Effectively Wild Episode 1595: How Cleveland Became a Pitching Powerhouse

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about late-season playoff uncertainty, whether they’re happy with how the playoff field has turned out, the Cubs’ strange season, the surprising number of top prospects who’ve made their MLB debuts in 2020, and the percentage of promoted prospects who’ve skipped the upper levels of the minors. Then (20:47) they talk to free agent left-handed pitcher David Speer about spending six seasons in Cleveland’s system, witnessing the team turn into a pitcher development powerhouse, the organization’s individualized plans for pitchers, learning about and being receptive to advanced stats and technology, nature vs. nurture, playing with many members of Cleveland’s current staff, reaching Triple-A, getting released and job-hunting in 2020, the reduction of the draft and contraction of the minors, minor league pay, and preserving player dev advantages.

Audio intro: Jim James, "Out of Time"
Audio interstitial: Yo La Tengo, "Periodically Double or Triple"
Audio outro: The Roches, "Losing Our Job"

Link to Jay Jaffe on the playoff picture
Link to Dan Szymborski on the Cubs’ offense
Link to Ben on 2020 prospect promotions
Link to Lucas Apostoleris on Crochet’s stuff
Link to Travis Sawchik on Cleveland’s homegrown rotation
Link to Zack Meisel on Cleveland’s pitching development
Link to David’s Twitter account
Link to the rebooted FanGraphs Audio

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