BlinkVlog

Every Friday, Eno Sarris — man of the people! — hosts a live Q&A/chat for subscribers. Any and all queries are welcome! If you can’t make it or just want a quick rundown of the most pertinent questions, we occasionally aggregate it all int a file like this. We picked what we think are the most helpful replies from Eno’s 100-plus, and dropped them below. Enjoy!

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Q: Heaney (55, by you), Jon Gray (64), Bradish (69) and Canning (88) have all hit the wire. Is that still the order you have for them? How aggressive would you be in AL only? I saw Bradish in your piece today.
(And a corollary: Canning has a decent stuff+ number but a terrible fast ball stuff+ number. What does that mean?)

Eno: Means I’m a little bit more squeamish about Canning. I might have Gray above Heaney today, so I’d be pretty aggressive on Gray. I’d have some keep em honest type bids (3-5% on the rest).

Q: Please explain to me what’s going on with Alex Bregman.

Eno:  Some bad luck but maybe also some regression because he always over-performed his batted ball metrics. Still think he’s a true talent .260/20 guy.

Q: I saw Lance Brodkowski point this out but why does your model disagree with Driveline on Yannier Cano’s sinker?

Eno: I tweeted about this but it’s because it’s unique. He gets the most sink on a non-side-arm sinker, so the model doesn’t have a good comp for him. Should be a big jumper once we re-train the model.

Q: Hi Eno does you Stuff + measure minor league pitchers? If so where can that information be found. Thanks

Eno: Google doc for subscribers: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AE1dNnudwRS6aLhWA1SArp1GoviUeHNcASXxtm3Le9I/edit?pli=1#gid=2029247604

Q: Why can’t Reynaldo Lopez get results with his stuff +? Feel like he’s always been blow up prone

Eno: I’ve been watching and maybe it’s this: he throws his sliders to lefties and they kablooie it. his pitching plus is 96 after all that stuff plus. Poor location and more of a ROOGY than is first obvious.

Q: Can you rank your top 5 favourite prospect pitchers that have been called up? And then name your 5 favorite arms that HAVEN’T been called up? Tiedemann, Bobby Miller, etc. for ROS and Dynasty purposes! Thanks Eno, love your takes!

Eno: Called up: Bryce Miller, Eury Perez, Logan Allen, Tanner Bibee Taj Bradley, Mason Miller, Brandon Pfaadt (mostly because of injury)

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not called up: Bobby Miller, Gavin Williams, Ben Brown, Ricky Tiedeman (mostly because of injury)

Q: Any concern about JRams declining barrel rate?

Eno: In a long term sense, maybe. He’s 30 and may settle in around 5-7% yearly, meaning he’s more of a .270/20/20 guy, and the wheels may slow. This year? I mean, I’d take a .270/20/20 guy even if I took him in the first round.

Q: Where does Bryce Miller fit into your pitcher rankings? I’m worried I’m getting ahead of myself with the offers I’m throwing out but I could use a young starter and he seems to really have a good grasp of the finer points of pitching with analytics.

Eno: He’s gotta be top 40 already. I had Luis Garcia around 41, Miller should be able to do that.

Q: What’s up with Julio Rodriguez?

Eno: Talked to him, they’re trying to target him low and in, and he’s just got to find a way to lay off or do damage there, but I don’t think it’s the kind of hole that changes his outlook.

Q: Are the Cardinals subpar at developing pitchers? Seems like some guys flourish after being traded away (like Alcantara and Gallen) and they haven’t produced much homegrown talent on the starting pitching side in a while.

Eno: They’ve had an arcane pitch-to-contact philosophy that some in the org are trying to change… but not all. in the midst of trying to turn the tanker but it’s going to take some time and effort.

Q: How did Luis Ortiz’s pitch data look in his 1st MLB start this week?

Eno: Everything looked great again, I bet his pitches were being mislabeled in the minors.

Q: From what I’ve read on Pfaadt these first two starts he has struggled with command. How has his stuff+ been? (I know it’s a small sample size)

Eno: 106 fastball, 106 slider, 101 change, 73 curve, above-average stuff across the board almost and above-average locations, I think he’ll right the ship

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Q: In a dynasty league, would you trade Luis Castillo for Bobby Miller and Miguel Vargas?

Eno: If I was selling maybe. Vargas has some really nice abilities but doesn’t hit the ball hard enough to be a star… yet. Right now, looks like a guy that could hit .270 with 20 homers and 10 steals in a good year… but what if he starts to hit the ball harder as he ages — he’s only 23. Good piece to buy.

Q: Hi Eno! Would love to hear your thoughts on Domingo German. He’s ~Top 5 in chase rate, SwStr%, and CSW% so far this season, yet #136 on your updated SP rankings. HR/9 isn’t great, but what else am I missing? Thanks!

Eno: Short answer is just good but not great. Maybe he should’ve been higher as a guy with innings, but I figure one good pitch plus some other ok ones and ok command in a tough park (homers) will produce about a league-average ERA, which is below-average for fantasy

(Top photo: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)

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