Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about failed former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt’s subsequent sports ownership endeavors, a claim about Jacob Misiorowski’ s pitching improvement, Jackson Chourio (batting lefty) as “a baseball player,” the recent struggles of Paul Skenes and Steven Kwan , Justin Verlander’ s retirement, Zack Wheeler’ s continued dominance, And...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about two significant MLB debuts on NBC’s “Star-Spangled Sunday” (by Eddy Yean and Eliezer Alfonzo ), the fallout from the Marlins pulling Eury Pérez mid-perfecto, a rare fog delay, the All-Star Game rosters (featuring a very normal number of Blue Jays, and also Rob Manfred’s good buddy Bryce Harper ), whether the league set a target home...

In the fifth incarnation of a time-honored tradition that recurs every 500-ish episodes, Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley are joined by ex-co-host Sam Miller and The Athletic ’s Grant Brisbee to draft assorted things that they like about baseball. Audio intro : Sam Miller, “ Effectively Wild Theme (Ken Maeda’s Nice ‘n’ Easy Remix) ” Audio outro : Grant Brisbee,...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon . Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about tough times for a few EW favorites and Ben’s pre-podcast injury, then (15:00) discuss the response to Cade Cavalli telling Willson Contreras to “Sit down, boy.” After that (38:10), they cover the MLBPA’s proposals to limit certain types of transaction...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the firing of Perry Minasian and the Angels’ outlook under John Mozeliak, Molly Jolly, and Arte Moreno, how MLB is using official channels to publicly promote its position in labor bargaining, whether the Mets’ disappointing season will influence other teams’ approaches to roster construction, the popularity (or lack thereof) of Josh Nayl...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon . Ben Lindbergh and Ben Clemens banter about some suspicious variability in the ball’s behavior and whether the low-drag, high-home-run-rate times of the late 2010s have returned, Carlos Mendoza’s “departure” from the Mets, the Blue Jays’ dominance of “Phase 1” of All-Star vot...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the rise and fall of Ildemaro Vargas , the Mets’ and Cubs’ David Peterson swap, Jazz Chisholm Jr. ’s refusal to wear a cup, the Giants’ response to Pride Night fallout, and the owners’ CBA strategy. Then (56:41) Ben brings back John Brebbia to discuss the Rockies reliever’s return to the majors, how he’s handling t...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Joey Meneses and John Brebbia being back in the big leagues, Mike Trout’ s hamstring strain, Dillon Dingler ’s dominance, a Blue Jays All-Star voting update, the latest Home Run Derby format change, MLB’s radical amateur drafts proposal, the DOJ’s MLB investigation and the York Revolution’s Pride event, Rafael Devers vs. Tony...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon . Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss the backlash to MLB’s initial statement about the Giants’ objectors to Pride Night, the league’s subsequent expanded statement, and the facts about the policies and punishments (or the lack thereof) pertaining to uniform alterations. Then (37:10) they banter abo...

Ben Lindbergh and The Ringer ’s Van Lathan banter about Van’s love of baseball, his origin story as a fan, how he got back into the sport, MLB’s resurgence in popularity, advanced stats questions, why the percentage of Black players in MLB fell, how average sports fans perceive MLB’s labor battle, and much more (warning: language). Then (1:25:38) Ben talks to Thomas Gilbert...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about baseball’s time to shine after the NBA/NHL seasons and a structural difference between basketball and baseball, Jacob Misiorowski achieving escape velocity and entering the deGrom Zone (and a change he’s made that may matter more than his increased speed), the impending posting of red-hot Teruaki Sato , the losers and losers of the Rafael Dever...

Tarik Skubal is the latest athlete to return to play faster than anticipated thanks to a new surgical technique or technology. But there’s something even better than coming back more quickly from an injury: avoiding an injury in the first place. Can injury prevention be improved as much as injury treatment? In this themed episode, Ben Lindbergh talks to four guests about three potential ways...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon . Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the listener response to their conversation with Adrian Chiles, newly minted major leaguer LuJames Groover , and a big Giants comeback (in defiance of the team’s historically walk-averse ways), then (21:25) answer listener emails about how long-term team outlooks facto...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the bunt’s rehabilitation and (17:49) the President publicly picking a side in MLB’s labor battle, then talk to two guests about falling in love with and learning about baseball as adults. First (32:35), beloved BBC presenter and The Guardian columnist Adrian Chiles breaks his baseball silence to expound on how he got bitten by the baseball bug...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon . Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Shohei Ohtani’ s career-year pace, how often his number of times on base has exceeded his times on base allowed in his two-way games, and his awards outlook, discuss Aaron Judge’ s injury and the wide-open AL MVP race, and then (1:06:39) Stat Blast about the most...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the duality of Jo Adell’ s defense (after the FARTBAT low that followed his triple-robbery high), Spencer Arrighetti and MLB’s monthly player honors as the last bastion of old-school-stat-based awards, whether a team with a losing record could make the playoffs this season, Paul Goldschmidt’ s pleasing platoon role, how much credit the Br...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Fernando Tatis Jr.’ s first home run of the season, injuries to Munetaka Murakami and Craig Kimbrel , a crotch-related suspension precedent, the mystery of Julio Rodriguez’ s defense, Roki Sasaki’ s surge, the phenomenon of National Anthem standoffs, Carmen Mlodzinski’ s brief relief revolt, whether Victor Wembanyama would be a good...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon . Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Enhanced Games and whether they would watch a baseball league where PEDS were explicitly permitted, Abner Uribe ’s crotch-chop suspension, and (34:40) the most disappointing and surprising (in a positive way) teams of 2026, then (55:37) answer emails about raising...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss the initial CBA proposals by the MLBPA and MLB: some specific points of departure and alignment, whether we really learned anything about what each side wants or the likelihood of lost games, and what the rhetoric and rebuttals say about the PR battle to come. Then (50:08) they banter about whether baseball broadcasts could ever get good enough to endanger atte...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Craig Kimbrel’ s new home, Colton Cowser’ s walk-offs, Chris Taylor’ s rapid retirement, unretirement, and re-retirement, whether the Mets should sell (and whom they could deal), the relative improvement of MLB’s worst teams, the Blue Jays’ (and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’ s) punchless contact, the historic hitting of this se...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon . Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Mason Miller ’s recent “struggles,” whether the Tigers will trade Tarik Skubal , and how different baseball would be if the Angels had traded Shohei Ohtani , plus (44:05) more than a dozen Stat Blasts. Audio intro : Beatwriter, “ Effectively Wild...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the “tarps off” fan-shirtlessness trend sweeping MLB ballparks, early grand slams, inside-the-park home runs, and “little league home runs,” more sources of baseball embarrassment, Blake Snell’ s bone spurs (and the Dodgers’ perennial pitcher-injury issues), Gerrit Cole ’s return to the Yankees, Gio Urshela and oth...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether the Phillies’ surge would have happened the same way if Rob Thomson hadn’t been fired, discuss streaks that were snapped for the Mets and Rico Garcia , delight and dismay in John Kruk repeating a podcast talking point, try to determine the most embarrassing failure a player can suffer on the field, bemoan a missed opportunity for an amb...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon . Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether Ben cursed Shohei Ohtani ’s bat by predicting that Ohtani would win the Cy Young award but not the MVP award, whether Bobby Witt Jr. could win his first MVP award this season, the defensive transformation of Luis Arraez , and more, then (33:16) further interrog...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the latest lima-bean-related revelations about Tarik Skubal’ s elbow surgery, the Giants’ censored synchronized thrust and the history of homoerotic celebrations in baseball, Coby Mayo’ s dog’s devotion, the Orioles’ rotation issues (and a Rico Garcia update), Atlanta’s unexpectedly productive DHs, Ben’s invisible...