JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 8/29/22

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Ben Clemens

2:25

TV didn' work the same then

I remember his postseason relief appearance against Cleveland, remember him just being dominant when I saw him, but I don't have the same visceral wow factor with him

2:26

That said, I think I'd take Pedro's stats? I dunno, it's almost not worth parsing

Kwanbelievable

2:26

If somehow, someway the Orioles make the playoffs, does Rutschman become the favorite for AL ROY? He already surpassed Julio in WAR, and presumably he would maintain that lead if the Orioles do clinch a wild card

Ben Clemens

2:26

Yeah, I think that would be enough of a story for the voters even if you're not really supposed to take that into account

Matt (Oceanside)

2:26

What makes deGromm so good? I don't get to watch a lot of his starts, but I have heard he usually throws only two pitches (FB and SL) but has a good CB and change? Is it more his velocity or more his command?

Ben Clemens

2:27

He has 80 command, throws 101, tunnels his pitches really well, and his mechanics are just perfect

The command is just unreal to watch

You can see an entire at-bat where all he does is throw 94mph sliders that dot the corner of the zone

the same corner, of course

Ex O's

2:28

Funny that you mentioned Palmer as someone who expressed things well. He once said on air: "The lead arm is one of the more important arms for power hitters." He is a pitching genius and I am not; I suspect he pitched off of hitter traits differently, and he tracked power hitters at least partly by their lead arm. It didn't stop me from saying, " Yep, the lead arm is definitely in the top two."

Ben Clemens

2:28

The Grand Nagus

2:28

Ben, do you have a favorite Star Trek episode

Ben Clemens

2:28

Oh, interesting

I watched a ton of TNG as a kid, but more the 'whatever is on TV' style than anything else

2:29

I think my favorite genre of episode is Q episodes, but the one I remember most is the poker game temporal causality loop one

Wally Backman

2:29

Do you believe in the Mets offense in the postseason?

Ben Clemens

2:30

Yeah as much as I believe in their offense in the regular season. They hvae the sixth-best offense in baseball so far, that doesn't sound out of line to me

Appa Yip Yip

2:30

The episode where everyone on the enterprise starts de-evolving was so scary for seven year old me I went into the other room and played with bubble wrap while my family watched it.

Ben Clemens

2:30

Oh I remember that too! And the one where the world keeps collapsing around Dr. Crusher, that one stuck with me

Matt (Oceanside)

2:30

At this point, if you are the Dodgers, you have to start Trayce Thompson over Bellinger in the post season right? Thompson is quite as good defensively, but he is solid, and Bellinger's offense seems worse than any defensive downgrade at this point?

Ben Clemens

2:30

Boy, this is a tough one

2:31

I think they might just platoon them

Caribou

2:31

How do you feel about the Dodgers pitching staff in the playoffs. Most of them are way outperforming their FIP. Is that good defense or luck?

Ben Clemens

2:31

The Dodgers ALWAYS outperform their FIP

their defensive positioning is second to none

2:33

I reserve the right to change my opinion if Gonsolin is actually hurt

2:33

What exactly is Moises Gomez? Seems like one of those Aristedes Aquino/Wily Mo Pena types who could come up and catch fire through the end of the season (before pitchers figure him out). IDK if the Cardinals have the ABs for him though.

Ben Clemens

2:33

Yeah, if the Cards had a spot for him, I'd try it out. They are just really slammed with guys they should be getting PT at the major league level though

What a wild season for a minor league veteran

Kwanbelievable

2:33

From your Star Trek episode answer, I take it you are a fan of time travel? What's your favorite mind-bending TV show/movie of all time? I need recommendations

Ben Clemens

2:34

Oh, watch Dark

it was mind-bending to the extreme

I generally like convoluted plots and suspense. I'm watching 'Surface' on Apple TV right now and I've also really been enjoying that

Josh R

2:35

The new playoff format will have the 1 seed playing the winner of the 4/5 seed wild cards. But the 4 seed top wild card IMO will be better than the 3 seed worse division winner 80% of the time or more. The Dodgers might have to face the Braves in the Dodgers first playoff round. How dumb is this?

Ben Clemens

2:35

BP wrote about this, it's definitely a problem but was already kind of a problem before

Like, the wild card is usually a better team than the worst division winner

always

Charl

2:35

RE: DeGrom and peak Pedro, I offer Buster Olney's write-up of the time Martinez left the '99 Yankees speechless: https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/11/sports/baseball-1-hit-17-strikeouts...

Ben Clemens

2:35

Well that is fun

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