Ben Clemens FanGraphs Chat – 8/11/25

Ben Clemens: Hey all people, let’s chat

James: Did Carlos Correa simply must get out of Minnesota to get his groove again?

Ben Clemens: Look, I’m not saying that’s undoubtedly the case, however we’re all pondering it, proper?

Ben Clemens: I don’t assume that I’m the one individual to have thought it, and I even put it in my commerce deadline winners and losers

Ben Clemens: typically you’re simply cursed and want to alter issues up

Dylan: I’m late on this, however is Ohtani the highest commerce worth man since FanGraphs began the train? Contenders would in all probability be 2008 Longoria and 2012 Trout. Would you assume it’s even potential for somebody to match his worth as only a typical participant?

Ben Clemens: Hmmmm, I’m probably not positive, and actually the idea of the sequence has modified a ton for the reason that days it first began

Ben Clemens: It was once extra that nobody even understood surplus worth and DC was spreading that gospel

Ben Clemens: I really feel just like the early days of the commerce worth sequence had been way more about ‘contract is extra necessary than you assume’

Ben Clemens: however somebody like Ohtani has by no means actually existed on this sequence

Ben Clemens: I nonetheless assume that perhaps 2012 Trout is the very best, since you don’t have to consider the off-field facets, whetehr your metropolis is well-positioned to market him ,and so forth.

Ben Clemens: it’s identical to hey look, this man’s a future corridor of famer and you’ve got him endlessly

fanoftheman: Hey Ben! Thanks for the articles on pitcher/hitter efficiency vs expectations. The pitching article had me interested by what it might seem like for protection.

Ben Clemens: nice query!

Ben Clemens: we don’t actually have defensive projections that I really feel comfy utilizing, although

Scorching Nook: I’m in want of a alternative 3B for Austin Riley. Most likely choose energy a bit extra if it’s shut, however actually simply want finest accessible, with most constant each day ABs. Listed below are essentially the most related names accessible. Who would you lean in direction of?

Noelvi Marte
Mark Vientos
Colson Montgomery
Josh Jung
Ryan McMahon
Jake Burger

Ben Clemens: Oof, powerful one

Ben Clemens: I believe I’d lean Noelvi however I don’t really feel strongly about it

Visitor: Is Peralta, Miz, Woodruff, Priester adequate for a powerful postseason run or is it constructed for the common season?

Ben Clemens: I believe the highest 3 are nice and that they’ll go pseudo bullpen within the Prister recreation

Oaktown Blues: The A’s rookie SS has 1 Ok in his final 45 PAs. That doesn’t sound exceptional till you keep in mind that Jacob Wilson is on the IL. Do you assume Hernaiz might be good regardless of mediocre AAA numbers?

Ben Clemens: Hernaiz was one in all my random statistical prospect crushes final 12 months

Ben Clemens: Do I believe he’s this good? I don’t

Ben Clemens: Do I believe that he’s going to proceed to do an important job of creating a crap ton of contact and taking part in acceptable protection whereas doing so? I positive do

Justin: Brewers are enjoyable and it’s nice for baseball.  But, I can’t assist however assume the regression monster is coming making the NL Central race actually enjoyable in Sept.

Ben Clemens: Yeah, I imply, the Brewers in all probability aren’t pretty much as good as they’ve been taking part in

Ben Clemens: as a result of nobody’s that good?

Ben Clemens: NLC race being good and at a excessive stage is very nice! I’m sort of uninterested in two groups racing to 89 wins, that is gonna be extra enjoyable

JDizzle: Can A Vaughn sustain his current tempo?

Ben Clemens: I imply, Michael Baumann’s article about him was pleasant, and I actually do purchase the ‘get out of CHW and get the stink off of you’ increase

Ben Clemens: however, he’s not THIS good

Judgement Day: On June sixteenth or so, in thesr hallowed halls, I jokingly requested, “Did the Purple Sox break Aaron Decide?” Previous to that weekend sequence, Decide had a 239 wRC+ and was value 5.8 fWAR in simply 67 video games.  He then went 1-12 with 9Ks on Boston, i joked, all of us laughed, ha ha.  However within the 41 video games for the reason that begin if that sequence, Aaron has a 135 wRC+ and 1.2 fWAR. That’s a nicely above common participant, however its additionally 1 / 4 season of not ‘Aaron Decide’. Any issues *now*?

Ben Clemens: Nonetheless feeling good

Ben Clemens: He’s actually good

Oaktown Blues: Taking a look at your 2024 piece on Hernaiz. I believe the Nick Allen draw back threat remains to be there, however his max EVs are a lot better than Allen which supplies some hope

Ben Clemens: and hey, nick allen in all fairness helpful this 12 months with a 56 wRC+

Ben Clemens: not that it has something to do with Hernaiz, I identical to pointing it out b/c he was one in all my unique prospect crushes

Ben Clemens: the person can choose it

Greg: As a Reds fan I’ve grown actually annoyed with the organizational emphasis on drafting/creating athletic center infield sorts over getting guys that may hit. I perceive that versatility and athleticism has come again increasingly more into the sport with current rule modifications, and so forth. However the Reds play half their video games at GABP and haven’t had anybody hit greater than 25 HRs since 2021. To me, that’s unacceptable. If any franchise must be emphasizing energy of their drafting/improvement course of it’s Cincinnati. Am I mistaken?

Ben Clemens: I agree, however I additionally assume that their two center infielders is perhaps essentially the most highly effective individuals on the group

Ben Clemens: like I get what you’re speaking about typically, and but I take a look at their lineup and I’m like “oh okay these man sshould hit homers”

Ben Clemens: I assume that 25 HR stat will cease being true this 12 months, Elly’s already at 19

Reed: Does any participant make extra errors (not Errors) than Willson Contreras? Botched cutoffs, TOOTBLAN, and so forth.

Ben Clemens: The throw from first to 3rd that he ripped via three defenders for a run-scoring throwing error was completely wonderful

Ben Clemens: That was nearly a 5 issues

Ben Clemens: He’s having a reasonably tough one at first base this 12 months

Ben Clemens: at the very least by way of surprising errors that once I watch I am going ‘oooooohh’

Bubba: Completely brutal stretch by the Mets.  Do they make the playoffs?  The Reds are only one.5 behind and are getting Hunter Greene again quickly.

Ben Clemens: however yeah, this has been tough

Ben Clemens: they’re simply fully falling aside

Pepsi: Are the Cardinals proper to maneuver Herrera to 1B/OF/DH, or was his bat solely going to play at catcher?

Ben Clemens: mmmmm….. I believe they sort of must do it, they only actually don’t consider in him at catcher

Ben Clemens: and I do assume he hits nicely sufficient to play a nook place

Ben Clemens: it’s actually a bummer that he’s not gonna stick at C although

Visitor: if it seems 2 straight mackenzie gore seasons have simply come right down to “work out what’s mistaken sooner” does that say extra about him or the nats

Ben Clemens: man I used to be doing the over/beneath performing pitchers factor

Ben Clemens: I noticed Gore’s wOBA allowed, was like, wtf

Ben Clemens: then I checked out his 4 begins since I put out the commerce worth sequence, and oh my GOD he’s been dangerous

Ben Clemens: it was even worse b/c I used to be trying earlier than yesterday’s gem towards the Giants

Ben Clemens: so WITH that 6 IP, 10k, 0ER masterpiece, he has a 9.55 ERA and 6.66 FIP in his previous 5 begins

Ben Clemens: I simply actually don’t know what to think about it

Anon21: Michael Harris snapping out of it? Operating a 143 wRC+ for the reason that starting of July with a number of energy.

Ben Clemens: my fantasy group thanks him

Ben Clemens: I, however, actually don’t know if I’m shopping for it

Ben Clemens: how is he nonetheless solely strolling 2% of the time?

Ben Clemens: i simply don’t assume he can maintain hitting for sufficient energy to make it work if he doesn’t stroll extra

Birdbath: Each Orioles hitter that comes up struggles tremendously at first with ML pitching. Has anybody studied what early profession struggles usually seem like and whether or not sure groups keep away from them higher?

Ben Clemens: I haven’t seen something about it

Ben Clemens: however I don’t get the sense that it’s meaningfully extra extreme for the O’s than different groups

Ben Clemens: there’s simply a number of variance while you go from the minors to the majors

Visitor: Does Cal Raleigh have a practical shot at profitable AL MVP? Proper now he has 6.5 fWAR in comparison with Decide’s 7.0. Additionally considerably associated, has the margin of error for WAR shrunk over the previous decade, with the elevated accuracy of defensive information via Statcast?

Ben Clemens: ehhhh…. I don’t actually assume the margin for error has shrunk that a lot

Ben Clemens: the defensive information is healthier, however like, excellent defensive information would nonetheless be actually noisy

Ben Clemens: the noise isn’t within the measurement, it’s in the truth that you don’t get the identical set of performs to make yearly, and even when your true expertise is identical, it’s a reasonably random course of

Ben Clemens: it’s not like individuals’s defensive metrics at the moment are completely constant from 12 months to 12 months

Ben Clemens: Heck, take a look at Raleigh. One of the best defensive season of his profession was 2024, the worst would possibly find yourself being 2025

Ben Clemens: ceratinly the worst receiving season

Ben Clemens: and that i don’t actually beleive that these two issues are each true

Visitor: Brooks Lee a solution at SS or extra utility?

Ben Clemens: so I’m not 100% positive on this, however I’ve been watching a bit extra of the Twins for the reason that deadline (rubbernecking, mainly)

Ben Clemens: and he’s making a number of rookie sort errors, errors of fee not omission

Ben Clemens: I’m hopeful, actually, regardless of it not trying nice to date

Ben Clemens: and I like that they’re making an attempt

Elbow Macaroni: Milwaukee doesn’t have a SP within the prime 30 in FIP since July 1.  Are they exhibiting which you could get to the playoffs with out elite beginning pitching?  Didn’t work too nicely for Baltimore final 12 months…

Bosoxforlife: Are you able to clarify how the Milwaukee Brewers can go 48-16 of their final 64 video games? Is it time to take a better take a look at how groups are constructed as a result of I don’t assume any projection system has had the Brewers because the dominant group within the NL Central since 2021 with just one 2nd place end marring their string of 1st place finishes.

Ben Clemens: I actually can’t

Ben Clemens: I’ll say that ‘fashions underestimate the Brewers b/c they over-regress baserunning and protection’ is essentially the most bankable playing play on the earth for my part of it

Ben Clemens: it’s appeared to work yearly

Ben Clemens: like, their group building is poorly understood by fashions

Ben Clemens: I believe that they’re exhibiting which you could make the playoffs wihtout elite pitching…. however like, nonetheless fairly good pitching?

Ben Clemens: and in addition, nice all the things else

CleGuy: What are the chances that Jose Ramirez wins the AL MVP as an alternative of Decide or Raleigh? He’s having a very good 12 months, the Guardians are storming again?

Ben Clemens: not taking place

Ben Clemens: you’re gonna choose the man batting .289/.365/.509 over the 2 hitting .337/.446/.691 or .247/.354/.593 as a catcher?

Ben Clemens: and the second is doing it in a useless ball park

Ben Clemens: I believe Jose Ramirez is nice and I really feel like I’m meaningfully larger than consensus on him

Ben Clemens: however nah, can’t do it

Willy Loman: Dealing for Luzardo was a masterstroke.  Accidents have stored him beneath 101 innings in all however one season.  Now he’s lighting it up.

Ben Clemens: I really don’t know what to think about Luzardo

Ben Clemens: like, is he lighting it up?

Ben Clemens: he was wonderful to start out the season, however he’s been fully forgettable since then

Ben Clemens: good pitcher, don’t get me mistaken, however lighting it up looks like a stretch

roger ebert: assume you had been a little bit dismissive of the decide query. clearly he’s nonetheless good. however decide being merely “elite”, say a 150-170 wrc+, relatively than “god” with a 220 remains to be an enormous distinction and genuinely may sink the yankees this 12 months and even worse into the long run

Ben Clemens: I simply don’t assume he’s worse

defensive metrics: I perceive why, for instance, PCA in CF would have completely different alternatives yearly – however wouldn’t a catcher have so many alternatives to border in comparison with some other place their metrics can be higher? I believe you would clarify Cal’s protection this 12 months as him ‘specializing in hitting’ or one thing (undecided if that works) however as a Giants fan, simply for instance, Bailey has been very constant along with his framing metrics

Ben Clemens: positive however the umpires are completely different, the measurements are completely different, umpires adapt to the best way individuals obtain, you get completely different balls at completely different occasions in numerous counts

Ben Clemens: Bailey’s framing numbers have been constant

Ben Clemens: nobody else’s in freaking all of baseball have been

Ben Clemens: making an attempt to take care of catcher protection superior metrics is endlessly tough for me

Ben Clemens: the actually elite guys (Hedges, Bailey) appear to at all times have the ability to do it

Ben Clemens: however then the fellows under which are in every single place

Tim Tiny: Fast, title the very best defensive shortstop in baseball this 12 months in keeping with FG leaderboards.  

What number of names did you say earlier than Masyn Winn?

Ben Clemens: Effectively okay, I mentioned zero names earlier than Winn, however that’s as a result of I take note of these things

Ben Clemens: yeah, he’s good!

Ben Clemens: I don’ tthink he’s the very best defensive shortstop in baseball, however I imply, DRS thought he was the very best in baseball final 12 months, OAA does this 12 months, there’s soemthing to it

Ben Clemens: he may feasibly have the quietest 5 win season in current reminiscence

Ben Clemens: good little participant

CleGuy: As a Cleveland fan I really feel resigned to simply having my group by no means appreciated, Jose was fully screwed out of an MVP at the very least as soon as and possibly twice. I don’t assume we’ll ever win one. We haven’t received one since ’53

tortycraig: We talked lots submit COVID and minor league consolidation concerning the expertise hole b/w minors and majors. Worse/identical/not as dangerous an issue as two years in the past? Significant observations in how leagues are treating AA vs. AAA in gentle of this?

Ben Clemens: whoops, double clicked right here

Ben Clemens: I don’t have a stable reply to the second, I haven’t performed sufficient reserach on it

Bosoxforlife: Now that Jose Ramirez, one in all my favourite gamers, has shed his cloak of invisibility who do you assume is subsequent to hitch the listing of grossly underrated and missed wonderful gamers within the Placido Polanco mode? My vote goes to Ketel Marte.

Ben Clemens: oh it’s undoubtedly Ketel Marte

Ben Clemens: until he’s too seen already

Ben Clemens: Cris Sanchez!

Ben Clemens: though such as you mentioned earlier than, he’s in all probability too good for that now too

Ben Clemens: right here’s a bizarre one, I believe taht Corbin Carroll goes to finish up on this vary too

Ben Clemens: like I do know that right here at FanGraphs we consider him as a star however I don’t assume he will get that billing all over the place

J: A giant factor for Bailey is that the Giants locked down Webb, who offers Bailey tons of alternatives to border the pitches he’s finest at framing. Webb’s ranks in framing runs by 12 months: 1st (2025), 2nd (2024), 1st (2023). It’s actually exhausting to separate out pitcher from catcher there, however I’d wager if Webb left the Giants subsequent season he’d lose a half win or so of worth.

This in fact leads me to consider that catch framing metrics don’t essentially adequately seize worth that comes from the pitcher, however boy is that arduous to suss out.

Ben Clemens: sure, very critical complication that I simply haven’t any approach to tease out, actually

Visitor: Kristian Campbell or Luke Keaschall long run?

Ben Clemens: boy, I actually do not know

Ben Clemens: I suppose I’d take Keaschall? However enormous error bars

Ben Clemens: Campbell seemed so overwhelmed defensively that there’s no probability it wasn’t leaking into his hitting

Ben Clemens: Keaschall is clearly off to a a lot better begin. however Campbell is hitting once more within the minors and I actually do just like the instruments

Victoria: error bars? is that the place Willson serves drinks?

Arn Anderson: re: Gore’s final 4 begins – he was tipping pitches, proper? Prefer it appears apparent that he was tipping pitches. Stuff the identical, areas the identical.

Ben Clemens: exhausting to say, although, proper?

Ben Clemens: like, I see your remark

Ben Clemens: PitchingBot thikns that his cutter, fastball, slider, and curveball are all worse, and that his location on each single pitch has been worse

Ben Clemens: it thinks that his stuff within the final 5 begins is a 53 (down from 58) and 41 command (down from 49)

Ben Clemens: stuff+ says his stuff is wn much less however his location is down extra

Ben Clemens: so like…. I hear what you’re saying

Ben Clemens: I’ll say that analytically, our fashions that try and measure stuff and placement assume he’s been meaningfully worse, even counting the nice current begin

Phil: I’ve beeb desirous about your tackle Ohtani’s worth, and I agree however I additionally discover it miserable. I imply, are you saying that if de la Cruz out of the blue began hitting like Decide however with elite protection and baserunning, he’d nonetheless be much less helpful than Ohtani, simply because he’s from a tiny, poor island as an alternative of an enormous, rich one?

Ben Clemens: I imply, yeah

Ben Clemens: I believed some about whether or not I may put the toothpaste again within the tube if I ranked Ohtani first

Ben Clemens: or whether or not I ought to simply fully exclude off-field stuff

Ben Clemens: however in the end it simply felt dishonest to speak about participant worth and never speak about the truth that Ohtani is powering the Dodgers to a level we’ve hardly ever seen

the one who asks the lunch query: What’s for lunch?

Ben Clemens: leftover Burmese meals from final evening, very thrilling

J: DRS thinks Matt Shaw is likely one of the higher defensive third basemen in baseball. OAA/FRV thinks he’s one of many worst. I get that protection is wonky over small samples and that DRS contains facets of protection that FRV ignores, but it surely’s simply exhausting to consider that these may each be affordable descriptions of what has occurred. Do you are inclined to belief one over the opposite right here? The Statcast methodology is much more opaque for infielders than outfielders.

Ben Clemens: So, I seemed into this fairly a bit for myself final 12 months once I was voting for Fielding Bible awards

Ben Clemens: I discovered that OAA does lots higher by way of each correlating to broad aggregates, correlating to itself, and correlating to a simplified measure of fielding than DRS does

Ben Clemens: for infielders particularly

Ben Clemens: they had been lots nearer within the outfield

Ben Clemens: not that OAA is wonderful, they’re all tremendous noisy

Ben Clemens: however if you happen to’re compelled to select, I’d do like 50% OAA, 20% OAA (final 12 months’s), 20% DRS, 10% DRS (final 12 months’s)

Ben Clemens: mix weights barely otherwise if you happen to’d like

Mama Pajama: On the Orioles underperforming pitching workers:

In numbers, out of the 5 Orioles who’ve made essentially the most begins, Dean Kremer is the one one to beat his preseason projections (by six factors of wOBA). The opposite 4 have missed their projections by a median of 37 factors of wOBA. Oof.

You additionally talked about well being, and yeah, Bradish/Eflin/Rodriguez and even Rogers have been restricted.  The fanbase shouldn’t be impressed by any of this.  Dylan Stop?  Is there in actual fact a bias amongst pitchers to not check in Baltimore?  Did the wall hijinks assist in any respect?

Ben Clemens: I don’t assume the wall hijinks helped a lot, however I don’t fully purchase the bias to not check in Baltimore

Ben Clemens: I do purchase that the O’s aren’t tremendous aggressive on pitching

Ben Clemens: it’s sort of an organizational philosophy

Ben Clemens: so perhaps that feeds into how they method free company?

Steve O: For those who’re the Yankees do you commerce Ben Rice to a group that thinks he can catch full time or rotate him via 1B/C/DH(nicely, earlier than Giancarlo got here again)? I really feel if they’ll get some younger SP again it is perhaps value it. They’ll simply signal Naylor or somebody for 1B within the offseason.

Ben Clemens: I’m undecided precisely the place the trade as an entire sees Rice, however sure, I believe I agree that if a group needs to let him catch full time, he’d be extra helpful to them than to the Yankees

Ben Clemens: that does appear to be it ought to make for a commerce

MVP Race: Are you able to say some good issues concerning the mariners? I’m using a excessive and wish to carry on using

Ben Clemens: nearly to catch the Astros for first place, maybe the scariest playoff rotation conceivable (4 deep with beasts), and oh yeah they’ve Babe Ruth catching for them

Sodo Mojo: What do you assume Naylor get as a FA within the off season is 4/60 a very good goal given he’s 1B solely bat?

Ben Clemens: actually I believe he’s gonna get greater than that

Ben Clemens: I can’t fairly pin down why I believe that

Ben Clemens: however I do, and I believe that he’s going to get valued extra extremely than the FG set thinks is affordable (nonetheless decrease than the RBI’s 4L crowd)

Opifijikl: Do you place any worth on RBIs as a metric when evaluating gamers or groups? I’ve heard that clutch might not stick 12 months to 12 months. Sort of associated, however with somebody on 2nd base, is it higher to have a singles hitter or somebody who might get additional bases?

Ben Clemens: Eh, I don’t, however I do like to take a look at RE24 and related issues

Ben Clemens: singles hitter relying on the pace of the runner, I’d say, for the second query

Phil: For those who had been redoing the commerce values now, would you progress Anthony? Re: each the extension and his play. I imply, I watch him daily, and he simply seems to be like a lefty Wade Boggs to me.

cletus: the place is roman anthony on commerce worth now

Ben Clemens: Yeah, I imply I’d slide him up…. he’s performed meaningfully extra within the majors, performed higher, and in addition signed an important contract

Ben Clemens: I might nonetheless have him under Ketel Marte for positive

Ben Clemens: philosophically, I put much more inventory in hitter efficiency the extra they do it within the majors, and he’s bettering as he continues, excellent signal

sb4321: Is there something that may be performed to make defensive metrics much less noisy and extra dependable?

Ben Clemens: regress them. mix in earlier years. take the common of a number of fashions

G4: Extra shocking second half improvement — Rays dropping out of the playoff hunt or Guards climbing again in it?

Ben Clemens: I’d say the Guards climbing again in

Ben Clemens: the Clase factor simply felt so scary

Ben Clemens: the Rays seemed like they had been making an attempt to pivot to 2026 in order that kinda is sensible

Bosoxforlife: Is it conceivable that the Yankees, 27-36 within the final 63 video games, are actually nothing greater than a really mediocre group, versus the group that roared via the primary 55 video games of the 12 months, 35-20?

Ben Clemens: conceivable? Undoubtedly

Ben Clemens: I’d simply say that the DOdgers peeled off a 3-15 stretch this 12 months, good groups play dangerous after which get good once more on a regular basis

Ben Clemens: that’s sort of why baseball is so enjoyable

Ben Clemens: I don’t know what to make of the Yankees other than saying that they are surely carrying sufficient useless weight that they want Decide to pop

Yokozuna: Each Gore and Rice talked about….that really appears like a very good basis for an offseason commerce? Nats have the worst catching scenario in baseball, Yankees love lefties with the brief porch.

Ben Clemens: I dunno if the Nats need Rice but when they do, these are good opposing headlinres, the Yankees would presumably must kick in additional

Visitor: Odds Marlins get into the playoffs?

Ben Clemens: I additionally love that they’ve been on a sneaky little tear of late

Ben Clemens: we have now them at 0.7%

Ben Clemens: that’s means larger than I might have anticipated, to be sincere

Oaktown Blues: I believe you’ll respect this: A’s current callup Carlos Cortes performs IF and OF. Within the infield, he throws righty (in fact), however within the outfield, he throws lefty! By no means seen that earlier than.

Ben Clemens: oh yeah that’s one thing else I’ve been contemplating working into 5 issues

Ben Clemens: I do just a few too many NorCal objects, and I really feel like too a lot of my options on the A’s are “I like this participant”

Ben Clemens: like I’ve already performed a type of for Clarke, Wilson, and Butler

Ben Clemens: however sure, it’s fairly wonderful, and makes up for the truth that Cortes shouldn’t be that attention-grabbing as a prospect in any other case

Visitor: What’s up with Eric Lauer? He’s getting as much as a decent innings complete.

Ben Clemens: Eric Lauer’s fastball is a permanent thriller

Ben Clemens: how is it so efficient?

Ben Clemens: it’s simply unbelievable

Oaktown Blues: Not the A’s fault they’ve so many likeable gamers

Ben Clemens: I nonetheless haven’t made it to Sacremento for a recreation this 12 months, however I’m gonna attempt to repair that in September

Ben Clemens: I actually like that stadium, too

Ben Clemens: I wanna see what they’ve performed with it to make it an enormous league park, however the faucet room scenario down the left discipline line is one in all my favourite minor league park areas, interval

Chicks Dig the Fundamentals: MacKenzie Gore, current nice begin non-withstanding, has actually been fading within the second half, the identical as he did in 2023 and 2024.

Would you purchase that he’s only a man who loses steam because the season goes on and might’t maintain efficiency?

Ben Clemens: I completely would

Ben Clemens: i’m not saying it’s undoubtedly that…. but it surely undoubtedly is perhaps that

Oaktown Blues: (I respect how a lot you write about them although! A’s protection is usually exhausting to seek out on a nationwide stage)

Ben Clemens: perhaps extra nationwide writers ought to a)write a weekly observations column b)reside within the bay c)watch a number of baseball at evening when the A’s or Giants are at all times on

Ben Clemens: b/c belief me, in the event that they did, they’d have a ton of A’s video games of their head and lots to jot down about

Visitor: why isn’t Jesus Sanchez higher? will he be within the new org?

Ben Clemens: i actually do not know

Ben Clemens: i’ve kinda given up, and to be truthful, that’s as a result of he’s batted 2000 occasions and has been useless league common

Ben Clemens: however man, the man has energy

Steve O: A part of the Yankees dangerous luck is Devin Williams blew a ton of video games and Aaron Boone by no means took him out of necessary spots till like 2 video games in the past. Had they put in mainly anybody else, they’d have a snug WC spot. The Yankees are cursed. They commerce for a prime 3 reliever within the sport and he instantly turns right into a pumpkin.

Ben Clemens: i really like that that they had little previous Luke Weaver be traditionally dominant final 12 months

Ben Clemens: and thought eh, no good, let’s get a MONSTER nearer

Ben Clemens: after which yeah ,the excessive profile man is dangerous

Ben Clemens: Weaver’s nonetheless nice although

HJ: Hello Ben, as an Athletics fan I’m starting to worry that Lawrence Butler has zero probability of a second half surge offensively. Something constructive you see that may give me hope on Legislation Dawg? Thanks lots!

Ben Clemens: sadly I’m in all probability the mistaken individual to ask on Butler as a result of I believe he’s a roleplayer

Ben Clemens: relatively than a star

Ben Clemens: however what I’d be searching for is healthier swing selections, or at the very least extra aggressive swings within the zone

Ben Clemens: trying via his numbers I sort of assume final 12 months’s strikeout charge was a mirage, he made an absolute ton of contact on dangerous swings that stored him at an affordable stage

Ben Clemens: i feel he’s extra like a 25-30% strikeout man, which signifies that he must be seeking to detonate the ball when he swings

Ben Clemens: oh, however right here’s a constructive factor, he’s 24 and an unbelievable athlete, so I like his odds of continuous to each dynamically enhance and add tons of worth in random issues like protection and baserunning within the meantime

Visitor: As are taking part in at house 9/15 – 24!

Ben Clemens: there you go

Massive Buckston: Will we see a Sam Basallo main league debut earlier than season’s finish? And what do you assume Baltimore’s plan for him subsequent 12 months is – full-time 1B? A mixture of C/1B/DH? The man actually doesn’t have a lot left to show in AAA on the offensive facet.

Ben Clemens: I’m pondering the latter, C/1B/DH with largely 1B/DH as his function

Ben Clemens: if I had been them I’d give him a basic September callup, however make certain he’s eligible for rookie of the 12 months in 26

Ben Clemens: as an earlier commenter identified, O’s prospects have had a tough transition to the bigs of late, why not give him a tender opening?

DeeBo: Seems like vlad guerrero Jr has by no means had the identical season twice. After trying like his energy outage 2023 self earlier within the 12 months, he’s now knocking on the door of a .900 OPS regardless of a reasonably pedestrian house run charge for a 1B. BB% means up and nonetheless attending to sufficient doubles energy to pad the slug

Ben Clemens: Vlad is a superb hitter with out an clearly constant method

Ben Clemens: which is the way you get years like htis. the person simply demolishes the baseball and hasn’t fairly found out how he needs to show that into manufacturing

Ben Clemens: alright, sorry for the abbreviated chat however I’ve to run and care for some errands. I hope a powerful hour of baseball commentary sated your want for it for now, and let’s do that once more, identical time subsequent week. Have a beautiful day, everybody