Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Rockies’ historic series losing streak and their rest-of-season projections, an Orioles fan’s decision to get the name of Trevor Rogers tattooed on his butt, a Patrick Corbin innings-eating update, draft prospect Jace LaViolette ’s dedication to staying in the lineup, the late-career struggles of Clayton Kershaw , Justin Verlander , a...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the new hardest-hit ball of the Statcast era, exit speeds across eras, Oneil Cruz vs. Elly De La Cruz , whether Tarik Skubal has gotten too good, Aaron Judge not feeling great at the plate, whether Rockies fans should boycott the team, how the (first) Juan Soto trade is working out for the Nationals, a Clay Holmes rotation conversion progress report, Jake...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Rockies being so bad that mostly innocuous stories about them now seem like examples of organizational incompetence, a wild loss by a Rockies affiliate, and why recent terrible teams have been so bad, then (36:56) answer listener emails about catchers framing poorly on purpose, penalizing hitters when their bats make contact with catchers, whether the...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Rich Hill ’s latest perfect game bid, whether the Tigers are as good as they’ve looked, Jared Jones’ elbow surgery and the Pirates’ offensive outage, Paul Skenes and whether lower arm slots will protect pitchers’ arms, Pete Crow-Armstrong and the players who’ve ascended to “main character” status this season,...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Elly De La Cruz’ s unspectacular start to the season, the firing of Brandon Hyde and what it would take for them to blame a manager for a team’s disappointing season, the hubbub about Juan Soto ’s hustle, MLB’s announcement about Rivalry Weekend’s success, Kyle Schwarber and the lineage of non-Hall-of-Fame hitters who’ve...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about listener suggestions for terms for tandem home run robberies (and the opposite of home run robberies), whether it’s so O’sver in Baltimore, Jacob deGrom succeeding despite slightly less dominant stuff, and the realness of the rivalries in MLB’s inaugural “Rivalry Weekend,” then (48:46) answer listener emails about awarding hit...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Julio Rodríguez gifting a homer and then taking one away, two Red Sox outfielders teaming up to make a catch, home-run-robbery terminology, Conor Jackson and remembering some guys who were good for your fantasy team, pouring one out for the Austin Barnes Dodgers era, lopsided scores, and the A’s, then (55:30) discuss Pete Rose ’s reinstatement...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about an expert’s stance on stretching, whether the White Sox were the funniest team for the new Pope to support, what Paul Skenes signing up for the WBC signifies, an optimistic take on the odds of a lost season, Bud Black’s firing and the dreaded “vote of confidence,” Roki Sasaki’ s struggles, a petty Shohei Ohtani , how opposing...

Ben Lindbergh and Ben Clemens of FanGraphs banter about the latest positional drama regarding Rafael Devers , then discuss whether and why pitchers leaguewide are Yu Darvish -ing and Tyler Holton -ing—that is, throwing more pitch types, and varying their pitch types more based on batter handedness—before answering listener emails about home strike zones and combining bad teams to make a good team....

It’s a baseball-book bonanza! Ben Lindbergh rounds up the authors of three new baseball books for conversations about their work and our relationships with the past. First he talks to John W. Miller about his biography of Earl Weaver, The Last Manager , Weaver’s wiring and sabermetric intuition, and the diminished role and reputation of managers. Then (48:16) he brings on Will Bardenwe...

Ben Lindbergh brings on Brandon Uffner, an Orioles and Braves fan, to talk about his two teams’ slow starts to the season, his prescription for fixing them, how he came to root for them, managing his competing loyalties, and more. Then (36:01) he talks to Austin, a White Sox and Rockies fan, about both of his teams bottoming out and how that has or hasn’t affected his appetite for base...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Mike Trout’ s latest injury, Pete Alonso ’s renaissance, a Daulton Varsho recovery catch, Andrés Muñoz the cat guy, and the called strike zone (sort of) shrinking. Then (40:49) they bring on top-tier Patreon supporter Carson Otter to talk about his background with baseball and the podcast, share his baseball-related work experience, and answer...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the unexpected power of Meg’s Mariners (and Jorge Polanco , specifically), in contrast to the Rangers’ unexpectedly light-hitting lineup. They also discuss a Jackson Chourio comment about Julio Rodríguez , the long-awaited comeback of Lance McCullers Jr. and the thus-far-deflating comeback of Sandy Alcantara , the literally diminished Mookie Be...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Roki Sasaki and the Dodgers’ bidets, baseball in The Last of Us , The Simpsons , and the (future) work of Lin-Manuel Miranda, walk-off groundouts, two possibly botched calls, Jesús Luzardo and how skilled teams are at evaluating medicals, a four-homer effort in a loss, the unexpectedly exciting NL West race, and Rob Manfred and Pete Rose , plus follo...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a new contender for the highest bat flip, meet major leaguers (14:28) Ryan Johnson and Alan Roden , and (48:35) answer listener emails about how different baseball would be if losses were free for fans and wins cost extra, whether the Rockies will finish in first before the Dodgers finish in last, whether umpires would stand somewhere else in a full-ABS si...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about old-pitcher comebacks (or dropoffs), James Wood’ s inefficient excellence, Aaron Judge ’s potentially unparalleled peak, whether pitching to contact pays, a possible Paul Skenes change, a base-stealing update, private equity’s MLB plans, and Rob Manfred’s feelings on fandom. Audio intro : Tom Rhoads, “ Effectively Wild Th...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about EW’s Ella Black series and catch up on topics they missed during the week away from regular episodes, including: some struggling teams (including the Orioles and Braves), Cal Raleigh’ s (and David Rubenstein’s) bobbleheads, an Atlanta kerfuffle involving Brian Snitker, Ronald Acuña Jr. , and Jarred Kelenic , recent pitcher injuries, Pete...

Ella Black was the first woman to write about baseball for a national publication—if her name was Ella Black, and if she was a woman. On Ella Black: Lost and Found , a three-part scripted series from Effectively Wild , Ben Lindbergh explores what we know about the enigmatic trailblazer and tries to solve some of the mysteries that have surrounded her ever since she debuted—and, just as suddenly, d...

Ella Black was the first woman to write about baseball for a national publication—if her name was Ella Black, and if she was a woman. On Ella Black: Lost and Found , a three-part scripted series from Effectively Wild , Ben Lindbergh explores what we know about the enigmatic trailblazer and tries to solve some of the mysteries that have surrounded her ever since she debuted—and, just as suddenly, d...

Ella Black was the first woman to write about baseball for a national publication—if her name was Ella Black, and if she was a woman. On Ella Black: Lost and Found , a three-part scripted series from Effectively Wild , Ben Lindbergh explores what we know about the enigmatic trailblazer and tries to solve some of the mysteries that have surrounded her ever since she debuted—and, just as suddenly, d...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the acceptable circumstances (if any) for a bobblehead of a team owner, the Grand Junction Jackalopes belatedly embracing their destiny as the “Chubs,” and more, then (29:35) review and discuss the Netflix documentary The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox , followed by a tease for an upcoming Effectively Wild scripted series and (1:26:37) foll...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’ s big bonus, Edmundo Sosa ’s beginner’s home run robbery, how much of a difference depth makes, and the relative levels of alarm about the shoulder injuries of Reynaldo López , Victor Robles , and Blake Snell . Then (49:14) they talk to MLB.com’s Michael Clair about what it was like to attend the amateur baseb...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about umpires’ surprising preference for full ABS, Rob Manfred’s take on torpedo bats, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’ s $500 million extension, players’ frugal behaviors, precedents for Dennis Santana ’s short pants, the Giants’ new City Connect jerseys, and (1:14:31) the Dodgers’ White House trip. Audio intro : Benny and a...

In a grab-bag episode, Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the low league BABIP early in the season, the most interesting standings developments so far (with emphases on the Dodgers, Padres, Braves, and AL Central), Atlanta re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-acquiring Jesse Chavez , early attendance issues for the A’s, (team-friendly?) extensions for Jackson Merrill , Kristian Campbell , and Kete...

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about several oddities of the early season, including pitcher Ryne Nelson’ s single and a drone encounter with an A’s bat boy, then discuss Jurickson Profar’ s PED suspension, Garrett Crochet’ s extension, and Jonathan Lucroy ‘s reaction to Roki Sasaki’ s apparent post-start tears, before bantering about whether full ABS would...