JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 6/7/22

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 6/7/22

powered by

View Full Chat Next Page

Ben Clemens

1:57

Hey, let's start slightly early, because I'm going to end this chat around 3 ET

Without further ado:

Matt

1:57

Where do the Angels go from here? 12 straight losses, and they’ve made no changes.

Ben Clemens

1:57

I don't really know what changes they can make

1:58

They called Jo Adell back up when Taylor Ward got hurt, but I'm assuming that's not going to placate any nervous fans

Their worst hitter in this stretch is Mike Trout

1:59

They've already done plenty of shuffling of interchangeable middle infielders

I guess they could mess with the pitching? But the starters have been alright

I think they just need to not lose so many games. I know that's reductive but, well, your good hitters need ot hit

James

1:59

Is there a way to quantify the value of the 8 hitter getting on with 2 outs to turn the lineup over for the next inning? It feels like this sort of thing is not discussed much.

Ben Clemens

2:00

This isn't quite the same, but I looked at whether Austin Hedges would make more sense on an AL team or NL team, and found that he'd actually fit better in the NL (pre-DH), because it hurts less to fail to reach base when the player after you isn't going to drive you in anyway

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/some-fun-with-austin-hedges-a-baseball-ext...

2:02

I think this effect has become less important with the universal DH, but I'd basically say this: It's good to get on base. It's always good to get on base. But if you have a guy who gets on base a lot, it's better to use them to either drive runners home or load the bases for people to drive runners home than to clear hte pitcher's spot

The Great Giambino

2:02

If you have not played Smash Up, you should stop this chat right now to go try it. Best I can describe it is a mix of deck building meets Magic the Gathering where the game is never the same twice

Ben Clemens

2:02

I was very tempted to leave this for the last question of the chat and then just sign off, but I thought I might forget

Smash Up is great, highly recommend it

Appa Yip Yip

2:03

It seems like an unusual number of the starters signed to big contracts have been bad this year. Rodon, Gausman, and Scherzer are the only ones putting up good numbers. What's up with that?

Ben Clemens

2:04

I dunno. I think you're maybe overstating it -- Syndergaard has been serviceable, better than our projections I think, Verlander was only free agent ish but has been excellent, Kershaw was great until he got hurt, etc.

2:06

Eduardo Rodriguez has been slightly disappointing but not terribly so. Overall, I'd just say that this is kind of what you get in pitching. 9 pitchers signed deals with AAV of 20 million or higher, and 2 of those (Ray, Stroman) have been pretty bad

E Rod has been run of the mill bad

The other 6 have been somewhere between okay and great

AJ Preller

2:06

Because he gets 10/5 rights after the season, this deadline is my last chance to trade Hosmer. What is it going to take for me to finally make it happen?

Ben Clemens

2:06

It's not happening

Appa Yip Yip

2:06

On Friday I asked you to pls fix José Berríos and I just want to say thank you for your service.

Ben Clemens

2:06

You're welcome

JD

2:06

Is it possible that the A’s developmental woes are due to lack of resources or are they just bad at drafting/signing international talent?

Ben Clemens

2:06

Porque no los dos?

Super Freak

2:07

Over/under 74 wins for the Pirates?

Ben Clemens

2:07

Under, but by less than I would have expected preseason. My boy Ke'Bryan Hayes is off to another great start, let's gooooo

Josh

2:08

Are Gallo and Hicks cooked? Hard to complain about a 39-15 team and both had had points with wrc+ > 110, but have to wonder what NY does going forward

Ben Clemens

2:08

I am willing to concede that Hicks might be cooked. I've never been a big Gallo fan, but I don't think he's done by any means. He's just kind of a feast or famine hitter

2:09

I think his defense will likely rebound, and that his bat will a bit too, but that he's more average regular that gets to the stats in a way that looks weird than star

Nate

2:09

Think the Braves will eventually figure out how to get Willy C’s bat in the lineup every day?

Ben Clemens

2:09

They're certainly trying! They've played him in the outfield this year

Bring Back DeSpaniel Hair!

2:09

Nothing to ask this week, but you should be demanding a pay raise or a bonus or something. You, sir, are killing it right now!

Ben Clemens

2:10

I actually demand minor league baseball hats

I got a Savannah Bananas one recently (go watch them if you live in driving distance, it was so fun) but my collection is overall lackluster

Appa Yip Yip

2:10

If you were making the trade value series right now, where would you put Alejandro Kirk? He can't handle a full catching load (bc he's shaped like a friend) but absolutely hits enough to DH days he doesn't. He's a wee little unicorn.

Ben Clemens

2:10

Shameless cross-promotion alert: I'm looking into Kirk for a segment of The Sleeper and the Bust this week

Ben Clemens Investigates: Alejandro Kirk

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