JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 5/8/23

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Ben Clemens

2:50

but yeah, they have not done enough to add top-level talent to the roster

Whiffing on Judge and Correa this offseason is good process bad outcome imo, but it's clear that they think this as well

Sabey Sabes

2:51

Have really enjoyed seeing guys like Justin Steele and Joe Ryan dominate this year with solid deliveries and without overwhelming stuff.

Ben Clemens

2:51

No real answer here, just yes, agree

Bryce Miller

2:51

Is my fastball good enough to thrive in MLB throwing it this much? I know the spin rate is off the charts - just seems like it won't last. Although I did say after my last outing that until it actually gets hit - I'm going to just keep throwing it...

Ben Clemens

2:51

I'm not buying into the hype just yet

2:52

Lance Brozdowski, who is a really good follow on twitter, spotted that he's releasing all his breaking pitches from very different release poitns b/c he can't generate the right kind of spin from where he throws his fastball to make it do the whole four-seam backspin thing

That seems.... bad

Will

2:52

Is there any existential concern about Gunnar now that its been over a month? He seems to get in his head too much, could that mental aspect translate into a decline in his tools? Or is it all just unnecessary worry.

Ben Clemens

2:52

Look, worrying is human nature

It's a month, existential concern seems excessive

2:53

but yeah, he's scuffling, now we see what happens when he struggles. Everyone struggles at some point

Morbo

2:53

How has your opinion on the competency of the Cardinals Front Office changed in the last couple weeks?

Ben Clemens

2:53

The Contreras thing, specifically, makes me wonder what the hell is going on

I didn't like the lack of pitching acquisitions this offseason but I don't like every move they make, that is just differences of opinion

2:54

This specifically seems very bad, this is not how you should handle players, and not how you should handle player acquisition if you're going to turn around and randomly just throw the dude under the bus

I hope that there was just a breakdown in communication somewhere, because I do not think they've handled this well

Guest

2:54

How high is your worry meter for the Cardinals? OF and rotation are both a mess, and the front office's comments about Contreras in conjunction with the move to DH make that acquisition look very bad.

Ben Clemens

2:55

I mean, it's high! They're 11-24. But I don't share your concern about the outfield, the only weird thing to me there is how much playing time they keep giving Alex Burleson, even when he doesn't really seem like the answer

2:56

O'Neill has not been good either, but I think a lot of the OF problems are that Nootbaar missed some time, and that they were doing the whole Jordan Walker shoehorning thing

Guest

2:56

We're well over a month into the season, and the Yankees are further out of first place than the Nationals. Is it time to put out my "Fire Aaron Boone" decorations and do my "Fire Aaron Boone" shopping?

Sharp

2:56

"Marcell Ozuna has a 70 wRC+ this year. It's true that he's been good in his last six games, but let's wait for sliiiiiightly longer to declare victory, shall we?"

His BABIP is .109. His BB/K rates are good. Statcast batted ball numbers are good. I think he's just fine. You didn't really look at the stats before commenting did you?

Ben Clemens

2:57

This is the last I'm gonna do on this one -- Ozuna still looks bad to me, and yeah, 'you didn't really look at the stats' is not a great way to get your point across. Believe it or not, I do look at the stats, a lot, that's why it's my job

if you just want to say "Marcell Ozuna is great, I don't want to listen to arguments", just go do it with your friends somewhere

Lou Perltzman

2:57

Old man Ben yells about celebrations

Ben Clemens

2:57

Cardinals

2:57

Do you think Arenado is hiding an injury or is he just washed?

Ben Clemens

2:58

Lol wtf why are these the onoly two options?

He's on a cold streak, he's not as good true talent as his results were last year, and I'm quite sure he'll be fine

Yo-Yo

2:58

How do the Cardinals build a competitive rotation in 2024 without significantly raising payroll? Losing Wainwright, O'Neill, and Dejong frees up enough money to replace Montgomery with a similar arm, but that's still a dreadful rotation. Any chance they do a quick rebuild for 2025?

Ben Clemens

2:59

I don't think they'll do a rebuild, because that's not their style, but this rotation is bad, quite bad

I think they'll hope to make it just middling instead of awful and let the bats carry them

Choo Choo

2:59

Trade proposal time: Lucas Giolito for Jake McCarthy. Sox cash in on Gio's final year of team control and buy low on a great athlete in McCarthy. Dbacks bolster the top of their rotation for a playoff push. Who says no?

Ben Clemens

2:59

Ooh, I have to say, I like this one

I think both teams might do that, tbh

As a Mets fan...

2:59

Thank you STL for taking the heat off for a little while.

Ben Clemens

2:59

lol

EonADS

2:59

The Guardians' biggest problem is that they've started chasing everything, in contrast to the discipline of last year. Anything they can do to counteract that aside from just making adjustments as they go?

Ben Clemens

3:00

I'm writing about the Guardians for tomorrow, tbh

In my opinion, the Guardians' biggest problem is that their contact-first approach wasn't as good as everyone seemed to think in the first place

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