JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 5/20/24

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 5/20/24

powered by

Ben Clemens

2:02

Hey everyone, welcome to the chat

2:04

I'm a little behind today as I finish up some old work and get started on an article for tomorrow, becuase I have the day off but want to get some content out

So today's chat is going to be more of the one hour variety than the two hour, let's go completely nuts version

Let's just get right into it

Don

2:04

Any hope in a revival for Brennen Davis, or is this just a very hot streak that most players have at some point every year?

Ben Clemens

2:05

I t hink the most likely outcome is just that it's a very hot streak but I hope I'm wrong

Machado

2:05

Last year, you mentioned some statcast stats of Manny Machado’s that concerned you. Are those same issues underlying his current stuggles?

Ben Clemens

2:07

Yes and no, which I am aware is a copout answer

I feel like he's getting unlucky this year, and that his underlying quality is closer to last year

2:08

I think he's going to bounce back some from this year's lackluster numbers, for sure

2:11

but overall yeah, I'm still a little concerned. It just doesn't feel like he can keep producing elite batting numbers without a little bit more damage on contact

he's just not ever going to be a high babip or high walk rate guy, it's not his thing

deBride

2:11

Since 2017 the Rockies have a 5.05 ERA vs a 4.65 FIP, the worst gap in MLB by 0.15 runs. Over that same time the Dodgers have a 3.32 ERA vs a 3.71 FIP, the best gap in MLB by 0.18 runs. Both teams are on islands of their own. I know more than stadium and defense go into beating (or not beating) one's FIP, but have the Dodgers essentially created a reverse Coors via some combination of game planning/positioning/defense/etc over their last 1,082 games and counting ??

Ben Clemens

2:11

That's definitely one way you could think about it

2:12

Coors is definitely a place that will mess with FIP, BABIP is just so high there given the size of the outfield

2:13

the Dodgers take away hits on balls in play like Coors's giant outfield adds hits on balls in play

pretty wild

bringbackpologrounds

2:13

Dodgers shifting Betts to SS and the Yankees shifting Judge to CF reminds me of the Tigers shifting Cabrera to 3B in 2012. Do you think that experiment worked for the Tigers? How do you see it working for the Dodgers and Yankees down the road?

Ben Clemens

2:13

I do not think that one worked out for the Tigers, though I completely understand why they tried it

2:14

I think that these two are a bit different in that both Betts and Judge were plus defenders in right field, so it's a matter of trying to move your good defender up to a tougher spot and see how they stick

obviously RF->SS is wild

but the idea is just categorically different than taking a guy everyone thought was 1b only and throwing him at third

I think that for the Dodgers, they'll slide Betts back to either second or right when their team construction ends up a bit more normal in a year or so

2:15

and I think that the Yankees are going to end up parking Judge in a corner as he ages, it's just easier on his body

Skenes

2:15

Looks like the hype might be deserved, no?

Ben Clemens

2:15

Yeah I was too much of a skeptic here

I mean, I guess we'll need to see more

but I have been very impressed by his first two starts, I was telling people to wait and see and uh, it looks like we waited and saw

99

2:16

At this point, what are the chances that Jordan Walker plays good baseball for the Cards this year? Another team?

Ben Clemens

2:16

I think it's about 0% on both sadly

I mean, they're not trading him

If anything they're gonna be selling

Meanwhile, I don't think you can bring him up given that Oli doesn't want to play him

he was getting buried in favor of EVERYBODY when he was up, and was not hitting well

2:17

I don't see how you can do that again without knowing that something will be different

particularly on the PT front. It just is not good business to call up your top offensive prospect and then pinch hit for him all the time

and use him as a weak side platoon DH

Logan Davis

2:17

The club of bat speed leaders -- Stanton, Judge, Soto et. al -- is a bunch of guys with massive power, and then Julio, who is rocking a .059 ISO. What the heck? Is it even possible to have a slugging percentage this low when you swing this hard? Or is this just definitely gonna sort itself out?

Ben Clemens

2:17

I think it's just gonna sort itself out

2:19

I don't see anything in his numbers that tells me nope, he's broken

Load More Messages

Connecting…

Register

Message History

On Off

On Off

On Off

Your current subscriptions

None

Register now to continue managing your subscriptions

E-mail Address	Chat Owner	Status	Remove

Enter your email address to be notified when Ben Clemens hosts a chat