Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the earthquake in the Northeast, Juan Soto’s choice of walk-up song, J.J. Hardy building a ballpark in his Arizona backyard, the pluses and minuses of living in or near a ballpark, and how Shohei Ohtani relates to the Tower of Babel, then (1:04:21) answer listener emails about the Moneyball A’s vs. the 116-win Mariners, Joey Votto and players’ skill with cursive script, how long a ceremonial first pitch thrower could potentially delay a game, the value of consistently throwing from multiple arm slots, and how much better a team would be if its opponents knew nothing about it in advance. Audio intro: Beatwriter, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: The Gagnés, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to NYT on the earthquake Link to Gleyber’s BP Link to Soto song tweet Link to “Empire State of Mind” Link to Correa Dior store quote Link to Hardy yardwork report Link to Olerud tree story Link to Target Field view Link to Minneapolis apartment building Link to converted Indianapolis ballpark Link to Indy stadium lofts Link to converted Osaka Stadium Link to The Athletic on the Dodgers ball Link to Dodgers follow-up article Link to Ohtani video clip Link to Ireton profile Link to Tower of Babel wiki Link to Votto tweet Link to NPR on cursive Link to The Atlantic on cursive Link to NYT on cursive Link to Rangers first pitch Link to Padres exhibition game Link to Ben on rookie pitcher comments Link to research on MLB debuts Link to listener emails database Link to Strider article Link to Ben on pitcher injuries Link to info on “misles” Link to ballpark meetup forms Link to meetup organizer form  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Athletics’ intermediate move to Sacramento, the Royals’ failed public funding referendum, a Davis Schneider self scouting report, a wild Diamondbacks-Yankees game that ended with a pitcher at the plate, whether a DH day is really like a partial day off, whether the Triple-A Norfolk Tides are better than the Colorado Rockies, Josh Jung and when to classify a player as “injury-prone,” Eury Pérez’s Tommy John surgery and MLB’s study on pitcher injuries, and an incandescent start by Mookie Betts, plus a few follow-ups. Audio intro: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Ted O., “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to MLBTR on the A’s move Link to Sutter Health Park Link to Olney tweet Link to Hildenberger tweet Link to Baumann on the A’s Link to Field of Schemes on the A’s Link to Simpsons quote Link to Cora quote Link to MLBTR on KC referendum Link to FoS on the Royals Link to Schneider homer Link to Schneider quote Link to McGough game article Link to McGough video Link to Hannah on DHs Link to Russell on DHs Link to Russell on days off Link to Tides game Link to Rockies game Link to Tides ZiPS Link to Ben’s Tides sheet Link to Clemens on Holliday Link to MLBTR on Jung Link to CBS on Jung Link to MLBTR on Eury Link to Ben on pitcher injuries Link to Manfred quote Link to The Athletic jerseys story Link to Fegan tweet Link to Weaver on wristbands Link to Chaquetas story Link to Salmon Run site Link to ballpark meetup forms Link to meetup organizer form  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a grab of topics, including a team meeting after two games, early bad blood and benches-clearing incidents, the continued terribleness of the new uniforms, a Bryce Harper blooper, a missing first-base coach, an A’s conspiracy, Juan Soto as instant True Yankee, new lights at Chase Field, the Dairy Daddies and marketing, a Nelson Cruz one-day-contract comp, Oswaldo Cabrera’s selective switch-hitting, and more, followed by a Stat Blast (1:14:22) about first-time Opening Day starters, Jesse Chavez and pitchers who were much better with one team than they were overall, games in which both teams scored more runs than they had hits, and the lowest-WAR three-team trades. Audio intro: Austin Klewan, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Nate Emerson, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to team meeting story Link to Hoskins slide Link to Hoskins taunt Link to throw behind Hoskins Link to story on Royals unis Link to sweaty Yankees jerseys Link to Ben on pitcher injuries Link to Harper play Link to A’s conspiracy Link to Jaffe on the Yankees Link to MLB.com Soto story Link to Soto throw Link to Ben on the Shuffle Link to Sterling call Link to FiveThirtyEight on NYC Link to New Yorker cover Link to EW on Gallo Link to White Sox delay Link to EW episode 2069 Link to lights at Chase Link to THT on day/night splits Link to BA on minor league lights Link to Meg’s salmon run tweet Link to salmon run wiki Link to Dairy Daddies Link to Oatly Malmö team Link to EW on team names Link to EW on Colon’s retirement Link to BP on Cabrera Link to NY Post on Cabrera Link to EW on Edman Link to EW on Edman again Link to Stat Blast song cover Link to Ryan Nelson’s Twitter Link to Opening Day starter data Link to old SB on re-acquiring players Link to MLBTR on Chavez Link to Chavez comps data Link to Tex Pasley’s Twitter Link to Jay Cuda tweet Link to games with R>H data Link to 1953 game log Link to 1953 game article Link to Kenny Jackelen’s Twitter Link to MLBTR on the Berti trade Link to 3-team-trade data Link to Seattle ballpark meetup Link to ballpark meetup forms Link to meetup organizer form  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Opening Day naps, a Bryce Harper pandering update, Nelson Cruz’s Mariners retirement and the one-day-contract tradition, and Yusei Kikuchi’s latest intriguing revelation, then (21:16) share some highlights and lowlights of Opening Day action, report the results of listener voting on the preseason predictions game, analyze Will Smith’s extension, marvel at this season’s compressed projections, and (1:05:27) conduct the fourth annual Team Fun Draft, in which they draft all 30 teams in order of how fun they are to follow in 2024. Audio intro: Alex Glossman and Ali Breneman, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to FG staff predictions Link to Ringer staff predictions Link to Ramírez Opening Day quote Link to Harper jacket Link to Cruz Mariners tweet Link to Levine on one-day contracts Link to one-day-contracts thread Link to Kikuchi on sleeping Link to Kikuchi on reading Link to Soto throw Link to Ichiro throw Link to Cespedes throw Link to Mays catch Link to Mariners salmon run Link to salmon run video Link to preseason predictions pod Link to listener voting results Link to MLBTR on Lewin Díaz Link to MLBTR on Smith Link to Jaffe on Smith Link to FG playoff odds Link to payroll disparities Link to Paine on net WAR Link to load management info Link to Ben on Arraez Link to ballpark meetup forms Link to meetup organizer form  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley remind people to vote in their preseason predictions game, discuss the completion of the season preview series, and then (10:15) analyze Shohei Ohtani’s remarks from Monday and preview the rest of the 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers season with The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya, followed (1:15:31) by a 2024 Colorado Rockies preview with The Denver Gazette’s Luke Zahlmann, plus a postscript on the Diamondbacks signing Jordan Montgomery (1:55:50) and a recap of preview guests’ goals for each team this year (2:01:25). 2024 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG Audio intro: El Warren, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio interstitial 1: Tom Rhoads, “What Did Shohei Ohtani Know?” Audio interstitial 2: Justin Peters, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Daniel Leckie, “Effectively Wild Theme” LINK TO VOTE ON PREDICTIONS Link to Capistrano swallows story Link to swallows story 2 Link to swallows story 3 Link to Ohtani video Link to Ohtani transcript Link to other Ohtani translation Link to Kim tweet Link to Kojima video Link to Ben on Ohtani Link to Blum on Ippei’s bio Link to NBA betting scandal Link to Haberstroh on Porter Link to Dodgers offseason tracker Link to Dodgers depth chart Link to Fabian on the Seoul series Link to more on Seoul Link to ESPN Friedman report Link to Ben on the Dodgers Link to Friedman on failure Link to Dodgers TV deal Link to Ben on the Dodgers Link to Fabian’s Athletic archive Link to Rockies offseason tracker Link to Rockies depth chart Link to SP projections Link to RP projections Link to FG playoff odds Link to FG on Tovar’s extension Link to Baumann on Straw Link to Blum on Bryant Link to Statcast defense projections Link to Rockies pitching lab Link to Rockies player projections Link to Coors hangover effect Link to Rockies R&D story Link to MLB attendance ranks Link to P GB% leaderboard Link to P K% leaderboard Link to Andrew’s Gazette archive Link to MLBTR on Montgomery Link to MLBTR on the QO Link to Operation Market Garden Link to over/under draft results Link to ballpark meetup forms Link to meetup organizer form LINK TO VOTE ON PREDICTIONS  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs authors Michael Baumann and Ben Clemens play “Character Who Appears in Shōgun the Novel (but Not the TV Series) or International Amateur Baseball Player” (3:13), banter about an MLBPA power struggle (8:37) and the life of late Orioles owner Peter Angelos (16:51), and then explain the second annual preseason predictions game (22:38) and make 10 bold predictions apiece (29:00) about baseball in 2024, to be voted on by listeners. Audio intro: Luke Lillard, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Horny)” LINK TO VOTE ON PREDICTIONS Link to Sasaki article Link to Jarvis singing video Link to Passan on the MLBPA Link to Drellich on Flaherty Link to latest on the MLBPA Link to Drellich on McHugh Link to Meyer letter Link to MLBTR on Angelos Link to Angelos wiki Link to Rubenstein story Link to last year’s predictions pod Link to predictions recap pod Link to last year’s results Link to wiki on last year Link to combined WAR leaderboard Link to Ben on 2022 Pujols Link to jacked players list Link to slim Stanton video Link to FG top 100 Link to 2024 oldest players Link to 40+ PA by year Link to batter age by year Link to multi-year RoY vote-getters Link to tiebreaker rules Link to FG playoff odds Link to Bananas cruise Link to total SB by year Link to Sam on SB Link to Russell on pickoffs Link to obstruction enforcement Link to enforcement explainer Link to obstruction call video Link to Lindor play piece 1 Link to Lindor play piece 2 Link to MiLB FA draft projections Link to Thames GIF Link to Ben on Shohei Link to ballpark meetup forms Link to meetup organizer form LINK TO VOTE ON PREDICTIONS  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

The podcast features diverse baseball topics, such as recent player signings, the Yankees' rotation concerns, Aaron Judge's injury history, and the Nationals' offseason strategy. The hosts also explore TV show preferences, generational differences, defensive skills, and bullpen dynamics in an engaging and informative discussion.

In an in-depth discussion that became a bonus episode, Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley explore the state of the sports-betting scandal surrounding Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, breaking down the stakes, the most pressing sources of uncertainty, and the many possible outcomes and consequences. Audio intro: The Shirey Brothers, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Ian Phillips, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to MLB statement Link to Wednesday ESPN report Link to Thursday ESPN report Link to Friday ESPN report Link to T.J. Quinn report Link to MLB Rule 21 Link to rules explainer Link to other leagues’ rules Link to NFL gambling policy Link to Rosenthal/McCullough Link to IRS report Link to Fletcher tweet Link to LeBron story Link to Jaguars employee story Link to Jaguars story 2 Link to Calcaterra newsletter Link to Ben on Shohei Link to ballpark meetup forms Link to meetup organizer form  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

After a brief preamble about the betting scandal surrounding Shohei Ohtani and interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the first game of the regular season, whether gloves have gotten more permeable, the odds of a DH-only Ohtani MVP season, Ohtani’s lucrative endorsements, whether the addition of in-app gambling info to NBA League Pass portends a similar future for MLB.TV, the pitfalls of pervasive sports-betting ads, the implications of Eury Pérez’s elbow injury, the chances that Pérez will win multiple Cy Young awards, and the decimated Marlins rotation. Then (34:39) they answer listener emails about what makes pitchers aesthetically pleasing, whether Blake Snell is effectively wild, whether coaches spend more time on stars or scrubs, moving the bullpen beneath the mound, whether MLB has too many multi-team markets, and joint broadcast booths, plus Stat Blasts (1:12:04) on the Dodgers’ daunting top of the order and the Padres’ profusion of shortstops, followed by (1:37:49) a real-time reaction to the Ohtani-Mizuhara news and a postscript with additional details and thoughts. Audio intro: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Ian H., “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to shortstop PPR Link to Gromit GIF Link to Cronenworth play Link to opener box score Link to Duffy glove fail Link to Vlad glove fail Link to The Atlantic on flying Link to Ohtani MVP odds Link to DH MVP article Link to NL WAR projections Link to 2023 AL WAR leaders Link to endorsement leaders Link to MLBTR on Eury Link to Baumann on Marlins SP Link to article on Sixto Link to Cy Youngs quote Link to non-Cy winners Link to Stuff+ ranking Link to League Pass article Link to Manfred-Silver story Link to Hefner article Link to moving mound EW episode Link to Emma on bullpen brawlers Link to two-team cities wiki Link to MLB Sunday Leadoff wiki Link to MASN booth article Link to Sterling-Castiglione swap Link to 1953 Scully story Link to listener emails database Link to Cory Brent’s Stat Blast cover Link to Ben’s Dodgers-Padres article Link to highest leadoff OPS Link to leadoff power article Link to Stat Blast sheet 1 Link to Stat Blast image 1 Link to Stat Blast image 2 Link to Ryan Nelson’s Twitter Link to Cooper on the Padres Link to Stat Blast sheet 2 Link to Kenny Jackelen’s Twitter Link to Ron Swanson clip Link to Shohei couples photo Link to L.A. Times Ohtani report Link to ESPN Ohtani report Link to The Athletic Ohtani report Link to Jaguars story Link to Jaguars story 2 Link to ballpark meetup forms Link to meetup organizer form  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Giants signing Blake Snell, whether Snell is now underrated, San Francisco’s offseason, Scott Boras’s offseason, leaguewide spending, an MLBPA power struggle, and (39:03) a 150-year-old message about baseball players in spring, then preview the 2024 Atlanta Braves (45:42) with 92.9 The Game’s Grant McAuley, and the 2024 Chicago White Sox (1:24:54) with Sox Machine’s James Fegan. 2024 EW Season Preview Series ALBALCHWATHBOSCLEHOUNYYDETLAATBRKCRSEATORMINTEX NLATLCHCARIMIACINCOLNYMMILLADPHIPITSDPWSNSTLSFG Audio intro: Ted O., “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio interstitial 1: Grant Brisbee, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio interstitial 2: The Gagnés, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Guy Russo, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to positional power rankings Link to Baumann on Snell Link to MLBTR on Snell Link to Anderson on Snell Link to Nightengale on Snell Link to Feinsand on Snell Link to Snell sim game Link to Farhan tweet Link to Giants PR problems Link to Grant on Brooks-Moon Link to MLBTR on Felipe Link to Rosenthal on Boras Link to Dan S. thread Link to Drellich on MLBPA Link to MLBTR on MLBPA Link to Giamatti essay Link to Harwell recording Link to 1874 column 1 Link to 1874 column 2 Link to reading soundtrack Link to November trade Link to Braves offseason tracker Link to Braves depth chart Link to Strider curve article Link to AA extension article Link to Ryan Nelson tweet Link to SP projections Link to RP projections Link to From the Diamond site Link to From the Diamond podcast Link to White Sox offseason tracker Link to White Sox depth chart Link to Crochet precursors Link to Ben on ex-player GMs Link to November Getz quote Link to February Getz quote Link to Battlestar quote Link to Sox ballpark coverage Link to team defense projections Link to James’s Sox Machine archive Link to Sox Machine Patreon Link to Sox Machine podcast Link to ballpark meetup forms Link to meetup organizer form  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Twitter Account  EW Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source