JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 4/14/25

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Ben Clemens

2:25

I have it at a cool 0%

Well, that's unfair

2:26

but c'mon, it's 57 PA, 14 games. Ruiz was even hotter than this in 2023, in August

a season that he finished 0.5 wins below replacement level

now, a lot of that is because he's not very good defensively

2:27

but.... no, I don't think he's going to keep running a 20% HR/FB rate with almost no barrels, no I don't think he's going to learn to hit the ball much harder after a huge sample of him not doing it

Clen Bemens

2:27

Aaron Judge is insanely good. That is all. I hope people understand and appreciate what we're privileged to be watching.

Ben Clemens

2:28

Seriously

I was watching Giants/Yankees over the weekend and the announcers were talking about his numbers against Robbie Ray

and then one of them was like 'Well he's actually great against everyone wearing a Giants uniform, these numbers are'nt even anomalous'

yeah, it's crazy, he's so good

Matt

2:29

Last year, the Marlins were extremely aggressive in declaring themselves as sellers and dealing Arraez early in the season. When and who could be that team and player this year?

Ben Clemens

2:29

It's tricky because they don't have an obvious person to trade, but the Rockies feel like that to me

brutal division, bad start

Steve E

2:29

Torpedo bats. Just keeping alive the streak of mentions in the the weekly chat.

Ben Clemens

2:29

love it

Tim

2:29

What are the odds Lawlar sticks around as a super-sub for Dbacks if he’s called up to fill-in for Marte? I get they would want him playing everyday, but it seems like it’s finally happening for him and this is what they’ve been waiting for

Ben Clemens

2:30

I mean, they didn't call him up! I'm really surprised they didn't

Tim Tawa is getting backup reps now, and I mean, sure

2:31

but they must only want Lawlar up if he's going to start every day, and not if he's just going to briefly fill in

Didace

2:31

"these numbers are'nt even anomalous" - Wait, a baseball announcer used the word "anomalous"?

Ben Clemens

2:31

haha definitely!

I don't remember the exact context but Jon Miller likes to drop in the odd vocab word

Clen Bemens

2:31

Why don't the Pirates do what just seems so natural, and move Cruz to 3B? He looks awful in CF. Too big for SS.

Ben Clemens

2:31

Because they gave a contract extension to the best third base defender in baseball

2:32

but yeah... as much as I love Ke'Bryan Hayes, and it's a whole lot, he just does not hit enough

I heard on the Pirates broadcast recently that his back issues have been so severe that he says he may never have full range of motion again

that doesn't seem great!

2:32

Do you buy the Giants hot start?

Ben Clemens

2:34

Um, this good? no

but good? yeah

I've been noodling over something to write about Logan Webb, but the general idea is 'yep still great'

2:35

JHL will cool off, but Adames will surely heat up, and I think overall the offense looks a little better than expected

The big worry is first base... I'm not loving seeing Casey Schmitt in the lineup ever, but particularly not there

but we're talking about a team with good run prevention and a pretty solid offense

2:36

The biggest thing holding them back is probably the division they play in, plus I have questions about the bottom of the rotation

But I think they're a winning team, and the biggest wild card in terms of performance was probably JHL, who has looked as good as possible. So that's nice

Clen Bemens

2:36

Can KeBryan play 2B? LF?

Ben Clemens

2:36

I would not even consider it, tbh. I'd just cut him or something, which would be sad

Sirras

2:37

If you had to load up a baseball striking object to use as a weapon in a submarine, what kind would you pick?

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