JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 1/24/22

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 1/24/22

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Ben Clemens

3:11

I like Avi a lot

I like Wendle okay

They're still playing some players who don't seem ready for prime time to me, and their offense BADLY needs a star

Dan

3:12

Shouldn't a team with good offense but wholes in their offense and pitching fix the holes in offense first, assuming the upgrade amount is equal since you also get more at bats for your best hitters by lowering the out made by your weaker hitters and even the worse pitching staff has a chance at a combined shutout

Ben Clemens

3:12

If baseball were played on a spreadsheet, I think this would be a no-brainer

3:13

Like you said, there's synergy to improving your bad hitting spots so that your better hitters get more ABs

3:14

In practice I think it's not the case, because there's kind of an opposite effect in pitching where if your pitching is bad your staff gets overworked

and then people are worse, etc

Also, this is more context-dependent, but it's generally easier to improve a bad unit than a good one

That comes down to which players are available when, though

3:15

I guess in the end I'd say I'd prefer to improve my pitching a bit, but that I wouldn't be dogmatic about it. If the best move is to continue to have a bad staff but to just outscore people, then do it

There's no 'oh we HAVE to improve this spot' in baseball

Phil Laws

3:16

Are you familiar with the 90's Mariners when they played in the Kingdome? They put up touchdowns all the time and lost. See also Orioles.

The 90's era Mariners had to improve their pitching

namiki

3:16

Do you think hiring DH in NL is a good thing?

Ben Clemens

3:17

I do. I think that the game is more exciting on average when there are DH's

travis

3:17

is it possible teams already have back channel deals with Free Agents or perhaps trades?

Ben Clemens

3:17

Free agents? No

I don't think teams could be sure that no leak would get out

and it would look quite bad were it to come out, and the players might be incentivized to leak, and so on

Trade talks between two GM's? I could see that

Guest

3:18

Even in his dreadful first two samples (wRC+ of 74 & 83), Dom Smith put up an ISO of .196 & .198. In 2019 & 2020 it was .243 & .299. So, I can't argue with the advanced stats that don't like him, but he actually always demonstrated decent power before last year.

Ben Clemens

3:18

Yeah, he has a career .189 ISO, which is like slightly above average

Projected to be around average next year, it appears

3:19

But 'slightly above average iso' is not really something I'm interested in for a guy who strikes out more often than average, walks less often than average, and plays first base

I think it'd be cool if he broke out... but I understand why the Mets wouldn't want to wait on him

x2R

3:20

Robots calling strikes and balls. Framing will be a lost ability? And have you think about a pitcher/batter that would benefit the most with the robots?

Ben Clemens

3:20

Yeah, framing would die. I think it would really depend on the exact way they implement it, but if they just keep the strike zone as it is, people with steeply vertical breaking pitches would be the biggest beneficiaries

so like, Glasnow?

Gashouse Gorilla

3:21

If the owners get their wish on international drafts or even a universal draft, what on-the-field implications might it have? Would we see players move faster? Or is it just a cost-saving measure for the owners?

Ben Clemens

3:21

Cost-saving

Teddy

3:21

Who's your favorite DH to watch these days?

Ben Clemens

3:21

Shohei

But if we're not counting him, I enjoy the stylings of J.D. Martinez

3:22

and obviously Yordan Alvarez

Yordan is probably the most underrated player in baseball

he's got a 4-5 WAR projection and people think he's some platoon bat

14343

3:23

Assuming this is part of Houston's internal decision-making process: would you prioritize Tucker/Alvarez extensions over a monster Correa contract?

Ben Clemens

3:23

I wo8uld

What's the point in having Pena if you're not gonna play him at short? And I'm just quite high on the core they have even without Correa

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