JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 3/31/25

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Ben Clemens

2:42

Too early to worry

give it four starts and then you're allowed to get very scared

2:42

ROS 1B ranking, Goldy, Manzardo, Torkelson, JES, Soderstrom, N. Lowe, Paredes, Toglia, Mountcastle?

Ben Clemens

2:43

Ooh man. I'd go: Paredes, Goldy, Manzardo, Tork, then not much confidence after that. But to be clear, not a ton of confidence overall in these

Chip

2:43

One eyebrow raised: Louis Varland's stuff+ has surged in the pen in a tiny sample. I'm interested to see how the Twins use him.

Ben Clemens

2:43

his stuff+ SHOULD be higher

dude is nasty

I still like him as a starter but I can understand using him as a high-lev reliever instead

Guest

2:44

who will have a better year. Bichette or Vlad Jr?

Ben Clemens

2:44

I mean, gimme Vlad?

Mike Lommler

2:44

You can take the on-contact metrics of any below-average player and give those to Steven Kwan, with the goal of producing the best and/or most-fun hitter possible. Who do you choose?

Ben Clemens

2:44

if you count Noel as below average, him, and it'd even be Guardians-themed

Derek

2:45

How big a problem is the Orioles having an entire rotation of 4th starters (plus hopefully eventually Grayson Rodriguez) going to be for them?

Ben Clemens

2:45

I think a lot!

I write about this often

I feel like they did not prioritize top end starting pitching enough in general

the Burnes trade being the one time they've gone against that plan, and even then, they went for the cheapest ace available in trade, one-year rental from a team forced to trade

Hank

2:46

Let’s talk Goldy for a second. Last year, as bad as it was, his Zswing, EV, all looked okay. He got annihilated by cutters oddly.

Do you think he goes back to 2023 Goldy or somewhere in the middle

Ben Clemens

2:46

I do not think he goes back to 2023. But I think he'll be better than 2024. I think that if you werent' allowed to look at results and just looked at building blocks, his trajectory would make a lot more sense

glide path down as he ages

Bosoxforlife

2:46

OMG. 1st and 2nd, nobody out in the top of the 2nd and the White Sox try a sac bunt. Which failed but was an absurd play call. Where are their stat guys?

Ben Clemens

2:46

they have stat guys?

like, multiple?

they don't give me that vibe

2:47

The Brewers are definitely going to have to give Jacob Misiorowski a shot sooner than later right? With Civale out I'm not sure how you don't try him out.

Ben Clemens

2:47

Yeah, I think so

They need to try

They also are a team that is open to trying

I bet we'll see as much of him in the majors as he's ready for this year

Guest

2:47

8-0 white Sox lead… might be time to consider a bullpen role for Paddack

Ben Clemens

2:48

Paddack looked so good in relief

I really want them to leave him there as a two-inning type

I just don't quite buy him as a starter, not enough variety

Mr. Burrito

2:48

FWIW I'm writing this with a torpedo keyboard... Here's my question: The Dodgers have placed more players on opening day squads than any other organization, something that's been true for the past few years. This is true even though the Dodgers have drafted super low for a super long time. How has that happened? And why aren't the Dodgers given credit in the form of less crap-talk about them being over-spenders or, literally, in the form of comp picks that eventually will help the orgs that are less well run?

Ben Clemens

2:49

I don't think that story is very exciting

I have a very good friend who's a big baseball fan, texting me updates about how Dylan Crews looks multiple times a game

serious Nats and DC sports fan, knows his stuff

and the salary cap less aspect of baseball breaks his brain. like, he just wants to talk about competitive imbalance and how the Dodgers are an abomination

2:50

no matter how clear the evidence is that baseball parity is alive and well

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