Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Mets not signing first-round pick Kumar Rocker, owner Steve Cohen’s comment about the decision, and the amateur draft as a salary-suppressing institution, then discuss how injuries have destabilized some of the major end-of-season awards races. After that (31:51), they talk to Cleveland native (and Baseball Prospectus writer) Russell Carleton abo...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley recap the busiest trade deadline ever, first examining why it was so frantic and then going division by division to analyze the actions or inaction of every team that made a trade (which was, well, every team). Audio intro : Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, " Heard You’re Moving " Audio outro : Vanessa Peters, " Moving Day " Link to...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the one-for-one A’s-Marlins swap involving Starling Marte and Jesús Luzardo , Marte’s underrated career, and Miami’s enviable pitching stockpile, then discuss the circumstances surrounding a potential trade of Max Scherzer . After that (35:21), they talk to FiveThirtyEight senior writer Neil Paine about the factors that affect whether tea...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Padres trading for Adam Frazier and other pre-deadline activity, Joey Votto’ s offensive resurgence, Shohei Ohtani ’s dirty uniform, and more, then react in real time to the Mariners surprisingly trading Kendall Graveman to the Astros for Abraham Toro . They also answer listener emails about adding a pitcher/DH position, bringing back unlim...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the new name and look of Cleveland’s MLB team, the Guardians, then react to the Rays trading for Nelson Cruz and dealing away Rich Hill , analyze a new electronic system for sending signs from catchers to pitchers that’s about to be tested in A ball, and salute Juan Soto ’s post-Home Run Derby hot streak. Then (38:42) they bring on FanGra...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the return of the debate about batting around and other unending debates they do or don’t care about, whether MLB should borrow the NFL’s plan to make clubs forfeit games that can’t be played because of unvaccinated players, Willians Astudillo being back in the big leagues, and listeners’ suggestions for alternate cycles, then answe...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the length of the baseball season (and postseason) compared to other sports’, whether Shohei Ohtani ever grows frustrated with his mere-mortal teammates, the prolific predictions of the Rockies’ Mike Redmond , a possible modification to the zombie-runner rule, an update on the Marlins’ run differential, a story about a broadcaster bet gon...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the conditions David Fletcher has faced during his hitting streak compared to those Joe DiMaggio faced, follow up on a discussion of baseball in a multiverse scenario, discuss the difficulty of extending (or trading) Byron Buxton , mention a quest to collect Willians Astudillo cards, puzzle over the stagnation of former top prospect Nomar Mazara , and marv...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s airport problems, discuss the All-Star Game (touching on mic’d up and profane players, unsightly uniforms, All-Stars being friendly on the field, and MLB embracing the game’s lack of stakes), lament that the zombie-runner rule may not be (un)dead after all, follow up on more players with high highlight-to-value ratios, reflect on Wi...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Rob Manfred teasing a possible permanent reprieve from zombie runners and seven-inning doubleheaders, react to Monday’s Home Run Derby and outpouring of appreciation for Shohei Ohtani , and lament Ronald Acuña Jr. ’s season-ending injury (and assess the state of the Braves). Then (45:46) they bring on FanGraphs Lead Prospect Analyst Eric Longen...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the 10th anniversary of Mike Trout ’s promotion to the majors, Rey Ordóñez and other players with high highlights-to-value ratios, opting against an Albert Pujols pun, MLB wisely forgoing the humidor for the Home Run Derby, and a quibble with the Derby bracket, then follow up on a discussion of mid-inning coaching visits for hitters and answer listen...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Rays’ combined seven-inning hitless game, knuckleballer Mickey Jannis as a secret weapon in MLB The Show , Jacob deGrom and the near-impossibility of breaking the ERA record, Billy Hamilton and players with the highest highlight-to-value ratios, a six-man outfield against Joey Gallo , Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the retelling of player predictions,...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about their long weekends, birthday boy (and two-way All-Star) Shohei Ohtani , MLB’s perplexing timing when it comes to announcing awards and All-Star honors and scheduling special events such as the Futures Game and the amateur draft, the Yankees’ continuing troubles, pitchers who’ve struggled since the sticky stuff crackdown began, and Kyle S...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about passing the halfway point of the regular season, the early effects of the sticky-stuff crackdown, a historically high-scoring day, the white-hot Brewers (and Willy Adames ) and the red-hot Nationals (and Kyle Schwarber ), a Germán Márquez gem, and a study on how kids become fans that helps explain how Ben and Meg became co-hosts. Then they talk to two acad...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s experience attending the worst start of Shohei Ohtani ’s MLB career, then (15:04) discuss the Dodgers’ and MLB’s response (and their own reactions to) this week’s serious assault allegations against Trevor Bauer . (Warning: This episode contains some swears, starting at 18:18.) Audio intro : Vanessa Peters, " R...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s borderline excessive consumption of Angels games and the latest, greatest exploits of Shohei Ohtani , who and what is to blame for the Yankees’ ongoing struggles, Gerrit Cole ’s performance post-sticky stuff, Hector Santiago becoming the first pitcher ejected for alleged foreign substance use, a Triple-A umpire’s broken-belt e...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the brief big league stay of knuckleballer Mickey Jannis , Joey Votto ’s predictions, decline, and reminders of mortality, Greg Maddux forecasting foul balls, and the states of the Cubs and Dodgers post-combined no-hitter. Then they answer listener emails about whether MLB regrets making Statcast data publicly available in the wake of scandals about...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about MLB’s much-maligned All-Star Game uniforms and a pair of odd games, discuss the highs and lows of the first few days of MLB’s enforced foreign-substance ban (with special attention to Max Scherzer , Joe Girardi , and Sergio Romo ), review Wander Franco ’s debut and note the less-hyped arrivals of Lars Nootbaar and knuckleballer Mickey Jan...

Ben Lindbergh and guest co-host Mike Ferrin of MLB Network Radio and the Diamondbacks’ broadcast crew discuss the D-Backs’ 17-game losing streak and more extended stretch of futility before bantering about Shohei Ohtani’ s Player of the Week Award-winning performance and the potential for Ohtani to own All-Star Week, the call-up of (and expectations for) Rays infielder and MLB to...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley follow up on previous discussions about player predictions and game postponements, answer listener emails about a sticky-stuff pitcher protest, the talent level in the College World Series, the wave as a player-distraction device, a six-year-old who roots for walks, and when the Astros will stop being booed (with an aside about foreign-substance use and the Hall of Fam...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Jose Altuve forgoing a home run trot, then break down the details of MLB’s plan to enforce the rules against foreign-substance use starting on June 21, covering the pros and cons of putting that plan into action at midseason and opting to ban all substances, what the effects on offense will be, whether Tyler Glasnow ’s injury presages many more...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s experience seeing Shohei Ohtani pitch, hit, and play right field in person, why balks can be so incomprehensible, the differing recent fortunes of the Angels and the Diamondbacks (and Albert Pujols ), Jacob deGrom ’s dominance and durability, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the big bats (and playoff fortunes) of the Blue Jays, and Baseball-Refe...

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and The Athletic ’s Grant Brisbee discuss Grant’s experience co-hosting a podcast with Hunter Pence and Grant’s hatred of the zombie-runner rule, before attempting to explain how and why the San Francisco Giants have baseball’s best record and what they should do at the trade deadline. Audio intro : The Baseball Project, " The Giants Win...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about another prescient player prediction (this time involving the Phillies’ Luke Williams ), Nick Madrigal’ s hamstring injury, another aspect of the baseball scene in A Quiet Place Part II , and a few observations about the foreign-substance scandal, including teams’ culpability, how the perception of sticky stuff use may mirror the perceptio...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter (sans spoilers) about baseball movie A Quiet Place Part II , Eric Sogard sliding over first base, a Travis Jankowski TOOTBLAN, Miguel Sanó repeatedly predicting success, and Jesse Winker raking, then consider whether it’s actually “unfortunate” that the first true two-way player in ages is as good as Shohei Ohtani , answer listener emails about...