JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 9/21/20

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Ben Clemens

3:07

He might, but it's not like you can't use your arm without a UCL

3:08

He certainly wouldn't rehab it as exhaustively if he weren't coming back

Oh no Gallo

3:08

Do you have thoughts on Joey Gallo's season and outlook? I loved your article on him in January and thought you might have great insights into what has happened

Ben Clemens

3:10

I haven't done a deep dive on him but I wouldn't be overly worried

3:11

It's a short season and guys with his profile are prone to some slumps that look like this

3:12

Here's his 15-game rolling ISO for his career:

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/joey-gallo/14128/graphs?statArr=40&l...

Nothing looks tremendously out of place to me

2-D

3:12

Did the Nationals winning the World Series the season directly after losing Harper get talked about too little, too much, or just enough?

Ben Clemens

3:12

I'd say too much, but only specifically because too many people drew causal links

3:13

People are SO quick to assume cause and effect in baseball

If people were saying 'here are two interesting things that happened to the Nats' then sure

But there were more 'Harper isn't a winner' takes than I think make sense

Becaues to be clear I think the right number of those takes is near 0

3:14

The team-building ones are fine

The Nats had to let Harper go b/c of the emergence of Soto, and it paid off, that kind of thing

Derek

3:14

Also injuries happen all the time. Some HOF candidates (Sale, Verlander) would have missed this season regardless of its length, for others it'll basically be like they just had an extra extended injury this year.

Ben Clemens

3:14

This too, but even position players miss time. I just don't think it will be THAT big of a deal in the broad sweep of baseball history

3:15

If you're a JAWS person, heck, there used to be less WAR because there used to be fewer games per season

Larry Jones

3:15

I know offseason moves matter a lot for this, but who do you believe will be 2021's Padres/White Sox?

Ben Clemens

3:15

I love some wildly early speculation, so I'll say the Padres will be 2021's Padres

Oh, I can't do that?

3:16

In that case, I'll take the Tigers, because maybe all their pitchers can take a leap forward at once

But I feel super awful about that pick

I'm Len, not Ben

3:16

If Arenado is not playing this week, does Hampson play everyday and win someone their league like he finished last year?

Ben Clemens

3:16

Hampson's eternal lot in life is to only be used to his full potential in meaningless games, it seems

mmddyyyy

3:17

How has it been writing for Fangraphs this season?

Ben Clemens

3:17

Taking an old question, but it's been great!

It was kind of crappy during the no-sports summer

But that was my first offseason as a full-time baseball writer, and so I had really been leaning into goofy research and 2019 stories, so I just kept it going

3:18

But with the season going on it's as fun as ever, even if the circumstances are odd

There's just so much to talk about

All the time

3:19

I'm gonna wrap this chat up here, after self-servingly picking a question that lets me talk about myself, because I need to start working on some playoff stuff

Thanks for chatting with me today, everyone, and I'll talk to you next week, on the eve of these wild 3-game series that promise to be so much fun.

Unfair to good teams, but fun!

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