Dan Szymborski FanGraphs Chat – 6/10/13

Dan Szymborski: Right Red Ankiel? Kirk “The Flailing Dutchman” Nieuwenhuis? Lucas Duda and Aeneas? Jordany the Spin Doctor? The man of stupid personal nicknames is here.

Comment From Guest
Why is nobody talking about Tulo?

Dan Szymborski: Tulo hasn’t gotten much attention, which is amazing. I know I spent half of the ESPN franchise draft chat last week bitching about Tulo not being drafted.

Comment From Max
Has the official Kyle Blanks’ breakout officially arrived?

Dan Szymborski: Kyle Blanks seems to alternate his breakouts with being injured and craptastic for a year and a half.

Comment From CJ
Any Mets worth of adding in deep leagues based on the shakeup yesterday?

Dan Szymborski: The Flailing Dutchman is worth a looksee, but if you have many Mets, your fantasy season’s not going well

Comment From Grant
Any insight into Cole Hamels’ struggles? Thoughts on him going forward?

Dan Szymborski: I think he’ll be fine, though he seems almsot scared to use his curve at all now.

Comment From Terry
Do you have any thoughts on Jordan Lyles’ recent decent stretch? Seems like he’s finally learning the ropes after getting drastically rushed up to The Show…still very young too.

Dan Szymborski: He was quite meh in hte minors this year. I’m not sold yet. He’s better than replacement, but I’m not excited yet

Comment From Dan
What do you think Seth Maness would do as a major league starter? What do you think his true talent ground-ball rate might be?

Dan Szymborski: Back of the rotation, but not terrible. The problem with Maness is that while he has excellent control with that bland fastball, his secondary pitches aren’t that great either. Sometimes guys like that become Doug Fister – but Maness’s changeup is nowhere near as solid – but more often they become Josh Towers.

Dan Szymborski: There is such a thing as your control being too good, as strange as that sounds.

Comment From the Gregorius D.I.D.(i)
if a Tulo goes off and nobody discusses it will that prevent a tree from falling on him in the woods?

Comment From Well-Beered Englishman
See any wacky names you enjoyed in the MLB Draft this year? Apparently there was a draftee named Amalani Fukofuka

Dan Szymborski: Dayn Perry’s piece on best draft names was so full of win that anything I did would be a sad imitation.

Comment From Yah-seal Pweeg
Wheeler or Cole ROS?

Dan Szymborski: I think Wheelie is more MLB-ready and better prepared to take on the Chopper Bunch.

Comment From Andrew
What are you expecting for Gerrit Cole out of the gates?

Dan Szymborski: Has last few starts for Indianapolis have been excellent, but he has been up and down this season so I wouldn’t expect instant stardom

Comment From Alexi Oganado
Is it worth stashing Ogando in a DL spot in a H2H mixed league with not much left for SP or will he go back to the ‘pen? Thoughts?

Dan Szymborski: He’s worth stashing.

Comment From KCCO
ROS: Blanks or the Duda?

Dan Szymborski: Duda’s safer, Blanks more upside.

Comment From Anon21
Seems like the Nats’ chances of winning the East have collapsed into the 10% range. What odds would you give them of snagging a wild card spot? (Fangraphs projections see them as a .500 team, so they obviously need to get better/healthier.)

Dan Szymborski: To get a better answer, I’ll have to run that.

Dan Szymborski: The division odds, of course, have shrank considerably. I loved the Nats going into the season, but I didn’t think they were 7.5 better than the Braves over 162.

Dan Szymborski: And they don’t have 162 now.

Comment From Scott
Any explanation for Billy Butler’s power decline?

Dan Szymborski: Nothing obvious, really. It was nice that he traded some doubles in for homers, but he seems to have run out of dingers and the jerk he gave them to hasn’t returend the doubles

Comment From Joe
Whats wrong with J.Up?

Dan Szymborski: John Updike? You’d have to ask Harry Angstrom.

Dan Szymborski: If Justin Upton, he’s just having a bad run. If you thought April was the indicator that he was suddenly an MVP candidate, well, April.

Comment From Pete
D. Robinson better option than cozart for the reds in the 2 hole?

Dan Szymborski: Until Cozart starts reaching first base more often than a middle school chess champion, practically anybody will.

Dan Szymborski: Though there are better options than Robinson

Comment From Hank
So Erasmo Ramirez just barely dodged the dreaded Tommy John surgery…will we see him soon in the bigs?

Dan Szymborski: I’m not sure barely dodging Tommy John surgery is a good thing – the fact that you may have needed Tommy John surgery means that the situation is not good

Comment From Jose Iglesias
I plan to defy all odds and have a BABIP over .500 for the rest of the season and will hit .413

Dan Szymborski: I plan to marry Monica Bellucci and be crowned King of Kickass.

Comment From David
Harvey, Wright, maybe Murphy, Duda if the league is deep, and Wheeler if you’re into lottery tickets. Any other Met on your fantasy roster is a hole that needs filling …

Dan Szymborski: Well, Wheeler is obviously stashable. If you’re in a deep league, none of those guys should be options for you because they’re already rostered.

Comment From Joe
Would you trade Hamilton for Mauer? 12 team roto

Dan Szymborski: Well yeah. But I don’t condone what horrible things you would do to the other GM.

Dan Szymborski: I don’t want to hear that you threw your cousin’s co-worker into your torture porn dungeon until he made that trade.

Comment From mr. anonymous
when will zips give a ros projection for puig? does it take a certain number of pa since there probably isn’t much in the way of previous stats to go off of?

Dan Szymborski: I didn’t do a preseason Puig projection, so it will never appear on FG this year.

Dan Szymborski: I did give an update on Twitter Friday or Saturday.

Comment From Dont Call Me Sherbert
Speaking of Astros pitchers, how about North Dallas Keuchel? Or Dallas Goo-Goo-Ga-Keu-chel? Doesn’t roll off the tongue, but still. Is he bad or just pretend bad?

Dan Szymborski: Use the same amount of healthy skepticism you would if someone told you that they had magic jellybeans that turned you into a crime fightin’ william jennings bryan robot.

Comment From Youthful Enthusiast
Gerrit Cole is making his ML debut tomorrow. Next Stras?

Dan Szymborski: A little too soon to think of him as the next Lee Strasberg. I don’t think he even has a single acting credit.

Dan Szymborski: But if he’s been down there getting ready in method acting, he’s probably preparing for a starring role as #4 starter this season with tremendous upside.

Comment From Carlos Martinez
Do you think the Cardinals eventually call-up another top SP prospect Carlos Martinez for the 2nd Half push? Thoughts on him going forward? Thanks Dan!

Dan Szymborski: I think he’ll be in the mix.

Comment From Chris
Quick take on Gausman? I fear he’s doing a Hayden Penn impersonation.

Dan Szymborski: Way too soon to panic. You don’t go from top prospect to Hayden Penn by having 3 lousy starts.

Comment From the Gregorius D.I.D.(i)
is Joaquin Benoit a better bullpen Handcuff than A. David Hernandez and B. Joel Peralta for spec saves and overall ERA/WHIP/K-rate goodness?

Dan Szymborski: Ideally, yes, but Jim Leyland seems to absolutely hate the idea of using Benoit to get saves. Which is odd, because Benoit’s name is French and the French start smoking in preschool.

Comment From zack
Worse relative to the competition: analyst Harold Reynolds or major leaguer Delmon young?

Dan Szymborski: Ouch.

Comment From (Another) Dan
Are you optimistic about Dillon Gee going forward?

Dan Szymborski: I wouldn’t say optimistic. 3/4 guy which isn’t bad, but not overly sunny.

Comment From A hopeful fan
Wil Myers batting line this year: go!

Dan Szymborski: Hasn’t moved far from his projection.

Comment From Inigo Montoya
What would you say the odds are that Profar is still getting regular playing time when Kinsler returns?

Dan Szymborski: The Rangers are keeping their thinking pretty close to the chest. I woudln’t bank the house on it.

Comment From KCCO
Did you pay attention to the draft this past weekend? Any thoughts??

Dan Szymborski: I did, but that’s kind of a vague question!

Comment From juan pierres mustache
if a tree falls on tulo, there will be a lot of people angry at Gregorius D.I.D.(i) now

Comment From Pete
What categories do you have in your fantasy league?

Dan Szymborski: Usually play standard.

Comment From mr. anonymous
a big part of shane victorino being productive is his ability to steal a base. he’s had some injuries which i could see affecting his stealing for the rest of the season. valid concerns or nothing to worry about?

Dan Szymborski: I wouldn’t be too alarmed, but he was always going to see fewer steal attempts going into the season.

Comment From Nate
How long do you see Nick Tepesch staying in the rotation? Will he be sent back down when one of the injured guys returns to the rotation?

Dan Szymborski: He should be able to hang on for a while. I’m pleasantly surprised on how effective Tepesch Mode has been.1

Dan Szymborski: He certainly doesn’t have to worry about losing his job while Justin Grimm hasn’t lost his

Comment From Shmoopie
So I have no idea how long to experct Lawrie to be out and all I know is high ankle sprains are bad news. Approximate ETA based on similar cases?

Dan Szymborski: If he were a wide receiver, he could be out fo ra month.

Dan Szymborski: Those ankle sprains can really be nagging, I’d expect him to be out for a few weeks at minimum.

Comment From The Oberamtmann
How can your control be too good?Don’t you really mean you need movement on your pitches? Mariano Rivera has impeccable contro, but his pitches move.

Dan Szymborski: There are very few guys like Mariano Rivera.

Dan Szymborski: Players with great control can tend to be too much around the plate if their stuff doesn’t move.

Dan Szymborski: None of Josh Towers pitches had much movement, so he had to stay around the plate way too often just to get anyone’s bat off their shoulders

Comment From Guest
How good is Paul Goldschmidt?

Dan Szymborski: Very good, though the comments of people in franchise draft chat that were demanding he be drafted in top 5 were just insane.

Comment From Sean T.
Daniel Hudson re-injured his UCL, Kennedy and Miley have been awful, and Cahill is struggling. I expect Cahill to return to form. But should I be concerned with the rest of the Diamondbacks rotation?

Dan Szymborski: I wouldn’t be too concerned – there’s organizational depth.

Comment From Joe
Puig isn’t this good (right?). What do you expect from him in a normal season when the dust settles?

Dan Szymborski: I’ll have to dredge up that projection on twitter. It was 330/460 or something like that now.

Comment From Eminor3rd
Finally got around to Assassin’s Creed II. Very good game because, I think, your character is SUCH a monumental bad ass — what with all the parkour and cool weapons and awesome hooded clothing. Have you played any games where your character is more of a bad ass than Ezio of AC2?

Dan Szymborski: Borderlands 2 has alots of badassery

Comment From Fish
Any chance Teheran loses his rotation spot still after his recent run?

Dan Szymborski: No.

Comment From CJ
Do you think the White Sox bring up Josh Phegley soon?

Dan Szymborski: They should have already. I’m gobsmacked that they haven’t yet.

Comment From the Gregorius D.I.D.(i)
got a better Nickname up your sleeve than ManBearPuig?

Dan Szymborski: That’s a good one.

Comment From Andrew
Is a trade like Puig and Hafner for Rizzo for fair, for a team that needs depth?

Dan Szymborski: It could be.

Comment From Kate Upton
Castellanos is dominating AAA and is only 3 months younger than Taveras. Does he help DET this season?

Dan Szymborski: I expect we’ll see him.

Comment From Mike
When does UZR/150 have a large enough sample size to be meaningful?

Dan Szymborski: I use the 3:1 rule of thumb. Treat defensive data the same way you treat offensive data that’s 1/3 the size.

Comment From mr. anonymous
rotoworld reporting that there are no immediate plans to bring up wil myers. surely this is just the rays being coy.. would they really let him sit in minors after super two passes?

Dan Szymborski: I think the Rays are just being coy.

Comment From Guest
Any chance Arenado can win a gold glove?

Dan Szymborski: Not this soon. Arenado’s turned out to be better defensively than he was thought of when drafted (high school SS, but the question was if he would have to move farther than 3rd). Gold Gloves generally trail performance by quite a bit

Comment From So what!
I’m wasting time stashing Billy Hamilton in a seasonal league aren’t I? Makes sense to move Choo to left and scrap the platoon, move Cozy to the 7-hole and start trying to catch the Cardinals!…I know Billy’s not hitting, but who cares, just chuck him at the top and if he doesn’t have 10 SB and 20 runs in June, throw him back!

Dan Szymborski: I don’t think he’s a great stash in a redraft.

Comment From Gus
Why all the chatter about the Blue Jays potentially being sellers? With the exception of JJ most of the core pieces remain under contract. Is it the media failing to understand randomness in outcomes or are front offices really so quick to give up on what they thought would be a WS contending team?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t think they’ll be sellers. I think they’re in a wait-and-see position.

Comment From Dan
Do you think the Dodgers should keep Julio Urias in Low-A with the success he’s been having there instead of a demotion to the hitter-friendly Pioneer league?

Dan Szymborski: Wait, were they talking about demoting him?

Dan Szymborski: He’s been solid in all 3 of his starts and they’ve been careful with him IP wise

Dan Szymborski: I know he’s very young, but if he keeps pitching well in a very advanced league for his age, I’d be inclined to leave him there

Comment From Dave
When the Cardinals come to their senses and promote Ryan Jackson, what do you think we can expect to see from him?

Dan Szymborski: They haven’t shown much interest in changing things up at short.

Comment From mr. anonymous
rosenthal has looked awesome lately.. if mujica falters, he’ll be there to swoop in, correct? maybe the better question.. will mujica keep up his dominiance all season?

Dan Szymborski: Not to this degree. Rumors of Rosenthal’s demise earlier this season was greatly exaggerated.

Comment From John
When is Matt Adams going to have a shot at more playing time… he has earned it with his numbers so far.

Dan Szymborski: He’s in an Allen Craig-type situation. He needs some injuries or a trade to really get a ton of playing time.

Comment From Guest #1
Why dont we see more teams that are out of it doing stunt roster moves, like signing Manny, Jaime moyer, or other feel good stories, like the marlins did with that kid last september?

Dan Szymborski: Teams don’t like being looked at like they’re reliant on gimmicks.

Dan Szymborski: Not a lot of veecks around

Comment From mr. anonymous
wilhelmsen was looking like a sure trade candidate. with his recent struggles does this change anything?

Dan Szymborski: Too early to panic – it’s not like he went Wohlers.

Comment From Sam
Thoughts on catcher framing debate? MGL showed results, BP/FG seems divided on it.

Dan Szymborski: I’m still not sure how predictive these will be long-term – these issues being raised possibly could increase pressure on umpires to not call as many strikes with certain catchers

Dan Szymborski: But then again, a lot of umpires have shown they are immune to any kind of professionalism.

Dan Szymborski: If anything, the pitch framing studies are most valuable for demonstrating that we need to get rid of umpire pitch location calling like now. It’s not even an impressive technological feat in 2013.

Comment From Django
Say a few words on how awesome Jordan Zimmermann is please.

Dan Szymborski: The extra n is for nasty.

Comment From zack
Has Trevor Rosenthal been too effective in the bullpen to move the rotation? For this season. Not longterm.

Dan Szymborski: Short-term, yes.

Dan Szymborski: If you thought Rosenthal was going to get starts this year, some of the names that have gotten starts instead of him in St. Louis should have disabused you of the notion

Comment From the Gregorius D.I.D.(i)
every play Xcom: enemy unknown?

Dan Szymborski: I have not.

Comment From LarryA
Do you think the Nationals really regret signing Werth? I mean he wont earn his value, but hes a decent player when healthy and he lent some legitimacy to the club when they signed him

Dan Szymborski: I don’t think that it really did that. It was widely panned at the time.

Dan Szymborski: What brought legitimacy to the club was wins.

Dan Szymborski: How many bad signings did Chuck LaMar make with the Rays on the idea that it would create legitimacy?

Dan Szymborski: It was an ill-conceived signing.

Comment From zack
Will Carlos Martinez be back in the big leagues this year?

Dan Szymborski: Yes

Comment From stonepie
in a 5×5 should i trade adam jones for gio and heyward?

Dan Szymborski: I wouldn’t. I’m not a fan of baseball’s newest attempt to delegitimize their drug-testing, but that risk of losing Gio still exists, even if there are rumors that he’s not a target

Comment From Matt (Steinway)
Am I right to be angry with the Mets draft? High school hitter followed by High school pitcher. So no production from this year’s draft until Wright is in his late 30s. Seems like the Wilpons are still worried about future spending.Peterson would have been a much better first round pick IMO.

Dan Szymborski: I don’t think that it really did that. It was widely panned at the time.

Dan Szymborski: I don’t think you should be *angry*. In the Mets position, they should be willing to take long-term picks. The Mets kinda sucking for years was already baked into the cake.

Comment From Jay
Are you worried about Matt Moore?

Dan Szymborski: Not really, but I wasn’t as high on him as some were. He’s always had some occasional command lapses.

Comment From Puckles
Did anyone think that A-Rod article you wrote was on the level?

Dan Szymborski: Not yet.

Dan Szymborski: Was a little too weird to be up on ESPN

Dan Szymborski: http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/szymborski/ARodbadman.txt

Dan Szymborski: (that’s what he’s referring to)

Comment From Jay
Would you want Nick Franklin or Rendon as a MI in a 10 team mixed?

Dan Szymborski: Assuming a redraft, Franklin.

Comment From Deadpool
Julio Teheran. More specifically his walk rate. Is it even remotely possible he keeps that total down? Is that all that’s keeping him from falling back down to back end of the rotation levels?

Dan Szymborski: Yes. I told you guys at the start of the year not to give up on him.

Comment From Adrian
I keep reading Oscar Taveras will be up some time this Summer. How will he get the playing time? Wouldn

Dan Szymborski: I don’t think he’ll be up (unless there are injuries or extreme suckitude) until minor leagues are over. There’s no reason to not get him regular plaing time

Comment From Pitchers that face Tulo
How often does Tulo stand next to a tree with no one around? Can that be arranged?

Comment From ESTUPIDONALD
Sicnarf is just Francis backwards. But it’s still a rad name, channeling both Rocket Power and Pinky and the Brain.

Dan Szymborski: And Nomar!

Dan Szymborski: And if I ever have a son, I will not name him Nad.

Comment From zack
Is PUJOLS hurt or three years older than listed?

Dan Szymborski: Neither.

Comment From Matt (Steinway)
Sandy Alderson. Terrible judge of talent? If he does well, Wheeler will be the first player he’s brought to the organization that has succeeded. His track record on everything except selling off stars for high-end prospects is atrocious.

Dan Szymborski: The Mets situation has essentially had him rummaging through the remainder bin

Comment From KCCO
Was there a certain team you thought did well? Did poorly? Do you have any info on tough signability kids signing??

Dan Szymborski: Thought Brewers did a terrific job despite not having a first rounder

Dan Szymborski: Rays always do well

Dan Szymborski: I think the Giants did kind of a shitty job

Dan Szymborski: Christian Arroyo may be a math nerd, but he was picked way too high.

Comment From Guest
How do the NL Central standings look at the end of the year?

Dan Szymborski: Not too much different than they do now, though I think the Reds will have a safer 2nd base.

Comment From LarryA
Can you make it a whole hour without refering to a (your) torture dungeon?

Dan Szymborski: I was referring to someone else’s torture porn dungeon, not my own.

Dan Szymborski: And besides, I had to let all the inmates out when the plumber changed the water heater last month

Comment From Scott
Is anything at all different with Liriano this time around? Any reason at all to expect sustainability or just the usual failures?

Dan Szymborski: I’ve been high on Liriano (and was before ZiPS spit out a very optimistic projection)

Dan Szymborski: His troubles pitching from the stretch have always seemed to me to be something more fixable than just regular ol’ sucking

Comment From zack
Are you buying CarGos new and improved home/road splits?

Dan Szymborski: Don’t even bother looking at home/road splits to draw conclusions 60 games in.

Comment From zack
Do you think Harper or Strasburg will be injury prone their whole careers?

Dan Szymborski: Harper, way too early to say that. Strasburg may be — we haven’t seen him through a full year after all — but pitchers tend to be.

Dan Szymborski: Even pitchers that stay healthy, you could just say they’ve been lucky with their saving rolls.

Comment From zack
How much trouble ie the giants rotation in?

Dan Szymborski: Threat Level: Orange.

Dan Szymborski: They’re not deep. They kinda needed their duependable guys to be dependable

Comment From tehzachatak
Dusty Baker is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dan Szymborski: teh’s a cards fan.

Comment From zack
How would you handle the Yankees outfield: granderson, Gardner, and a wells/Ichiro platoon?

Dan Szymborski: Not a lot of better options. After not doing anything good in free agency, the Yankees hopes for alternatives was Austin or Heathcott absolutely torching AA, which they hvaen’t yet

Comment From Matt (Steinway)
Are we in for an epic level of embarrassment for MLB this all star game? Has it even gone to a franchise whose fans were this disgusted with the team?

Dan Szymborski: Baseball doesn’t embarrass easily

Dan Szymborski: Hell, Mets aren’t even the most embarrassing team in teh division

Comment From MC
what do you think about a system wide love for groundball/sinkerballers some teams have like cards and pirates? good value espcially if they have good def? shouldnt we ezpect babip regression less cause of good def?

Dan Szymborski: ZiPS deals with it (can’t speak for the others)

Comment From Guest
Symborski! Why do I always want to shout your name in Superintendant Chalmers’ voice?

Dan Szymborski: Chalmers would pronounce the z!

Comment From saskatunes
What’s with DET giving a spot start to Alvarez instead of Smyly? Is he now in front of Smyly if someone gets injured?

Dan Szymborski: I think excessive conservatism.

Comment From Mike
I don’t understand why so many still think Puig may not be here to stay. Ownership has shown they could care less about dead money and are interested only in making the team more attractive and competitive, both of which Puig helps far more than the likes of Ethier. They would have an outright fan revolt on their hands if they sent him down.

Dan Szymborski: Yes. Hitting like this, Puig ain’t going anywhere.

Dan Szymborski: OK, a handful of quick Qs and then time to go

Comment From Jordan
Is Chien-Ming Wang really starting for a major league team tomorrow?

Dan Szymborski: Yup, though it may be a one-and-done

Comment From RotoLando
Seth Maness’ nickname should be “Space”

Comment From Guest
Should the Cubs be actively shopping Starlin Castro?

Dan Szymborski: No

Comment From kevinthecomic
Heard Leo Mazzone on the radio this weekend – he said that if a pitcher can learn to throw a straight change, his left/right splits would disappear — any studies out there to prove or refute this claim?

Dan Szymborski: Haven’t not seen any.

Comment From Dan
re: urias, this was always supposed to be a temp thing until short-season started, and then he’d go to the Pio. I figure they should re-evaluate, though.

Dan Szymborski: Was it? I haven’t kept up with thei rplans for him

Comment From Richie
Can a GM “give up” on what was supposed to be a WS contending team without getting himself fired for goofing it up? How often does the GM have enough cred with ownership to do so, and does AA have that much?

Dan Szymborski: It’s hard to do. I don’t think that they’re really in towel-tossing mode though.

Comment From Bruce
What could the Jays get for Dickey, if they sold him today?

Dan Szymborski: It would be a disappointing return. They get higher upside just waiting, I think.

Comment From Mark
I prefer War Puig.

Comment From Blockhead
I keep hearing this hard set date for potential Super Two players. I thought it was a hard set percentage? What am I missing?

Dan Szymborski: There isn’t a hard set date. Anyone who thinks there is should be kicked in the groin repeatedly.

Dan Szymborski: It used to be top 17% of players with two years but not three years of service time. Now it’s 22%

Dan Szymborski: It’s been between 2 years, 120 days and 2 years, 150 days in recent years

Dan Szymborski: BUt here’s the thing. The more teams that try to game super-two, the later in the year super-two becomes.

Comment From Bert
Is Todd Frazier fair value for Starling Marte?

Dan Szymborski: keeper, no. redraft, in the right cerciumstances.

Comment From Sean T.
Have you tried the demo for State of Decay? New open-world, zombie survival game. Still pretty crude, but tons of potential.

Dan Szymborski: I’m not really into the zombie survival game.

Dan Szymborski: All my clan members started playing dota2 and dayz, so I can’t play competitive TF2 anymore

Dan Szymborski: I rather praise Jeff Francoeur for a year than play DayZ again

Comment From Bosh Powers
What’s your deal with Josh Towers?

Dan Szymborski: He’s just the most obvious example of the phenomenon.

Dan Szymborski: When you talk about modern knuckleballers aging well, do you go with Tim Wakefield or Steve Sparks?

Comment From RotoLando
Francisco Liriano – Is he really this good, or is he just Oddjob with a Klobb?

Dan Szymborski: heh

Comment From mike
What terrible Phillies signing will hurt the team more. Delmon Young or Carlos Zambrano?

Dan Szymborski: Delmon.

Dan Szymborski: Young’s being actively shitty, Zambrano’s only prospectively shitty.

Comment From Milwaukee BeerJays
Monica Bellucci. yes, yes YES! now that is what a woman should look like! (just praise, not sexist)

Comment From Milwaukee BeerJays
whats up with Jay-de-Bruce? is this the time he starts having a career year? I’m getting offers from my league for him.

Dan Szymborski: Jay the Bruce is having the usual Jay the Bruce season.

Dan Szymborski: If someone wants to overpay for the prospect of a breakout, let them.

Comment From Bam
threat level: midnight

Comment From AJT
Steam Sale sometime this month. Looking for anything?

Dan Szymborski: I don’t know hwat games there will be!

Comment From the Gregorius D.I.D.(i)
if a pitcher’s saving roll is done with a d20 how many points are we taking off the roll for a TJ? Roll -6? 2 TJ’s= roll -12? shoulder = roll -15?

Comment From Mike
My go to nickname was BayOfPuigs!

Comment From Milwaukee BeerJays
BORDERLANDS 2 DLC TORGUE EDITION. EXPLOSIONS AND SH*T

Comment From Matt (Steinway)
Needless to say, I’m an angry Mets fan today. Sorry for the bombardment. You’re a good sport 🙂

Comment From Dan
Alvarez started instead of Smyly because Smyly is no longer stretched out to start anymore.

Dan Szymborski: Yeah, it would be risky without giving him a tuneup start. I probably still would have, but managers are risk-averse

Comment From Maxamuz
Dan Silva over at Rotoworld is recommending everyone to stash M. Pineda. Worth a roster add or dead weight?

Dan Szymborski: If you have the room, it’s not a bad stash. Depends on how deep your league is and who he would bump

Dan Szymborski: You should take it on a pure Pineda vs. Your Option B rather than a philosophical “is it right to stash Pineda?” basis

Comment From Max Fisher Players
Do you think Ball Four (a must read for any baseball fan) applies to modern players or is a period piece?

Dan Szymborski: It’s a good read, but I think at this point, it’s more to get a slice of the culture at the time.

Comment From AJT
Whenever I see War Puig I think of Killawog from the Green Lanterns. I don’t know why.

Comment From Hareeb al-saq
Glavine was a Mazzone guy with a good, often-used change and he still had a 30-point wOBA platoon split.

Comment From Jack
Do the Cardinals really need to change anything at SS though? Kozma has been fine, 0.9 WAR so far (not great, but they don’t really need great). Why change when the team is doing so well?

Dan Szymborski: Teams that aren’t always looking to do better are teams that disappoint.

Comment From Jeff
Jeter took 25 dry swings this morning, that sounds dirty.

Dan Szymborski: I tend to think of it more in an alcohol context than a dirty context.

Dan Szymborski: I also like “baseball-related activities” which is frequently used.

Dan Szymborski: Does anybody talk like that?

Dan Szymborski: Are we having a chat or am I engaging in “sports social media-related activity?”

Comment From ed
How much does Jose Iglesias have to hit to be an acceptable major leaguer?

Dan Szymborski: Not much. Would like to see a .600 OPS at least.

Comment From JT
I just scratched myself and spat on the floor. Baseball-related activities.

Dan Szymborski: On that note, time for me to head out of the week. Thanks for joining me!

Dan Szymborski: As usual, you can find me doing various stuff at ESPN.com, chats and proj. at FanGraphs, DSzymborski on Twitter, and wherever the indicators of awesomeness and asshattery are off the charts.

Dan Szymborski: And yes, I will be on your podcast. No promise of lack of derangement.