JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 3/2/20

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Ben Clemens

2:57

But I mean

He good

Fresh Basil

2:57

Considering multiple injuries at SP across the league, how valuable is Archer if he comes out the gates hot?

Ben Clemens

2:58

I think teams would want him. He's the kind of player you dream on. The stuff has always been good

What would the return look like? Gonna depend on who is in need

2:59

But we're talking about the Yankees wanting Matz and Archer is a straight upgrade there I think

Dick Williams

2:59

Should we just roll with the young guys at SS and C (Stephenson and Garcia) since they are looking better in spring training than our alleged starters (Barnhart hitting .091 like normal)?

Ben Clemens

3:00

Too early for sure to tell something like this.

I will say that Stephenson's strikeout rate is encouraging

3:01

I mean, he has great plate discipline

But it's just good to see him post it. Garcia, eh, hard to get too excited just yet for me.

It's early.

Norm

3:01

What are your Freddy Peralta expectations this year? Any confidence his new slider can lead to more consistency?

Ben Clemens

3:01

Confidence? No

Hope? Definitely

3:02

I've always thought Peralta would succeed as a starter, even as he's scuffled, just b/c of the stuff

I remain optimistic. I think the Brewers young pitching, in general, is a big source of upside potential for them.

Navajoshea

3:02

Would you rather keep a $17 Yu Darvish or a $6 German Marquez going into the year. 14 team $260 cap. I just can't get a feel for what we'll get out of German this year. THanks.

Ben Clemens

3:03

I'll take Darvish.

I'm also conflicted on Marquez

But I think Darvish has top 10, top 5 SP upside

3:04

and I think his floor is higher than people think too

Mountie Votto

3:04

Tyler Mahle has said he's comfortable coming out of the bullpen. How does a command/control guy without overpowering stuff change his repertoire as a reliever and what do you think his potential is there? Why not just let him stay stretched out in AAA?

Ben Clemens

3:05

I mean, if I'm him, I'd like to be on the major league roster

That said, I would be inclined to see what he looks like in relief

And if it's not 1.5 mph faster and higher K%, send him back down to AAA

!?BOPES?!

3:06

Do you see any bust potential in Rafael Devers this year?

Ben Clemens

3:06

I do.

Not a ton, particularly, but he doesn't have enough track record at this level to definitively say this is him.

I get that projections like him a lot because of his age, and that's a real mark in his favor

3:07

But if he puts up a 100 wRC+ due to a down babip year and regression in K rate

Like, sure, totally believable to me

JensenHoneydo

3:07

Joey Votto can give us one last solid year right? Odds on him being a .280 hitter with 20HR and 80+RBI?

Ben Clemens

3:07

I sure hope so. Votto is a baseball treasure. I didn't list this as something I was looking forward to, but every time Votto does something comic I'm happy

Derek

3:08

How much stock to decision-makers put into Spring Training performance? Like, my baseline assumption is "not much", but every single year it seems like big, important decisions are made based on Spring Training. Then again, teams have much data available to them that may just support the conclusions based on ST performance, but still...

Ben Clemens

3:08

I think that for the most part, teams are being smart about this

3:09

They'll make decisions on starting the year based on ST, though I think they focus a lot more heavily than we do on stable stuff and velo data

But it's pretty easy to roll these decisions back? Like if you give a hot rookie a month of PT and he is meh, cool, that takes care of itself

It's not 2001 anymore where Albert Pujols comes to camp and people go oh, he's the best player on this team, who is this guy?

Jordan Montgomery

3:10

First Paxton, then Severino with German still serving a suspension. I should have one of the NYY rotation spots locked down, right? Expectations?

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