Baseball Prospectus - Chat with Mark Barry

Back to Chat | Baseball Prospectus Home

Chat: Mark Barry

Welcome to Baseball Prospectus' Monday July 29, 2019 1:00 PM ET chat session with Mark Barry.

Mark Barry is an author on Baseball Prospectus' fantasy team and frequent responder to your Bat Signal questions.

Mark Barry: Chatting to the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood soundtrack, because why not. Let's chat.

infieldflygrl (Oregon): I'm just here for the atmosphere

Mark Barry: I don't blame you. Fun atmosphere.

Craig (Chicago): What contenders would have interest in Eric Sogard? Is he an everyday starter for any of the top teams? CHI? Who else?

Mark Barry: I'd imagine the Rays would have some interest.

I wrote about this a little for the TA that should be rolling out soon, I think worst case Sogard is the strong side of a utility platoon, with some everyday upside.

Vic (Baltimore): Please rank for last 2 month production. Keuchel, Lester, Samardzija, Arrieta, Porcello.

Mark Barry: I think you have them in the right order.

The Colonel (Pasadena, CA): When Bryan Reynolds' .411 BABIP comes back to Earth, what kind of player are we looking at?

Mark Barry: It's weird, because we've been waiting for the BABIP to come back to earth for like three months now. Reynolds hits it really hard (79th percentile) and his expected batting average (from Statcast) is in the 91st percentile. It's possible he's just a less-prolific version of this, so floating around .300 with 15ish homers. The batting average is definitely useful, even without the power.

ironcityguys (urban area): Does Bo Bichette have any immediate fantasy impact? On another note, John Gant has not pitched as well as in the first half, and is not currently getting saves. Do you foresee him moving back into the closer role?

Mark Barry: The real answer is I don't know, because it's hard to gauge which prospects will pop immediately and which will take a bit to acclimate. That said, I'm picking Bichette up wherever I can, and I *think* he's a guy that could be good, or at least good-ish, right away.

As for Gant, I would not anticipate he'll get many more saves this season, at least on purpose.

Craig (Chicago): Which trade candidate pitcher do you expect to be best for remainder of season - L Lynn, M Minor, M Leake?

Mark Barry: I'll take Minor, followed by a decent gap, then Lynn, followed by a bigger gap, then Leake.

ElBee (MA): Who has a brighter future as a SP? Dane Dunning or Jhoan Duran?

Mark Barry: Duran for me. I'm excited to see what he does in Double A.

Vic (Baltimore): Has Teoscar turned the corner?

Mark Barry: I think Teoscar is mostly a product of your expectations. He strikes out so, so much, he's going to be super streaky and hard to rely on. If you're in a deep enough league and can put up with the lulls (because there will be many), sometimes you'll get the months where he hits seven homers with a 1.067 OPS.

Elton (Pacific Northwest): Heading into year 5 of my rebuild, just kicked off my trade deadline purge by acquiring Taijuan Walker for my Wilson Ramos. Great move, right?

Mark Barry: I think the move was ok, Elton. If Walker comes back from TJ surgery like a man possessed, then we can talk greatness.

Craig (Chicago): Is Adonis Medina more likely to be starting in PHI in the next two months or used as trade bait to get another arm?

Mark Barry: I would think it's more likely he's traded, but I wouldn't bet on either scenario for this season.

Ian (Los Angeles): I am in first place with the most points scored in a daily H2H league where pitching dominates. I have Kopech, Hunter Greene and Dustin May as prospects, but more importantly also have Wander Franco. I've through some luck (and skill!) put together a bunch of "good" starters, Woodruff, Wainwright, Darvish, Stroman, E-Rod, and Ryu. I've essentially been offered DeGrom for Franco. Do I take it as insurance for Woodruff and the increased likelihood of winning this year, or do I hold on to Franco and try to go for more of a dynasty approach with the pitching prospects and Franco? I should also point out I have Bellinger, Gleyber Torres, Puig, Donaldson, Rendon, Wil Myers and Schoop as well and this is a 30 team league with 10 MLB keepers and 8 MILB keepers that keeps players forever. Help!

Mark Barry: That's a really close call, but I think I would make the move. In that context, you'd get to hang on to deGrom, so essentially your staff would be set up for a few years to take advantage of the prime of your hitters, which is pretty much now. I *love* Franco, but championships are nice too.

Vic (Baltimore): I can have Taylor Trammell for 2020 and 2021? Or, I can trade him for 2 months of Chris Sale. Should I? Do you feel Trammell is receiving full time MLB ABs this time next year?

Mark Barry: I love Trammell, but he hasn't really been very good this year. I'd be surprised if he's seeing regular PT this time next season. Which means it's 2021 Trammell vs 2019 Sale. I'm taking Sale.

The Colonel (Pasadena, CA): Please rank their bats only: Bo Bichette, Carter Kieboom, Nick Senzel, Brendan Rodgers.

Mark Barry: Kieboom..Senzel...Bichette.....Rodgers

Craig (Chicago): What is Austin Gonber’s health status? Can he help STL down the stretch as a starter?

Mark Barry: It's a little concerning that the last update was that he had a rehab setback with shoulder fatigue, and that was a month ago. I wouldn't count on much from Gomber this season, and then maybe be pleasantly surprised with a handful of September starts.

AJ (The depths of nowhere...): How would you rank Goldy, JDM and Springer in dynasty? Thoughts on their next 2-3 years of production?

Mark Barry: Since Goldy doesn't run anymore, I'm going JDM, Springer & Goldy.

Jimmy James (WNYX Studios): Really happy to hear TINO back on the airwaves! Looking forward to seeing what you and JP do with the show - and perhaps getting a spot in one of the leagues...

Mark Barry: Thanks, buddy! We're excited to see how it goes. And I'm sure we'll have some more info soon on the leagues!

Mark Barry: Let's wrap up there. Thanks for hanging out. You guys are the coolest. Also check out the relaunch of TINO with J.P. Breen and I, where we're mostly trying to not run things into the ground.