JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 4/28/25

Ben Clemens

2:02

Hey everyboyd, welcome to the chat. I'm going to give it about 3 minutes to let the queue fill up and then get started

Guest

2:05

HELIOT. RAMOS.

Ben Clemens

2:05

I was at yesterday's game and let me tell you, a walkoff little league home run is electric

Still April

2:05

With only two days left in April, what's the most "it's still April" thing right now that you think will no longer apply in May?

Ben Clemens

2:05

I wrote about Victor Scott for tomorrow, so I'll say: Victor Scott having a below league average zone rate

Farhandrew Zaidman

2:05

Bobby Miller and Dalton Rushing - one is a post-hype, stuff+ monster who can't seem to land his secondaries. The other is a Michael Busch-esque "he can hit but doesn't have a position and is blocked on this roster" prospect. Do either of these dudes play meaningful innings for the Dodgers in 2025, or are both trade bait?

Ben Clemens

2:06

I think Rushing has a reasonable chance as an injury replacement, more or less. If one of Ohtani, Smith, or Freeman misses time, I can see him getting rotated in. Miller feels like he could maybe use a change in scenery

David Stearns

2:06

whats wrong with Nimmo? He’s been terrible since the second half of last year and is now more aggressive than ever swinging at the first pitch 41.9% of the time. Might he be hurt, unlucky or an ugly decline?

Ben Clemens

2:06

Good discussion of this on the Mets broadcast last week, actually

2:07

Keith Hernandez surmised that the early-count aggression has been weighing on his late-count selectiveness enough that it's a bad tradeoff

and that he's just gotten into bad habits around that that need to be fixed

I can see it

Tim Tawa

2:07

Fun player with a recent debut. Not much prospect hype, but the underlying plate skills + power + speed seem legit. Is he gonna stick in ARI?

Ben Clemens

2:08

Nah, I think the reason they called up Tawa instead of giving Jordan Lawlar the reps is that they expect it to be a temporary opening with Ketel Marte coming back. Maybe he'll settle into a rotational role as a multi position backup, but generally speaking, I think he's just a nice role player

Zach

2:08

In light of Eugenio Suarez's 4 HR game - would you rather hit 4 HR in a loss, or throw a no-hitter but lose?

Ben Clemens

2:08

throw a no hitter but lose

b/c man, that is wild

Jorge Polanco

2:08

It's almost may, am I actually good?

Ben Clemens

2:09

article coming out about him soon, by Davy Andrews

so I'll say: ask Davy

Why Always Mets

2:09

Juan Soto. He's gonna be fine right? I think he's gonna be fine but some Mets are already out

Endy Chavez

2:10

Mets fans shouldn't be worried about Soto right? Because Mets fans are worried about Soto.

Ben Clemens

2:10

He's gonna be fine

I'd say, take a breath

2:11

Imagine how good you have to be for a 121 wRC+ despite a bad BABIP to have fans freaking out

Rube

2:11

As you were running through your depth iterations, did you come to any conclusions about pitcher v hitter depth? I assume the likelihood of the complete zeros of best players are more likely to come from the pitching side.

Ben Clemens

2:11

honestly, not really, I think that the counterpoint is that most teams have more than 5 starters worth of starters, if that makes sense

2:12

I didn't look at it in wild depth b/c I didn't see anything obvious at first, but it felt like the big predictor was having a good player, not where that good player played

Guest

2:12

Does it make sense to add Clayton Kershaw as a stash pick?

Ben Clemens

2:12

If you have the space. I'm considering it in Ottoneu where I have a few too many starters at the moment

Smokin' Jim Leyland

2:12

Not really a question, but the Tigers are playing some great baseball right now, no? Lots of quality at-bats on offense, where even Javy Baez and Tork look like different players from a year ago - with the same great pitching we've come to expect. Mix in aggressive baserunning that takes every advantage possible and fielding that turns balls in play into outs - and the end result is fun! I think they have a real shot to take the AL this year.

Ben Clemens

2:13

Totally, I think the Tigers are very fun, as we kind of expected

a Tork post-hype breakout would be incredible

and appears to be happening

CF Javy has been fun

love watching the Tigers

Oaktown Blues

2:13

Where would you peg Tyler Soderstrom's true talent wRC+? Not much disagreement between his wOBA and xwOBA right now...

Ben Clemens

2:15