JotCast | Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 4/5/21

Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat - 4/5/21

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Ben Clemens

2:00

Hey everybody, happy baseball!

I'll try to make some well-reasoned points in responding to your questions about your favorite player who has five or zero hits so far

Or your least-favorite player, hate-chatters.

Justin

2:00

Can we start panicking about the cardinals pitching yet or is it too early?

Ben Clemens

2:00

We can, but that's because it was panic-worthy before the season even started

2:01

One start isn't enough to change my opinion about any of the guys who have gone so far, but my opinion of Wainwright and Martinez was not particularly rosy in the first place

Those guys are weak as the 2-3 starters on a real baseball team

Matt

2:02

How excited should I be for the Phillies to have swept the Braves?

Ben Clemens

2:02

Extremely!

Worst case, they'll go 3-16 against them this year

Best case, 19-0

That sounds a lot better than worst case 0-19

But seriously, three games against a division rival is nothing to scoff at, even early in the season

If you thought the Phillies were 5 games worse than the Braves, well, they're only 3.5 worse than them now

Sad, Confused Marlins Fan

2:03

Michael A. Taylor AL MVP right?

Ben Clemens

2:03

Well yeah

2:04

Many things are too early to care about

But Michael A Taylor, golden god of baseball

That's confirmed

feddy

2:04

Gonzaga or Baylor?

Ben Clemens

2:04

Houston (not that I'm bitter about my bracket)

But Zaga, they're so good, and that UCLA game seemed like the one shot to get them

2:05

It's funny that in this year where everyone talks about how parity and chaos are in college bball, the clear best two teams made the final

Cueto's Shimmy

2:05

With some pitchers moving to the Giolito/corkscrew/short arm action, what are the tradeoffs? I associate long levers with velocity, so I assume its velocity for repeatable mechanics.

Ben Clemens

2:06

This is probably a better question for Eric or KG, but my understanding is that it's not really a velo tradeoff, because you're still getting the leg drive and rotation that you need to create velo. It's more of a comfort and repetition thing; Robbie Ray tried it last year and couldn't locate

Chris

2:06

Should the white sox offer up kopech for a real left fielder (think haniger) or should they go smaller (think Jake fraley) or should they stay in house and try to survive?

Ben Clemens

2:07

I think either the second or third. I like the idea of the Vaughn experiment but they should be ready to hit eject if he's not doing well there, even if he's hitting well. He can DH and they can get a real major league defensive outfielder

Rick

2:07

Has SF turned Gausman into a solid pitcher or is it just a mirage?

Ben Clemens

2:07

They have

or, perhaps he's turned himself into one?

2:08

But he was already really good last year

I don't think this is a 'hey look at this one game' kinda thing, he was awesome in 2020

OriolesTragic

2:08

Cedric Mullins going to bat near .700 the rest of the way?

Ben Clemens

2:08

Yes

Sodo Mojo

2:08

Zips was very high on Ty France at 2.5 WAR in 2021 do you think he can eclipse that mark?

Ben Clemens

2:08

I do!

I was very high on him, and then in talking to KG for a season preview he was very high on him

love

1

And then ZiPS likes him, and it's just more and more things stacking together

2:09

I'm not sure how I feel about the opportunity and the fielding, but the guy can hit

Kretin

2:09

Is Jared Walsh for real?

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