JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 5/11/26

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Ben Clemens

2:24

fair counterpoint, but I guess I'd say that the Kim thing doesn't really rate for me, nor the Waldrep/Schwellenbach things; we knew those before the year and still had them projected this way. Strider missing the first month, same deal. The Acuna thing is a great ponit

2:25

but at the end of the day, the Braves WAR leaders are Matt Olson, Drake Baldwin, Ozzie Albies, and MH2 on the hitter side. And Bryce Elder is doing a lot of work to hold up the pitchers, but aside from him, that's just been Sale, who has been great

2:26

I guess I'd say that the Braves haven't suffered overly from in-season injuries this year, perhaps?

but I take your point

2:26

Jeremy Pena, Christian Walker, Isaac Paredes, Josh Hader, Hunter Brown, Yordan Alvarez. If the over/under for the number of players in the above list still on the Astros roster on August 1st is 4.5, which are you taking?

Ben Clemens

2:26

hmmmmmm. I think I'd take under but it'd be close

I don't see Yordan or Hader getting moved

Pena, probably not either

Brown seems not THAT likely?

but I could easily see Paredes and Walker going, particularly if they decide they're totally out of it

360 Skubal No Scope

2:26

It's a telling generational divide that I assumed J-Kwon was a Korean rapper lol

Ben Clemens

2:26

2:27

I mean, you're not wrong

Farhandrew Zaidman

2:27

How on earth did it take 20 years for MLB to start doing Pokemon content? The Gen 1 kids are now the salty veterans in the league.

Ben Clemens

2:27

100%

Totally concur

Farhandrew Zaidman

2:27

Rate my hot take, please: Jackson Holliday is Gavin Lux 2.0. Really high scouting grades, but in reality doesn't actually do anything at an above average level?

Ben Clemens

2:27

I consider this not hot

2:28

if I had a nickel for every skeptical/disbelieving/downright mean comment I've received about my consistent low rankings of Holliday in the trade value series, I could probably buy multiple slices of avocado toast in SF. That's a lot of nickels

but meanwhile, I was giving these opinions to team people, and they were going 'oh, yeah, seems about right, I'm not sure he'll work out'

2:29

so I guess I'd say that perception is trending towards reality there

and honestly, I haven't read every scouting report on him, but I read a ton of Eric's and I feel like the potential weaknesses Eric identified are exactly what has happened

without outlier power numbers, his walks-based game felt like it might fall apart if he couldn't do enough damage to keep pitchers honest, and that's kinda what happened

aside from also really poor injury luck, of course

2:30

I heard a theory recently that ground ball pitchers often achieve better statistical results in the majors than during their trek through the minors due to improved defense behind them. Do you buy that?

Ben Clemens

2:30

I guess I'd say that 'better results' might be a stretch but that it's unquestionably true that the defense is a lot better in the bigs

2:31

so I absolutely buy that you shoudl round up on guys who rely on balls in play to get their outs, so long as they're grounders

chinarwhal

2:31

Mets fans are ready for revolt but what is the industry perception of whats going with stearns front office? Unlucky? Adjusting to big market dynamics? Dealing with too much ballast from past GMs (hence feeling the need to swap nimmo for another bad contract?)? Too early to judge?

Ben Clemens

2:31

if I knew, I'd be richer

I mean, I think that the industry preception is too soon to tell

but it's baffling, and I bet that opinions vary widely

GBS42

2:31

I'm catching a Ben Clemens chat live?!?!? I didn't take off work specifically for this, but since I'm off work: Who is your all-time favorite Cardinal?

Ben Clemens

2:32

oh, my all-time favorite cardinal is Ozzie, and it's not close

I have a signed Ozzie card that was a prized childhood possession, a personalized signed Ozzie ball that my dad got me when we went to Cooperstown and he was signing

I used to watch "Ozzie, That's a Winner", a promotional video with his defensive highlights, and try to practice the moves in my basement

given that I'm a lefty, I was not good at those.... but I did it

Dale

2:33

Everyone questioned Turang's selection to the World Baseball Classic. Do you think it's safe to say that he was a good choice? Is it because he was from a small market that it took so long to get recognition?

Ben Clemens

2:33

did they?

I missed this

I don't think there were a lot of better options at second unless Hoerner wanted to play

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