Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Jacoby Ellsbury ‘s latest injury, Jayson Werth ‘s anti-analytics rant, Luke Heimlich, and Shohei Ohtani , then answer listener emails about how defensive positioning is affecting positions themselves, throwing strikes to Jorge Alfaro , bringing “the wall” to baseball, why so many pitchers are throwing 100 mph, how the Orioles fit...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Ben’s excursion to a Helena Brewers game, Matt Davidson ‘s relief excellence, Juan Soto ‘s historic performance, Kole Calhoun ‘s resurgence, the A’s acquiring Mike Fiers , Mike Trout ’s 27th birthday, and more, then (25:14) talk to former big leaguer (and former live guest) Fernando Perez about the 10th anniversary of...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan follow up on an awful umpire call from the Mexican League, discuss the all-time top power-plus-speed players, lament Johnny Cueto ’s Tommy John surgery, and acknowledge Mike Trout overtaking Mookie Betts on offense. Then they bring on Fangraphs writer Meg Rowley to discuss baseball grumps, good and bad broadcasting, the role of the commissioner, how fans and w...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about a hiking analogy, the Nationals jettisoning relievers Brandon Kintzler and Shawn Kelley , and the no-longer-so-unhittable Justin Miller , then answer listener emails about Joey Gallo ’s zero sac flies, Andrew Romine , red lights, and 3-0 swings, the ideal baseball height, the value of a roster spot, where to draw the line when covering players hav...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan break down (almost) all the trade-deadline deals by (almost) every team, with special attention to the Chris Archer trade between the Pirates and Rays, the Nationals’ non-trades and their competitors’ improvements, the Orioles’ many moves, the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers, the Brewers’ remade infield, the Astros and Roberto Osuna , and much,...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan have an in-depth discussion with former Mets director of baseball operations and Braves assistant GM Adam Fisher about being a front-office utility man, talking to the media, work-life imbalance in baseball operations, the public-private information gap, the evolution of analytics, scouting, and player development over the past 15 years, the shrinking of competitive...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the Zach Britton and Nathan Eovaldi trades, the Yankees’ unbelievable bullpen, the Rays’ most recent Sergio Romo experiment, and the Gary Sanchez hustle/groin-strain saga, follow up on athletes dominating lesser competition and Noah Syndergaard ’s latest affliction, then answer emails about Odubel Herrera , Rhys Hoskins , how a bad fie...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Billy Butler ‘s beer league, the Jeurys Familia trade, the red-hot Oakland A’s, Seattle’s extensions for Jerry Dipoto and Scott Servais , the AL wild card race, the Mets’ most recent dysfunction, Khris Davis ’s consistency, the FanGraphs trade value series and the long-term prospects of several top teams, the latest on posi...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about beard grooming, the indy-league exploits of Rafael Palmeiro , Patrick Palmeiro , and the Chinese national team, the Padres-Indians trade involving Brad Hand , Adam Cimber , and Francisco Mejía , the Orioles’ commitment to rebuilding, post-publication regrets about articles, the worst example of umpiring they’ve ever seen, and the state of th...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan break down the five-for-one deal that sent Manny Machado to Los Angeles, discussing the players changing teams, the short- and long-term implications for the Dodgers and Orioles, and the ripple effects for the rest of the trade market. Then they reflect on the latest national discourse about marketing Mike Trout , review the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game, wre...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Mike Trout and marketing, the surprising Rays and the unsung Jake Bauers , the AL wild card race, Willians Astudillo ’s pitching appearance, the results of a 21-question player survey, the Royals’ recent performance, and a tariff on baseball gloves, then (24:24) bring on man-of-many-bylines Will Leitch to discuss the long-awaited end of the...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Daniel Descalso , Alex Blandino , and the ongoing onslaught of position-player pitchers, Jacob deGrom ‘s updated WAR vs. wins status, Kyle Schwarber ‘s two-strike bunting, the death-ray potential of the Rays’ proposed stadium, Jordan Hicks and Bud Norris , and two baseball blobs, then (31:17) talk to Seattle Mariners senior marketing d...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Manny Machado trade precedents, the Astros’ weird walk-off, the A’s as wild-card contenders, Trevor Bauer and an Indians bullpen miscommunication, the Rays’ proposed stadium design, a Mike Trout shirt, and more, then answer listener emails about players and self-preservation, midseason free agents, Mike Trout hobbies besides weather, c...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about an old “Umpire Day,” the Mariners’ run-differential defiance, and the Royals’ extreme struggles and possibly unprecedented amateur signing, then discuss how to define an All-Star, the All-Star Game’s fading significance, the All-Star selection process, and the perennial conversation surrounding “snubs,” as well...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the third-place Nationals and Wade LeBlanc ’s extension, then answer listener emails about trading Bryce Harper , signing Bryce Harper, throwing super-slow pitches, a DH as the best player ever, hitting flares on purpose, losing games to set up a specific playoff matchup, John Olerud and the Hall of Fame, when to tell fans to “make some nois...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the Rays using backup catcher Jesus Sucre as a pitcher to protect a lead, the return of Shohei Ohtani , Javier Baez ’s exciting and silly steal of home, and what life would be like with deferred payments. Then (29:58) they bring on Phillies international scouting director Sal Agostinelli to discuss his Willians Astudillo -esque career, discovering...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the joyous big-league debut and amazing minor-league history of Effectively Wild favorite and new Twins utility man Willians Astudillo , an awful Royals month, Jacob deGrom , a bobbled Raimel Tapia catch and tag-up confusion, Jon Gray ‘s perplexing demotion, Marlins who may be traded, a Vince Velasquez highlight, Michael Lorenzen ‘s hitting...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Jose Alvarado , Shohei Ohtani ‘s power and possible return as a hitter, Shane Bieber ‘s velocity, the minor-league breakouts of Chris Paddack and Colin Poche , FanGraphs readers vs. average fans, Brandon Nimmo ‘s latest HBP antics, the Mets’ recent struggles and Mets-fan fatalism, the recoveries of the Reds and Wilmer Font , what...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Jeff’s lost and found voice, then bring on MLB on TBS and SNY analyst Ron Darling (5:33) to discuss preparing to call games, talking stats on TV, local broadcasting vs. national broadcasting, the beloved Mets broadcasting team, building booth rapport, positivity and negativity on TV, dealing with broadcasting criticism, calling AL games vs. callin...

Ben Lindbergh and The Athletic’ s Lindsey Adler discuss Lindsey’s transition from blogging to beat writing, how to talk to players and become comfortable in the clubhouse, the contrasts between the Yankees and Mets (and Aaron Boone and Mickey Callaway), writing about teams vs. writing about baseball’s big picture, the beat-writing fraternity, being a beat writer on Twitter, and m...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Coors Field, Domingo German , the amazing Max Scherzer , Tyler Chatwood , Kole Calhoun ‘s comeback, the writing process, Marcell Ozuna ‘s catch attempt, Ichiro and the Home Run Derby, and the AL playoff picture, then bring on 31-year-old MLB-player-turned-FanGraphs-writer Nate Freiman (20:22) to talk about his recent embrace of advanced stat...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Steven Brault ‘s national-anthem performance, Brandon Morrow ‘s ignoble injury, the Kelvin Herrera trade, banana ambivalence, a suspicious baby-powder puff, Vinny Castilla ‘s bat-boning, an interleague-play update, Jose Urena ‘s control, the New Orleans Baby Cakes and minor-league team names, the senseless Giants-Marlins beanball...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Juan Soto ‘s timeline-rearranging home run, Adrian Houser throwing up mid-game, Nick Markakis and Braves all-star voting, a Mets official’s donut metaphor, and Mike Trout ’s continued excellence, then (17:35) talk to longtime MLB umpire and crew chief Dale Scott about miking up umpires, manager-umpire arguments, the Tom Hallion/Terry C...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan follow up on Terry Collins, trick running plays, Steven Brault ‘s disappointing strikeout, the Mariners, and Justin Miller , banter about Takuya Nakashima’s 200th career sacrifice bunt, the Astros’ enviable depth, the most exciting rookies of 2018 (including Juan Soto , Gleyber Torres , Walker Buehler , and Adam Cimber ), and MLB’s attendance...

Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the end of Steven Brault ‘s strikeout streak, Brandon Nimmo ‘s non-HBP, Jacob deGrom ‘s and Mike Trout ’s latest futile heroics, the Mariners’ luck, leaked umpire audio, Hank Aaron on bottle boning, the new-and-improved Jordan Hicks , Miguel Cabrera being done for the year, post-substitution ejections, and a clever college...