JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 2/24/2020

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Ben Clemens

3:06

I am a big fan of auctions. Also a big fan of game theory in general. And while I think Power Grid is super fun, I do think it can get bogged down sometimes. It is *heavy*. I like it but it's kind of a rare treat, not a game you sohuld play frequently, I don't think.

Yo-Yo

3:06

Do you think the Cards win fewer than 80 games? ZiPS and PECOTA have them around 80, but that's with a healthy Mikolas, which is a huge question mark now. On the other hand, perhaps the projection systems are low on a few guys. What do you think?

Ben Clemens

3:06

I think the system is a bit lower on them than I would be but not by a ton. NL Central is just going to be really congested

3:07

They have enough better-than-replacement pitching depth that the Mikolas injury won't crush them. But it does mean the inevitable next injury will hurt more.

Modern Sport Fan

3:07

Yu Darvish should hit 2500+ innings between the NPB and MLB with a sub-3 ERA and RA9. Does anyone notice or care?

Ben Clemens

3:07

They should! Darvish is awesome

3:08

I think he's been less appreciated than he deserves over his career because his run prevention hasn't quite stacked up to his strikeout and walk numbers

3:09

But he's so fun to watch, he's a great personality, and he's a top tier major league pitcher

I have tried to catch most Darvish starts since I started writing full-time.

devin has cheeto lips

3:09

Liverpool v. West Ham on now...who you got?

Ben Clemens

3:09

Hammers!

I lived in Canary Wharf for a summer of training after college and started following them

3:10

Because you could go to a game without it being Chelsea levels of stupidly expensive

I am very much a casual soccer fan, and it still throws me that they and Aston Villa have the same colors

But I have a jersey, so count me in

Greg

3:10

When my wife and I were trading it used to drive us both nuts when her young nieces would beat us at "Pit" ;-)

Ben Clemens

3:10

My family used to play Pit almost every year at Christmas because my stepdad loves it.

Ton of fun.

3:11

Pit and Acquire are two games that have really stood the test of time.

Sandy Alcantara

3:11

How will I be this year? Will my season be more like my first or second half of last year?

Ben Clemens

3:12

Were his halves all that different?

I guess he struck out more batters in the second half

3:13

Gave up more dingers, on a few more fly balls.

I dunno. I liked Michael Augustine's writeup of him, which is neither here nor there

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/sandy-alcantara-has-prodigious-flexibility...

But can't miss a chance to shamelessly promote FG

Drunk Vince Coleman

3:13

Did you see KK Kim's slow curve in action the other day? His stuff is really fun. Hope he wields it effectively!

Ben Clemens

3:13

Yeah uh... I'm not convinced that pitch is any good.

3:14

I tuned into his inning a few days ago

Innings? I can't remember offhand

Fastball looked livelier than I expected, slider was nasty, and the curveball looked just like a lollipop

Greg

3:15

Puzzles... do you KenKen then? When I was living in NYC I always wanted to attend the "championships" and figure out just how good (or bad) I was ;-)

Ben Clemens

3:15

I did for a bit but I have stopped. It's fun, more fun to me than sudoku, but I dunno, I just found other stuff to occupy my time.

BrandonLoweGotPop

3:15

How often do you find yourself looking at Mike Trouts stat page? I feel like I do every time I come here. Do you still just look at it in amazement, or are you desensitized from looking at numbers constantly?

Ben Clemens

3:15

I do a lot, but for a slightly different reason. I love doing absurd hypothetical articles (what if the astros never swung at breaking balls outside the zone, etc)

3:16

And Trout is a great vessel for absurd hypotheticals

And also a good signpost

So I use him as a benchmark when I'm creating players whole cloth, and then I also enjoy messing around with HIS stats

A moment, please. Ruby wants to go outside for a bit.

Soroka or Lamet?

3:18

Who would you rather have?

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