Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about what Shohei Ohtani might mean for the Mariners’ slight playoff chances and Riley O’Brien ’s recent debut, before Ben shares some (good) personal news. Then (17:33) they bring on Will Leitch to discuss the St. Louis Cardinals. Will shares what it has been like to root for the team during its win streak, when he realized they were playoff b...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Giancarlo Stanton ’s awe-inspiring weekend at Fenway, the most aesthetically pleasing home run hitters, what the Cardinals’ 16-game winning streak portends (or doesn’t portend) for their playoff hopes, and the last week in the remaining playoff races. Then (26:32) they bring on Patreon supporter Dylan Buell to talk about his career as a p...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about teams pitching around Shohei Ohtani and a second conspiracy theory about Rays/Jays Cardgate, then rank the fun quotient of potential playoff teams and draft their preferred playoff matchups. Audio intro : Steve Gunn, " Protection " Audio outro : Frankie Siragusa, " I Don’t Want to See You Again " Link to article about Oh...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Cardinals being unbeatable, the Giants setting a record for outperforming PECOTA, the Orioles’ and Diamondbacks’ race to MLB’s worst record, the White Sox and Yankees also having identical records (and the vagaries of unbalanced schedules and divisional assignments), the saga of Drew Maggi ’s call-up and demotion and the phenome...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the unwritten rules controversy stemming from Kevin Kiermaier absconding with a Blue Jays scouting card, the Padres’ collapse, dysfunction, and outlook for 2022, the Cardinals’ surge and the Braves’ revamped outfield, Anthony Gose ’s return to the majors as a pitcher, a number of injured arms making comebacks, the Pirates yet again...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the potential benefits of a 15-second pitch clock and the massive winning-percentage mismatch between the NL’s impending wild card winners, then answer listener emails about intentionally swinging at a wild pitch to reach base, the obsolescence of ERA, whether Statcast should be used instead of video to make fair-foul calls, and whether DJ LeMahieu i...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Jake Arrieta ’s sub-replacement pitching and the sorry state of the Padres’ starting staff, Bryce Harper , Juan Soto , and the NL MVP race, Shohei Ohtani , Vladimir Guerrero Jr. , and the competing, persuasive narratives of the AL MVP race, and the ascendance of micro sports betting. Then (31:49) they talk to FanGraphs writer Jay Jaffe about tr...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Padres reliever Austin Adams tying the single-season hit by pitch record (and some resulting safety concerns), Corbin Burnes pitching (most of) the season’s record-setting ninth no-hitter and the changing norms around pulling pitchers mid-no-no, Max Scherzer ’s recent run, pitchers whose whole careers are covered by pitch-tracking tech, and Sch...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Blue Jays’ hot streak and playoff outlook and the meaning of clutchness, then meet major leaguers Andy Ibáñez of the Rangers and Janson Junk of the Angels. After that (37:07), they’re joined by Rob Mains of Baseball Prospectus to discuss the state of starting pitching, the future of pitcher usage, and the ebb and flow of competitive balance...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Salvador Perez’ s power output, durability, defense, and career, Shohei Ohtani ’s offensive slump, the Rays calling up Josh Lowe to go with Brandon Lowe (but not Nathaniel Lowe ), and the desirability of being teammates with one’s brother or father, then draft unsung players who are having good seasons that haven’t been mentioned mu...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Mike Yastrzemski , “bubble guts,” and the right way for a manager to publicize a player’s intestinal distress, then follow up on Miguel Cabrera and the factors that influence players’ career ratios of pitchers homered off of to total home runs, review the state of the standings, discuss the Cubs’ unexpected contributions from...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley talk to The Athletic’s Grant Brisbee and SB Nation’s Eric Stephen about the last series of the regular season between the tied-for-first-place Dodgers and Giants, the historic greatness of their race, the state of (and outlook for) their respective rosters, the strengths and weaknesses of each team, their secret sauces, each team’s most pleasant surpr...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Wander Franco coming into his own, Kevin Newman ’s steep offensive falloff post-spring training, a strikeout milestone for Robbie Ray , the Kendall Graveman – Abraham Toro trade and promotions/extensions for the Mariners’ Jerry Dipoto and Scott Servais, the new-and-improved Blake Snell , Austin Adams’ historic hit-by-pitch pace, Car...

Ben Lindbergh talks to Defector ’s David Roth about the Mets’ freefall in the standings, the extremely Metsy controversy surrounding multiple players giving the thumbs down to fans, and how the franchise still practices Wilpon-era self-sabotage. Then (46:18) Ben “benters” with Ben Clemens from FanGraphs about the post-sticky-stuff collapse of demoted Cleveland closer James...

Ben Lindbergh talks to The Ringer ’s Zach Kram about how the red-hot Yankees have salvaged their season, mounted their longest winning streak in 60 years, and put themselves in playoff position. Then (27:33) Ben brings on John Poff , former major leaguer and Stat Blast star, to discuss his brief big league career, walking away from the game, being a bookworm in baseball, playing before big s...

Ben Lindbergh follows up on a Stat Blast that generated a lot of listener emails, then (13:04) talks to former major leaguer and current Angels catching coach José Molina about his unparalleled receiving skills, fooling umpires, the importance of framing compared to throwing, blocking, and game-calling, whether stealing strikes can be taught, aspects of catcher defense that still aren’t bein...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s post-concert encounter with a podcast listener, Miguel Cabrera ’s 500th home run and the future of the 500-homer club, the latest sighting of Tom’s enigmatic message to Caitlyn at Great American Ball Park, the Rockies possibly promoting a GM from within (again), and a few pennant race updates, then meet major leaguers Packy Naughton...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley follow up on a conversation about protective headgear for pitchers by discussing softball face masks, then banter about whether MLB necessarily needs a legalized sticky substance or a pre-tacked ball, and attempt to unpack a distressing message from “Tom” to “Caitlyn” on the video board at a Reds game. Then (37:47) they talk to ESPN reporter Dan...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Germán Márquez and the ethics of diarrhea disclosure, stretched pitching staffs that were supposed to be deep, the Orioles and Diamondbacks competing for MLB’s worst record, a somewhat deceptive salary floor in MLB’s economic proposal (and the future of the ongoing CBA talks), Mets owner Steve Cohen’s critical tweet about his team’s...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley follow up on a recent observation about a baseball-related line in Twilight , then banter about petards, Ben’s latest trip to see Shohei Ohtani at Yankee Stadium, Tyler Gilbert’ s improbable no-hitter, the playoff hopes of the Padres, Reds, and Giants (and reshuffling in the NL East and AL East), the lows and highs of heckling, the Rockies’ historic h...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Field of Dreams Game, “playing catch” vs. “having a catch,” scouting baseball movies, and a quibble with baseball in Twilight , answer listener emails about extending the Field of Dreams Game concept to other settings (and other baseball movies), the aesthetics of no-doubt dingers and wall-scrapers, saving the ball from a fluky...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about an Alek Manoah semi-fun fact, a day without any starters going deep into games, economical outings by Adam Wainwright and Corbin Burnes , Cody Bellinger ’s bat, a legal decision involving the Phillie Phanatic that may have implications beyond baseball, Joey Gallo feeling small, and the cost of Ray’s lost corn crop in Field of Dreams , then (34:...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about their imperfections, follow up on flying horses, Justice Blackmun omitting Mel Ott from Flood vs. Kuhn , and a possible defense of pitcher hitters, then assess the state of the standings and playoff races, contemplate a position change for Fernando Tatis Jr. , discuss the Field of Dreams Game, and consider a point in favor of robot umps and signs of spin-r...

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman of Céspedes Family BBQ banter about Jake’s baseball bike trip (and Jordan’s accompanying car ride) from New York to Chicago. Then, in honor of Mike Trout ’s 30th birthday, they draft their favorite things about Trout and his incredible career. Audio intro : Jay-Z, " 30 Something " Audio outro : Sm...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about baseball (and steeplechase?) at the Olympics, then answer listener emails about teams intentionally drafting players they don’t intend to sign, Willy Adames as an NL MVP candidate, Dominic Smith and reverse platoon splits, secret ball-strike counts, and which is better (or worse), position-player pitchers or pitcher hitters, then meet major leaguers...