JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 3/9/20

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Ben Clemens

2:21

It's a show-me pitch, but if he keeps the usage low, batters are just going to watch it go by. So hard to pull the trigger on big velo changes like that.

And then the slider looks nice, fastball plays.

2:22

He was awesome again today against the full Twins starting lineup - 4K and 2H in 3 IP

I'm a big believer, basically.

Breakouts

2:22

many are jumping on the Limet/fried/Gallen breakouts along with others. Who is the best bet? Who’s the riskiest ?

Ben Clemens

2:22

This saddens me, because I find Lamet a very fun pitcher (particularly his goofy slider)

But I think he's the riskiest by far.

2:23

I have Fried as the best bet, because I just get it in a way that I don't entirely with Gallen and Fried.

Sorry, with Gallen and Lamet.

Gallen is a guy where he has a bunch of okay pitches and somehow it all plays up together. But I worry that it's fragile to one of them playing down, or to him losing a little feel. Lamet is so slider-reliant that it scares me a little. Fried just feels like the real deal.

Bryan

2:23

What do you think of the 3B battle in Atlanta? Who wins to open the season and is it the same guy getting starts in September?

Ben Clemens

2:24

I might have said this somewhere before, but I like Riley much more than Camargo.

I'll give him the edge on the opening day start, and I think as soon as he gets the job, he holds onto it. I do worry that the Braves will jerk with his service time to try to get him below the super 2 threshold

2:25

Which would require, I think, 1+ month in the minors.

But he's hit reasonably well this spring, and importantly has whiffed a lot less.

2:26

So maybe they just say eh, a guy like Riley should play, let's put him in the majors.

Tommy

2:26

Aren’t you glad you don’t have to trade the market today? Sheesh

Ben Clemens

2:26

Oh boy.

My texts today have a lot of crying emojis.

Some joking, some real

2:27

I almost always am happy that I'm writing about baseball instead of in finance.

But today I'm *especially* happy.

Dubon/Edman

2:27

Looks like they are ticketed to super utility. Does that pull value down?

Ben Clemens

2:29

I don't think so. If you're talking about fantasy purposes, definitely not, because even though there's not a lot of positional scarcity in baseball at the moment, having a bunch of positions for one guy makes it way easier to fill out a lineup.

In real life, being a super utility type is mostly a way to get more playing time

2:30

So maybe it impacts defense, but I think it's mostly a plus.

Dubon, particularly, could win a spot pretty easily if they decided they didn't feel like moving him around much.

2:31

Edman is a weirder case, but I think there are enough starts to go around there.

Ben

2:31

When and where do you think puig will be signed?

Ben Clemens

2:31

Dan thinks the Rangers should do it!

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-rangers-should-turn-their-outfield-sit...

And Puigcarious is an awesome word.

2:32

I honestly have no clue what's going to happen, so sure: Rangers.

I thought the Cardinals should have been in on him but it looks like O'Neill and Carlson are making me look silly. The Indians were never actually going to do it.

The Padres could get involved, but that doesn't seem like their style to me.

Though a Pham/Puig locker room would make me seriously consider changing team allegiances.

They're both so fun

Marcus

2:33

Hey Ben- what kind of role do you expect Graterol to fill for LA? Do you see him as just one of those Stephenson types this year? Big K's, perhaps multiple innings but not really in the late innings mix?

Ben Clemens

2:33

I see him as exactly that. I don't think they're ready to say he can *never* start, though I don't think he'll start.

2:34

So doing some multi-inning stints while being a reliever is a good way to handle this. And honestly, the Dodgers are so deep that he probably won't ever be an obvious top 5 starter for them, so getting some value from him in relief in the meantime is just good management.

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