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Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 4/10/23

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Ben Clemens

2:16

In an OBP league, I don't think so. In an average league.... I'd be tempted, but I dunno, a lot of people I think are smart are really buying into the Donovan power breakout. I can't say eitehr way but that would certainly tempt me

Tony Plush

2:16

I know it's only two starts but my goodness gracious what have they done with Bubic??

Nate

2:17

Kris Bubic - only two starts, but looks like a completely different pitcher under the direction of Brian Sweeney. Added a slider and the stuff seems to be playing much better. Any hope for him to become more than a swingman/back of the rotation guy?

Ben Clemens

2:18

Just posting all these so we can all revel in Bubic's newfound competence together

Guest

2:18

Loved the 5 things I liked this week piece, almost as good as O’Neil Cruz’s injury is bad. 😢

Ben Clemens

2:18

Thank you!

Oneil’s Biggest Fan

2:18

O’Neil Cruz has 7 walks to 8 Ks 18%/20% BB/K) and Ked only 25% in spring training. Small samples, but for us Bucs’ fans it was starting to feel like he could be the real thing. He was even playing better defense. Now he will be out for 3ish months. In light of this sad news I want to get a happy answer so: Is he going to be a superstar or the greatest superstar? And why can’t the Pirates ever have nice things?

Ben Clemens

2:18

Speaking of: I can't answer your second question, but I continue to think Cruz will be a superstar

Appa Yip Yip

2:18

Daulton Varsho already has two bunt singles. Do you think he eclipses his total from last year?

Ben Clemens

2:19

He had 9 bunt singles last year

I'll say yes

Appa Yip Yip

2:19

One concern I've seen with the pitch clock is that it will hurt the tension late in close games because there won't be time for that tension to build. Having just come off of watching a bonkers finale to the Jays/Angels series I gotta say that is unfounded, for me at least. I found the opposite, that when the batters were at two strikes or the pitcher was at three balls I got hyper aware of the clock in a way that ratcheted it up. A whole new dimension and thing to stress about in the moment. It was great.

Ben Clemens

2:20

I'm with you on this, but I am going to give it more time to see how I feel after, I don't know, 30 close and late games

I find clocks often add to tension, but I'm gonna let myself watch a lot of games to find out

Greg

2:20

Going to Busch for the first time this Thursday and Saturday.

Any seating recommendations? Food recommendations within the stadium? Outside the stadium bar/restaurant/area recommendations? Stuff to do in STL outside of the Cardinals?

Ben Clemens

2:21

Weirdly, I haven't been to Busch very often; I don't live in St. Louis, and I went a lot more when I was a kid. I usually sit down the first base line, I just like those seats in general, but I got the sense that the whole lower bowl had pretty decent views. I got a pastrami hot dog (which is a hot dog with pastrami on top of it) on the recommendation of some Cardinals fan friends, and I don't really know the stadium scene that well

Guest

2:22

Matt Mervis seems to be building a case for a starting gig with the Cubs with only Hosmer in his way -- anything to note here in a dynasty format or should we temper our excitement?

Ben Clemens

2:22

Worth keeping an eye on. Hosmer is not going to stop the Cubs from playing Mervis if they think he needs the ML reps

I know that sounds like one of those empty analyst promises, but I really think that's the case here

Yeah Well Hiura Towel

2:23

The Rays have 37 plate appearances this year from a batter with a wRC+ less than 132. Out of 351 plate appearances.

Ben Clemens

2:23

I mean... it's a little early for stats like this, but yeah, it is true, they are hitting very well to start out

David

2:24

How many games do you see the Braves winning the East by this year? Seems like the Mets aren't the contenders we thought and the Phillies are more of a fluke

Ben Clemens

2:24

It's April

Erik

2:24

Nick Castellanos has the highest K% among qualified hitters and has yet to record a barrel. He's on the wrong side of 30 and is coming off a down year. How worried should Phillies fans be that he's already cooked?

Ben Clemens

2:24

It's April... but they should be really worried, b/c he was bad last year too

El Tim

2:24

April, but Giancarlo is running an 11% K rate and still hitting the snot out of the ball. Is he just on one of his heaters, or is something going on there?

Ben Clemens

2:24

To me, I'm gonna assume he's on one of those heaters until he keeps it going longer. He's always been really streaky

Sir Nerdlington

2:25

An anonymous owner says analytics are a 'road to nowhere' and Manfred agrees. I understand the ultimate zero sum nature of it all, but how do you legislate out teams competing with one another for an edge?

Ben Clemens

2:25

You don't

That's just Manfred throwing some red meat to the old guard

2:25

should i give up the dream on Michael Massey already? i thought i might get a nice , 30 combined HR/SB guy to fill in for Altuve, but it hasnt gone well so far and he isnt getting consistent PT. Is the talent there to bet on the talent even though he plays for a trash organization , or do i cut bait?

Ben Clemens

2:25

I'm more worried about the playing time than the early production

Kyle

2:26

14 Team H2h Cat league (QS/W/K/K9/WHIP/ERA) - Jose Suarez or German Marquez going forward?

Ben Clemens

2:26

Suarez if you need them to be on the roster the whole time and are'nt crazy deep. You can't use him when he's in Coors, so it's just a really frustrating roster spot

Farhandrew Zaidman

2:26

Dodger fans have been screaming to take Muncy out of the 4 hole. But how much does lineup construction ACTUALLY affect run production over the course of 162?

Ben Clemens

2:27

Not much as long as you exclude things like batting Freeman 8th and Betts 9th

It's more about making players and fans happy, imo

shortstop

2:27

LAA relievers are top 5 (best) in barrel% and EV, but top 5 (worst) in BABIP. They are also 29th in WPA. Is this a problem area for them, or are they getting unlucky with timing and batted ball luck?

Ben Clemens

2:28

Way too early to be making staff-level conclusions on something like this. I think about the same about their bullpen as I did before the season -- which, to be fair, means that I think it's very bad and might be the worst in baseball

Yeah Well Hiura Towel

2:28

Ben Clemens loves fake baseball, got it

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