there is baseball afoot.

7:01
Yasmani’s grundle: if you averaged tim lincecum and Alejandro kirk’s build would you just end up with a normal human?

7:01
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Seems reasonable.

7:02
druidiful: Why does the nerdcast version have to be on ESPN+, can’t it just be on ESPN2?

7:02
Avatar Dan Szymborski: At leas tit’s there!

7:02
druidiful: Dan, why do you hate my favorite team?

7:02
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Probably something that you did! I hope you learned your lesson.

7:02
john: So glad you guys are chatting! Definitely kept checking the site all day to see if one would pop up

7:03
Avatar Dan Szymborski: There usually is a chat for events like these!

7:03
Rick: Who has the better 2021: Bieber or Cole?

7:03
Avatar Dan Szymborski: That’s close but it feels like cheating since I haven’t run projections yet!@

7:04
Guest: If I told you before the season that Joey Votto would finish 2020 with a better OPS than Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich, how would you have reacted?

7:04
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I would have thought that Votto had an awesome bounceback season!~

7:04
Guest: how much do you think playing in the central region inflates Bieber’s numbers this season?

7:04
Meg Rowley: Hi everyone! Ben’s A’s/White Sox gamer is live for your enjoyment: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/lucas-giolito-confounds-the-as/

7:04
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Some, but that kind of thing can be overrated.

7:04
Meg Rowley: I shall return after I have implored twitter to read it

7:05
Guest: Cheating is relying on the projections!  Man up and make a prediction without your robot crutch.

7:05
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I’ll say Bieber if I”m forced to!

7:05
Eric A Longenhagen: What’s up, chat?

7:06
druidiful: How do the non-Dan hosts feel about beans in their chili?

7:06
Eric A Longenhagen: Wrong website

7:06
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Hi Meg and Eric!

7:06
Guest: Is home-field advantage still the smallest in baseball among the Big 4 sports?

7:06
Avatar Dan Szymborski: As far as I know, yes, but I don’t know hockey.

7:07
Eric A Longenhagen: Randall Grichuk peeking back at the catcher for location

7:08
matt: Why is everyone bashing on the central? Best division in BB this year.

7:08
Avatar Dan Szymborski: How would you tell?

7:08
druidiful: Oh good, it’s only Dan here. We can only talk about non-baseball things!

7:08
Avatar Dan Szymborski: FOILED

7:08
Guest: This post-season format is fun, but it won’t *actually* feel like March Madness until I have to look up the channel number for truTV.

7:09
Meg Rowley: Foiled indeed – has the chat already litigated whether this format is fun?

7:09
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Sinister Shane Bieber is my favorite of the latest run of neural network nicknames.

7:10
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Well, no no-hitter threat in this one!

7:10
Eric A Longenhagen: Oppo single for DJ LeMahieu followed by a piped first pitch fastball to Aaron Judge that he sends out to right center

7:10
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Or the shutout!

7:11
Dan: Well that was fast

7:11
druidiful: For one team at least!

7:12
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Why is the piped-in crowd so happy?

7:13
Eric A Longenhagen: Man, Bieber missed down the middle to Hicks too. Hicks just whiffed.

7:13
Meg Rowley:

Do expanded playoffs make for a good fan viewing experience?

Yes (24.2% | 16 votes)
 
No – too many teams (16.6% | 11 votes)
 
No – # of teams is fine, but too many games scheduled too close together (4.5% | 3 votes)
 
No – worry about the precedent it sets for non-pandemic years (54.5% | 36 votes)
 

Total Votes: 66
7:13
Lunar verLander: Piped-in virtual crowd’s just happy that MLB made it to the postseason

7:14
Meg Rowley: Curious what folks think – my experience of the postseason is so hopelessly tied to how it changes my sleeping patterns, that I wonder what fans think!

7:14
Avatar Dan Szymborski: There was no option for 2021 murderous Szymrage

7:14
Tommy: How hard was it for AROD not to call Judge, “Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan,” after that home run?

7:14
Sam: They don’t know any better

7:15
Guest: The robot crowd does not give up on its home team simply because of one bad pitch.

7:15
Meg Rowley: Well I wanted it to have broad appeal, Dan.

7:15
Eric A Longenhagen: Nick Anderson entering the game for Tampa Bay with 2 on, no outs

7:16
John: I like the March madness-like feel of the expanded playoffs but am concerned about how it will impact the importance of regular season. Do any of you see a compromise scenario that gets the best of both?

7:16
Avatar Dan Szymborski: 10 teams is the compromise!

7:17
Yasmani’s grundle: It’s a tough decision between being super fun and rewarding the best teams. It might not be as fun if a flukey team ends up making for boring cs and ws games

7:17
Bigfoot Erotica: Can others explain how I might get that March Madness feel also? Is it legal?

7:17
Avatar Dan Szymborski: There was a candy bracket around the web.

7:17
Eric A Longenhagen: I think folks in favor of expanded playoffs often work for networks that would make a lot of $ broadcasting them and for teams that don’t want to push their spending.

7:18
Aspergilus fumigatus: I just think there needs to be an incentive (beyond seeding) to win your division. Or else the second half of the regular season becomes really boring for the best teams

7:18
Meg Rowley: A friend described it to me as this format being perfect if you’re set up to spend 10 hours at a bar, which… can’t do that right now!

7:18
Darth Manfred: I will make it legal

7:18
segiddins: What’s the conclusion on the statcast broadcasts — are they worth flipping over to?

7:18
Eric A Longenhagen: yes

7:19
Meg Rowley: really, really great booth imo

7:19
Sam: It seems interesting that Frazier ends up being the odd man out, I’m curious if that just for this particular matchup or not

7:19
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I have it on fairly good authority that the MLBPA at least — and certainly a lot of player-agents — are quite aware that more playoff teams will likely be a further drag on salaries.

7:21
Brian CashGod: So the owners make more money and lower expenses? Amazed it took them this long…

7:21
Bigfoot Erotica: Is Manfred considering allowing Gonzaga to participate? That may finally draw some interest from the Pacific Northwest

7:21
Derek: Damn it so because I refuse to pay for ESPN+ they are making me listen to Alex Rodriguez????

(not a bad sales pitch honestly…)

7:21
Meg Rowley: Well they need player sign off to make it permanent, so there’s some hope it stays the same or is tweaked.

7:22
Avatar Dan Szymborski: You can make a larger playoffs, but you have to incentivize teams investing money in top players.

7:22
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Which means you need to have a big benefit to winning 100 or 105 games or whatever.

7:23
Eric A Longenhagen: Panik fouled off 96 at the top of the zone off Anderson. He might be the hitter in TOR lineup best suited for getting to him

7:23
Brian CashGod: If this is March Madness, why isn’t Duke the #1 seed in the American League?

7:24
Eric A Longenhagen: Panik hits one on the screws but Adames makes a nice play on it and endsthe inning, still 1-0 Rays

7:25
Brian CashGod: C’mon Jays, it’d be fun if all the road teams won

7:25
Meg Rowley: Are we characterizing the Astros’ win as fun?

7:26
Brian CashGod: might also soften support for the expanded playoffs if all of the top teams got knocked out

7:26
P: Neat trick this morning Houston with the piggybacking. How does that work out tomorrow… or the next day. Or a 5 game series.

7:26
Brian CashGod: categorized it mentally as “another Twins loss in October”

7:27
Eric A Longenhagen: They can just do it again tomorrow with Javier

7:27
Meg Rowley: I don’t know if there’s a highlight that makes me feel worse than the midges (non-heater-to-the-noggin edition).

7:28
Lunar verLander: I don’t think I will ever forget the moth-in-the-umps-ear “highlight”

7:29
Meg Rowley: lol me either

7:30
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I still have nightmares of putting on a shirt and then a huge spider crawling out of my sleeve

7:30
Bigfoot Erotica: Am I the only one who thinks A-Rod is all right? He and Jeter have done the post-career Austin-Hart double turn beautifully imo.

7:30
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I think his analysis has gotten worse as he’s been on more.

7:30
Brian CashGod: On a related topic, Cleveland Spiders would be a fun mascot

7:31
Meg Rowley: A-Rod makes me wonder how Romo will mature and age in the booth

7:31
Avatar Dan Szymborski:

I know that Cleveland Spiders has a history, but I just personally prefer mascots that aren’t my fears. So ideally, I’d prefer no Cleveland Spiders, Cleveland Heights, or Cleveland Emotional Intimacy.
4 Jul 2020
7:32
5 Run Homer: I’m juggling cooking (pulled pork), homework (film studies), watching my Blue Jays (sad), the other game, and the chat, but boy is it fun to be in the playoffs. Thanks for doing this, you guys!

7:32
Brian CashGod: Should Torre have pulled the Yankees off the field in 07 when the midges invaded?

7:32
Brian CashGod: all the road teams advance *except for the Astros* please

7:33
Andrew: Arod’s feelings on even and odd run leads are enough for me to wish him off of commentary forever.

7:33
Eric A Longenhagen: He’s a wealthy, handsome idiot.

7:35
Eric A Longenhagen: two-run jack for Manny Margot, 3-0 Rays

7:35
Guest: Do you approve of Boone’s choice at catcher tonight?

7:35
Eric A Longenhagen: Yes, Sanchez has been a total dud and seemed physically unprepared for the season.

7:36
Guest: Twinkies were clear favorites until the 9th, what are their odds now?

7:36
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Even worse than the odd/even thing: on opening day, A-Rod was asked if he had any deep sleeper picks for 2020.

7:36
Avatar Dan Szymborski: He said Astros and Braves.

7:36
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Really going out on a limb there A-Rod!

7:37
Meg Rowley: What a nice transition out of A-Rod talk and into the updated ZiPS playoff odds: https://www.fangraphs.com/standings/playoff-odds/post-season-zips?&ser…

7:37
Guest: Re: Margot: Rays-Padres would make for a fun World Series matchup.

7:37
Bigfoot Erotica: I assume A-Rod is still waiting to get the call that he now owns the Mets and is keeping his next-level analysis to himself for the time being.

7:38
Meg Rowley: I almost talked myself into taking the Padres over the Dodgers in an NLCS upset, but the uncertainty of the pitching was too scary.

7:38
Meg Rowley: If Lamet or Clevinger not only come back but look good, it’s different but

7:39
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Yeah, I left Lamet for Game 3…for now.

7:39
Meg Rowley: Wish Paddack were better this year – turns out it helps to have an effective third pitch.

7:39
Meg Rowley: Carlos Santana’s line is one of my favorite things about this season.

7:40
Meg Rowley: .199/.349/.350

7:40
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Here are the neural network generated nicknames I ran for the Indians and Yankees.

7:40
Meg Rowley: amazing

7:40
Avatar Dan Szymborski:

7:41
Guest: Regarding Sanchez: What does the future hold in NY? Might we see Realmuto there next year?

7:42
Eric A Longenhagen: Tough to imagine them dealing him coming off this year. Value took too much of a hit.

7:42
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I still think it’s in the Phillies best interest to give him a big deal.

7:42
Eric A Longenhagen: agreed

7:42
Avatar Dan Szymborski: And not let him get to free agency.

7:42
Avatar Dan Szymborski: It’s not like they don’t have the money or a better idea what to do at catcher.

7:42
Eric A Longenhagen: and I don’t buy Knapp’s year (though I love Marchan)

7:42
Derek: Wait is it too late to submit Cleveland Emotional Intimacy for official consideration?

7:43
Not John Smoltz: Gonna think a lot about “Big Snack Roberto Perez”

7:43
Phillies Fan: Nonsense–with no Realmuto, we can just plug in that good-looking Alfaro prospect at C; he’ll pair great with Sixto Sanchez.

7:43
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Ouch

7:44
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I’ve got a thunderstorm brewing here, so I may disappear randomly for between one minute and one week.

7:44
Phillies Fan: Who breaks their post-season drought first: Mariners or Phillies (which are now the two longest droughts in baseball)

7:44
Meg Rowley: Philly just because they’re currently closer imo

7:45
Eric A Longenhagen: I’ll say SEA. PHI seem rudderless.

7:45
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Yeah, Seattle has as lot more to do

7:45
Meg Rowley: the rudderlessness is hard to dispute

7:45
Meg Rowley: (harder still to spell!)

7:46
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Meg, to me, it almost feels like they didn’t have a plan beyond Make That Big Signing and Big Trade. What do you think? Where did they get off the track?

7:47
Meg Rowley: Philly?

7:47
Meg Rowley: I think the bullpen was a likely weakness coming into this year, though uhhh, I didn’t expect it to be this bad.

7:47
Guest: Who is the “rudder” in Seattle?

7:47
Eric A Longenhagen: Does it have to be a person? all that upper level talent isn’t a direction?

7:47
Brian CashGod: I would hope the Mariners have a rudder…

7:48
5 Run Homer: How much did the Moniak pick really screw the Phillies? Getting a stud at 1st there would have helped a lot, even if the draft didn’t have one of those 1.1 guys

7:48
Brian CashGod: It’s like a lv 50 pokemon vs a level 25, but the level 50 is confused, it’s a coin flip imo

7:48
Pirates: They had a rudder until they ran into us.

7:48
Bigfoot Erotica: Say what you will about Cleveland’s seeming antagonism at trying to spend money on good players, but they certainly have pulled off some nice arbitrage with recent trades. Bauer would be nice about now, but Franimal is one of their few guys that can actually hit, and I’m not sure they miss Clevinger. Mildly infuriating, but it has to blow up in their face eventually, right?

7:50
Meg Rowley: Cleveland literally missed the postseason last year.

7:50
Meg Rowley: Not like cheaping out on the outfield has been used to lock Lindor up or anything.

7:50
Meg Rowley: The pitching development is incredibly impressive

7:51
Eric A Longenhagen: rowdy tellez singles, cavan biggio doubles off Anderson..Bo Bichette at the plate

7:51
Eric A Longenhagen: sac fly Bo, 3-1 Rays

7:52
Lunar verLander: If Cleveland wants to save money, just stop playing Nintendo sound effects during their games. That’s gotta cost them some royalties, yeah?

7:52
Nick: Over/under on the number of “Bartman” references on the broadcast for tomorrow’s CHC-MIA game?

7:52
Meg Rowley: Ugh, leave the poor man alone.

7:53
Eric A Longenhagen: who’s Bartman?

7:53
Avatar Dan Szymborski: What it comes down to it is that if you want teams to spend, you have to provide the incentives to them to spend. They’re not going to do it because people plea or they’re cajoled or they’re nice.

7:53
Meg Rowley: (Not you, Nick – the broadcast. I’m sure you’re inclined to be nice)

7:54
Brian CashGod: I would’ve thought the Mariners would use Nintendo sounds

7:54
Not John Smoltz: Is there any suspicion that the MLB will ever decide to crack down on pitchers’ “illegal substance” use? Cole and Bieber are both rubbing the bills of their cap a whole lot, and tomorrow we’ll watch Bauer do the same

7:54
Eric A Longenhagen: grichuk hit one hard at Adames, end of inning

7:54
Derek: If Paul Dolan & family want to make money then sell the team! And convince Cousin Jimmy to sell the Knicks while they’re at it!

7:55
Nate: Rays positioning has been perfect this game

7:55
Eric A Longenhagen: Kama Shiftra

7:55
Giodude: What are your expectations for a Javy Baez bounce-back? His approach has to change, right?

7:55
Meg Rowley: that and the situational bullpen deployment has been really excellent all season for them

7:56
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Here’s the thing on Baez – his approach isn’t *that* much worse than it used to be. He just isn’t crushing fastballs like he once did.

7:56
Avatar Dan Szymborski: There was some back luck, but he was really just meh in any case.

7:56
Logan: Nine career post-season HRs already for Judge.  Is he the currently active player who is the best bet to break the all time record (Manny Ramirez at 29)?

7:57
Eric A Longenhagen: Tom Hatch in there for Jays now

7:57
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I think only Cruz has more than 10 among actives and he certainly doesn’t have time.

7:57
Avatar Dan Szymborski: So Judge would be best bet.

7:58
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Mike Trout!

7:58
Avatar Dan Szymborski:

7:59
5 Run Homer: Judge is already 28? Jeez I knew he was an old rookie but wow

7:59
Meg Rowley: The way Luke Voit remade his body, especially after the injury, is really impressive.

7:59
5 Run Homer: I like Hatch a fair bit but is he the best guy here?

8:00
Bigfoot Erotica: Re: the Indians Meg you are totally right, they made no effort to acquire talent despite a window, but I’m not sure Bauer was winning them the division last year. I assume they will turn Quantrill into an ace, and does Paul Shuey have a son that plays? They may form a heckuva rotation with the offspring of 90’s journeyman relievers.

8:00
Sam: I love watching Voit hit, such a fun swing

8:01
Meg Rowdy Tellez: What happened to Jimmy Yacabonis?

8:01
Avatar Dan Szymborski: He’s in DFA limbo.

8:01
Miguel Cabrera: I swear I’m still active, Dan.  And sure, my performance says I don’t have time to break that record, but my contract says I do!

8:01
Meg Rowley: He was bad in a weird, smoke-filled start against the A’s.

8:03
Guest: Was Chris Bassitt really the AL Pitcher of the Month for September?  Is he the most underrated player in baseball?

8:03
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Yes, and I wouldn’t go that far yetr

8:03
Meg Rowley: these A’s fans, always hounding us about Bassitt.

8:04
Meg Rowley: oh come on, that joke was good

8:04
Meg Rowley: I have lots of friends!

8:04
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I appreciate bad puns.

8:04
Derek: Meg I tried to give an emoji reaction to that joke but I can’t in this chat apparently 🙁

8:04
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I’m the only one to turn the emoji on, I think.

8:04
Eric A Longenhagen: top 9 in Tampa. Fairbanks on for the Rays

8:05
Not John Smoltz: I, too, approve of Meg’s puns

8:06
Matt: Are the Rays the most frustrating team to play against? Their defensive positioning is nearly flawless & they have about 400 great relivers to throw at you

8:06
Bolt Lightning: How is everyone feeling about Vlad Jr?

8:06
Eric A Longenhagen: I’m still in on him as an eventual multi-time All Star, but tough to project him sa an generational talent anymore, especially since he seems ticketed for DH duty.

8:07
Appa Yip Yip: If the Rays keep it together, Willy Adames won this game for them by robbing two hits that would have scored runs. Also Snell. But also Adames.

8:07
Eric A Longenhagen: It seemed like Austin Meadows was emerging as their best player last year and now I think it’s Lowe and Willy.

8:07
Not John Smoltz: How bad/good does a *blank* for his last *blank* need to be to warrant a mention? 3 for 21 is like… Not abnormal for a good hitter

8:08
Avatar Dan Szymborski: People seem to forget (not Eric or Meg) that Vladito is just 21.

8:09
Meg Rowley: Not so bad that I feel guilty mentioning it but worse than the broadcasts ever allow? Like, not early 2018 Kole Calhoun or (gestures at Chris Davis) but closer to that than 3 for 21.

8:09
Eric A Longenhagen: I agree Dan but that’s part of what makes his size scary, too.

8:09
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Large Adult Legend Son

8:09
Eric A Longenhagen: Lourdes Gurriel double.

8:10
Eric A Longenhagen: teoscar up as the tying run

8:10
Meg Rowley: I don’t have an MVP vote this year (I don’t have a vote this year) but I think I’d give it to José Ramírez if I did.

8:10
Eric A Longenhagen: loup warming in rays pen

8:11
Eric A Longenhagen: fairbanks goes 3-0 on teoscar

8:11
Appa Yip Yip: Why do I like baseball this is stressful not having a good time

8:12
Guest: So, Cole vs. Bieber is going to end up being the highest scoring game of the day, because baseball, right?

8:14
Eric A Longenhagen: rays win

8:14
Eric A Longenhagen: which means I get to watch the statcast booth now…

8:15
Guest: The argument I always hear for MVP being a hitter is that pitchers already have an award. Why doesn’t the Hank Aaron Award get any love?

8:15
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Because MVP has a much longer history

8:15
Avatar Dan Szymborski: And it’s usually a hitter.

8:16
Also Ben: They Rays/Jays booth was good/fun

8:16
Eric A Longenhagen: you won’t catch me saying a bad word about J-Roll.

8:16
Toronto Pinch Hitter: It’s only the bottom of the 9th.  No need to Panik there

8:17
5 Run Homer: Not being able to watch the statcast booth is such a massive bummer after getting to listen to the regular Blue Jays broadcast team

8:18
Derek: Hitters/fielders also have Silver Slugger Awards AND Gold Glove Awards (sure, technically pitchers have one of those too, but only one, not eight!). I think the societal “pitchers can’t win MVP” norm is weird and bad

8:19
Meg Rowley: Should just rename the name the damn thing so it is clear it is most outstanding position player as a complement to the Cy

8:19
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I think that’s the easiest.

8:19
Meg Rowley: plus then we might put the “not a winning team” thing to bed

8:20
Avatar Dan Szymborski: What drives me especially nuts is the “not a winning team” people don’t even apply that logic consistently.

8:20
Meg Rowley: They do not

8:20
Eric A Longenhagen: rbi double by the totally hairless Brett Gardner

8:21
Meg Rowley: Gardner of all people

8:21
Avatar Dan Szymborski: “How can Trout be the MVP? He didn’t play in a single meaningful game this year!”

8:21
Avatar Dan Szymborski: <votes Trout 2nd>

8:22
Eric A Longenhagen: I wonder if the way this game is unfolding will impact how CLE deploys relievrs from here on out. Tough to blow high leverage arms if this lead extends.

8:22
John Le Carre: Constant Gardner

8:22
Not John Smoltz: Gotta zoom into his arms, Eric

8:22
Eric A Longenhagen: I prefer skype.

8:24
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Just updated the postseason odds.

8:24
5 Run Homer: What is it that Bieber is missing tonight?

8:24
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Outs!

8:25
Guest: Fried vs. Bauer tomorrow.  I say the latter wins the Cy Young and the game; what say you?

8:25
Avatar Dan Szymborski: The Cy Young is already voted on.

8:25
Avatar Dan Szymborski: But I think Reds win though ZiPS disagrees.

8:25
Jim: Eric, can you explain why people were so low on Randy Arozarena given the tools we see from him now?

8:27
Jim: And I am referencing general prospect rankers, not you specifically. You were first to have him in your top 100, I think

8:27
Eric A Longenhagen: Not really, I think it’s a better question for the folks who didn’t put him in their 100.

8:28
Eric A Longenhagen: I didn’t put that question into the queue, btw

8:28
Eric A Longenhagen: not trying to flex

8:28
LLW: I think my takeaway from the third year of the statcast booth experiment is that it’s proven itself conceptually and now they need to explore how the project evolves over a full season

8:29
Randy Arozarena: Any news on Matthew Liberators?

8:29
Meg Rowley: Yeah, I’d really like to see what they could do if they didn’t have to do so much education on what it all means every time they broadcast.

8:29
Derek: Unfortunately I think the existence of ESPN+ means that the Statcast booth has found its forever home

8:30
Meg Rowley: Which they do a good job of tbc. But I think they could really grow it into something even cooler if they didn’t have to also do that part.

8:31
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Yeah, it’s extremely helpful that in 2020, we no longer have to spend time explaining that OBP and SLG are useful and things like that.

8:31
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Until things break through to the public generally, you have to do a lot of education.

8:33
Derek: Do we know what happens if a covid outbreak occurs on a playoff team? The Titans situation should have reminded everyone that pro sports teams aren’t somehow magically protected from that happening again

8:33
Eric A Longenhagen: MLB has bubbled for the playoffs, which worked without incident for NBA and NHL. I think they’ll be okay. If someone breaks the bubble and gets COVID their team should just forefeit, imo.

8:35
Meg Rowley: Josh Naylor sure sent that.

8:35
Meg Rowley: Solo shot.

8:35
Eric A Longenhagen: Josh Naylor, huh?

8:35
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Nayled it

8:38
Derek: Did Robero Perez just show bunt there?? 0-0 with no one on?

8:38
Cole Carter: I agree, Eric, but does Bauer’s reveal of how the “bubble” actually operates worry you?

8:38
Eric A Longenhagen: I haven’t seen that.

8:39
Kiermaier’s Piercing Green Eyes: How much education do they need to do on an ESPN+-only broadcast? You don’t accidentally end up on the nerdcast. (Though many of us would love to be there but can’t!)

8:39
Kwah: Josh NayloHr

8:40
Meg Rowley: I think they appropriately view it as an entry point for folks who are curious about advanced stats as well as those who are already in the know

8:42
Meg Rowley: tomorrow is …. there’s gonna be… it’s too much baseball maybe

8:43
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Yeah, it’s gonna be tough following everything.

8:43
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I can have a lot of baseball on simultaneously but I can’t play close attention to more than a few games at a time

8:45
Guest: hitterish

8:46
Sam: I was just thinking about that. Part of it will be fun but it’s a bummer that it’ll be hard to be completely invested in a single game

8:46
Hugh Duffy: Was looking at the ZiPS Postseason Game-By-Game Odds (looks good!), but I noticed that it has Sixto Sánchez lined up for Game 3 and Pablo López lined up for Game 2, when the Marlins announced Sánchez for Game 2 and López for Game 3.

8:46
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Thanks!

8:47
Avatar Dan Szymborski: hadn’t seen the announcement

8:49
lmb2020: The zips robot’s weakness will always be Dan (this is a good thing)

8:49
Meg Rowley: Wow. Two run shot for Torres.

8:50
Eric A Longenhagen:

Do today’s game change the way you view the Twins/Astros series?

Yes, I’m on HOU now (26.4% | 9 votes)
 
No, I’m still on MIN (50.0% | 17 votes)
 
No, I was always on HOU (23.5% | 8 votes)
 

Total Votes: 34
8:50
Derek: I was so excited for postseason Bieber and instead we’re getting this 🙁

8:50
Eric A Longenhagen: same, huge bummer.

8:50
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Updated!

8:51
Kwah: GleybeHR Torres

8:51
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Now we’re reaching!

8:51
segiddins: Is it just me, or is Stanton just too passive on balls in the zone?

8:52
Meg Rowley: His zone swing% is actually up this year relative to last year, thought down from his first Yankees season/his Marlins years.

8:53
Guest: Do you and the other Fangraphs writers have a side chat going among yourselves, or is everyone not on this chat just watching the games by themselves?

8:53
Eric A Longenhagen: probably the latter, unless there’s a cool kid table i don’t know about.

8:53
Meg Rowley: He’s seeing fewer pitches there generally but not super dramatically.

8:53
Meg Rowley: there is no cool kids table – would imply cool kids among these nerds 🙂

8:53
Bieber’s Out: Indians pass the Baton

8:54
Meg Rowley: Pals, excellent news:

@harrypav @YinkaDoubleDare @AndrewHarts we’re doing a red zone thing — yes, really, like the NFL — from 1pm through forever the next two days. and then a TBD NL G3 Fri.
30 Sep 2020
8:54
Eric A Longenhagen: I’m actually envious of them

8:54
Meg Rowley: (sorry non-ESPN+ folks, though might make a trial more appealing as a way to navigate the next two days

8:55
Meg Rowley: )

8:57
Guest: Is the Fangraphs depth charts playing time scaled to 60 games or something else?

8:57
Avatar Dan Szymborski: 60

8:58
lmb2020: btw the new Fangraphs audio format is nice, hope it stays (and that everyone invests in podcaster gear). I like getting multiple voices interacting

8:58
Jeremy Tice: is this where I come for the hooting and hollering?

8:59
Avatar Dan Szymborski: My gear is excellent, I just need a better voice!

8:59
Avatar Dan Szymborski: This is for sophisticated hooting.

8:59
Meg Rowley: I’m glad you’re enjoying it!

9:00
Meg Rowley: Ben knows what his empty office means for sound quality – he’s working on it.

9:00
Derek: Is it podcaster or podcastor?

9:00
Avatar Dan Szymborski: caster

9:00
Avatar Dan Szymborski: It’s not broadcastor!

9:00
Meg Rowley: podcaster

9:01
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Podcastor and Pollux

9:01
Goat: angels should’ve made it

9:01
Avatar Dan Szymborski: The Angels should’ve a lot of things.

9:02
Meg Rowley:

Brent Suter will get the ball in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the Dodgers, slated for tomorrow night at 9:08 p.m. CT.

#MKEHistory | #ThisIsMyCrew

30 Sep 2020
9:03
Eric A Longenhagen: Part of me would want to ride Cole for as long as possible to save the bullpen and another part wants to protect him at all costs and would be thinking about yanking him after 5 or 6, even at this pace

9:05
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Suter Game 1 brings Brewers odds up a skosh.

9:05
Jeremy Tice: If they pull Cole, who pitches next? Johnny Lasagna to eat as many innings as possible?

9:06
Sam: My instinct would be to keep him out there as long as things go smoothly

9:06
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Up 5, that’s what I would do. No need to burn low-leverage innings. There’s only so far I’m going to stretch Cole

9:07
Meg Rowley: this is going to sound obvious but I think the thing I appreciate the most about the Statcast broadcast is how much they… talk about the game?

9:07
Avatar Dan Szymborski: +1

9:08
Avatar Dan Szymborski: The big difference for me is that when they want to fill time with an insight, they don’t reach for some cockamamie nonsense or cliche.

9:08
Steve O: They might need Lasagna to go 2 innings in a game 3 with Happ pitching.

9:09
Meg Rowley: I think it is good to have a range of broadcast options – not everyone engages with the sport how we do. But boy, I really appreciate having this option.

9:11
segiddins: the statcast broadcast feels more like a radio broadcast to me? but i may be biased, in that I think radio broadcasts are generally better than TV ones

9:12
Avatar Dan Szymborski: My hope is the way cutting-edge analysis of 20 years ago is the analysis today, the cutting-edge broadcasts now are the norm in 20 years.

9:12
Appa Yip Yip: I feel like my team’s broadcast crew does a pretty good job because they use OPS but then the colour guy will just up and drop a “he’s a ball player” on us.

9:13
PepeLatorre: Dont you think that maybe Bieber tipped his 4seam or something today?? The Yankees crushed it

9:14
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Hard to really see that thing on the camera.

9:20
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I love watching Cimber pitch.

9:20
Meg Rowley: I really thought his name was Adam Climber for a long time

9:21
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I always try to make Tillius Cimber/Caesar assassination references with him, but it’s a little too esoteric and dorky for people to comment.

9:22
Guest: THERE’S A STATCAST BROADCAST FOR THIS GAME?? I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO A-ROD FOR 40 MINUTES

9:22
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Yup, it’s much better.

9:22
Safety Stegosaurus: Bringing in Cimber here allllllmost feels like throwing in the towel

9:22
Avatar Dan Szymborski: They’re down 7-2, they’re realistic.

9:23
speaking of Adam Climber…: …maybe the Statcast broadcast won’t talk about Rays pitchers Patrick Fairbanks and Ian Snell 🙁

9:23
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I’ve called Blake Ian before

9:23
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I’ve called Cody Bellinger Clay on multiple occasions

9:23
Meg Rowley: I can confirm this (she says good naturedly)

9:24
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Less justification for Patrick Fairbanks!

9:24
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Once on ESPN, on a piece about Armando Galarraga, I called him Andres and someone in the comments wrote like 700 words complaining about it

9:25
Meg Rowley: The internet: it sure is the internet!

9:25
Avatar Dan Szymborski: About how dumb I am to think that Andres Galarraga converted to pitcher.

9:25
Avatar Dan Szymborski: When the most obvious explanation is I made an error and the editors missed it.

9:26
Meg Rowley: I think Cimber’s sock aesthetic is excellent

9:26
Avatar Dan Szymborski: yes!

9:26
Avatar Dan Szymborski: visible socks or stirrups FTW

9:27
Lunar verLander: Out of context, “having a split finger” sounds painful.

9:28
Steve O: Cimber is 100% gonna have a sub 3 ERA year with the Rays in a few years

9:32
Meg Rowley: And so here we have Cam Hill…

9:32
Meg Rowley: Who was 39th on the preseason list… https://blogs.fangraphs.com/top-46-prospects-cleveland-indians/

9:33
Meg Rowley: 46th on the updated list…

9:33
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Well, that’s going well.

9:33
Safety Stegosaurus: El Gato Grande c’mon Dan

9:33
Kwah: BHRett GaHRdneHR

9:33
Meg Rowley: This is officially out of hand

9:33
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Kwah!

9:33
Safety Stegosaurus: 39th seems about right

9:34
Kwah: College of ChaHRleston alumnus, only active Yankees World Series Champion.

9:34
Guest: “This is officially out of hand”? That wasn’t Brad Hand pitching

9:35
Andrew WK: When it’s time to Gardy we will Gardy hard

9:35
segiddins: Remember how angry Twitter was about Gardner getting the start about 3 hours ago?

9:35
Meg Rowley: (We can wish the process seemed more sensical even if the result was good)

9:37
Avatar Dan Szymborski: So many Oscar Pistorius commercials

9:39
Meg Rowley: Ok, now how long do you let Cole go?

9:39
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Last tinning for me.

9:39
Grant: would a high number of ‘upsets’ in the wild card round give MLB pause on making this permanent?

9:40
Meg Rowley: It might make the owners less inclined… maybe.

9:41
Bcat31: Depends on how “high the number” of  added revenues.

9:42
Hugh Duffy: I thought that Gerrit Cole would get a win tonight, but I did not think it would be so one-sided.

9:42
Avatar Dan Szymborski: It comes down money for the owners.

9:42
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Which is fine, that’s in their interest, it’s just not in *my* interest, so I have no inclination to carry water for ’em.

9:43
Angelus in the Outfield: Wait, where’s the stat cast? I don’t see it on ESPN 2. Can’t believe this was an option.

9:43
Brian CashGod: GARDY PARTY

9:43
Avatar Dan Szymborski: ESPN+

9:44
Avatar Dan Szymborski: It’s too bad Statcast gang got saddled with what is probably the worst game today.

9:44
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Not the game I would have chosen as being the least interesting!

9:44
Meg Rowley: Yeah, I’m surprised

9:44
Meg Rowley: can’t predict etc etc

9:45
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Haven’t tracked this, but it seems like so many of the ace vs. ace matchups just disappoint.

9:45
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I wonder if there’s a way to track this.

9:45
Avatar Dan Szymborski: geometric mean of starter game scores?

9:46
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I’m sorry, harmonic probably better

9:46
Meg Rowley: honestly, Dan how dare you

9:46
Meg Rowley: (kidding)

9:46
Avatar Dan Szymborski: heh

9:46
Avatar Dan Szymborski: It’s the principle!

9:48
Kwah: dan szymborsKi

9:48
Avatar Dan Szymborski: tears.

9:48
Derek: You did this, Meg.

9:49
Meg Rowley: I don’t even know what this is in reference to anymore

9:49
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Oops, did I click it?

9:49
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I think it was from the HR pun stuff

9:49
Meg Rowley: (no, I did it)

9:50
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I do appreciate a whole batter of Ed Delahanty talk PLUS the segue about him being from Cleveland.

9:51
segiddins: how do y’all rank Cole as a pitcher to watch tonight, purely on aesthetic value?

9:51
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Fine, but he has a high bar. And it’s more exciting, aesthetically, on a close game.

9:51
Avatar Dan Szymborski: That may be unfair, but aesthetics aren’t fair!

9:52
Derek: It was the HR pun stuff. Not that I’m upset about it! Just… You caused that!

9:52
Meg Rowley: Yeah, I feel the same – he was impressive and strikeouts are satisfying but more so in a close game.

9:52
Meg Rowley: which, if you expect the other pitcher to be bad, or even just not Shane Bieber, it’s fine. but this was a let down.

9:53
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Now this is as bad a start as I’ve seen from Bieber.

9:54
Angelus in the Outfield: Of Gardner, DJLM, and Gardner, who comes back to the Yankees and what do you think it takes to sign them?

9:54
Safety Stegosaurus: Meg are you done with wednesdays?

9:55
Meg Rowley: Chat-wise? Not permanently. Something has just needed to give over the last little bit and that’s been it.

9:55
Angelus in the Outfield: *Gardner,  DJLM, and Tanaka I meant

9:55
Avatar Dan Szymborski: They clear a *lot* of dough I believe

9:56
Angelus in the Outfield: A lot of people have talked about the idea that a bad team sneaking into the playoffs and doing well would make the result less legitimate. Do you think this extends to the Astros? Like, would you feel the Astros making the ALCS is more legitimate of a result than the Blue Jays doing the same?

9:57
Avatar Dan Szymborski: The Blue Jays played better in 2020. Projections don’t count.

9:57
this format is terrible: Is it wrong that I’m rooting for the Astros and Brewers in the opening round in the hopes that both teams with losing records advancing would kill this playoff format?

9:57
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Or they go WOW LOOK ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN

9:58
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I always like the *FanGraphs* WAR reference!

9:58
Avatar Dan Szymborski: (Statcast feed)

9:59
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Sean Forman’s a friend, but this is competition!

10:00
Angelus in the Outfield: I’d guess the optimal rooting preference for nuking the 16 team format is literally all the lower seeds advancing this round, thereby […] over all the teams that actually had good regular seasons. Given that the Yankees are technically the lower seed, sounds like I have my rooting preference.

10:01
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I’m not demanding we go back to two team playoffs, but thet regular season meaning something is important to me as a fan.

10:02
Meg Rowley: Incentives are fine, but honestly if the last year has shown us anything, it’s that if you want someone to do something, have a rule! Incentives work… sometimes. Maybe owners of good teams look at good teams getting bounced early and see a problem. Maybe they say, oh, we can be way cheaper! Have a rule, a structure that ensures teams need to win. Don’t depend on sometimes, or maybe.

10:02
Meg Rowley: this is purely about baseball, what else could it be about?

10:03
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Yeah, to me, great teams trying win is the appeal of baseball (or any team sport)

10:03
Hugh Duffy: Speaking of losing to the competition, anyone else looking forward to Kiley McDaniels being part of the ESPN reporting team for the Reds-Braves game tomorrow?

10:04
Avatar Dan Szymborski: THERE ARE TWO?!?!

10:04
Meg Rowley: Very excited!

10:04
Angelus in the Outfield: As a Yankee fan I’m extremely lucky I realize, but I’d also like to feel like anything is at stake in literally any regular season. I’ve been watching  baseball for 15 years and I can’t remember a single season where I was afraid we’d fall below 500.

10:04
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I know, it sucks. I’m from Baltimore. The Orioles went more than a decade recently without any relevance.

10:05
Avatar Dan Szymborski: But big picture, if mediocrity is rewarded nearly the same as excellence, you’ll got a lot more of the former.

10:05
Avatar Dan Szymborski: It stinks, but I *shoudln’t* have felt good about the O’s from 1998 to 2011.

10:06
Meg Rowley: Well at least Josh Naylor is having a good night

10:06
Avatar Dan Szymborski: But then again, I can’t just go back and be a fan of baseball in the exact same way I was in 1990. There’s a whole “you can’t go home” thing.

10:06
Lunar verLander: There are eight (EIGHT!!) games tomorrow. Which game are you most looking forward to?

10:06
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Padres. They’re the most exciting team in baseball right now.

10:07
Angelus in the Outfield: I will admit that I sometimes think about the Mariners and I have a moment of doubt about whether it’s just selfish of me to hate the expanded format.

10:07
Meg Rowley: It isn’t

10:07
Meg Rowley: let me free you of that concern!

10:08
Meg Rowley: I’m not really much of a fan anymore but when the M’s make it back, I want it to be a good team where I can feel like, wow cool, a good Mariners team!

10:08
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Bingo!

10:08
Meg Rowley: This will mean so much to my family!

10:08
Sam: Stanton hit that ball out of the stadium. Not over anything though, just *through* everything

10:08
Brian CashGod: 116 MPH lol

10:09
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I want the Orioles to make the playoffs. But as a GOOD team. A team I can talk about in 25 years and think back fondly .

10:09
Angelus in the Outfield: What are your thoughts on a significantly expanded but significant unbalanced playoffs schedule? Like giving byes to the division winners. I go back and forth. Cause maybe that helps Mariners fans without causing good teams to be mediocre.

10:09
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I’m not a fan of wildly unbalanced playoffs when you have wild cards.

10:09
Avatar Dan Szymborski: wildly unbalanced schedules that it

10:09
Avatar Dan Szymborski: is

10:10
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Those 1997 Orioles? I’ll remember that season. They were a really good team that year.

10:10
Avatar Dan Szymborski: In 20 years, I’ll have to be reminded that the 2016 Orioles made the playoffs.

10:11
AJ: I’d enjoy the expanded format a lot more if it were a best-of-2 where the lower seed has to win two games to advance and the higher seed only has to win one. I’ve spent most of the past week scared my team is gonna get bounced in the first round after getting the #1 seed

10:12
Avatar Dan Szymborski: It’s still not a big enough penalty for a whole year of work.

10:12
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Winning 100 games and needing to lose 2 in a row instead of 2 out of 3 against a 78-84 team isn’t that much better in my book.

10:13
Joe: (sorry, more format complaints) Whatever the playoffs turn into next season, I hope division winners don’t have to play WC games. ‘congratulations, you won the division, here’s home field advantage – oh, but you need to play a three game elimination series SAME AS EVERYONE ELSE.’

10:13
Avatar Dan Szymborski: You saw that at the deadline this year. The divisions didn’t really matter and most teams acted accordingly.

10:14
Avatar Dan Szymborski: The Padres did a lot, but they made moves that help them *next* year too (plus have the newness factor of not having made the playoffs)

10:16
Meg Rowley: I think it’s a little hard to know what was that and was the short season (I mean, it was some of both) but yeah

10:16
Meg Rowley: You want teams to feel embarassed if they don’t try to get better

10:19
AJ: I feel like Dave Roberts coming out and saying there wasn’t an incentive to win the division beyond wanting to win it was the death knell for the current format. It might stay expanded, but there’s gonna be changes

10:20
this format is terrible: It’s also important to remember that the Padres’ biggest acquisition, Mike Clevinger, was traded away by another playoff team, not a cellar dweller

10:20
Avatar Dan Szymborski: The statcast trio is doing a good job staying excited.

10:21
Meg Rowley: Yeah – he’s an odd case because I think they wanted him out after the COVID stuff but yes

10:21
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Yeah, I totally missed the Clevinger trade. I heard stuff but I didn’t believe the trade until it actually happened.

10:22
Sam: A matter of moments until Cleveland announces Josh Naylor as the game 2 starter

10:22
Avatar Dan Szymborski: ASh, good ol Le.136 at the plate

10:23
Kwah: In conclusion,

10:24
Avatar Dan Szymborski: x is a land of contrast?

10:24
Kwah: Go BHRonx BombeHRs!

10:24
Hugh Duffy: Excitement! 1 Up for Cleveland!

10:24
Avatar Dan Szymborski: 1-up? The Indians need a couple warp whistles.

10:25
Anon21: Fangraphs writers, still time to revise your NL picks! Braves hit better than the Yanks, and Bieber is better than Bauer… Good hitting beats good pitching.

10:25
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Wait DO WE GET TO CHANGE THEM AFTER THE GAMES? Gamechanger!

10:25
Meg Rowley: (You do not)

10:25
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Shoot

10:26
Avatar Dan Szymborski: I could upload some REALLY accurate 2020 ZiPS projections!

10:26
Meg Rowley: Alright pals, thanks for hanging out tonight

10:26
Avatar Dan Szymborski: Thanks for coming everyone!

10:26
Meg Rowley: We’ll have another chat tomorrow – exact time TBD but watch the home page and twitter.

10:26
Meg Rowley: Til then, be well and good night!





Meg is the managing editor of FanGraphs and the co-host of Effectively Wild. Prior to joining FanGraphs, her work appeared at Baseball Prospectus, Lookout Landing, and Just A Bit Outside. You can follow her on twitter @megrowler.

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