JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 9/15/25

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Ben Clemens

2:02

Hey everyone

Got a slightly late start while I scramble around here but let's get going

Nats Fan

2:02

Cj Abrams is better defensively this year than he was last year. But he is still fairly below average. Do you think the Nats should be patient or move him to second, or somewhere else?

Ben Clemens

2:02

Yeah, I'd move him

2:03

love the offense, don't think the defense is gonna pan out at this point given that it hasn't yet

The Person Who Asks The Lunch Question

2:03

What's for lunch?

Ben Clemens

2:03

I have no idea, to be honest with you. Just got back from a trip and so I don't think tehre's much in the fridge. Probably takeout?

Dansby Swansong

2:03

I know batting average isn't much of a thing anymore, but should a .242 hitter win the MVP? Ohtani won it with a .257 BA, but he also pitched.

Ben Clemens

2:04

I mean.... They should if they manage to be a huge contributor on offense despite that handicap

2:05

but it's pretty hard to be an incredibly valuable player while accruing that few hits

you'd have to, I don't know, walk a lot, hit so many home runs that hour slugging percentage is ludicrous anyway, maybe play catcher for some defensive value?

Phil

2:05

True or False: Roki Sasaki does not pitch for the Dodgers again until 2026.

True or False: Clayton Kershaw will not start a playoff game for the Dodgers in 2025.

Ben Clemens

2:05

Fun ones

2:06

I have to be honest with you, I'm not on top of the Roki news. I'm expecting him to pitch, but I'm skeptical it'll be as a full-outing starter

and yeah, given that, I guess I have 'yes' on Kershaw starting a playoff game

2:07

maybe they'll piggyback Kershaw and Ohtani!

though I suppose in that case Ohtani would probalby start, b/c how would he warm up during the game?

21127

2:07

Moises Ballesteros is hitting 321/406/536 in The Show. We know that we cannot draw conclusions from that slash line based on 31 plate appearances. But what about based on a 21-year-old who has 4 BBs, 1 K, and a .214 ISO in his first 31 plate appearances? That feels to me both rarer and more impressive.

Ben Clemens

2:07

Yeah, you still can't learn anything unfortunately

but, I love Moises Ballesteros

2:08

I'd say that I haven't changed my opinion on him since he debuted -- but my opinion was 'this dude rocks so much that I went out of my way to write about him, and that's before two straight seasons of hitting in Triple-A

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/less-heralded-hitting-prospects-i-like-in-...

WAR

2:08

Does Judge read FanGraphs? The famous Jaffe article last year, then he writes one in early September, plus the WAR article... just a casual 232 wRC+ in September against 4 good teams. This guy!

Ben Clemens

2:08

haha I hope he does

I hope everyone does!

I do think a decent number of players read FG though

2:08

Why can't the Reds do it? It was there for the taking this week!

Ben Clemens

2:09

baseball is hard

the other guys live in big houses too

Eldridge Horror

2:09

How do you feel about the Giants calling up Bryce Eldridge? I mean he’s definitely gonna strike out a lot but his EVs are insane lol (64% hard-hit rate??!!?)

Ben Clemens

2:09

I think they have to with Dom Smith out

2:11

like, they don't have a lot of lefty bats on the bench

and they want to platoon 1b/dh

I'd definitely try it

David Wiers

2:12

I don't know what to make of Trent Grisham. 30 HR, but single-digit doubles, but he's basically flipped his 2023 season there. Only 12 home HR, so it isn't just a short porch thing. Some mostly great Statcast numbers, but do you think he'll even out and is more likely a 20-doubles, 20-HR guy going forward?

Ben Clemens

2:12

Yes

When I model future power output on my own, I like to heavily regress 2b/hr ratio towards the mean

not like, all the way

but htese weird seasons where everything seems to go out generally don't seem to last (and vice versa)

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