JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 8/18/25

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 8/18/25

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Ben Clemens

2:14

side note, it's wild that Devers is the team's second-best hitter this year even though he had that hellacious slump to start his Giants career, is massively underperforming his expected stats, and has a 114 wRC+ in SF

Dom Smith is the team's third-best hitter!

I can talk myself into Heliot Ramos as a solid bat/fringy D option, but there are just a lot of not so great positions on the Giants roster right now

Lowe Distribution System

2:15

I know the Dodgers take lots of injury-riddled pitchers so we should expect them to have a lot on the IL, but man, when do we start considering that maybe the Dodgers are bad at keeping pitchers healthy?

Ben Clemens

2:15

like, 2019?

yeah it's worth considering, incredibly hard to measure though

Bookie Brent

2:15

Brewers in the WS - o/u 2-in-5 chance?

Ben Clemens

2:15

under

what?

40%, that's so much

like, forget our specific playoff odds, I think we're probably low on the Brewers

2:16

we have the Dodgers with the best WS odds at 31%

40% is basically not achievable territory in terms of playoff odds

to reach the WS

I think they're awesome but the postseason is just so dang random

Arn Anderson

2:16

Is there reason to believe Nate Lowe will make an impact in Boston? He sure looked washed in Washington. Its amazing how the late 20's hit most 1B like a truck.

Ben Clemens

2:16

oh man, I looked at his Nats production and thought 'eh maybe'

2:17

even though it wasn't great overall, it wasn't disastrous or anything. I think it's totally worth giving him a shot

2:18

not if you have a great 1B, but like, the Sox don't? I'd absolutely be interested in having more options that could work out well. I guess the weird part is that since he can't be on the playoff roster, giving him a lot of PT now might weaken the playoff roster

SPArn

2:18

I think you need to eat some crow on the Nats handily winning the Lowe for Garcia swap, sir! (Getting this jab in before he inevitably OBP's .380 and hits 10 bombs down the stretch for the Sox)

Ben Clemens

2:18

oh most definitely, haha

I'd do the trade again if I were them, but they did not win it

all you can do is judge things at the time they happen and I loved their process, but Garcia has been

2:19

well, no, Garcia hasn't even been that good

but he's going to be around for longer

Guest

2:19

Do players have personal analytics consultants? Like that just look at their data and try to come up with suggestions? Or is that mostly what driveline and teams are doing for them? Would there any benefit to them having their own guys just looking at their data?

Ben Clemens

2:20

I think that's kind of what Driveline, teams, independent coaches, other labs, and so on are doing in consultation with players

I'd say more 'with' than 'for' because as I continually learn from Laurila's work, a lot of hitters are VERY hands on with the data

I think Boras does this for his clients, too

2:21

one of the tricky things is that a bad suggestion could be awful

it's definitely a measure twice cut once situtation

I write 4-5 articles a week, I wouldnt' want to be giving 4-5 suggestions a week to a hitter

Bosoxforlife

2:21

The very fact that Dom Smith is starting says it all. Egads!

Ben Clemens

2:21

well said

Indecisive Fantasy GM

2:22

Who would you have more confidence in ROS, Adley or Drake Baldwin? Adley looks so rough recently.

Ben Clemens

2:22

I think Drake, honestly

Adley coming back from the IL and being bad still has changed my estimation of him in a big way

or at least, my estimation of his near-term performance

I like betting on the talent in the long run but like.....not over the next month!

Ben

2:22

Why can't Lowe be on the postseason roster? I thought as long as you are on the 40-man by September 1st or did they change that rule recently?

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