JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 3/5/24

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 3/5/24

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Ben Clemens

12:00

Hey everybody, welcome to the chat.

As is normal when I shift into this Tuesday spot, I'm going to go fast and furious today so that I can walk my dog at 10 PT, so let's get right to it.

ZEEBLE

12:00

So much of the Cubs rebuild has been focused on run prevention through defense. They seem committed to give Chris Morel a shot at 3B this year, despite his poor showing there in the past. Do they just trust Morel's bat + Dansby's defense enough to make that work? Morel's arm is live but sometimes you just don't know where the ball is going.

Ben Clemens

12:01

I think it's a good bet to make. The Cubs should find somewhere to play Morel, and he has a live arm, give him some reps at third

I get that he hasn't done great defensively in the past, but particularly for a guy like him where the physical talent is there and it seems like it's about experience and repetition, he's not going to get better by NOT playing third

12:02

I do think that he's on a bit of a short leash. If he's not hitting, and if he doesn't look good defensively, they have enough infield options that I doubt he'll last there

12:03

The Cubs have a TON of depth, which means that if anyone starts off really poorly, they're likely to lose playing time rapidly

Red Sox Fans

12:03

We’re moving on to 2025.

Ben Clemens

12:03

I'm writing about this, probably for tomorrow

It's not looking great!

I thought Giolito made sense as an addition because he's very durable and because that was their rotation's seeming biggest weakness

uh, whoops

Steve

12:03

Hey Ben, what are your takes on the playoff format? What changes would you make that are realistic (i.e. not having less teams qualify, we know that won't happen).

Ben Clemens

12:03

I liked the year where there were fewer off days

12:04

I understand that it's tough from a TV perspective, but I think syncing up the playoffs just slightly more to regular season baseball in requiring five starters and not letting teams just run wild with the bullpen was a welcome change

the current DS setups just give SO many days to rest starters and rejuice bullpens

birds birds birds

12:04

In his prospects chat, Eric referred to Szymborski as "Danny". Do you all call him that?? Is that what he goes by???

Ben Clemens

12:05

I call him Dan. But I'm pretty sure he'd respond to Danny Zips, DZ, Mr. Projections Man, or most any name you can think of from a 1980's movie

Dan Sanchez

12:05

The Cubs 2024 3B situation is murky. The Orioles have a logjam and could use some optionable pitching.

Would something like Ramon Urias for Luke Little work?

Ben Clemens

12:05

This makes very little sense for the Cubs, in my opinion

They're drowning in guys like Urias

12:06

O dpm

I don't look at the Cubs's roster and think oh yeah, they need more 3b/2b's

They need one really good one!

Idiotic Failson

12:07

When is too early to sell? Asking as a guy who has Gray, Verlander, and Giolito rostered.

Ben Clemens

12:07

I mean, ouch

12:09

That's a rough group, I think depending on what kind of league this is and how keeping/dynasty style stuff works, you might want to start pivoting

Baltimoron

12:09

Do any of the FG writers live in the same city and hang out regularly?

Ben Clemens

12:09

No, but we do try to meet up a few times a year to make up for it

KC Pain

12:09

Is there anything in ST you look for that makes you move a guy up or down? To use a cross sport reference I ignore the combine numbers unless some guy is way out of variance, fast guy runs super slow for example.

Ben Clemens

12:10

I look a little bit at velo, pitch mix, and very occasionally batted ball data

Mostly, though, I'm looking at health and playing time

Guest

12:10

Thanks Ben for your time. Rank the injured arms over the next three years...deGrom, Scherzer, Springs, Rasmussen, and McClanahan. I have 5 il spots and can keep keepers for 3 years.

Ben Clemens

12:10

I have McClanahan first, then dG< then Springs/Rasmussen/Scherzer in a tight tier in that order

that carrot should have been a comma, to clarify

birds birds birds

12:11

Do you think Jorge Mateo can play CF? If not, who's the O's backup CF? Cowser kind of has to make the team, no?

Ben Clemens

12:11

I think he probably can. I'm not sure if he should

12:12

If they start with Mateo as the CF backup, I think they'll end up witih a new plan in fairly short order

It's just not a responsible way to run a team with their expectations, in my opinion

Jed

12:13

Your thoughts on 2nd year Seattle starters Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo. Do you see other taking a step forward in 2024 ... maybe not to the degree George Kirby did in 2023?

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