Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the stretch run, the “championship season,” the surprising solidity of the playoff picture, and how the playoff field could change before the end of the season. They also discuss the turnarounds of Jeff McNeil and Corbin Carroll, the return on the Rangers’ pitching blueprint, and whether A’s fans […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether the custom-painted bats featured during Players’ Weekend should be usable all season, Alex Verdugo’s batting-glove allergy, Rich Hill’s predictable-yet-curious choice of team, where the Rookie of the Year races stand, how the Pirates should handle Paul Skenes down the stretch, the magnitude of the Skenes Day attendance […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the White Sox walking Juan Soto to face Aaron Judge, how Judge’s season could’ve been even better, the world’s untapped baseball talent, Shohei Ohtani’s run at a 50-50 season, ways to discourage intentional walks, a proposal to mandate six-inning outings for starting pitchers, a changing of the guard […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about how Jorge López has done since his release from the Mets, Juan Soto‘s underrated dominance, George Springer’s post-replay rage, whether the Rangers are a candidate for Angels-esque August waiver shenanigans, whether Dodgers pitchers are particularly prone to Tommy John surgeries, and the divisive value of Salvador Perez. Then […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the 30th anniversary of the 1994 strike and how nice it is not to have the season end in August, the unusual extension of Victor Robles, Tanner Rainey, Patrick Corbin, and the remnants of the 2019 Nationals, Will Wagner and whether the debuts of sons of big leaguers […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the appeal of deflected balls caught on the fly, the lack of variety in MLB.TV highlights, Aaron Judge’s bases-empty intentional walks, the Braves falling out of playoff position (for now), and the surprising team with a trio of young, above-average, qualified hitters. Then (40:44) they rank the types […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the White Sox and the etiquette and timing of firing the manager of one of the worst teams of all time, Logan O’Hoppe and performance anxiety, Brusdar Graterol and the most demoralizing kind of injury, the return of Anthony Gose, next season’s scheduled game at Bristol Motor Speedway, […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Jesús Sánchez and the (perhaps) surprising longest-homer hitters of the Statcast era, the hot hitting of Victor Robles, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Tyler Fitzgerald, the competitive race for the (nonexistent) utility player of the year award, what lessons should be learned from the 2024 Padres’ clutchness correction, whether […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Mike Trout’s latest season-ending injury, the Orioles’ latest top-prospect promotion, and a tweak to the postseason schedule, and answer listener emails (24:20) about ex-player umpires, eavesdropping on pitchers’ thoughts between pitches, whether and how they’d reintroduce baseball to a world without it, awarding belts or trophies for team […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the end of a historic Clayton Kershaw streak, pitcher errors and unearned runs, the lack of top prospects traded at the deadline, the short-handed Marlins vs. the stripped-down Rays, the latest sign of the White Sox apocalypse, the resurgent Blake Snell, Brett Phillips the full-time pitcher, and whether […]