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Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 9/8/25

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Mom

2:05

Hiking shoes or sneakers for hiking around Arnold?

Ben Clemens

2:05

sneakers (to answer a question that no one will understand)

Oaktown Blues

2:05

Hopes of Zack Gelof being a productive hitter again are pretty much gone, right? The contact numbers are just abysmal

Ben Clemens

2:05

yeah....

i wanted to believe that 2023 was a sign of something, but we just have a lot more evidence that it isn't now

Oaktown Blues

2:06

The book is out on Nick Kurtz: The guy just can't hit velo below 35 MPH

The M’s only win when I’m abroad

2:06

Has there been any analysis on the frequency of position players pitching (and the impact on offensive stats). It sure seems more frequent than it used to be. Thinking especially about how we’ve had three 4-homer games this year, but two of them included at bats against a position player.

Ben Clemens

2:06

seems like a really good article that someone should write

we have any of those people around?

oh, me? well, yeah, I'll look into it

Wild Card Hopefuls

2:06

Who of the cards, red, giants, dbacks has best chances of grabbing a playoff spot?

Ben Clemens

2:06

I think I'll give it to the Reds because I think their chances of just capturing a few ridiculous pitching hot streaks in a bottle and riding them are the highest

but I don't feel great about any. The Reds needed to do more against the Mets

2:07

they went 2-1, which is nice, but the way they came into the series they really needed a sweep

Guest

2:07

This may sound silly but why do you think the efficacy of player dev groups (seemingly) varies so wildly? The monetary investment is pennies compared wto a single good starting pitcher, so money *shouldn’t* be a barrier. Griffen Canning has said that the Angels have all of the same equipment as the Mets. Despite being on complete opposite ends of the spectrum on the pitching dev side. Is good personnel that hard to find?

Ben Clemens

2:07

I think it's the whole 'how come facebook hires completely new teams every three years but continues to be facebook?' question, but for society

companies and teams are more than just the sum of the equipment they have

2:08

workplace culture matters a lot. i worked at several highly regarded hedge funds where money for my systems was certainly no object. the one with good workplace culture got stuff done, the one with a dysfunctional workplace dysfucntioned

Angels 2

2:08

Am I crazy for thinking that the Dodgers’ future looks kinda bleak? Several veterans having career-worst seasons, rookies look mediocre… they have a sub-.450 record since July 1st.

Ben Clemens

2:08

i mean.... probably you are, haha

2:09

July 1st is not very long ago, the Dodgers have a ton of good players, and they'll spend money to get more when the current ones are gone

Nate

2:09

Without looking at the leaderboard, do you know who the current saves leader is?

Ben Clemens

2:10

I absolutely do not, but let's give it a shot. it needs to be someone on a good team who hasn't really had an IL stint or job change this year. so in the AL that's Hoffman and Munoz basically? maybe Chapman but I feel like he was a little banged up at some point

in the NL, then, Diaz Duran (we'll count both leagues) Megill

I guess I'll say Munoz?

2:11

oh man, my apologies to Carlos Estevez

who I have in fantasy!

the most forgettable good closer in baseball

Sb4321

2:12

How concerned should I be about Seattle’s ability to develop pitching? They used to be able to pick up relievers and fix them quickly, but their recent reliever pickups have been awful. Starting pitching has regressed as well.

Ben Clemens

2:12

probably not that concerned yet. I'd still be concerned about their ability to develop hitting though

Nate

2:12

How much do you think Framber's FA market is realistically going to be impacted by last Tuesday's cross-up incident? My guess is probably not really, teams have shown a willingness to ignore hotheadedness if you produce

Ben Clemens

2:12

yeah, agreed

it'd be one thing if it were a much longer-lasting incident, resulted in some suspensions, wasn't handled in house etc

Joey Caltrain

2:12

Following up on your mailbag comments about Logan Webb... is Patrick Bailey more valuable to a team like the Giants with a Webb-like ace than he would be for other teams?

Ben Clemens

2:12

i think so for sure

2:13

I haven't found a math way to say this

but c'mon

clearly Webb throws so many stirkes around the edge of the zone that a good framer would help

and I think that teams that rely a lot on command and called strikes in general are who you want

Soto fan

2:14

Soto recently had a streak of over 120 bats without a double which seemed cool. Then I realized that Trent Grisham hasn’t hit a double since July 21. Soto has a profile that leads to no doubles but Grisham not as much. He has a 20% line drive rate over that stretch. Other Yankees lefties have had no trouble hitting doubles over the same period.

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