JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 7/15/24

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Ben Clemens

2:11

I think Lindor is not gonna win MVP, b/c too much of his value is tied up in defense

2:12

and defense is hard to measure, so MVP voters consistently favor offense over defense

2:13

I think that he's one of the most underrated players in baseball, though, and think that he'll certainly get MVP votes. A hot second half that puts the Mets into the playoffs would probably get him into the top 3. The whole "but look at his WAR" argument might not work when Bryce Harper is hitting .301/.403/.579, but I bet you people will use it to figure out their down ballot votges

Insert Witty Name Here

2:13

Thoughts on Wimbledon? Ladies match was compelling but the gentleman’s seemed like it was over after the first point. Also, I just read Andre Aggasi’s autobiography, highly recommend!

Ben Clemens

2:13

What a bummer of a finals. I woke up at 7:30, 1h30 into the match, thinking I'd catch the juicy part

whoops!

2:14

I wish that someone with a bit more star power were in the women's finals, even if it was just Sabalenka or Swiatek, who I feel like are better than they are popular

2:15

women's tennis has been incredibly compelling for the past decade, tons of great matches and wild intra-match swings, but I feel like the constant churn of who's in the finals makes people overlook it

Mike Imanaga II

2:15

What would you do if you ran the Cubs this deadline? Alot of their roster is kind of fixed, but the sum of the parts isn't exactly working....

Ben Clemens

2:15

I hate to say it but I'd stand pat

I just feel like they need to take more time figuring out what they have. If they are on a winning streak and closer to the playoffs at the deadline they should add some relievers

2:16

and if they've fallen out hard, they can trade some rentals

But they just need this team to be better, for the most part

Okra

2:16

I get that Cleveland has a great bullpen and good offense, but I can't wrap my head around a team being this good with a rotation that's this bad (25th in ERA, 28th in WAR).

Ben Clemens

2:16

the Brewers, too!

2:17

I think that something is going to give, but probably in both directions; the Guardians offense will cool while the starters do a bit better

I'm less sure in Milwaukee, I realllllly don't believe in their rotation

maybe they'll make some trades to shore things up, though

romorr

2:17

Any sense on what Erick Fedde is going to cost as far as prospects? Feels like 1 top 100 guy, in that 50-100 range, and another interesting piece. But with a lack of options, I don't feel good about that being the case anymore.

Ben Clemens

2:18

I think that's about right. The Jordan Montgomery trade last year is maybe a good marker

extra year of control but less exciting underlying stats

but on the right side of the 'can this guy start in the playoffs' divide for me, which is a big deal

Okra

2:19

Who do you believe in more ROS? Spencer Schwellenbach or Gavin Stone?

Ben Clemens

2:19

I think this is a minority opinion but Schwelly

Eminor3rd

2:19

My gut reaction to Hagen Smith to White Sox was that it was a strategically poor fit, given that the combination of how close Smith likely is to the Majors plus the fact that he's had TJ already make him maybe the "shortest term" value guy in that general range. On the other hand, BPA is BPA, right? I just can't shake the feeling that the Sox just essentially got an exciting guy that we're very likely to watch them trade in a few years.

Ben Clemens

2:19

That was also my first reaction. I don't pretend to be a Smith expert but archetypically it feels weird

2:19

How concerning is it that Pittsburgh went prep on all three Day 1 picks?

Ben Clemens

2:19

It's not, to me at least

Zack

2:20

How do we justify the Mariners hard hit % and barrel rates being top 5 or so in baseball yet their avg and other metrics so poor... bad luck or something greater? K% awful as well obviously

Ben Clemens

2:20

swing hard, in case you hit the ball

they just seem to largely not hit the ball

deBride

2:20

With tiebreakers the Brewers are 5.5 games up on STL for the Central lead, but only 2.0 games behind LAD for the #2 seed. Does it kind of feel to you too like they are way closer to losing the division lead than being the #2 seed?

Ben Clemens

2:20

it really does

I think that's because of the state of their starting pitching

and the fact that even though they haven't really filled this role in recent years, the Cardinals still FEEL like the NLC boogeyman

2:21

also like, it's the Dodgers. They have Shohei and Mookie and Freddie and soon Clayton

even when they're catchable, they don't FEEL particularly catchable

Asking for a Friend

2:21

Is it allowed under the MLB rules to pitch with different hands (arms?) within the same plate appearance?

Ben Clemens