Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the hot start by Jarred Kelenic and when to believe in a breakout, Jo Adell and the mystery of quadruple-A players, the odds of no Marlin hitting for the cycle until Luis Arraez did it this week, the Rays’ record-tying 13th straight win, new reports about new rules, […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a wave of injuries around MLB, affecting Oneil Cruz, Adam Duvall, Ian Anderson, and several other players, the Rays’ undefeated start, the hot starts of James Outman, Miguel Vargas, and Jason Heyward, the sensual stance of J.D. Davis, silly team celebrations, the Rocket City Trash Pandas’ no-hit loss, […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a Star Wars emergency and (5:17) an nVenue Apple odds update, then (8:57) answer listener emails about how good a team has to be to convince people that it’s cheating, a hypothetical Mike Trout ultimatum about Shohei Ohtani, whether MLB would ban a real-life Sidd Finch, whether not […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether Ben should apply for a full-time job covering Shohei Ohtani, MLB seeking a pitch-clock sponsor, the brilliance of Sandy Alcantara, clock violations leading to ejections, post-Opening Day call-ups for top prospects (most notably Grayson Rodriguez), Alcantara compared to Jacob deGrom, the feud between Tyler O’Neill and Oli […]

Ben Lindbergh and Noah Woodward of the newsletter The Advance Scout discuss Noah’s front-office career, the impact of the MLB rules changes on pace/time of game, the running game, and hitting and defense so far, how players may adapt, the questions Ben and Noah still have about the rules’ long-term effects, Rob Manfred’s characterization of […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the joy of Opening Day and other news, including early reactions to the new rules, Rob Manfred’s comments about the ball-strike challenge system, Aaron Judge’s first homer, the Angels’ Tungsten Arm game, a good/bad Hunter Renfroe no-look catch, a Taylor Ward name mix-up, the Giants’ latest new left […]

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and FanGraphs authors Michael Baumann and Ben Clemens play “SEC Baseball Player vs. Figure Involved in the Lincoln Assassination,” banter about two umpire faux pas (3:45) and MLB’s tweaks to replay reviewing (9:45), and then (17:32) each make 10 predictions about baseball in 2023 to be voted on by listeners, followed […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about prospects who have (Jordan Walker, Anthony Volpe) and haven’t (Grayson Rodriguez, Brett Baty) made Opening Day rosters and MLB’s player-centric PSAs about the new rules, then complete their 2023 season preview series by discussing the Atlanta Braves (15:07) with Grant McAuley of 92.9 The Game, and the Colorado […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the advisability of suspending the pitch clock in certain high-stakes situations, some last-minute spring-training tweaks to the clock’s operation, and MLB’s marketing campaign about the new rules, then continue their 2023 season preview series by discussing the San Diego Padres (30:15) with AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, and the […]

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter euphorically about the unbelievable ending of the World Baseball Classic, from Japan’s semifinal game against Mexico, to the climactic showdown between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout in the USA-Japan final, to what made the whole WBC such a success. Then (52:02) they close the book on meeting major leaguers […]