JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 4/29/24

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Ben Clemens

2:16

I think the A's should trade him, to be honest. If there were no injury concerns I'd say just try him out as a starter, he looked electric in his brief time starting last year

But they seem to think that it's a health thing, that he really can't stand up to the rigors of starting given the way he pitches, and given how good he is at relieving, that tilts the balance for me

2:17

but yes, you don't need a closer this good when you're as bad as the A's are. They've been better than expected and they're still not sniffing the playoffs. It'd be one thing if he were a pre arb outfielder, but I'm always of the opinion that you should trade relievers if they're good and you're bad

You just never know what will happen in a year

Reynaldo Lopez

2:17

Reynaldo has talked about taking speed off of his pitches to focus on pitch mix when moving from relief to starting, do you see this becoming a larger trend? Could it help save the UCLs?

Ben Clemens

2:17

We'll see! He and Jordan Hicks have both done it to good success this year

I definitely missed this trend

2:18

It makes some sense to me in hindsight, but I just did not see it coming

take guys who were exciting starting prospects who became good relievers, and see if they can start again

Jared Jones

2:18

JARED. JONES?

Ben Clemens

2:18

Yesterday wasn't quite as exciting as I'd hoped, only three K's

2:19

But I continue to think he's one of the best pitchers in baseball, stuff still looks nice, he got down below 95 mph late though

Could be that the adrenaline of hitting the majors is wearing off and he's settling in for a long slog of a season

Insert Witty Name Here

2:19

Was Crochet’s start to the season a mirage or (insert knitting pun here)?

Ben Clemens

2:19

darn!

okay that's all the knitting puns I have

2:20

I'm still interested in Crochet and haven't changed my opinion of him over his recent struggles. If I'm the White Sox, I'm really happy to just keep throwing him out there and letting him work through it to figure out how he'll do in sink or swim mode

I mean, you watch the guy pitch and you say yes, this could be an elite starter

So do it! let's see what happens

Wireless Joe Jackson

2:20

What is the latest date at which Cleveland will hold the best record in the AL?

Ben Clemens

2:20

I'm going to say May 27

2:21

the Yankees and O's are hot on their heels but the early May schedule is cooperative, angels and white sox sandwiched around the Tigers

they even get the scuffling Astros in there

Let's actually go June 3

b/c they finisht he month with Angels, Rockies, Nats

Adam Akbani

2:21

Jordan Walker's batted ball data, discipline, and contact stats from 4/15 until he got demoted were fantastic. The only thing down was his pull rate. Disappointing to see the team not give him more PAs to try and figure it out at the MLB level, especially given the improvements in his all-around game.

He even had a 40% sweetspot% during that time, a sample that accounted for 25% of this season's PAs.

Ben Clemens

2:21

It's extremely disappointing on one hand, but I think this was a Marmol-proofing move

Marmol was treating Walker like a pariah

2:22

if Walker started against a lefty and a righty reliever came in, Marmol auto-PH'ed for him

usually with Alec Burleson

if Burleson started against a righty and a lefty reliever came in, he usually got to face the guy

even though Walker's defense looked improved, he was getting subbed out aggressively for defense

2:23

it's just really hard to improve when your manager is not interested in playing you, so I think if you assume that's how the PT was going to go, he had to go down to Memphis

but I think it's short-sighted on Marmol's part to manage a young strong hitter that way

Talfred

2:23

With framing stats, it seems to me that the umpires can have an effect, particularly in small sample sizes. If a catcher happens to have an inordinate number of "pitcher's" umps, with large strike zones, it could make the framer look good. Is this correct or am I ignorant of the factors used and how they're weighted?

Ben Clemens

2:23

No, you're correct

2:25

That's one of the reasons that framing is so strongly mean-reverting. Good framers in one year are not always good in the next one

sorry, quick personal thing to deal with, back in a minute

2:27

aaaand we're back

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