Patreon Q&A July 2021 - Collecting your questions!

Here's a link to the Wake & Jake video that Bailey mentioned in the response: https://youtu.be/PxXFDQGy8N0

Evan Flechsig

Is there a value ceiling for a midseason rental late-inning relief pitcher? In other words, how high a price should a team pay, prospect-wise,, for a Craig Kimbrel-type?

Ben Smith

Hey Bailey - I’m planning on downloading OOTP soon. I want to play the game in its full detail, simulating day by day with full GM responsibilities. Roughly how much time goes into one simulated season? Any other basic tips come to mind for OOTP first timers? I haven’t dabbled around in simulation games since the Baseball Mogul days and I’m looking forward to getting back to it. I’ll also be watching your tutorials soon as well.

Jason Wolpow

Hey Bailey, Is there any way that you can do more prospect videos like you did this past week?...Maybe a bimonthly thing? Also I’m pretty new to advanced stats and would be gratefully you could do a video covering such things. If not that’s okay. Big fan, Thank you!

Hunter Renick

What is something about baseball you can see changing in the next 5 years? Also, in your opinion, which players are breaking out this year that you think can succeed long term, and some others whose production who you don’t think will last more than this season?

Zach Berner

Would you ever do a video essay on why you follow the braves?

Will C.

your preseason predictions have been a mixed bag. would you like to update those with some midseason predictions?

Cody Dutcher

Who are some of your favorite names to watch at the deadline?

Joseph Titus

Hi foolish. If you had to create a all superhero team how would build that team. Here's mine for reference. SP Captain Marvel C Charles Xavier (elite framing) 1B Groot 2B Loki 3B Captain America SS Spider man LF Iron Man CF Quicksilver RF Thor DH Hulk

Harper-Leighton Scott

Who is the best player on the 2021 Foolish top 50 that will NOT make the hall of fame? Who is the lowest ranked player who WILL make it?

Josh Getto

Please sir, i beseech you. Would you pen a video love letter to 1993 and micky morandini?

Tyler B

How do you think shift of starting pitchers from less nasty workhorses (in general) to more nasty specialists (5 or 6 innings max most often) changes the approach of front offices and coaches in the long run? Do you see this trend continuing or maybe returning closer to the mean of the past?

Wyatt Huggins

At this point who wins the NL West and is there any chance at all that a wild card come from one of the other divisions?

Harry Lewis

I guess this is less of a question and more of a request that you continue to mercilessly barbecue Dick Monfort on the channel until he is forced to sell the Rockies out of shame. I know you can’t do it all yourself, but please help out us out of our misery. Alternatively, if you’d like to help me burn down his house I wouldn’t turn down your assistance.

Jake

If there was one rule change you could implement in Major League Baseball at this moment what would it be?

Troy Lahrman

Is the introduction of games ending in a tie after some number of extra innings inevitable, and would it be better for baseball than the extra innings rule that pretty much nobody likes?

Dan Russell

Hey Bailey I have a theory that Matt Chapman probably gets an extra couple OAA a year just because of Oakland large foul territory. Do you think this has any merit? (I wish baseball savant would release plays they consider an OAA because Ive been tracking the leaderboard all year and its my goto defensive stat now.)

Nolan McDermott

Hi Bailey. I am a long-time fan of Baseball Bits, and a recent fan of Foolish Bailey, having found your account just before you began your OOTP Rangers series. I loved your analysis and wit and was planning on subscribing to your Patreon at some point. What pushed me over the edge today was your video on the allegations leveled against Trevor Bauer. I really appreciate your nuanced, honest take on the controversy, as well as your frank indictment of the acts alleged. Too often it feels like the world of sports is want to brush aside the actions of players off of the field, and that’s fine when it comes to trivial matters and even many political and personal beliefs. But this is issue is bigger than fandom. It’s bigger than baseball in general. Heinous acts like those alleged against Bauer, as well as players such as Marcell Ozuna, are not trivial. It’s long past time that the world of sports media took the time and effort to truly condemn the actions of players accused of sexual and domestic acts of violence. Your video should be the template. What, if anything, do you think Major League Baseball can do differently in treating players accused of these acts? Thank you again for your excellent video, as well all of the other wonderful content that you create.

Matthew Riley

Hey Bailey; what would be your thoughts on some sort of Most Improved Player/Comeback Player award kind of like the NBA/NFL. Who would be your picks for the year so far? Thanks for all you do for baseball king.

Nolan Costa

New to your patreon. BB is a favourite channel. You often hear of a sweet left-handed swing. Why do left-handed swings get their own adjective? Why would a lefty swing against a RHP be any different than a right-handed swing against a LHP?

Chris Jillings

Thoughts on Jose Miranda? He kind of came out of nowhere to tear up AA for the Twins this year and then went 5 for 6 with three homers in his AAA debut. Is he legit or just on a hot streak?

Paul

Is there such a thing as a catcher's ERA? If so, who's near the top the past decade?

Alex Raissis

Hi, Bailey. If you are wondering how my name is pronounced, it is pronounced like "gone." This is my first time asking a question here, and I hope you and others find my question interesting. 2021 season has been weird in terms of teams overperforming or underperforming their initial expectation. If someone said that Red Sox and Giants would be leading not only in their division but also in their respective league at the beginning of July, I would have called him mad. Same thing with Twins being in the last place and Cardinals, Yankees, and Braves playing close to .500. Assuming the season ends similar to how it is now, would you say that 2021 regular season had the most unexpected result in the history of MLB?

Geon An

Hey, Bailey! You know how MLB’s been doing those free weekly games on YouTube and they have baseball YouTubers down watching in the comments? Is there any particular reason you haven’t been involved in one of those yet?

NowIOnlyWantATriumph

Hi FB! One of my favorite Baseball Bits was the one about what current player would break the all-time strikeout record. One of the main reasons I admire that video so much was your usage of background music. The way you used the Minish Cap Soundtrack with revealing which players you've selected, especially with Stanton, Judge, and Trout, added a lot for me, and motivated me to rewatch other Baseball Bits for any other moments like those. I know you can't really use videogame soundtracks anymore with what you've said on your second channel, but if you could, Which 8 or 16-bit Soundtrack would you use in a Baseball Bit? Either in one you've already made or a future one? Also if I may ask another question, I'm a Padres fan and Hosmer is abysmal this year. My hope is trading for Gallo or another corner outfielder and moving Hosmer in the deal but knowing his production and his contract, moving him is going to be even more expensive. What do you see as a realistic scenario through trade to move Hosmer?

unwound bettah

How do you feel about 50-60 war type players making the hall of fame? I know each case is different, but recently I have been talking about this kinda thing with some people online and the consensus I have gotten is that these types of players shouldn’t make the hall. To me that seems a little off, I feel like the hall of fame is worse off not including a lot of these guys. Some examples of players that are in this category that I think should be in the hall are Sammy Sosa, Minnie Minoso, John Olerud, Dick Allen, Bret Saberhagen, and Bobby Bonds. Also I just wanted to add that Manny Machado is the best 3rd basemen in MLB.

logan smith

Do you think Ohtani is the most physically gifted player in MLB history? Bit of a hard thing to evaluate I know, but he's been blowing my mind this season.

navman32

For you and those watching, the lineup a year ago was Trout CF Yelich LF Betts RF Bellinger 1B Rendon 3B Bregman 2B Lindor SS Realmuto C Degrom P Degrom Cole Scherzer Verlander Strasburg

Will Kim

Was watching back some old Q&As and the first question of the first one you ever did was, Dream lineup of current players, now almost exactly one year later, it would be interesting to see how it looks now! Thanks!

Will Kim

Top 5 mexican baseball players

Angel Marquez

Also, thanks for your insight on my question last month.

Keegan Tatum

What if Statcast measured you on the job of being Foolish Baseball? What metrics would be created to measure your performance? How well do you think you'd do on those metrics?

Keegan Tatum

I know there's been a ton of deGrom stuff recently, both in the Q & A and your last Baseball Bits, but it's mostly been focused on the lack of offense and not much is said about the terrible bullpen failures when Jake leaves with a lead. While it's easy to assume the offense feels pressure and underperforms when Jake is on the mound, my question is actually about the bullpen, and not about the pressure. Do you think that relief pitchers coming in after deGrom struggle because their stuff is mediocre compared to his and the hitters that have seen deGrom 3 times are now able to feast on stuff that might normally be effective but after deGrom seems like high school stuff?

Jason Timmerman

This isn't an evergreen question because he could be slumping by the time you record, but where on earth did the Schwarber breakout come from?? Do you think it's just the high fastballs theory you threw out on twitter or is there more going on?

Chris Collum

With the spin rate going down, do you believe that certain hitters will have much better hitting stats or will batters all across the board increase.

Carter young

If you’re trading a bad contract on a winning team, how much do you retain and have it still be worthwhile? (Specifically thinking of Hosmer’s 20 million forever deal, but there are plenty of examples)

CP

Ever since the Yankees traded back for Locastro, do you forgive them or do they still feel like a real group of [chumps] to you?

kermithawk

With the Blue Jays holding court in Buffalo instead of Toronto, does this open up the direct possibility that Buffalo will become a potential relocation site or expansion site?

Joshua Watkin

Are You a yankee fan now because your favorite wierd player is on it

mike lang

Baseball references.com if u go to a players page u could scroll down to player splits u could see home and away splits how many outs and the count

mike lang

U prolly have to qualify for batting average and all that which is 3.1 AB’s per your teams game played which by the end of the season is 503 AB’s minimum

mike lang

It’s coming but prolly cause of inflation

mike lang

Will Cody Bellinger or Christian Yelich ever return to their MVP form?

Delos Chen

Any chance of a Baseball Bits episode about a Negro Leaguer in the near future? With the recent Baseball Reference changes, it seems like a good time for one. So many people compare Ohtani to Ruth, but I haven't heard many people mention Bullet Rogan. Seems like there's a lot of other great stories to tell there as well. Most of us know very little about the Negro Leagues and there were so many incredible players.

runrin

Where do you find small isolated stats? (Explanation I understand exactly how to gain access to an entire season’s numbers but where do you find the statistics for say a specific week or maybe a reoccurring situation(like the 2-0 count ops you did in the week of ohtani bit)). It’s possible that you’ve already answered this and I won’t lose loyalty if you don’t respond.

Phil Caldwell

You are Alex Anthopoulos and can make any 2 moves to help the Braves get on track. What do you do? Edit: Can be realistic or fantasy land. Also just watched "On Trevor Bauer & Content Creation" and just wanted to say I appreciate you just being a good person Edit edit: Nevermind :'( (RAJ injury)

Bo Brown

I think what killed Bobby Bonilla Day harder is that The Brands found it

NowIOnlyWantATriumph

Do you follow college baseball (other than to check out draft prospects)? Why do think it isn't nearly as popular as college basketball and football, even among MLB fans?

Max T

Howdy Julio Franco, new guy on the block Joe here, whats your opinion on any sort of video games not named OOTP or the like? I know you "suck at platformers", but is there anything else that you like to play? (sorry in advance if this is a repeat question, once again, new guy here)

Toilet_Cleaner_Man (emu pog enthusiast)

Now that the Mets have officially acknowledged Bobby Bonilla day, is the meme dead? Are baseball memes dead? Are all memes dead? Have any of us ever truly been alive?

Jared Natsis

Big cards fan, do you think that if Albert stayed with the cards he would have had a chance at the greatest hitter ever or at least great right handed. Also would molina make your top 10 catchers of all time list. Thanks, go cards!!!

Josiah Gulbro

Paul

You've mentioned how much you love the story of the Federal League as well as 19th century baseball, so I was wondering what are your thoughts about the Players League in 1890, the baseball players' first (and so far only) attempt to split off and form their own Major League? I find it to be a fascinating moment in baseball history. Plus it led to the bankruptcy of Tim Keefe's sporting goods company. Good times all around!

ajnrules

Hello Bailey! Which 3 trades do you think will be the biggest ones happening before the trade deadline? And what do you think the future of José Ramírez (regarding his time with the Cleveland Baseball Team)? Hope everything is well for you and keep the good work my man! Greetings from the 🇩🇴.

Luis Ángel Amparo

What do you think will happen with the Rays and their ballpark situation? Will them winning in the way they are drive up the attendance enough to not leave Tampa or are they gonna try that crazy Montreal/Tampa idea

Lucas

Hi Bailey. Do you have a favorite player whose career was limited to a cup of coffee (IE: one September stint or maybe even a single game)? I used to watch a ton of AAA games and always enjoyed when a player got rewarded with a handful of MLB at-bats. With the massive September roster expansion already extinct, I'm thinking these stories are probably finished now so I'm curious if you have a guy you remember more fondly than his MLB career merits. Thanks for these (and Baseball Bits, of course)!

Mike Steele

Hello, I’m curious what your baseball playing career was like! At what ages did you play? Position? Career WAR estimate? Most memorable highlight? Stuff like that. Thank you!

Ballah

Do you think that the Tigers could be big spenders in the next offseason? Their rebuild seems to be going swimmingly, and they are over .500 since May 1st. Mize, Manning, and Skubal are all in their big league rotation, and Greene and Torkelson seem well on their way. Could the Tigers be competitive as soon as 2022?

Mitchell Israel

Hey FB, what's shaking? How long do you think it will be until we see a billion dollar player contract? Will it be in our lifetime, or will we ever see it?

Will

Hey Foolish! Do you think it’s possible that the Nationals fanbase takes over the entire DC area and forces the Orioles to relocate, and if so, where? A lot of baseball history and an amazing stadium in Baltimore, but they are clearly the less popular franchise in this area.

Sean

How do you get your ideas for an episode of baseball bits?

Lucas Berg

Why isn’t Jazz Chisholm’s nickname “Big Saxy?”

Michael Piazza

Recently the athletic football show made a "hall of very good" for NFL players that had no realistic shot of making the Hall of Fame But deserved to be honored anyway. Could you make a class of five for an MLB version? You can keep it in the 2000s to make it a little bit easier

Joey Hickmann

Which division is the most competitive?

Ethan

Who do you think the RotY front runners are so far, and do you think someone like Ke'Bryan Hayes with a long IL stint or a late start like Franco will have a chance?

Christian Silva

Have you ever considered making any MLB draft related content? If so, would it be in a baseball bits format or would it be a second channel video?

The Wire Sports

In a seven game series, would you take a fully healthy White Sox or fully healthy Astros?

Matt Swanson

Could you give a short explanation on how to use wRC+ when evaluating players? What's the weighting for?

Ripudaman Nirwan