Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley talk to Kelly Pracht , the CEO and co-founder of predictive analytics startup nVenue , which has provided the real-time probabilities displayed on this season’s MLB Network-produced Friday Night Baseball broadcasts on Apple TV+. They discuss nVenue’s origin story, its sports-betting ambitions, its 100-plus-input machine-learning model, which factors are and...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley pay tribute (for the umpteenth time) to the great Roger Angell, who died at 101 on Friday, then banter about which underperforming hitters are most in need of the kind of breakout game that slow-starting Trevor Story had this week. After that (21:41), they bring on listener and top-tier Patreon supporter Aaron Hartman to discuss his Effectively Wild, baseball, and bett...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the rabidity of opossums and Eugenio Suárez ‘s keepie-uppie skills, then discuss the White Sox offense and Tony La Russa’s rationale for batting Andrew Vaughn ninth, Max Scherzer ’s oblique injury, and the possibility of a Juan Soto trade, before meeting major leaguers (53:30) Logan Gillaspie (Orioles) and Brandon Hughes (Cubs), and Stat...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about two of the worst defensive plays of the season, which came courtesy of the Tigers and Nationals, Albert Pujols pitching and walking, the Pirates winning without a hit (but with one correct prediction), and the breakout of Taylor Ward ; answer listener emails about banning gray uniforms, baseball jugglers, listing pitchers’ batting handedness in the u...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a wave of baseball ads for cryptocurrencies and NFTs coinciding with crashes in the crypto and NFT markets, injuries to Bryce Harper and Clayton Kershaw , the dominance of the Dodgers, Yankees, and (especially of late) Astros, the early NL West race, Robinson Canó getting a job as Jarred Kelenic loses one, the Mariners’ player development and the fra...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about which is more impressive, Reid Detmers throwing a two-strikeout no-hitter or right-handed hitter Anthony Rendon homering from the left side against a position-player pitcher, recount (11:50) the surprisingly long, largely forgotten history of the 20-seconds-between-pitches rule and the pitch clock in pro ball and the big leagues, and assess whether the upc...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Josh Naylor’ s record eight RBI after the eighth inning and the hot-hitting Guardians, José Ramírez taking a hometown discount to stay in Cleveland, Rangers manager Chris Woodward’s seemingly misinterpreted joke about Yankee Stadium, the perils of interpreting text-only quotes, Mets hitting coach Eric Chávez’s theory about MLB selectively...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the joys of a pitcher’s duel between Shohei Ohtani and Rich Hill , have a spoiler-free discussion about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness being a baseball movie, examine whether the historically hapless Reds are truly tanking or are just a case of Nutting gone wrong, and talk about the state of the standings (including which teams have seen...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a Madison Bumgarner ejection, players having to be held back, and sensual sticky-stuff inspections, the historically slow start of the Reds and Joey Votto’ s response to a FanGraphs article about his season-opening slump, and a study on which teams improve pitchers. Then (24:10) they discuss how John T. Brush of the 1889 Indianapolis Hoosiers discove...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about April’s low offensive numbers and Zack Greinke ’s deadball-style success, then (7:11) talk to 32-year MLB umpire Dale Scott and SABRcast host Rob Neyer , co-authors of Scott’s new memoir The Umpire is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self , touching on the definition of “nutcutter,” how Dale and Rob teamed up, whether...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley react to MLB’s decision to suspend Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer for an unprecedented 324 games, then (22:25) discuss Justin Verlander and Ronald Acuña Jr. looking like their old selves and pitcher Tucker Davidson ’s critiques of the minor league pitch clock before answering listener emails about the Cardinals and how to evaluate teams whose pitching approac...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about MacKenzie Gore and how long a player’s career has to be for something he does to be described as a “career high,” Nick Senzel ’s proclivity toward catcher’s interference and the Reds’ ice-cold start, the first-place Los Angeles Angels, the hot starts of Mike Trout , Carlos Rodón , Joe Ryan , Kevin Gausman , and others, t...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the unsealing of the so-called “Yankees Letter” and what, if anything, it revealed about the past prevalence of sign stealing, the end of NPB pitcher Roki Sasaki’s consecutive outs streak and Matt Shoemaker’ s bid for perfection, the White Sox’s injury-plagued, disconcerting slump to start the season, Michael Conforto ’s...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the reaction to and tactical underpinnings of the Yankees’ controversial decision to walk Miguel Cabrera , the balance between win expectancy and entertainment, and whether analytically-driven changes have hurt baseball as a spectator experience more so than other sports, then (15:19) meet major leaguers Simón Muzziotti of the Phillies and Gosuke Kat...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about exactly how many feral cats have infested the Oakland Coliseum and exactly how few fans have attended A’s games this season, Miguel Cabrera’ s impending 3,000th hit and the potentially long time that may elapse before another player joins the 3,000-hit club, the recentism of MLB.TV highlights, the Guardians’ Gabriel Arias starting his car...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Angels manager Joe Maddon’s befuddling bases-loaded intentional walk to Corey Seager , NPB phenom Roki Sasaki’s perfect followup to his perfect game, Hunter Greene and velo-induced fear for young starters, injury close calls for Byron Buxton and Mike Trout , the rise of non-fastballs leaguewide and what Andrew Heaney’ s sweeper-iffic succ...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about an unlikely grand slam on a major meatball pitch and the hot start of Seiya Suzuki , then answer listener emails about how to make baseball sound most appealing, the effect of using different-colored balls to denote different pitch types, whether umpires would be better at calling balls and strikes if they had PitchCom devices, Yandy Díaz and what makes a...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley break down a watershed week in overturning traditions, discussing the Dodgers pulling Clayton Kershaw after seven perfect innings and provoking a “baseball is dying” debate, the Giants flouting the unwritten rules, Alyssa Nakken debuting as the Giants’ first-base coach (under vexing circumstances), the new-look Alex Cobb , Andrew Heaney , and Jesús Lu...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about NPB phenom Roki Sasaki’ s 19-strikeout perfect game for the Chiba Lotte Marines, the historic crop of prospect debuts in the first week of this MLB season, the unprecedented career-starting hot streak of (and long-term outlook for) Cleveland’s Steven Kwan , A’s catcher Sean Murphy ’s butt photogenically taking one for the team, Alec...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about their impressions of Opening Day, the “baseball zen” interludes on MLB.TV and Apple’s proposed broadcast innovations, Joey Votto ’s in-game interview (and in-game interviews in general), a tasty new MLB sponsorship, PitchCom and pace of play, the fraught relationship between Ronald Acuña Jr. and Freddie Freeman , the Padres-Twins tr...

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and Sports Illustrated writer Emma Baccellieri banter about the contrast between March Madness and early-season baseball, the Rays-Tigers trade involving Austin Meadows and Isaac Paredes , and the challenge of evaluating Rays transactions in general, then complete the 2022 division preview series by setting the stage for the season in the National League East, team by te...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about top prospects making Opening Day rosters, the Padres’ Sean Manaea trade and Eric Hosmer almost-trade, the A’s firesale and accurate and inaccurate payroll figures, Joe Davis replacing Joe Buck in the World Series broadcast booth, new broadcaster Carlos Beltrán’s comments about the Astros’ sign stealing, and Wilmer Font’ s atte...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Jacob deGrom ’s latest injury, the White Sox-Dodgers trade involving Craig Kimbrel and AJ Pollock , umpires explaining replay reviews, “Home Run Derby X,” a lousy likeness of Derek Jeter , Yankees games on Amazon Prime and the continued splintering of baseball broadcasts, and an update about MLB’s official cerveza and official beer,...

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and Fox Sports national writer Pedro Moura discuss Pedro’s new book How to Beat a Broken Game: The Rise of the Dodgers in a League on the Brink , then (18:54) preview the 2022 season in the American League West, team by team. Audio intro : Jim White, “ Book of Angels ” Audio outro : Dire Straits, “ Wild West End ” Link to Pedro&#82...

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs writer Ben Clemens banter about an MLB beer/cerveza sponsorship, upcoming updates to sticky stuff inspections, the position of second base, and humidor use, the Twins signing Chris Archer and the Diamondbacks extending Ketel Marte , Dave Roberts guaranteeing a Dodgers championship, and Andrew Miller ’s retirement, then (36:50) preview the 2022 season...