Posted by Anthony Franco | on April 24, 2026 3:36pm CDT
Anthony Franco
- Hello, I hope all is well!
- Looking forward to more of this, let’s move on
M
- Which under .500 teams do you think might make the postseason, and which over .500 teams do you think might regress and miss out?
Anthony Franco
- Seattle on the good side. There are a handful of teams slightly over .500 that I doubt are playoff teams (A’s, Tampa Bay, St. Louis) but most of the top teams in the league feel good.
- Cincinnati is the exception, I think, but they are a viable threat for the NL Central or Wild Card team even if they are punching above their weight right now.
JimJam
- Realistic expectations for Giolito in SD?
Anthony Franco
- He is better than Matt Waldron, Germán Márquez and Walker Buehler
- I’d guess he’s a real talent with a mid 4.00s ERA at the moment but a good fifth starter. They are very confused about what they will get out of Canning when he returns though
A visitor
- How long will the Brewers let the left side of the infield hit before making a change?
Anthony Franco
- Just don’t have any other options right now. Jett Williams and Cooper Pratt are no-hitters in Triple-A and clearly don’t trust Tyler Black there defensively.
- Calling up 18-year-old Jesús Made from Double-A (where he has 23 games played) is too aggressive. Maybe late in the season he forces his way into the picture but he should take it out for now
Dave Dombrowski
- It’s July 15th and the Phillies are 15 games out of a playoff spot. Zach Wheeler, who has promised to retire after the unlikely 2027 season, is playing well and improving with each start. Do I trade him for the best return available, or hope ’26 is a blip and ’27 is really playable?
Anthony Franco
- I don’t see any way Wheeler is being sold. They have to assume that the ’27 season is playable — it will put the odds of the entire season under 2% — and they will still work even if this year is a total disaster.
Cat_Herder
- All the talk of the offseason was Skubal and Framber. What do you think of Casey Mize? He looks like a solid starter in the rotation right now. Especially since Jack doesn’t seem reliable and Verlander is still rehabbing.
Anthony Franco
- I don’t feel much different about him than I did coming into the season. Splitter got much better results than last year but that is still one pitch
- A solid medium rotation starter seems fine. A good player, he admits he’s their third-best arm now that Reese Olson is out
RAGBRAI
- Does Curtis Mead have anything to be excited about this year or next in Washington?
Anthony Franco
- Maybe he wasn’t given career production but I don’t have a good explanation as to why he wasn’t at least an above average hitter
- He has hit throughout his minor league career and his pitch recognition, contact skills and bat speed are all serviceable.
- Still, I’m not a great player given his lack of athleticism and defensive value, but I’m not entirely sure he can do his job as a bench player.
Jose Soriano
- I know I can’t keep this up, but can I keep being REALLY nice? Maybe he went to Cy Young?
Arrer Prone
- MLBTR has always said that Soriano is a really good pitcher, but after last year I started to wonder. Obviously I was wrong, but does it surprise you how dominant he has been this season so far? And does this make him a clear Cy Young candidate, or at least in the running, even if it’s too early?
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