JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 10/3/22

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Mini Golf Pirates

2:46

Non-baseball joke answer: Pirates because they're usually at the beach. Baseball joke answer: Pirates because they're cheap and not very good.

Kwanbelievable

2:46

Re: mini golf, my very unscientific opinion: I feel like it's super easy to lazily decorate something vaguely pirate-theme

TomBruno23

2:46

Because children love pirates.

i read fangraphs

2:46

What happened with Corbin? How does a slider go from one of the best pitches in baseball to one of the worst so quickly? It feels like it stopped getting whiffs overnight in early 2020

Ben Clemens

2:47

Excellent question and I've tried to write about him a few times, but I inevitably just get confused

Like, yeah, what's going on here??

It does seem like he relied on his fastball being throwable in a few counts to keep hitters from sitting slider

2:48

But that's not a great answer, and I really don't know

Zach

2:48

I believe Bautista and Duran are the only rookies that you named. Doval and Munoz are no longer rookies.

Ben Clemens

2:48

Hm, our rookie leaderboard could use some fixing!

I guess they're both over on service days instead of IP and maybe we don't account for that well

Jed Hoyer

2:48

Is Nico Hoerner the SS of our future? Or am I inking a FA SS this offseason?

Ben Clemens

2:49

I think they'll roll with Hoerner

2:50

The main reason they would not is if they are in love with one of the shortstops available this winter. Like if they think Correa is a 6 win guy and no one else is above 3.5, or whatever, they could get involved because he's the only one they want

I don't find that likely, though. Until I get evidence otherwise I think the Hoyer-era Cubs are penny pinching and trying to build from within wherever possible

Zach

2:50

Do you play OOTP Perfect Team 23? What are your best/favourite cards?

Ben Clemens

2:51

I do, and I can name two for you. Limited Edition 94 Ken Griffey Jr. and Willie Wells

The Griffey card is neat and shiny, and Wells is an unheralded St. Louis legend

Tony Plush

2:51

I don't know if anyone's noticed, but Drew Waters has been pretty ok for KC!

Ben Clemens

2:51

I had not noticed. Now there's a blast from Atlanta's past

2:52

Yeah 100 PA of completely reasonable offense, good work Drew!

Fan

2:52

ROY's?

Ben Clemens

2:53

I'd go with Strider and Julio. I am not sure Julio will hold off Adley for AL ROY, and the Braves duo is obviously really close, but man was Stridre's season impressive

Appa Yip Yip

2:53

The Blue Jays have not received any clarity on their catching situation beyond hey these guys are all pretty good. If they were to trade say, Danny Jansen, what would you target? Could be some fascinating challenge trade possibilities.

Ben Clemens

2:53

I tihnk it has to be either a pitching prospect or pitcher who hasn't worked out as well as the team had hoped

2:54

It seems like no matter how many pitchers they acquire, the Jays still need more

Guards

2:54

In part because mini-golf courses have holes with water, so it's natural to have boats, which have pirates.

Ben Clemens

2:54

That seems very reasonable

Some Guy

2:54

I appreciate Myles Straw for what he is, but his bat has really deflated his value. Who do you think is the best option to replace him in center so he can use his speed and defense off the bench.

Ben Clemens

2:54

Like, on the Guardians?

2:56

Um.... boy, that's a tough one. I don't know enough about Will Brennan's defense to hvae a strong opinion there. Mostly I think that if Kwan can't handle center, and the team probably would try if they thought he could, you just have to live with Straw's offense in exchange for his defense

Or I mean, go out and get a free agent CF or something

RTJ

2:56

If you were to invent a new season-long MLB award (i.e. gold glove, cy young, etc), what would it be award for? Bonus question: Who would it be named after?

Ben Clemens

2:57

I don't think there are any niches unfilled that obviously need an award. I think a best super-sub award would be cool, and it would obviously be named after Ben Zobrist

Christian

2:58

do you like Board Game Arena? They've sure added some big names the last few months like Catan, Wingspan, and Ticket to Ride

Ben Clemens

2:58

I do, and I particularly liked it during COVID lockdowns when I was rarely seeing anyone

I believe Asmodee (or maybe one of the other big game companies) bought BGA recently, which explains how they're getting such good titles now

i read fangraphs

2:58

How real is Ross Stripling? FIP says the ERA is real ( FIP is .10 higher), but xERA, xFIP, and SIERA say it's not quite as real (all around .65 higher).

Ben Clemens

2:59

Probably somewhere in between the two, like 3.4 ERA or so?

3:00

His heavy changeup use this year is a real reason to expect different results, and he's getting a ton more chases as a result

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