Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Yordan Alvarez kissing Martín Maldonado, Will Brennan’s birdslaughter (12:33), the Guardians’ slow start (23:12), Madison Bumgarner’s reported reluctance to alter his pitching approach (32:49), Mike Trout passing Ken Griffey Jr. in career Baseball-Reference WAR (45:56), whether the A’s will end up historically bad or rebound to being merely […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley follow up with additional details about the Cardinals’ cheeseburger phone, banter about the hot hitting of Ronald Acuña Jr. and Aaron Judge, answer listener emails (31:13) about home run rituals and the unwritten rules, a prophylactic procedure to prevent Tommy John surgery, whether a runner could be safe because of […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the sesame-seer Cardinals using a cheeseburger phone to predict home buns (er, runs) by hitters who are dialed in, the varying fortunes of three offseason big spenders (the Mets, Padres, and Rangers) and the stakes of their success, Kumar Rocker’s Tommy John surgery, Dustin May’s flexor strain, the […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Shohei Ohtani’s near-cycle and newly hot hitting on days when he’s pitched, the Cardinals reinstating Willson Contreras at catcher (and Zac Gallen’s comments on the Cardinals Way), the Sean Murphy/William Contreras/Esteury Ruiz trade revisited, post-peak Christian Yelich and the breakout of Brent Rooker, the dominant Rays’ possible vulnerability, […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Akil Baddoo taking a baseball to the beans, broadcasters describing groin shots, and players deciding whether to wear cups. Then they compare a resurgent Joey Gallo and a slumping Andrew Benintendi (20:25), recall reliever Zack Littell’s affinity for cruise ships (33:22), forecast MLB’s international future (37:22), consider the […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s recovery from COVID and the belated release of the CBA, predict how well White Sox cast-off Jake Diekman will pitch for the Rays, discuss injuries to Luis Garcia, Max Fried, Tyler Mahle, and more pitchers and investigate forearm/flexor strains as potential precursors to Tommy John surgery, react […]

Ben Lindbergh talks to Will Leitch about the Cardinals’ horrendous start, their baffling decision to bar big free-agent addition Willson Contreras from catching, how Yadier Molina’s legacy looms over the franchise, how Oli Marmol and John Mozeliak have handled the team’s struggles, how the rest of the season might go, and more, along with the […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about more examples of players whose names describe what they do (like Colin Holderman), the return of Justin Verlander, Juan Soto’s overdue hot streak, Keynan Middleton calling out Carlos Correa, the difference between Craig Kimbrel’s leverage and results, and how success lowers the boo threshold, then (16:22) react to […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about players being paid for on-field, in-game interviews, pitcher injuries and pitcher call-ups, how low Oakland’s attendance could go (and whether the team might bungle its move to Las Vegas), the NL West race, the AL East’s strength compared to the AL Central’s, which team invented the in-dugout home […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the podcast’s naming conventions, the EW reverse jinx boosting Byron Buxton, the stress of observing Jacob deGrom’s high-wire act, Drew Maggi’s first major league hit (off of Hobie Harris!), high-scoring, high-altitude baseball in Mexico City, MLB editing (and later restoring) an A’s highlight, White Sox fan unrest, Jazz […]