JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 8/30/21

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Ben Clemens

2:57

I think I'd probably line Scherzer up, but I don't know, they're really good about extra rest and they seem to believe that pays off long-term

Sad Mets Fan

2:58

Do you think Yadier Molina is a hall of famer?

Ben Clemens

2:59

I do. It's arguably close on the numbers, but I think the combination of longevity, titles, and counting stats will put him over the top easily

Aguy

2:59

Do you think Christian Yelich is back to his pre-2020 self?

Ben Clemens

2:59

I'd say not quite

I think he's mostly back, but without quite so much power as before

3:00

He's on a hell of a hot streak at the moment, no doubt

3:01

But even this hot streak is below how he was FOR THE YEAR in 2019

He was just absurd in 2019

Aguy

3:02

Do you think he has a good chance to regain that power, or is he more of a doubles guy again?

Ben Clemens

3:02

I think he's more of a doubles guy with 20 HR power

which is an absolutely awesome hitter

Derek

3:02

Who do you think wins AL ROY? Adolis obviously had the fast start but has faded quite a bit. Arozarena has had a somewhat under-the-radar very good season. Wander has been on fire but probably doesn't end up with enough games to close the gap?

Ben Clemens

3:03

I think it's probably Arozarena

I'm with you, I don't think Wander has enough time to close the gap

3:04

Garcia would be another choice but I get the sense that the Astros will give him enough rest down the stretch to take him out of the race

Appa Yip Yip

3:04

Alek Manoah deserves some RoY consideration he's been carving dudes up

Ben Clemens

3:05

He deserves some votes I think, but compare him to Garcia

He's pitched 50 fewer innings with basically the same ERA

and a worse FIP

3:05

Is there a random player from the past that you think about often? For me it's JD Drew. That 2005 season always makes me wonder what could have been. Plus that sweet left handed swing

Ben Clemens

3:05

There's one very specific one for me!

Placido Polanco

3:06

I thought that guy was AWESOME

He was an empty average guy for sure... not a lot of career .297 hitters with below-average wRC+

3:07

But I loved him on the Cardinals, always thought he'd be great, and then he was legit awesome for a bit in the mid-2000s

Derek

3:07

Oh and Luis Garcia! Same course as Adolis though...

Ben Clemens

3:07

Wow, I guess I should have posted this up above. That's the Garcia I meant

Thought I'd put this into the chat

The Great Giambino

3:07

Re: metrics for Cy Young. I have the unpopular opinion that the most "famous" players should be in the HOF, stats be damned. Tell me you don't want to see a bust of Bartolo Colon next to Jamie Moyer.

Ben Clemens

3:07

At the very least, there should be an outer tier of just fun players

3:08

Completely in agreement with you on this

Reid

3:08

2018 Aaron Nola had 10.2 bWAR based on run prevention pitching in front of what BRef considered to be like the second worst defence of all time. He had 5.5 WAR at Fangrpahs. Not really a question, the ERA vs. FIP discussion just made me recall that 4.7 WAR difference.

Ben Clemens

3:08

I really do not like bWAR, and this is a good example of why

The defensive adjustment they make is really weird

Basically, they look at your defense's performance on the year, and credit or debit you for it

But they don't look at your defense's performance BEHIND YOU

And so what happened with Nola was that he had a great ERA

3:09

and runs scored numbers

but his defense was above average behind him (when it comes to converting batted balls into outs)

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