JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 5/15/23

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Guest

3:28

thoughts on parity in the league this year? Seems like there are fewer super teams and fewer despairingly bad teams this year (with two exceptions)

Ben Clemens

3:28

I have no clue if this is sustainable but I've been REALLY enjoying this year's competitive landscape

3:29

just enough new teams

Daniel

3:29

What's wrong with Gunnar Henderson? Is he just not as good as everyone thought?

Ben Clemens

3:29

I think we're a ways off from that being the most likely answer

He has a league average offensive line with a .238 BABIP, let's pump the breaks a little

brakes* oooof that one was bad

Rays IR Parade

3:29

Is it just me, or do the Rays break their pitchers more than the average team. It seems that pitchers for the Rays, or guys who recently were with the Rays, seem to experience a ton of wear and tear.

Ben Clemens

3:30

eh, I think they also sign a lot of pitchers with injury histories

so it's a real chicken and egg thing

Farhandrew Zaidman

3:30

Was at the Dodger-Padre game with my fiancée the other day, she noted that players were stealing with much more frequency than years past, and dropped this gem. "Wait, I thought Moneyball said stealing bases is bad??" I love this woman, that is all.

Ben Clemens

3:30

That's spectacular

Okay, just a few questions before I call it a day

Cube Jockey

3:30

Went down memory lane and watched some clips of the Grady Little game and game 6 of the 2011 WS. A lot of the emotion and suspense would have been killed by a pitch clock. Any chance the pitch clock is adjusted for the post season?

Ben Clemens

3:30

No, but I really don't care to be honest

3:31

I think Eno (but m aybe Grant Brisbee? I mix up my bay area writers) looked back at some classic at-bats, like the Eckersley classic in the WS and found they were throwing in under 15/20 seconds anyway

like, baseball has always been able to build tension

I think it'll still work

johndarc

3:31

So do the Cardinals just not have media training? I know that it sucks to play poorly and lose, esp if you're not accustomed to struggling, but I mean....I've seen better teams play worse, and they rarely point fingers like this. Just a lot of platitudes about "grinding" and whatnot. Baseball cliches would be welcome at this point.

Ben Clemens

3:31

feels that way!

I mean, they've never really been bad before

any of them

front office, coaches, players

that must be hard to figure out

Revenue sharing

3:32

If you were a betting man (not sure if you are), will A’s have a binding agreement for a new stadium by Jan 15, 2024 or they lose out on revenue sharing.

Ben Clemens

3:32

I think they will lose out on revenue sharing

the vegas stuff is falling through so quickly

Ben Clementine

3:32

Favorite fruit?

Ben Clemens

3:32

actually, clementines are up there, but blackberries

Guest

3:32

So the Pirates might extend Mitch Keller. Do you think he can be a 4-win pitcher for multiple years?

Ben Clemens

3:32

no, but I dont' think that about almost any pitchers

Balanced Schedule

3:32

Does the effect of the balance schedule mean that teams like the Cards (and to some extent, Padres) will have a harder time making up ground in the division? Or it isn’t much of a big deal since everyone is playing everyone now?

Ben Clemens

3:33

not that big of a deal, might matter more on a micro scale in september when we get down to brass tacks

A Boy Named Yu

3:33

How do you balance your fandom from growing up with trying to be mostly unbiased in your career?

Ben Clemens

3:33

it's not as hard as I expected. Trying to pay attention to all of baseball naturally dulls the 'my team must win or i will be sad' feeling

because I'm just looking at every game as 'ooh what will interest me'

Matt

3:33