JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 4/27/26

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Ben Clemens

2:25

oh I'm surprisingly into it

2:26

he has closer vibes anyway. the wildness, the one nasty signature out pitch

I think he'd benefit from a harder fastball, too

2:26

Biggest pleasant surprise of the season now that we're a month in?

Ben Clemens

2:26

I think I'll say eitehr Yordan Alvarez being healthy or Nolan McLean being the real deal

2:27

lot of other good results, of course, but those two in particular are players I like watching, and there was some question (injury, sample size) of how good they'd be this year

War2D2

2:27

“There’s a lot of stuff I’m willing to believe in with Church. Good bat control.” Ben Clemens, 2026; Parisian peasant, 1847

Dale

2:27

Did the Brewers fleece the Red Sox again in getting Kyle Harrison from them?

Ben Clemens

2:27

fleece? I definitely would not use that word

2:28

I will say that I've been very impressed with Harrison thus far in 2026, and I've watched him in person quite a lot in my life so I feel like a qualified evaluator

2:29

I didn't hate what the Sox did in just moving on from him for a hitter. But I have to say, it doesn't feel amazing for the narrative that the Sox can make all pitchers better and thus desperately had to preserve their pitching infrastucture

2:30

It's only five starts, and honestly, Harrison was pretty good in the majors for the Sox (in 12 innings, he was unremarkable in 50 AAA innings).

but I think my take on this trade has aged well. The Brewers traded for Durbin b/c they thought he was undervalued, their opinion of his value didn't change much, but the Sox offered them a premium for him so they just said okay great!

Bohmer

2:30

Correlation is not causation. But Alec Bohm's personal financial and legal situation with his parents, partnered with the LITERAL WORST qualified wRC+ ... those have to be connected, right?

Ben Clemens

2:30

um, yes

2:31

I don't need a model to tell you that these are probably related

I feel for the guy. What a terrible situation. I hope things resolve in a way he can be happy or at least at peace with

Alec

2:31

Will Spencer Torkelson continue to increase his slugging percentage by 200 points every five games? I'll hang up and listen

Ben Clemens

2:31

I'm going to say yes

2:32

(no, but I do think that he's a great reminder of how hard it is to make conclusions this early in the year. In last weeks' chat, 'is tork done?' was a popular question)

now he has a 134 wrC+ with great peripherals

Trade Enjoyer

2:32

If we're talking about fleece's, might be worth bringing up Taylor Ward. Currently running a 152 WRC+ for the O's while Grayson Rodriguez hasn't even made a start yet. Another unfortunate Angels trade?

Ben Clemens

2:33

that's a fun one to me, so let's talk about it

it's too soon to say, but I've spent a lot of time talking about why injured pitchers are not very valuable in trade, so this is a good point to discuss that a bit more

2:35

we don't really know if this was a bad or good deal for the Angels yet because they were playing for the long game, and Rodriguez was realistically unlikely to be ready this early in the year

like, were the Angels likely to get a more intriguing upside candidate than an elite starter who might turn out very good or might wither away to nothing? for a year of a corner outfielder? probably not

2:36

but yeah, this was in the range of outcomes, and I think that the general dislike of this trade at the time was massive

sample from teh comments:
"I try not to overreact to offseason moves, but as an Orioles fan, this one has genuinely made me despondent. "

"The only reasonable explanation for this is that Rodriguez’s elbow is absolutely cooked.
But even if it is, if I was Baltimore, I feel like I’d rather gamble on him than sell low on him in this deal."

2:37

"Like other commenters, I can’t see how this makes the Orioles better. There is no reason to cash in Rodriguez for a single season of 2.5 WAR OF production that will cost what, 14m? Talk about selling low. Ward barely has any surplus value."

names redacted, etc., but my point is that clearly this trade still has a while to play out

21127

2:37

Edward Cabrera was injured and valuable in trade. Did the Cubs get fleeced?

Ben Clemens

2:37

fleece watch 2026!

HappyFunBall

2:38

I think the point there is that the hot takes of the FG Commentariat are no better than anyone else's

Ben Clemens

2:38