JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 4/14/25

Prev Page View Full Chat Next Page

Ben Clemens

2:37

Ooh, I'd probably use one of those banned softball bats, sorry to ruin the torpedo bat joke

Sirras

2:37

Seeing the Cardinals play later this week. Who should I be watching?

Ben Clemens

2:38

Masyn Winn being on the IL is a bummer. But Victor Scott II is electric in center, Arenado remains very entertaining, and I really enjoy watching Nootbaar hit

I definitely favor defense in my baseball viewing, so Scott and Arenado are big draws

Brandon Marsh

2:38

why have I and my good buddy Alec Bohm been not good?

Ben Clemens

2:39

Search me

Well, I don't think Bohm is all that great, and was very baffled by his excellent 2024, so maybe that one is just regression

obviously I think you'll both be better as the year wears on. But I can't really point to any one thing. Marsh lost all his power but also is getting unlucky BABIP wise

2:40

Bohm is a classic not great at any one thing guy, but all of those things he was good but not great at just fell apart at once

2:41

like he's striking out 50% more frequently and walking almost never? But also, he's chasing more and swinging at strikes less? None of this is reasonable over a longer stretch

It's gonna come out in the wash some

Dan'l

2:41

What's some reasonable-to-expect best case scenario's for the Cards? An unexpected young SP or two take a step forward (i.e. Liberatore)? Arenado play well enough to get decent trade offers?

Ben Clemens

2:41

best case? The Cards make the playoffs

the NL Central is pretty blah aside from the Cubs, who just lost their best starter

so like.... why not just win the whole thing?

2:42

we have them 20% to play in October, I think that's squarely in reasonable territory

Broken Bat

2:42

You get him first 3 years… AJ Shawver or Mathew’s of Twins.

Ben Clemens

2:42

I'm an AJSS guy if I had to pick, but I'm also kind of a low-info voter here. I definitely do not know enough about Zebby

Steve E

2:42

A torpedo bat would definitely work wonders against a submarine pitcher like Tyler Rogers.

Professor Farnsworth

2:42

Just here to complain the the Braves were happy to rely on an oft-injured guy who threw more innings than he had in like 7 years, a converted reliever who finished last year with shoulder problems, a guy starting the year on the IL because he was having an internal brace, another converted reliever, and whoever eeked out a position battle with Ian Anderson

Ben Clemens

2:43

Then they traded Anderson!

I mean, Atlanta's rotation had really high upside but with tons of risk

and so far, the risk has been bad

Schwellenbach looks amazing htough!

Taco Tuesday Eve

2:43

Are there any other days of the week that so closely are tied with a food than Tuesday with Tacos. Could there ever really be one that compares?

Ben Clemens

2:43

Fish Fridays maybe, from the Catholic influence?

2:44

But yeah, taco tuesdays is just too good

cade cavin

2:44

what is the realistic stat line for a 2025 Fernando tatis jr MVP year? 40-40 with a .900 ops?

Ben Clemens

2:45

950 OPS maybe

but yeah, some kind of offensive explosion year with a fun statistical hook, 4040 counts

2:45

To me it would make sense to measure swing length until the point of contact with the ball, rather than where the swing finishes. Thoughts?

Ben Clemens

2:45

Yeah that's how they do it

Length is from when the bat starts moving to where it impacts the ball

Oaktown Blues

2:46

JJ Bleday is really rough defensively in CF. But the A's don't really have room to move him to a corner, especially with a Kurtz call up looming. Is there a scenario where he's the odd man out soon, maybe after a Denzel Clarke call up?

Ben Clemens

2:46

Mmmmm, I kind of doubt it this year unless he gets worse

2:47

But yeah, I don't really buy him as a center fielder long term, and if everyone pans out, 1b/lf/rf/dh will need to fit Butler, Rooker, Soderstrom, Kurtz

so that's four guys for four spots, playing one of those four spots worse than those guys will probably end up buying you a trade out of town

2:48

realistically, are they all going to pan out and all be healthy soon? We'll see, it's always unlikely for any team

but if I'm the A's, Bleday is the least valuable of that group in terms of my long-term plans

Wigglebot23

2:48

Is the Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher rotation likely to remain as bad as it has been?

Connecting…

Message History

On Off

Your current subscriptions

None

E-mail Address	Chat Owner	Status	Remove

Enter your email address to be notified when Ben Clemens hosts a chat