JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 5/8/23

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 5/8/23

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Ben Clemens

2:11

I mean... he's 20% above average offensively despite being out of sorts

there's your hope.... players scuffle or go on hot streaks

probably, he's scuffling right now

Jonathan

2:12

How worried are you about the padres?

Ben Clemens

2:12

I guess I'd say not very?

I'm not quite sure I understand all this angst

Fans are angsty this year!

Per our playoff odds, they're 5% less likely to make the playoffs than they were before the season started

2:13

I mean, sure, they might not win the NL West, but did everyone really think the dodgers sucked all of the sudden?

Save the worry for the teams that actually look awful so far, imo

Not Good Question Asker

2:13

Are there rules about what a player can use for their walk-up music? I assume that the actual part played can't have too much profanity or inappropriate stuff, but does the title or artist or genre matter? What's the most interesting walk-up music you can remember?

Ben Clemens

2:13

I think there's a profanity rule, but to be honest with you I really don't know

That said, my favorite is Joc Pederson walking up to Dancing Queen

Really feel-good vibes

Farhandrew Zaidman

2:13

Dodgers rookies can bang. That is all.

Ben Clemens

2:14

Yeah, Miguel Vargas looks to me to still be a bit limited by his hand injury from an early HBP, and yet, he's doing pretty well. And then Outman is en fuego

you love to see it

Again, apparently the Dodgers aren't suddenly a bunch of frauds, shocking

Jazzy

2:14

Corbin Burnes has been pretty mediocre by his standards (112 K%+ | 82 BB%+ | 95 HR9+ | 90 FIP- | 95 ERA-) over 128 IP since the ASB last year. What happened?

Ben Clemens

2:15

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/have-you-tried-turning-corbin-burnes-off-t...

I choose to think that you were just setting me up to mention the article about this very question that I wrote literally today

so thank you

Phanatic

2:15

Does philly make the playoffs

Ben Clemens

2:16

I'm gonna say no, but I don't have strong confidence. I'm really worried about their depth, they've just sustained a ton of injuries and need a lot of stuff to go right the rest of the way

Appa Yip Yip

2:16

Who finishes in 5th place in the AL East, and is their record better than the 2nd place finisher in the AL Central?

Ben Clemens

2:16

I think it'll be the Red Sox, but I also think the Yankees will give them a run for their money

2:17

And yeah, I think it'll easily clear second in the ALC. The ALC is baaaaaaad this year

Mike M

2:17

A question about semantics. I hear people say that the Dodgers lack depth because Mookie has had to play SS, but I see things differently. Their starting SS (Lux) has a season-ending injury right before the season started. Their backup (Rojas) has been injured. Their backup to the backup (Taylor) has also been injured off and on. So they've had to play some innings with Mookie at SS as the backup to the backup to the backup. Not ideal, but a pretty good 4th option. They've even used Luke Williams as a 5th option. So I'd say that their depth is being tested, not that they lack depth. Having to use your 4th option is not a lack of depth. Nobody has a league average player as their 4th option at a position, do they? And Mookie may actually be a league average SS or better. So do the Dodgers actually lack depth?

Ben Clemens

2:17

With you on this one

Now, the Dodgers traded for Rojas as the depth started to thin out, so I'm not 100% sure you can count him

2:18

But depth does not seem to be this team's problem. Proven depth, sure, but I think what actually worried people coming into the year is that they were less star-studded at the top than normal, which meant that they were susceptible to star injuries in a way that didn't seem to bother them before

bosoxforlife

2:19

Tha Cardinals give up on Willson Contreras after one month? What the #%$^&^# is going on there? Marmol must be done but is Mozeliak also in deep trouble?

Ben Clemens

2:19

I'm not gonna harp on this too long, because Jay wrote a really nice article about it and I've done my hot taking on twitter already, but this is just a really bad look for the franchise. I dunno if the front office is in trouble, they have spent a long time being pretty good, but this specific move is making me really question everything

Luis Arraez, Hit Machine

2:20

Luis Arraez is currently 70 (!!!) points clear of second place on the early-season AVG list (.420 vs Chapman at .349). His R and RBI numbers are low and he might not get to five HR, but damn this dude loves to get on base.

Ben Clemens

2:20

He's one of the few high-BA guys who 'loves to get on base' accurately describes, imo

Like, lots of guys who don't strike out much give it all back by not walking and not running a high babip

2:21

Arraez has a .377 OBP since 2020. Really impressive

Now, he has a .093 ISO and is a sieve on defense. But that bat!

Guest

2:21

I'm sure you're going to get a lot of questions about the Cardinals today. After a couple good-to-mediocre seasons, it really seems like things have totally fallen apart
My question: will Kyler Murray be the same when he comes back?

laughing

4

Ben Clemens

2:22

Oh man, you had me going with this one. I will say that I'm very down on Kyler as a going concern

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