JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 4/25/22

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Lou Perltzman

2:33

If you didn't believe in Reynolds in the first place how can your concern level be at a 6?

Ben Clemens

2:34

You can not believe in someone relative to consensus and still see them as a good baseball player. I didn't think Reynolds was a true-talent 76 wRC+ hitter. Plus, presumably Greg was asking how concerned he should be. I'm not exactly sure what you'd like me to say there haha

joe schlabotnik

2:34

would you rather: team of all 90th percentile fielders with 90 wrc+ or team of 110 wrc+ with all 10 percent fielders

Ben Clemens

2:35

Definitely the first. I haven't actually done the math, though I'm pretty sure that favors the fielders, but I just like watching good-fielding baseball

Teddy

2:36

Is Wander a top 5 player in the league at this very moment? (Trout, Soto, Harper, Shohei…?)

Ben Clemens

2:37

Right now, I don't think so. I also don't think Harper is, though. You're missing Jose Ramirez, who definitely makes my list.

2:38

I'd take Vlad over Wander at the moment, though I can see that being close.

If you're being honest with yourself, would you take Wander over Marcus Semien for the rest of the year? I'm not sure I would

2:39

Wander obviously has the much higher upside long-term, and he's off to a great start, but let's pump the brakes a little. Oh, also, Buxton

Derek

2:39

Is 12.5 K/9 Eric Lauer here to stay? (probably not, I know, but...) Do the Brewers belong in the same pitching development tier as LAD & TB?

Paulie

2:39

Are you buying an Eric Laurer breakout ?

Ben Clemens

2:41

I'm gonna write about Lauer later this week because I'm very curious what's going on there. He's throwing harder, he's using both of his quite good breaking pitches more often, I love both of those changes

2:42

I haven't done enough digging to say much more than that definitively, but I think I picked the wrong Milwaukee pitcher to break out (I'm on Adrian Houser for the 25th consecutive year seemingly)

Homer

2:42

Garrett Whitlock should be starting, right?

Ben Clemens

2:45

Yeah, and it looks like he will be going forward. Simply put, he's too good to not be starting. I don't know how his stamina is going to look as they stretch him out, but he was a starter in the minors and has the variety of pitches and platoon skill to do it. It's just a matter of building up the innings. I think that if he weren't a rule 5 pick he would already be a full-time starter, they just wanted to keep him on the roster right away last year, and the best way to do that was relieving

Angel Hernandez

2:45

Have you seen all the attention I've been getting today? It rocks. One of the best performances of my career

Ben Clemens

2:47

If the league wants robo umps, they should just let Hernandez call more games

2:49

It's honestly a travesty. Most umpires these days are pretty good. Hernandez isn't, he's not getting better over time, and he's a big fan of the ump show to boot. I know there are difficulties in removing umpires, and that Hernandez has already sued the league (for age discrimination, I believe), but c'mon man, enough is enough. The baseball world has all been Kyle Schwarber at some point in the last few years

Sodo Mojo

2:49

Do you see Ty France as a top 5 1b moving forward?

Ben Clemens

2:49

2:51

There are some good first basemen! I think France is a good player, but top 5? C'mon. I'll take Freeman, Olson, Muncy, Vlad, Goldschmidt, and Alonso right away, and then think about people after that

2:52

Now, if we're talking rest of career, maybe? He's a lot younger than Goldschmidt and I don't know how Alonso will age. But that's overreacting to a hot start. Ty France is a great hitter, and that should be enough, we don't need to hyperbole him up to make that true

Farhandrew Zaidman

2:52

In Matt Brash's interview with Pitching Ninja, he said he basically sets up middle-middle and lets the ball do the work for him. Seems like other young lively arms could do well to follow the same advice.

Ben Clemens

2:52

100% yes. The Orioles are doing this already this year, and the Astros use this approach in the minors

2:53

One-target pitching is catching on, and I think it's just going to get more and more popular. Very few pitchers throw flat, boring stuff anymore. Command seems to be the limiting issue; their pitches just move SO much

Leo

2:53

Okay, so maybe not top 5 1B, but does France have a good shot at an all-star selection this year?

Ben Clemens

2:53

Yes I do

Dan

2:54

What does Kyle Schwaber have to do with Angel Hernandez?

Ben Clemens

2:54

Boy are you in for a treat

2:55

I absolutely LOVE Hader's reaction, too. Kind of a 'wow that was a strike? great' face

Joey Baggadonuts

2:56

Understanding that he's still just 22 - Kelenic has just looked godawful so far. Does he go back to AAA if he continues to struggle this badly? If the M's let him play through it, what's a realistic expectation from him rest-of-season? Does he have any chance of becoming a guy?

Ben Clemens

2:57

I think that the boring but correct take is that of course he still has a chance of becoming a guy. he only has 435 major league PA's so far. But I'd have him back in Triple-A; he's not helping the team win right now, but sitting him in the majors seems counterproductive

2:58

If they're going to let him play through it, I'd shade our projectoins down slightly. We think he's basically an average hitter but I am not buying a 26% strikeout rate when he looks so lost

Guest

2:58

Maybe it’s the novelty of them being new to the best teams circuit, but the jays are a very cool team. The Yankees are incredibly unlikeable as a group of guys. Mariners once again seem like a blast. Who you got for coolest club

Ben Clemens

2:59

Yeah, it's the Jays for me too. They have a lot of fun players, they appear to be having fun while playing, and they score a lot. I am a big fan of pitching, I write more about pitching than hitting, but I'm not going to act like I don't like dingers and doubles

3:01

After that, I'm also enjoying the Rays; I often enjoy the Rays, I like their whole a bunch of guys you've never heard of vibe, and having some awesome starting prospects makes that fun too

3:02

The Cubs are kinda sneaky fun, I love watching Seiya. The Mets, too. Giants, Marlins; it's a good year for fun teams, at least in my biased opinion

3:02

Did you say Yelich is hitting the crap out of the ball? Did this just start?

Ben Clemens

3:02

It did not. He's among the league leaders in hard hit rate and has been all year

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