Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the standings and stakes of an unexpectedly wild last week of the regular season, whether there’s such as a thing as a playoff team that can’t make a deep run, why Cal Raleigh is the player of the year regardless of whether he wins MVP, whether it still makes sense to say that fan-favorite players will never have to buy a meal/drink in their te...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about 2025’s record number of 25-25 players and whether the current power/speed version of the sport is rendered any less impressive by its recent rule-change origins, the historic pre/post-All-Star break splits of Julio Rodríguez and whether the Mariners can help him become less of an extreme slow starter/fast finisher (phrasing?), the lockstep seasons (a...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the state of the wild cards and whether the pennant races have been more exciting than forecasted despite the lack of actual changes in the playoff field, Cal Raleigh’ s latest exploits, Geraldo Perdomo’ s quiet excellence, the Orioles’ 2026 outlook, the Dodgers’ rotation and bullpen, Shohei Ohtani’ s playoff role(s), the boun...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s reaction to the Mariners moving into first place in the AL West (at least temporarily), Jac Caglianone and the Royals’ woeful corner-outfield offense, whether major leaguers have gotten better at sliding, and an unjust byproduct of the zombie runner. Then (50:43) they bring on baseball researcher and Sports Reference designer Adam Darowsk...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the deepening twilight of Mike Trout , then (21:19) discuss why the so-called “death of expertise” sweeping society hasn’t swept sports in the same way, before answering listener emails (1:04:01) about whether the Rangers are good, how the count can be “quickly 0-2,” what makes a righty seem like a lefty, whether a player can...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss and speculate about the percentage of major leaguers who’ve been inducted into some hall of fame and banter about Elly De La Cruz’ s extended slump, Sean Murphy ’s hip-to-be-tear revelation, and the perils of playing through injury, then assess where the line is when publicly shaming fans for ballpark behavior, and a pattern of Tigers executiv...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss Yoshinobu Yamamoto ’s near no-hitter, the Effectively Wild bump, and the Orioles’ incredible comeback), then banter (and quasi-Stat Blast) about four subjects: whether Shohei Ohtani has been more or less valuable as a DH only or as a two-way player this season; whether Cal Raleigh hits a disproportionate number of homers in garbage time (compared to...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether Trent Grisham’ s 30-homer season is more or less surprising than Juan Soto’ s almost-30-steal season, Colson Montgomery ’s dinger spree, why there hasn’t been a no-hitter this season, and the exciting-but-boring AL/NL West races. Then (26:47) they bring on top-tier Patreon supporter Ashton Moss to banter about his baseball b...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about broadcasters’ anxiety about saying “ Cam Schlittler ,” whether the Mets’ pitching-prospect trio of Nolan McLean , Jonah Tong , and Brandon Sproat will produce more WAR than “Generation K,” a protracted trot by Rafael Devers , whether Framber Valdez intentionally crossed up his catcher, how a lockout looming in late 2026...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley talk about not talking about the Cardinals, then banter about Sandy Alcantara’ s resurgence, whether Walker Buehler will have his own bounceback for the Phillies, Ha-Seong Kim’ s reunion with Jurickson Profar , the concept of “adversarial location,” Aroldis Chapman and Taj Bradley ‘s discoveries of inside/outside and scouting reports, resp...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about John Brebbia’ s return to the big leagues, Kyle Schwarber ’s four-homer game, the potential for a position-player-pitcher-assisted five -homer game, Heliot Ramos and dingers on extremely slow pitches, an interminable inning, whether the playoff race is over and, if so, whether that’s an indictment of the 12-team format, and the profusion...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the semi-resurgence of Justin Verlander , Max Scherzer , and Clayton Kershaw , Nathan Eovaldi’ s injury and Patrick Corbin’ s climb to the top of the Rangers innings leaderboard, the great-but-forgotten Steve Rogers , the end of Andrew Heaney’ s Pirates tenure, Royce Lewis ’s focus on his stats, whether MLB’s strikeout rate ha...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the early start to the 2026 regular season and MLB’s schedule in a warming world, tossing snacks after tossing a bat, this year’s potential trio of 50-homer hitters (including a Cal Raleigh update), the virtues of players who have high floors (with check-ins on Bobby Witt Jr. and Trea Turner ), the (dubious?) merits of the BBWAA’s new rel...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about sports equivalents to baseball’s bat crack, Colson Montgomery’ s torpedo bat, reserving judgement on the MVP race, Francisco Alvarez ’s minor league reset (and subsequent injury), a Kyle Tucker slump/injury update, the hot hitting of Giancarlo Stanton and Jakob Marsee , the Twins’ new knuckleballer, Pierson Ohl , and the ramificatio...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about torpedo bats (remember them?), Cody Bellinger ’s good year and confounding career, recent comments by Craig Counsell and Aaron Boone, the impending call-up of Bubba Chandler and the recent arrival of Owen Caissie , the weirdest things about being a pro baseball player, a zombie-runner-induced ending to a pitcher’s duel, and Alien: Earth as a ba...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the commissioner’s power to dictate conversations about baseball, realignment possibilities, whether league distinctions still matter, how much they have to banter about, Victor Robles’ s bat throw and suspension, the latest Tommy Pham flare-up, a Ketel Marte controversy, the Brewers, the Blue Jays, and what teams’ styles of play represen...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether any of the teams that sold at the trade deadline can make an improbable playoff run, whether the Dodgers’ position in the playoff race refutes or confirms preseason fears about their advantages, and the accelerating splintering of sports broadcasts (MLB on the Poob tube!), then answer emails (41:40) about Roman Anthony ’s OBP, driving/b...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the bounceback season of Trevor Rogers , the NL Cy Young race, career achievement awards, observations from a Shohei Ohtani start, the NL West race, and the significance of the Pohlads’ decision not to sell the Twins. Then (42:36) they answer listener emails about check-swing appeals, how the changing media landscape could affect fandom, streak freez...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a few of this year’s WAR leaders dropping off their previous paces, Dave Roberts’ critiques of Shohei Ohtani , the Dodgers’ playoff pitching, Clayton Kershaw vs. Max Scherzer , Justin Verlander’ s self-deception, the early hot streaks of Luke Keaschall and Warming Bernabel , Carlos Correa returning to form as an Astro, the AL West r...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether Mike Trout has become a boring baseball player, Paul Skenes almost perfectly replicating his sensational rookie season, and recent trends in pre-arb extensions, answer a listener email (57:39) about becoming a fan of the whole league instead of (or in addition to) one team, and (1:14:49) meet major leaguers Josh Simpson and Dugan Darnell . Audio&nb...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Marlins’ winning record against the Yankees, Ty Cobb and Kyle Stowers , the Blue Jays’ demolition of the Rockies, pocket pancakes, and more. Then (38:19) they answer listener emails about a CBT exemption for World Series winners, celebrations in the pitch clock era, nonpartisan bullpens, a humorous shirsey, batter no-outers, and September r...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about umpire Jen Pawol’s promotion to the majors, whether the MLB Speedway Classic lived up to its name, Nathan Eovaldi’ s Gibsonian season, another big blow to the practice of pitcher hitting, a “breakout” question, an optimistic Twins take, the Yankees’ concerning (to Yankees fans) slide, Roman Anthony’ s extension, whether...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about where they stand on two competing perceptions of this year’s trade deadline activity and why it turned out not to be a dudline, then discuss all the major storylines—including A.J. Preller’s all-in antics, the Twins’ teardown, Carlos Correa ’s Houston reunion, and the closer carousel—before going through moves on a team-by-team basi...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about how the expanded playoffs may suppress trade activity and, prompted by the passing of Ryne Sandberg , the factors that can make a player punch above their weight from a popularity perspective. Then (31:47) they answer listener emails about triples hitting, Bryce Harper vs. José Ramírez , the effect of gray hairs on free agency, football body comps for base...

Well, almost nothin’. Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ichiro Suzuki’ s Cooperstown induction, Nick Kurtz’ s four-homer game, Aaron Judge’ s injury (and Cal Raleigh’ s MVP candidacy), Bryce Harper’ s showdown with Rob Manfred, Emmanuel Clase ’s implication in baseball’s brewing pitch-fixing scandal, Royals, Tigers, Braves, and Yankees trades...