JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 8/12/24

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 8/12/24

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Ben Clemens

2:20

but uh, I think they're both probably average dudes going forward

HappyFunBall

2:21

Victor Robles is still swinging a wet noodle. What he's improved on is his K% and pull rate. But it's weird. He's a touch more aggressive on in-zone pitches, but his O-Contact rate is way down despite not changing his o-swing rate. Basically, it looks like by missing bad pitches more often, he's eliminated some bad contact from his result set. I...don't think that's a positive sustainable change.

The agresssion on the base paths is worthwhile though, as long ad he's on base in the first place.

Ben Clemens

2:22

this seems reasonable to me, I haven't dug super deep into it but when you're missing bad pitches you can get big production on contact bumps sometimes

b/c it just strips out your worst contact

the thing is, that type of change tends not to persist

eventually he'll start clipping those again

Well-Beered Englishman

2:22

Cooked, or NOT cooked: Paul Skenes, Bartolo Colon, your preferred prep of tuna

Ben Clemens

2:23

well I heard that Skenes enjoys cooking, so I'm gonna say he is cooked in that sense. Bartolo could never be cooked. And ooh, I like mine seared, which I guess is mostly not cooked

Pat

2:23

If you did a "Lowest Trade Value" column, who would come out on top? Benintendi? Baez? Rendon? Bryant? It would be fun to see teams' thoughts on that. (& would prob never get written because it's sort of "click baity".)

Ben Clemens

2:23

yeah, just a little too clickbaity

GA Blood

2:23

What was the highlight of the olympics for you?

Ben Clemens

2:23

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone just annihilating the field in the 400 hurdles

love

1

2:24

every four years I remember how much I like track, and then seeing such an all-time performance really got me hyped up. Shades of watching Usain Bolt vaporize the competition in the 200 in 2008

Oaktown Blues

2:24

Thanks for writing about the surprising aptitude of the A's. Am I crazy to think they could be in the wild card picture next year with the return of Wilson/Soderstrom? Seems the rotation would be the main thing holding them back

Ben Clemens

2:25

I think you're a little ahead of yourself there, we'd still be talking about a pretty sketchy infield, and their rotation is not good

like, Cleveland is getting away with a bad rotation b/c they have elite elite elite defense and bullpen

2:26

and I look at it and think 'eh that can't last, even with them beating up on the White Sox'

I do think the A's could flirt with .500 if things go well though

Phil

2:26

True or false: if Vladito were just a regular former top prospect named José Suárez or some such, no one would regard his trajectory as especially surprising.

Ben Clemens

2:26

mmmm.... I'm gonna say false, but I agree that the name makes it feel different

his 2021 season was really outstanding, though

2:27

and having a season like that followed by such a big downswing in the next two years would be notable even if he were less heralded

2:29

it actually gives me flashbacks to Bryce Harper's breakthrough MVP season followed by a big fallback in 2016. Harper is pretty famous himself, obv, so it's not a perfect comparison, but he had a .300/.400/.600 season, and then he got much worse over the next two years, and maybe now he's charging back towards that form?

it's pretty striking, regardless of name

Guest

2:29

I don't think Rafaela is a SS; so what do you think the Red Sox do next year with 4 OF+DH spots for 5 guys - Rafaela/Duran/Abreu/Yoshida/Roman Anthony? I think Anthony is the real deal and will force an early promotion next year.

Ben Clemens

2:29

honestly it's not looking good for Masa, which is sad to me b/c I was pretty excited for him to pan out

but do you prefer him to Abreu against righties? I don't

2:30

and so he's your second defensively limited big-side platoon bat. maybe that works? I dunno, it feels pretty cuspy whether he's a roster fit to me

Will

2:30

If Judge remains this hot, do you pitch to him in any important situation in the playoffs? Not me. Let the guys behind him prove it.

Ben Clemens

2:31

I would not

i mean, within reason obviously

but this is nuts

Olympics

2:31

Thoughts on whether the (Summer) Olympics should be held in the same location - say Greece - every four years instead of putting sites into debt building stuff that provides negligible benefit to the people who actually live there?

Ben Clemens

2:31

I heard this pitch earlier in the Olympics, I can't remember from who. I'd be in. I'm not a big pageantry guy, I am more about watching the very best in the world compete in weird things

Spirit of Joel Youngblood

2:32

Are the Pirates still close enough in your mind to keep the pedal down? And by that, I mean keep throwing Skenes and try having Jones come back to a full workload? Or pack it in for next year

Ben Clemens

2:32

no, I think the last week has pushed them out of contention

I would have had a different answer for you if you asked a week ago but they just lost over and over again and have fallen pretty far out of the race. 5 back with 6 teams to pass, that's too tough

druidiful

2:33

is there any way you can get Carson and Jeff back to do one of there fangraph audio podcasts that werent about baseball?

Ben Clemens

2:33

never say never, but we don't even have FanGraphs audio right now

bosoxforlife

2:33

The top 6 pitcher contracts in 2024 are Ohtani, Scherzer, Verlander, deGrom, Cole and Corbin. Not one of these men is providing value anywhere to close to their cost. Does this send all GM's into a catatonic trance and might it affect upcoming negotiations?

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