JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 4/21/25

Ben Clemens

2:00

Hey everybody, welcome to the chat

2:01

I'm chatting from my vacation home in the woods today, so a slightly lower-tech setup, but certainly a more peaceful one. I'm gonna keep the chat to around an hour, but strive to answer as much as I can for that hour. Let's get started

Ryan

2:01

Tatis is playing out of his mind right now. When he's right is he the best overall player in baseball outside of Ohtani?

Ben Clemens

2:02

Gotta have Judge ahead of him, I think. Not that Tatis isn't great, I'm a huge fan... but Judge has been the best-performing baseball player for years now. Ohtani might have more raw talent but c'mon, these hitting numbers, absurd

Jordan

2:02

Is there any hope for the Pirates? Seems like they're totally lost and going to clean house by the end of the season.

Ben Clemens

2:02

Yeah, it feels very bad

We came into the year saying 'this doesn't look like a real major league offense'

and I mean....

Johnny5Alive

2:02

So... the Mets huh? Can you imagine what the team is going to do when the bats other than Alonso actually wake up AND they get healthy? Its still early, but remember, they were picked to finish 3rd in their division and had relatively low pre-season playoff odds especially when considering coming off of last season.

Ben Clemens

2:03

'they were picked to finish third in their division' I mean, by some people maybe

they were a super trendy world series pick, great preseason odds, they are indeed very good

2:04

Only three teams in all of baseball had higher preseason win total markets

but yeah, they're good

Phil

2:04

Since the start of the season, Meidroth is up and Teel and Montgomery seem not far away, and Crochet is signed for a good while. Has your assessment of the trade changed at all?

Ben Clemens

2:05

Yeah I feel better about it for everyone, essentially

When I wrote the trade up, I said that it wouldn't be a win for the Red Sox unless they did the logical thing and extended Crochet

that happened, and the White Sox did well on their return, just seems like a win-win to me

2:05

Moises Ballesteros absolutely raking in AAA at age 21. Good call in your 2024 Less-Heralded Hitting Prospects article.

Ben Clemens

2:05

oh man, always love to see his name mentioned

2:06

what a fun player

Bullock

2:06

Do relievers converting into starters just not experience the same innings limitations that prospects or back from injury guys do?

Ben Clemens

2:06

I mean, objectively they sure seem to

Jordan Hicks ended last season back in the bullpen. Reynaldo Lopez collapsed down the stretch. Crochet didn't pitch more than 4 innings after the start of July

2:07

we'll see what Clay Holmes ends up doing but recent history would suggest that a full year is unrealistic

Kyle

2:07

What did you of Acuna calling out Snit for his lack of discipline on Kelenic getting thrown out at second after pimping a single?

Ben Clemens

2:07

Felt pretty fair to me!

Acuna has gotten a lot of crap about hustle throughout his career. Now another less good player does it and gets a free pass?

Feels a lot like favoritism even if it isn't meant to be

David Wiers

2:08

While not the best player, is Elly maybe the most fun to watch on both sides of the ball and base paths?

Ben Clemens

2:08

Yes he is

If there were a five things all stars, he'd be number one

Bingo was a dog

2:08

When do I stash Kurtz ?

Ben Clemens

2:09

probably now, tbh. Rooker has played the outfield three times in the last week

Bosoxforlife

2:10

What has happened to the bullpens? Clase is 3-0 because he is blowing saves and vulturing wins, Williams was lit up again on Saturday and the Cubs - D'Backs game was a classic. I lose my mind when Williams wasn't charged with ablown save because he came in leading by 4 and it wasn't a "save" opportunity. Maybe there should be a new stat called "explosion".

Ben Clemens

2:10

hey, we already have meltdowns

(when a reliever's appearance causes a team's chances of winning the game by at least 10%)

2:11

Williams has three meltdowns to one shutdown (+10% WP) this year

so I think it's basically capturing what you're talking about

Matthew

2:11

what would you do if you're the O's right now? Pray Morton becomes serviceable? Give some run to Brandon Young and (when healthy) McDermott to try to get a shot in the arm until guys get healthy?

Ben Clemens

2:11

It's tricky here because I'm clearly not the O's. I've written a lot of "If I were the O's I'd be more aggressive about adding pitching" articles in the past three years, clearly I don't think the same as them

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