Dr. Dinger

So at this point, I think it's pretty much illegal for Fangraphs to have a chat without Vlad content. Here's your daily fix: PF 9:34 How good can Vlad. Jr become? Trout Harper Correa level? Jeff Sullivan 9:35 Okay, so, on the one hand, don't expect that. Never expect that. On the other hand, I don't think there's a player in the minors with a higher ceiling. Elite is most certainly within Guerrero's feasible reach

Vladdy with a dinger and a walk last night (no Ks, obv). Only 1-4 tho, is he slumping?

A pitcher complaining because his opponents decided not to go for an extra base hit. Now I have truly seen it all.

But to that point, I don't know what happens in the event of a point tie in the standings. The tiebreaker may be wins, or it may be H2H record for the season. Yahoo states the tiebreaker methodology within the playoffs, but not the tiebreaker for deciding who makes the playoffs.

Just take your wins and multiply by 2, then add your ties.

There are teams that aren't scouting Otani? lol

No, you can't. You were at 322 points coming into the week and 9th place has 300. Ipso facto, you would have to lose 11 games of ground compared to 9th place (me) in order to lose your playoff spot. It's possible but extremely unlikely, even more so since I'm not even winning my week.

Chris Tillman, RHP... ERA- 7.91, FIP- 6.72, xFIP- 5.64, WAR- -0. It's unconscionable that a team with playoff aspirations is still running out this starting pitcher. I can't wait to hear Pat Tabler call him "their ace."

Stopped 'running' before he reached the bag and therefore didn't register a time.

Best prospect bat since Harper! The next "Best Hitter in Baseball" when Trout declines!

He's Miguel Cabrera with Stanton's power and Votto's PD.

https://www.minorleagueball.com/2017/8/29/16219122/scouting-report-on-toronto-blue-jays-3b-vladimir-guerrero-jr Scouting Report on Toronto Blue Jays 3B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The son of one of the top hitters in the last 20 years is quite the prospect in his own right. by Matt Powers@MattPowers31 Aug 29, 2017, 12:48pm EDT Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY SportsWhile in Florida to see some other prospects a couple hours to the north, rain caused some scheduling issues and a bit of downtime so a trip to see highly touted prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays was in order. I wanted to see for myself if this kid looked as good in person as he did on television (MILB.tv, Futures Game). Here’s what I saw. Seen: 7/21 vs Lakeland Flying Tigers in Dunedin, shortly after promotion to High A Note that Vladdy Jr was not yet hitting for any power, as the 18 year old was still making an adjustment to a much older/more advanced league at a time most other 2015 July 2 signees are in the Appalachian of Gulf Coast Leagues, while he was in the Florida State League. Of course he has since gone on a tear. Hitting: Vladdy Jr mixes patience and the ability to identify pitches and their location with aggressiveness. He's got that same ability as his father to go out and get any pitch thrown, but he'll also take a walk much more regularly than his father ever would. If anything he may have been a bit too passive at times- but that could also be due to him being new to the league. When he swings he's aggressive, showing the big bat speed you hear about and looking to hit it hard. He's got a great feel for contact and situations- he's not afraid to shorten his swing when he's got two strikes against him and will look to put the ball in play. He's got big power, but it's still coming in games- to be expected as an 18 year old going up against grown men. I saw enough bat speed, pitch recognition, plate coverage, and bat to ball ability to easily project a 60 hit tool on him, if not a 65. Power: I did not make it to batting practice as there was some rain in that period of time, so all I got to see was in the game. I didn’t really see the full power on display, but he makes good hard contact, has the bat speed, and has shown me enough power on other occasions that I also see the power being a 60 as well. That's a plus hitter with plus power. Defense: He's a big kid already and he's only going to get bigger. While he's agile for his size, he doesn't move well enough from side to side at present to see him being able to stick at third longterm. I'm not sold that he would definitely need to move to first- a spot that his athleticism would let him be a quality defender and a spot the bat still easily plays at. I can actually see him getting a look in left field to take advantage of his athletic ability. His defense is hard to project because it depends on his body/growth as well as position, but I see a 30/40 at third, 50/60 at first, and 40/45 in left. The arm is big and will get a plus grade, and that’s another reason why I could imagine him potentially getting a look in left field. Run: Speed isn't a part of his game and that's obvious. It's only going to slow as he continues to get bigger and add strength. He's likely going to be a 40 runner at best, though he's a bit better than that at present. He’s stolen some bases in his minor league career, but I don’t think that will translate going forward. Overall This kid is special. He's going to hit for power and average and will make quite the impact. He's to me personally among the top three prospects in the game today, behind just Rafael Devers and Ronald Acuna, and I think comes with a high floor as well as his high ceiling. Him becoming a .300 hitter with 30 homers isn't exactly something that takes a ton of projection with this kid. Really the only question is where he winds up defensively, but that only matters so much when his bat plays anywhere on the field.

Or you could just take everything with a grain of a salt and judge each of his statements and columns on their own merit.

Marshawn 12:11 Who will end up being the most valuable player out of Moncada, Robles, Acuna, Rosario and Eloy Dave Cameron 12:11 I'd take Acuna PF 12:26 Acuna or Vlad Jr.? Who'd you take? Dave Cameron 12:26 Vlad. PF 12:31 Follow up to Acuna Vlad question.... why Vlad? Dave Cameron 12:32 Bat looks incredibly special. Acuna obviously crushing high-level pitching too, but he might be more of a guy who is very good at a lot of things, while Vlad could be the best hitter in baseball.

He started fat.

Looks like Pujols may have some competition for worst contract in baseball: Ausmus: Miggy's back problem likely chronic Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said late Tuesday that Miguel Cabrera will probably have to battle back problems for the remainder of his career. Cabrera was held out of the Tigers' lineup Tuesday at Coors Field after leaving Monday's series opener against the Rockies with lingering lower back tightness. It's something that has bothered him since the World Baseball Classic in March and he figures to need regular days off down the stretch this season. "Quite frankly, I think he’s going to have to deal with it the rest of his career," Ausmus said after Tuesday night's 7-3 loss in Colorado. "Probably, it’ll come and go. What you don’t want to do is make yourself worse, or create a bad habit that impacts performance or creates another problem." Cabrera, 34, is owed more than $185 million from the Tigers on a contract that runs through 2023 and he has produced a career-low .745 OPS here in 2017.

Danny Duffy DUI Good look, pal.

At this rate they won't even call him up until next June. It's gotta be frustrating as hell for a prospect like him, universally recognized as one of the top prospects in the game, meeting every challenge they give him and excelling, and seeing other (non) prospects getting shots before him for non-game reasons. This kid went to the Futures Game and completely dunked on the competition; his stuff is actualized and his command is outstanding. The Rays are being even cheaper than usual and I hope it f***s them.

Of course Jake Lamb would face all lefties this week. FML.

Honeywell should be pissed off, he's completely decimated the upper minors with a flawless profile while the Rays trot out spot starters like Austin Pruitt and slide out of the playoff picture. It's embarrassing and underscores the big problem of service time manipulation. He would have been up months ago on any team with playoff aspirations and a league average payroll. They keep him off their 40 to squeeze anything they can out of fringy pieces, meanwhile he'd probably be their 2nd or 3rd best starter if they just used him. He has nothing to learn or prove in AAA at this point. Also, this is an entirely toothless suspension since a 4 game suspension means he won't miss a start.

From my blockbuster trade with SG (Cespedes, Lester for Devers, Torres, Dahl), only Devers is currently not on the DL. Lol what a s*** show. And Capps is a dead asset.

It doesn't really matter that much if I get in, I'd need a miracle run to win anything in the playoffs. Keeping the playoff streak alive would be nice I guess, but I'm also kinda rooting for z3r0s.

I would kinda like to see TCA throw the week and lose his PM Trophy in the process.

Yo guys I'm gonna miss the playoffs :'(

They also had police cruisers blocking off every street within a couple blocks of the stadium, they really aren't f***ing around with the recent wave of truck terrorism.