JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 6/3/22

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Ben Clemens

12:57

I couldn't resist a chance to get some Phillies fans in here and also talk Apple odds on the day their broadcast goes up

Also, didn't chat this Monday b/c of the holiday

TheCasualFan

12:57

Another Cards question: why have Alec Burleson and Moises Gomez not been promoted yet? (to MLB and AAA, respectively)

Ben Clemens

12:57

No clue tbh. Corey Dickerson's welcome is wearing thin

Appa Yip Yip

12:58

Enjoyed the Cimber piece and I'm wondering how much stock you put into the effectiveness of having multiple "looks" out of the bullpen. By swapping out guys with different arm slots can you basically get better results than if you have similar guys instead.

Ben Clemens

12:58

I do believe it and have tried on and off to quantify it

I've consistently failed!

12:59

But it's the kind of effect I'll keep looking for, b/c smart teams keep doing it and it keeps making good intuitive sense

1:00

I've been a longtime Cimber fan, since his Padres days, because that delivery is just SO weird

Cortes

1:00

Maybe it's just a late breakout. He's only 27 not 35 right?

Ben Clemens

1:00

Oh yeah, totally could be. I more mean the way he does it, with a mixture of good-not-great pitches and good command and sequencing and deception

Insert Witty Name Here

1:00

Phillies fan here, watch tonight’s game and see how loudly we cheer Trout. It’s cool to see that we’re not always asshats.

Bring Back DeSpaniel Hair!

1:00

Lived in Philly for four years. Their fans are the absolute worst. Made me an anti Philly fan

brad penny for your thoughts

1:00

any reason why pujols has nearly double the PA's against righties than lefties? i thought stl was going to be strategic with his use.

Ben Clemens

1:00

It's b/c he's Albert Pujols

1:01

It's maddening

They're giving away the very valuable skills they get from him (crushing lefties, occasional DH duty vR when no one else is rested) by overusing him

1:02

Truly not a fan of it

I like a lot of the stuff Oli Marmol is doing, his usage of Pujols is not one of those things

Some of it is b/c Dickerson has just been awful; but when you use Pujols against soft-tossing righties, that leaves Dickerson to face elite velocity a ton of the time

He's not exactly getting a fair shake either

David

1:02

How do you feel about Robbie Ray? His velocity and strikeouts have been trending back to what you'd expect but he's still getting blown up a lot.

Ben Clemens

1:03

I think he'll be fine

Some blowups come with the territory in Robbie Ray land, but the stabilization in velo cuts down my worries that he's hurt, and if his command keeps being acceptable, he's just gonna strike a ton of guys out and provide value

He's just so hard to hit

That guy

1:03

Seeing Marmol using Pujols over Gorman last night was quite maddening.

Ben Clemens

1:04

Gorman may have been hurt, I'll give him a pass there

Insert Witty Name Here

1:04

Curtis Clemens? Gotta go with a C middle name for the alliteration.

Ben Clemens

1:04

I dunno what we'd do about last names. Maybe choose a completely new one

Seems weird to pick one of our names over the other

Rob

1:04

Is Carson Kelly's defense good enough to push Varsho back to the OF and Pavin Smith to the bench? I know you're getting lots of questions about D-Backs roster construction but this is definitely the best one.

Ben Clemens

1:04

I think it should be

1:05

I'm not a huge fan of Varsho behind the plate, though I can understand why they want to try him there -- that's a valuable extra skill to have, regardless of whether he can play the outfield and hit well

I just think Kelly's defense is so clearly good that it's a shame to waste it

The Real Ben Clemens

1:05

think Marmol being younger than Pujols has anything to do with that or is it mostly just a farewell tour thing

Bring Back DeSpaniel Hair!

1:05

i still want to see Pujols get the all the home runs though.

Ben Clemens

1:05

Farewell tour thing, in my opinion

1:06

He's Albert Freaking Pujols. He's one of the best-respected players in the game