Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the 2024 regular-season schedule, the baseball relevance of a study about humans’ hunger for useless information, and the storylines they’re most looking forward to following over the remainder of the season, then (35:58) answer emails about a total solar eclipse during a Guardians game, sliding into a base […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s spectator experience at the All-Star Game, whether it’s good or bad that the MVP was a player as obscure as Elias Díaz, the increase in the number of All-Stars per season, other All-Star highlights and lowlights, complaints about All-Star uniforms, perennial requests for a skills competition, Rob […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s experiences at the Futures Game, the draft, and the Home Run Derby, Derby highlights, the Derby on TV vs. in person, Elly De La Cruz’s mad dash, and the Yankees switching hitting coaches, plus a Future Blast (49:12) from 2031. Then (54:25) Ben talks to FanGraphs lead […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s All-Star Week plans, play “Would you rather?” with the White Sox and Cardinals, the Padres and Mets, Carlos Rodón and Alek Manoah, and the Rangers and Diamondbacks, compare the values of Pablo López and Luis Arraez (26:25), discuss starting pitchers who might be available at the trade […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether Mike Trout‘s injury makes the Angels more likely to trade birthday boy Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers’ rotation depth without Dustin May and Clayton Kershaw, bad news for Thairo Estrada and oldsters Nelson Cruz and Adam Wainwright (and the Cruz/Joe Ryan trade revisited), James Paxton‘s comeback, Mariners All-Star […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about All-Star-roster minimums and maximums, what the Aroldis Chapman trade tells us about the how teams value prospects, Jake Diekman’s exploits with the Rays, Evan Longoria’s late-career contributions, and the same-named siblings of Carlos Pérez, Carlos Pérez, Wilmer Flores, Wilmer Flores, Wander Franco, Wander Franco, and Wander Franco. Then […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley attempt to create a hierarchy of highlights, then (21:36) mark the midpoint of the regular season by reviewing the most salient storylines of the first half, the teams and players who’ve most underperformed or overperformed their preseason projections, and what they’re most looking forward to in the second half, plus […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Andrew McCutchen’s latest “furries” tweet, the Pirates playing through a high AQI and the need for a safety standard, Domingo Germán’s perfect game and the state of the Yankees, Yandy Díaz turning back into Ground Beef, Shohei Ohtani lapping his league and strangely struggling at the plate with […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the three Taylor Wards, the truth and multiple untruths about Elly De La Cruz’s twin brother, the dominance of 20-year-old Eury Pérez and the Marlins’ usage dilemma, Luis Arraez’s plate predictions, MVP odds, and underestimation as a prospect, the Mets’ struggles and Buck Showalter’s morbid mind, the Orioles’ […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley are joined by FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen and Michael Baumann to banter about the Phillies’ outlier legal name, Dave Martinez and the dying art of the theatrical managerial ejection, the benching of Wander Franco, whether the Diamondbacks’, Reds’, and Orioles’ surprising seasons are attributable to MLB’s new rules, and whether bad […]