Effectively Wild Episode 1385: Ask Not What WAR Can Do for You

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-ending ACL injury, then answer listener emails about baseball-inspired national holidays, what would happen if Max Scherzer insisted on batting cleanup, and the most inconsequential topics discussed on baseball broadcasts, plus an update on the pulling-pitchers-mid-plate-appearance approach and a Stat Blast on the lack of good hitters over 30 and whether old players are getting worse or young players are just getting better.

Audio intro: John Lennon, "Cleanup Time"
Audio outro: The Cardigans, "War"

Link to the amateur draft’s first-round results
Link to Ben on the decline of top-rated pro pitching prospects
Link to Sam on the Hall of Famers Trout passed in May
Link to Meg on Hamels
Link to Ben and Rob on old hitters and fastballs
Link to Rob on old hitters’ slow pace
Link to order The MVP Machine

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