Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

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 baseball event of the year: the Division III showdown between Yeshiva and Lehman, who entered their Wednesday doubleheader on the two longest active losing streaks in college baseball. Audio intro: Dave Armstrong and Mike Murray, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio interstitial: Guy Russo, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Moon Hound, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to Rosenthal on Vlad Link to Sosa play Link to Clemens on depth Link to Clemens on depth on EW Link to MLBTR on López Link to team SP projections Link to MLBTR on Snell Link to MLBTR on Robles Link to Petriello on Robles Link to Robles batting change Link to Michael on the game Link to original Reddit post Link to postgame Reddit post Link to Caltech story Link to Yeshiva team stats Link to Yeshiva vs. Lehman stats Link to Game 2 video Link to Ben on Salina Link to Michael’s manuscript Link to Michael on the Czech team  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Give a Gift Subscription  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Spotify Feed  Facebook Group  Bluesky Account  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch! Source

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 Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Pedantic)” Audio outro: Grant Brisbee, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to Manfred interview Link to Baumann on Vlad Link to MLBTR on Vlad Link to post-Vlad FA class Link to Rogers spending info Link to cheap players article Link to Ben on paywalls Link to Hannah on Skenes Link to cut Skenes quote Link to Pence on pants Link to Pence pants video Link to Pence pants comments Link to Odor pants video Link to Rangers pants video Link to Rangers pants blog Link to more pants photos Link to Giants jerseys Link to Roberts on White House Link to Mookie on White House Link to White House visit  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Give a Gift Subscription  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Spotify Feed  Facebook Group  Bluesky Account  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch! Source

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 Ketel Marte, Dennis Santana’s sartorial innovation, the end of Comerica Park’s dirt strip, players being told not to tap their helmets, a mid-plate-appearance pitching change, a 12-6 slider, the Dodgers’ new, Ohtani-related celebration, ESPN’s annual executives/scouts survey, being “on gear” in climbing, and Carshield baseball ads. Audio intro: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Gabriel-Ernest, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to early season BABIPs Link to Ben on 2020 BABIP Link to Ben on lower league BABIPs Link to playoff odds changes Link to Baumann on the Braves Link to Chavez transactions page Link to Hill Stat Blast Link to Chavez Stat Blast Link to Clemens on Mookie Link to 2002 NL East Link to Castillo fun fact Link to FG on Merrill Link to Union-Tribune on Merrill Link to FG on Campbell Link to Campbell on “friends” Link to FG on Marte Link to The Bandwagon on Marte Link to MLBTR on Marte Link to A’s attendance article Link to ESPN survey Link to Goold tweet Link to EW on “strategy” in 2024 Link to Ben on “strategy” Link to Harper quote Link to EW on The Pitt Link to new 12-6 slider Link to Santana clip Link to Comerica change Link to Ben on pickoff moves Link to ballpark homogenization Link to Ohtani celly 1 Link to Ohtani celly 2 Link to Freeman injury info Link to Vlad report Link to Shapiro quote Link to Curb clip Link to Ghiroli article Link to Carshield EW episode Link to FTC press release Link to FTC complaint  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Give a Gift Subscription  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Spotify Feed  Facebook Group  Bluesky Account  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch! Source

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 encourage even harder throwing, Lance Lynn’s retirement, a wild college throw, and more, plus a postscript. Audio intro: Jonathan Crymes, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Justin Peters, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to Jay on the White Sox Link to Nelson hit Link to more on Nelson Link to Pirates Elias tweet Link to B-Ref Brewers post Link to The Athletic on Profar Link to Orr on Profar Link to Ben on natty or not Link to Baumann on the Braves Link to MLBTR on Crochet 1 Link to MLBTR on Crochet 2 Link to MLBTR on Campbell Link to Sheehan on Crochet Link to Dan S. on Crochet Link to MLB.com on Crochet Link to drone story Link to Sasaki clip Link to L.AT. on Sasaki Link to Lucroy tweet 1 Link to Lucroy tweet 2 Link to more Lucroy tweets Link to Wolfe quotes Link to r/tragedeigh Link to McAfee story Link to ABS story 1 Link to ABS story 2 Link to Lynn podcast Link to RF throw Link to MLBTR on Vlad Link to Shapiro story Link to MLBTR on Pfaadt  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Give a Gift Subscription  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Spotify Feed  Facebook Group  Bluesky Account  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch! Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley have an in-depth discussion on all aspects of the sport’s topic du jour: torpedo/bowling-pin/juggling-pin(?) bats. They also banter (59:58) about the abysmal beginning of Rafael Devers’s season, Aaron Judge’s interviews, MLB’s attempt to make up for its MLB.TV outage, the vibes at Blue Jays games, Willson Contreras eating bat tape, Jack Leiter taking a ball to the beans, the invasion of Chases, and Sutter Health Park, plus (1:37:22) several follow-ups. Audio intro: Philip Tapley and Michael Stokes, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Cory Brent, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to Ben on the bats Link to many bat-related links Link to official bat change Link to Judge quotes Link to Waldman clip Link to Contreras clip Link to Contreras story Link to Leiter clip Link to r/tragedeigh Link to listener emails database  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Give a Gift Subscription  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Spotify Feed  Facebook Group  Bluesky Account  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch! Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley react to assorted frustrations and delights of Opening Day, then (42:07) conduct the fifth annual Team Fun Draft, in which they draft all 30 teams in order of how fun they expect them to be to follow in 2025. Audio intro: Jonathan Crymes 2, “Effectively Wild Theme 2” Audio outro: El Warren, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to story on mlb.tv outage Link to Guardians offer Link to FG staff predictions post Link to FG staff bold predictions Link to Meg’s PPR summary Link to Ringer entrance survey Link to Contreras post Link to Bibee on Chipotle Link to Torkelson article Link to Shohei HR reactions Link to Rosen on ballparks  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Give a Gift Subscription  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Spotify Feed  Facebook Group  Bluesky Account  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch! Source

Ben Lindbergh and FanGraphs writer Dan Szymborski banter about how much spring training stats matter, which players improved their projections the most this spring, whether prospects really have a harder time making the transition to MLB from Triple-A today, their spring training award winners, the five-ish biggest questions/storylines for each of them this MLB season, and a smattering of “bold predictions” from EW listeners. Then (1:23:29) Ben brings back the “Baseball Jobs” series by interviewing Josh Kantor, longtime Fenway Park organist, to talk about how he got his gig, his side projects, the ins and outs of his in-game responsibilities, the upcoming season, and much more, followed by a brief keyboard performance. Audio intro: The Gagnés, “Effectively Wild Theme 2” Audio interstitial: Josh Kantor and Nancy Faust, “Sweet Caroline” Audio outro: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to 2015 spring study Link to Hoyer quote Link to Ben’s new prospects article Link to Ben’s old prospects article Link to spring champions Link to ST team wins Link to FG ST leaderboards Link to five Clemens questions Link to listener bold predictions Link to EW predictions ballot Link to previous Baseball Jobs pod Link to Josh Kantor wiki Link to Baseball Project pod Link to Baseball Project song Link to Kaminski pod  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Give a Gift Subscription  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Spotify Feed  Facebook Group  Bluesky Account  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch! Source

Join Davy Andrews, a talented FanGraphs writer known for his sharp baseball insights and the 'We Tried Tracker,' as he discusses his journey in sports writing. The conversation dives into intriguing offseason transactions and how teams navigate player acquisitions. They explore the concept behind the 'We Tried Tracker,' highlighting failed attempts to obtain players. The episode also tackles player performance strategies, including stance adjustments, and the impact of player health and nutrition on the game.

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s positional power rankings progress and discuss why MLB is “evaluating” its Diversity Pipeline Program, then for the first time in a while answer listener emails (15:35) about how baseball would be different if swinging hard caused more serious injuries, a high-elevation league/division, inter-game penalties for frivolous end-of-game challenges, whether the challenge system will make umpires tone down their punchout calls, whether player-initiated challenges should be included in WAR calculations, split-squad games in the regular season, and limits on the number of NPB players per MLB roster, plus a real-time reaction (1:14:03) to the Chesapeake Oyster Catchers logo. Audio intro: Alex Ferrin, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Ian Phillips, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to Meg’s PPR intro Link to Athletic report Link to Calcaterra report Link to travel ban news Link to 2019 Cuba deal news Link to Russell on power hitting Link to Ben on Mexico City Link to Oyster Catchers logo Link to logo response story Link to Pickles mascot story Link to GJ Chubs episode Link to EW emails database Link to predictions vote  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Give a Gift Subscription  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Spotify Feed  Facebook Group  Bluesky Account  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch! Source

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs authors Michael Baumann and Ben Clemens play “College Baseball Player or Musician Who’s Performing at Sea.Hear.Now 2025” (4:53), and then explain the third annual preseason predictions game (11:53) and make 10 bold predictions apiece (18:57) about baseball in 2025, to be voted on by listeners. Audio intro: The Gagnés, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Jonathan Crymes, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to vote Link to music festival Link to Ben on festival posters Link to previous scores Link to 2024 predictions Link to 2023 predictions Link to FG playoff odds Link to Ohtani max velo Link to .500 teams data Link to Waldron article Link to Lewis article Link to knuckleball qualifiers Link to Ben on knuckleballs Link to Other Ben on sliders Link to slider rates Link to highest bullpen WPAs Link to Rob on stolen bases Link to Corbin signing article Link to Dan S. booms/busts Link to 3B sends data Link to Savant 3B sends Link to Patrick on 3B sends Link to Russell on 3B sends Link to Oyster Analytics on 3B sends Link to 2024 attendance Link to Ben on risk aversion Link to vote  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Give a Gift Subscription  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Spotify Feed  Facebook Group  Bluesky Account  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch! Source