JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 8/17/26

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 8/17/26

powered by

This chat is available to members only. Please log in to participate.

Ben Clemens

2:00

Hey everyone, welcome to the chat

2:01

I don't really have any clever intro stuff to start with today. Let's just take some questions

fanoftheman

2:01

Inspired by Josh Baez’ historic debut, two questions about legendary performances:

1- what’s the best performance you’ve seen in person?

2- for your money, what’s the most impressive single day performance in big league history?

Ben Clemens

2:02

good ones. I was at Roger Clemens' 300th win in person, which was really cool. Just totally at random, I was visiting some colleges in the northeast as a high school student and my dad turned it into a trip to Fenway + Yankee Stadium becuase I'd never been to eitehr

but the most legendary game I've been to was probably the Cardinals coming back from WAY down in G5 of the 2012 Wild Card series against the Nats. Legendary performance by Pete Kozma, which is of course very difficult

or rather, which is very high degree of difficulty

2:03

as to the best single day performance, I think it was Ohtani's two-way game last playoffs

Ragbrai

2:03

Sort of a fantasy question. I missed out on Baez for ROS, though who to cut would have been a tough cut. Are we assuming he is the OD roster and what are expectations for him in 27?

Ben Clemens

2:03

Lots of Josh Baez questions today. I'd say that these are great ones for the prospect team. I haven't changed my opinion of him much in his nine big league plate appearances

2:04

which is to say - it's a small sample size and i'm interested in seeing him play more

aglossman

2:04

Red Sox go on that crazy run, then lose 3 consecutive series to 3 last place teams. Can’t predict baseball, Suzyn.

Ben Clemens

2:04

it's kind of amazing, right?

Nathaniel

2:05

TUGBOAT IS COMING

Ben Clemens

2:05

Very excited to see him pitch

Or well, pitch in the big leagues

He was super fun in the WBC

InsertWittyNameHere

2:06

Did you watch the Field of Dreams game? Two comments: Netflix tried too hard to wash Bonds from his cheating history. Him and Rose should have never been allowed to be a part of TV programming. 2) Why would they allow a minute long ad for Call of Duty a website literally named war.gov? Shouldn’t MLB nix both of those?

Ben Clemens

2:06

I did watch it. I'm not really into Field of Dreams in general? Like, that movie just didn't do it for me. I thought the broadcast was too corny (pun intended) as a result

2:07

I don't really have an issue with Bonds though

Pete Rose got banned. That's a pretty different thing, no?

2:08

as to the league greenlighting that silly ad, put aside how you feel about it personally and think about whether this MLB administration would be interested in picking a fight with an administration of either political party

is it dumb? sure

is it the dumbest thing the league has done in pursuit of not rocking the boat when it comes to powerful politicians? not even close imo

fantasynut03

2:08

Who is tugboat and why?

Ben Clemens

2:08

Matt Wilkinson, Giants prospect who came over in the Patrick Bailey trade

2:09

as to why - I'd say watch him pitch

SPArn

2:09

Wasn't expecting to see Pete Kozma's name today. Now I'm mad at Drew Storen all over again. Thanks, Ben

Ben Clemens

2:09

poor Storen

great pitcher who just did NOT have it in big spots thorughout his career

daml91

2:09

After this weekend, you buying the Brewers as the biggest threat to a Dodger threepeat?

Ben Clemens

2:09

I guess I am, but I don't feel all that differently than I did before this weekend, if that makes sense

like, am I buying the Brewers as the second-best team in baseball? I am

is that because of four games they played against the Dodgers? It is not

watertexas8445

2:10

Why doesn't WPA sum to 0?

Ben Clemens

2:10

wonderful question that I don't know the answer to. I guess I'll be looking into this later

oaktownblues

2:10

Are you a believer in Zack Gelof's 2026 results? Slash line is nearly identical to his 2023 breakout, but xwOBA isn't buying it

Ben Clemens

2:10

Okay, so for tomorrow, I am writing about someone who is not Zack Gelof

2:11

but in doing so, I came up with a pocket model for whether someone's good. Do they:
1)pull the ball more than average when they elevate
2)hit the ball harder than average when they elevate
3)pull the ball less than average when they hit grounders
4)swing at pitches over the heart of the plate more than average
5)swing at chase/waste pitches less than average

Load More Messages

Connecting…

Register

Message History

On Off

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