Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Spencer Jones facing an overclocked Jacob Misiorowski in Jones’s MLB debut, the distance from the mound to home plate when Ryan Waldschmidt is batting, Gage Workman’ s middle name, and Tarik Skubal ’s loose lima bean, then discuss the surprising Patrick Bailey trade—including takes on Bailey’s bat and framing value in the ABS era, t...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon . Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a report that Tarik Skubal’ s surgically cleaned-up elbow contained only a solitary “loose body,” why the NL now has the upper hand over the AL and whether the latter’s lackluster win-loss records matter, Meg’s thrilling, frustrating in-person P...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the late Ted Turner’s explanation for firing Bobby Cox, how MVP-caliber Mike Trout returned and whether a Trout trade is too much to hope for, Carlos Correa ’s season-ending injury and the outlook for the Astros, the offseason’s influx of free-agent retreads from NPB and/or the KBO, and a transparent plunking by Framber Valdez , then Stat...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss the late John Sterling , fan affection for local broadcasters, and whether any broadcast institutions don’t inspire such attachment, then banter about Anthony Volpe’ s demotion, Tarik Skubal’ s elbow injury, the Mets’ decision to stand by Carlos Mendoza, dramatically different results in back-to-back Reds-Pirates games, Riley O’Bri...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon . Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing is the new reigning redass of MLB, and the first in-depth he-said, they-said mud-slinging about Craig Breslow and Boston’s coaching cull. Then (35:19) they Stat Blast about the longest streaks of series wins and non-losses to star...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Vinnie Pasquantino’ s new espresso machine, how the Phillies’ firing of Rob Thomson compares to Boston’s coaching overhaul and how Thomson’s dismissal both does and doesn’t make sense, Mason Miller’ s “slump,” Shohei Ohtani’ s WAR distribution, Max Scherzer’ s major league last gasp, Travis Bazzan...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Red Sox suddenly sweeping their coaching staff clean, projected contenders off to even worse starts than the Sox, MLB offense in Mexico City, a double ball-strike challenge, Kyle Harrison as the new Quinn Priester , and Kevin McGonigle out-phenoming Konnor Griffin , then Stat Blast (38:37) about Brandon Phillips and major league afterlives, teams hitti...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon . Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether JR Ritchie should want to keep the ball that was hit for a homer on his first major league pitch, José Soriano’ s season-starting hot streak, and the Yankees’ new alternate uniforms, plus follow-ups on accidental challenges, player pecks on the cheek, jer...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about vagueposting screenshots of Baseball Savant percentiles, a Ron Darling comment during the Mets’ 12th consecutive loss about why pitchers shouldn’t apologize to batters for throwing inside, team-level changes in pitch usage and results this season, why MLB partly escaped the NBA’s tanking epidemic, why relievers are struggling so far, base...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Scott Boras talking turkey, a heartwarming player-fan interaction, two more unintentional challenges, the depths of the Mets’ predicament after their 11-game losing streak, whether Munetaka Murakami can keep up his hot, extreme start, whether hitters should stop swinging against Mason Miller , whether government regulation can improve sports streamin...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon . Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about another accidental challenge and listener-suggested alternatives to the head/helmet tap, the implications of the Padres’ reported sale for a record price, Mike Trout’ s resurgence and Jordan Walker ’s surge, a Stat Blast about one-man lineups, stoic respons...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Kevin McGonigle’ s new contract and whether pre-arbitration extensions are still team-friendly, Tatsuya Imai ’s adjustment period, MLB’s average four-seam fastball velo nearing 95 mph, a new frontier in catcher’s interference calls, and whether a new challenge signal should replace the head/helmet tap, then (1:21:02) Stat Blast abou...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Mariners actually sort of sacrificing Humpy, the historically compressed standings at the start of the season, top prospects (and veteran relievers) pushing for promotions, the solution to a Kutter Crawford mystery, a faux-froyo con, Jazz Chisholm Jr.’ s rules confusion, Cade Winquest’ s quest, and more. Then (57:18) they talk to Negro Leag...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon . Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the bad omen of a broken bat on an Ichiro Suzuki statue, whether Mason Miller is, at this moment, the best pitcher ever on a batter-per-batter basis, and how to label atypical pitches, then Stat Blast (30:00) about team promotional giveaways, age and debut gaps among MLB bro...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Jorge Soler charging the mound against Reynaldo López and whether a team could dupe an opposing ace into getting ejected, Konnor Griffin ’s extension becoming official, whether Jose Altuve is benefiting from the reshaped strike zone, a wave of MLB injuries, teams whose playoff odds have changed the most in the first two weeks of the season, Tony Vite...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Carter Jensen’ s several (inadequate) alarms and why big leaguers don’t oversleep more often, Artemis II, Daniel Susac as the sequel to Andrew Susac , the timing of Konnor Griffin’ s call-up, the many ways to marvel at (and value) Jo Adell ’s home-run-robbery spree, Patrick Corbin the Blue Jay, a quintessentially 2026 half-inning, a...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon . Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about rookie batters’ blistering start to the season, then Stat Blast (10:15) about how long it typically takes for there to be no remaining teams that are winless or undefeated (or both), the latest a team won or lost by a margin that matched its record, and the seasons tha...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Joey Wiemer , Colt Emerson ’s contract, the concept of “sticking at shortstop,” and pre-arbitration (and pre-debut) extension trends, then (29:11) answer listener emails about A.J. Preller trading himself, Harrison Bader and the press conference threshold, plotting to prevent a switch-hitter from batting from both sides, no-selling a Worl...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Mike Trout’ s hot start, Dub Gleed’ s (nick)name, the challenge system as a mainstream sensation, several tactical considerations, listener emails, premature conclusions, and pedantic points after a weekend’s worth of ABS action, Munetaka Murakami ’s early slugging, a Brewers call-up and extension, NBC’s broadcast crews, and m...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon . Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the pleasures of and precedents for the historic rookie performances on Opening Day, the pains of Netflix’s Opening Night broadcast, an Opening Day disaster for Paul Skenes , Oneil Cruz , and a bird near Carson Benge , Freddie Freeman ’s gameday fit, a perplexing...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the number of Opening Days/Nights at the start of the regular-season schedule and how long they think the challenge system will last, review some of their favorite offseason transactions, and do their annual draft of all 30 MLB teams in order of how fun they’ll be to follow this season. Audio intro : The Spaghettis, “ Effectively Wild Them...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Randy Arozarena making up with Cal Raleigh , the response to their announcement of the podcast’s new freemium model , whether they would try to issue the official first ball/strike challenge in MLB history, the challenge system vs. the pitch clock, several straggling WBC topics (the Team Italy espresso machine auction results, great TV ratings, a Tea...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley announce a new freemium model for the podcast: From now on, one of their three episodes a week will be available only to Patreon supporters . In this PSA, they lay out their reasons for making the change and explain how it will work. You can also read a written explanation here . Link to subscribe via Patreon Link to written announcement   Sponsor Us on ...

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs authors Michael Baumann and Ben Clemens (accompanied by podcast scorekeeper Chris Hanel ) play “College Baseball Player or Driver in a Formula 1 Support Series” (5:07), banter about an auction for Team Italy’s WBC espresso machine (10:09), explain the fourth annual preseason predictions game (19:20), and then make 10 bold predictions apiece (22:20) ab...

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs contributor Kiri Oler wrap up the World Baseball Classic, covering Venezuela’s triumph, Team USA’s slump and vibes, and the overall success of the tournament, plus thoughts on Mark DeRosa’s managing and Team USA’s future, the semifinal matchups, the bad calls against the Dominican Republic, the challenge system and pitches that are &...