Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh, Sam Miller, and professional player (and former Sonoma Stompers coach, catcher, and first baseman) Tommy Lyons discuss the different types of hustle in baseball, deciding what level of hustle is acceptable in a variety of situations and examining how the fan perspective on hustle differs from the player perspective on hustle, plus a postscript (1:14:40) on two Atlantic League plays,...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Ball Four and Jim Bouton , Million Dollar Coin Flip , Christian Yelich ’s pursuit of the first 50-30 season and which combination of power and speed would be most impressive, a baseball scene on Cheers , how the MLB All-Star Game differs from other sports’ all-star games, Bubba Starling and the incredible first round of the 2011 draft, the late...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game, Justin Verlander ’s and Rob Manfred’s comments about the juiced ball, the recent rapid turnover among elite hitters, and an instance of premature celebration featuring Fernando Rodney , then answer listener emails about Verlander’s on-pace-to-be-historic strand rate, whether we should have recogni...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Colin Poche , the “Is This Guy Good?” game for relievers, Mike Trout entering the All-Star break as baseball’s best hitter and player, whether Trout could ever have his number retired league-wide, the rate at which Trout is surpassing Hall of Famers in WAR, an old discussion about Derek Jeter jerseys and the popularity of Aaron Judge , wh...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Sam Malone maligning the Mariners, the unlikely career of pinch-hitter extraordinaire Mark Sweeney , the joys of watching Fernando Tatis, Jr. , Bryce Harper ’s Amazon store, and the definition of “MLB legend.” Then (29:43) Ben talks to Hall of Famer Bud Selig, Commissioner Emeritus and author of the new memoir For the Good of the Game , a...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley reflect on the passing of Tyler Skaggs . Then (9:57) Ben and Sam Miller banter about whether it’s better for a team to be in a division with a few good teams or a division with one great team and a few bad teams and answer listener emails about whether baseball is a strong-link sport or a weak-link sport, whether a team could benefit by tailoring its park and its...

In a bonus episode about the London Series, Ben Lindbergh talks to Darius Austin and Russell Eassom , writers and podcasters for the UK baseball site Bat Flips and Nerds , about their experiences at both Yankees-Red Sox games, why they think there was so much scoring, whether that brand of baseball was a good advertisement for the sport, the energy in the crowd, MLB’s outreach to the UK comm...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller talk to Ross Stripling , Los Angeles Dodgers starter and host of The Big Swing , about why he started and enjoys doing a podcast, how Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman influenced his pitching style, how he uses data to prepare for opponents, and how he feels about pitching in an era with the highest home-run rate ever. Then Stripling walks them t...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Twitter commotion caused by the Pioneer League’s Grand Junction Rockies (who are definitely not named the Humpback Chubs), an Angels outfield sign and Mike Trout , the curious rise and fall of Yonder Alonso , the promotion of Rays rookie (and two-way player) Brendan McKay , the upcoming FanGraphs All-Star Game event, the All-Star starters and how...

In a bonus episode, Ben Lindbergh banters with FanGraphs writer Craig Edwards about Craig’s explanation for the struggles of José Ramírez , and then (11:15) Ben and Craig talk to John Bitzer , founder and editor of the new site Baseball Trade Values , about designing the trade-simulation site, the challenges of valuing players and constructing fair baseball trades, how he used real trades to...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about whether the Red Sox pulling a pitcher in the middle of a plate appearance was an instance of “Strategy,” share a Stat Blast about whether the platoon advantage is more pronounced early or late in plate appearances, and discuss a pitch-framing flare-up between Tyler Flowers and Willson Contreras , then answer listener emails about how different...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Albert Pujols’ touching return to St. Louis, the Dodgers’ deceptive Will Smith walk-off and the reason for the proportional increase in non-pulled home runs, Commissioner Manfred’s latest comments about the ball and dingers, Newsday beat writer Tim Healey’s clubhouse confrontation with Jason Vargas and Mets manager Mickey Callaway ,...

Ben Lindbergh and guest co-host Ellen Adair banter about Ellen’s acting career and baseball background, the causes of (and possible solutions to) the Phillies’ post-McCutchen slump, what the (extremely far-fetched) idea of the Rays splitting time between Tampa Bay and Montreal might look like in practice, Ellen’s script for a baseball series, and her solution for maintaining her...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller review Sam’s latest observations on Jeff Sullivan-era EW episodes, including musings on Ketel Marte , the worst team draft of all time, and Johnnie LeMaster , then banter about Shohei Ohtani’ s tools, Todd Frazier’ s wild swings, Max Scherzer’ s nose-breaking bunting practice, and Mickey Callaway ’s odd pitching-change justification. They...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about the Yankees acquiring Edwin Encarnacion and some surprising names near the top of the MLB home-run leaderboard, Kenley Jansen ’s intentional balk, and a fun fact starring Hyun-Jin Ryu , then reckon with some of the most perplexing player seasons of 2019, focusing on the enigma that is the boom-and-bust trajectory of Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez . A...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Shohei Ohtani’ s hot streak and future as a two-way player, Sam’s decision to listen to all of the Jeff-era EW episodes and his reactions to a few topics from the final few (including a description of Stan Musial’ s retirement tour), and two research papers about pitchers’ perceived effort level and arm strain. Then they answer list...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s upcoming vacation and brief break from baseball, Chris Paddack’ s demotion to High-A, the latest act of Clayton Kershaw ’s career and the perils and possibilities of player aging, whether the home-run rate is too damn high, the state of the standings, what the trade market might look like under the unified trade deadline, and more....

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about poor pronunciations, an oddity in Bash Brothers , a Byron Buxton hustle double, the running (but not running enough) Royals, whether to talk about and whether they did talk about the curiously contending Rangers, and a few takeaways from the Madison Bumgarner – Max Muncy kerfuffle, then discuss several insights they gleaned from Keith Law’s ora...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Cubs signing Craig Kimbrel , ruminating about how he’ll help Chicago, why other teams may have held off, and why it took so long for his prolonged free agency to come to a close. Then (18:06) they bring on FanGraphs prospect experts Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen to analyze the amateur draft and modern development, touching on player picks a...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about the paucity of pitchers selected at the top of the draft, the Hall of Famers Mike Trout passed in career WAR in May, Trout’s quietly impressive season, whether WAR has helped Trout’s reputation more than Trout has helped WAR’s, the surprising names at the top of the 2019 WAR leaderboard for pitchers, and Andrew McCutchen ’s season-e...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about whether it would make sense for one team to “blow up the draft” by ignoring the bonus slotting system for one year, paying a premium for the top amateur talent, and incurring the maximum financial penalty. Then they discuss Ben’s new book about baseball’s player-development revolution, The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonco...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Mariners’ recent run of ineptitude, why some teams talk to the media and whether there’s a moral obligation for teams to share information about preventing player injuries, a question from a fantasy player who’s aiming to compete in 2027, a Clayton Kershaw vs. Jacob deGrom matchup as non-must-see TV, and the aging of Kershaw compared...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about a small way in which Willians Astudillo made the world better, baseball as a conversational icebreaker, Cody Bellinger ’s incredible WAR pace, whether Bellinger is overshadowing the rest of the Dodgers (and Clay Bellinger ), and a few of 2019’s other breakout batters, present a Stat Blast about Statcast no-hitters (and Statcast hitting streaks)...

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about the Rays’ four-man outfield against Cavan Biggio and the gradual ascendance of four-man outfields across the league, Sam’s belated thoughts on the Mets and baseball in Avengers: Endgame , a few underappreciated aspects of the late Bill Buckner ’s career, and the record number of MLB debuts this decade by sons of former big leaguers (inclu...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about snow in Colorado, the Rockies and the decline of Kyle Freeland , and the new-look Lucas Giolito and the White Sox rebuild, then discuss the state of the standings and the number of teams out of contention, touching on how the bad teams got that way, the impact of losing on attendance, the merits of rebuilding, the struggles of the Indians and Nationals (an...