Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Orioles ace John Means pitching a no-hitter and the dropped-third-strike rule that prevented him from having a perfect game, Tony La Russa’s latest managerial miscues, an umpire admitting he guessed at a call, the Yankees turning their season around after a slow start and the perils of small-sample team performance, heckling the Astros, Dylan Cease, Huascar Ynoa, and good and bad arguments for and against the DH, whether the zombie-runner rule leads to more or fewer balls being put in play, the Twins’ struggles in Manfredball games, and whether fans are being cheated by seven-inning games, plus a Meet a Major Leaguer on Angels utility man Jose Rojas and Brewers pitcher Alec Bettinger (and, indirectly, 19th-century Milwaukee catcher Alamazoo Jennings). Audio intro: Sloan, "She Says What She Means" Audio outro: Badfinger, "Perfection" Link to video of Means no-hitter Link to video of dropped third strike Link to Sam on dropped third strikes Link to MLB.com on dropped third strikes Link to SABR on dropped third strikes Link to James Fegan on La Russa Link to Angel Hernandez play/quote Link to story about Astros taunts Link to Cease highlights video Link to video of Ynoa’s grand slam Link to Ben on the DH Link to Ben on player talent over time Link to story on Rojas Link to BP on Bettinger Link to MLB.com on Bettinger Link to story on Alamazoo Jennings  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about being fully vaccinated, injuries to Dustin May, Luis Robert, Jesús Luzardo, Jacob deGrom, Shohei Ohtani, and others around the league, grumbles about Tony La Russa’s managing, the Angels’ perplexing, persistent .500-ness, the Mets firing and hiring hitting coaches, and surprising pricing for players on Cameo, then follow up on the Dodgers’ shifting against righties, umpires declaring plays too close to call, and handing out flagrant fouls for hit by pitches before ending with Stat Blasts about the most consecutive taken pitches and the longest pitcher outings without a ball being put in play. Audio intro: Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Dosed" Audio outro: The White Stripes, "Take, Take, Take" Link to post on May’s pitch-type changes Link to post on May’s injury Link to post on Robert’s injury Link to Luzardo story Link to Luzardo apology Link to BP on April injuries Link to Jeff Passan on La Russa Link to Rob Arthur on La Russa Link to story about Mets firings Link to study on offense after firing coaches Link to defensive efficiency leaderboard Link to story about the Angels’ defense Link to Ben on the Angels’ .500-ness Link to cluster luck leaderboard Link to post on the Dodgers’ shifting Link to Reddit thread on Cameo pricing Link to data on consecutive takes Link to game with most consecutive takes Link to data on all-true-outcome outings Link to data on all-true-outcome starts  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Rays flamethrower Shane McClanahan’s regular-season MLB debut, a Bryce Harper hit by pitch and the causes of the current HBP epidemic, and the biggest surprises of the topsy-turvy standings entering May. Then (33:32) they’re joined by listener and Patreon supporter David Whitcomb to answer listener emails about whether excelling at fantasy baseball could help someone get hired by a team, what motion umpires should make to signal that a play is too close to call, whether umps telling hitters whether a pitch they swung at would have been called a strike is an unfair advantage, the frequent intentional walks of Ichiro Suzuki, making the whole diamond (or the whole field) bigger, how baseball would be different if its history were simulated many times, whether a pitcher could succeed at low velocity, and whether a hitless start in a seven-inning game that went to extras would be classified as a no-hitter. Audio intro: James Taylor, "First of May" Audio outro: Death Cab for Cutie, "Your Bruise" Link to video of McClanahan’s hardest pitch Link to Sam on flames on the broadcast Link to story about Harper’s HBP Link to Rob Mains on the HBP rate Link to Rob on HBP in 2017 Link to Rob on the most dangerous HBP Link to percentage of HBP that are breaking balls Link to average velocity of HBP Link to Sarah Langs on division leaders entering May Link to Neil Paine on small-sample records Link to Jeff on 50-game records Link to Jeff on the standings in June Link to Jeff on predicting second-half records Link to AL bold predictions by Ben Clemens Link to NL bold predictions Link to story about Ottoneu Link to story about Taubman’s fantasy background Link to Jay Jaffe on position player pitching Link to tweet about Greinke spring training story  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan’s morbid press conference comment, the continued excellence of Byron Buxton, Mike Trout, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., an early-season dip in infield shifting and an interesting disparity in defensive disparity between the Padres and Dodgers, and Rob Manfred’s comment about sports betting and the pace of baseball. Then they bring on frequent Stat Blast consultant Adam Ott, who’s about to begin a new job as a data scientist in Cleveland’s R&D department, to explain how he got a job in baseball and how to work with baseball data and to deliver an in-person Stat Blast about the most successful pitchers with no outs and a runner on second (plus a bonus Stat Blast about the pitchers with the most career wins after blowing saves). Audio intro: The Rembrandts, "April 29" Audio outro: Jackson Browne, "Song for Adam" Link to Shanahan comments Link to Buxton’s 5-for-5 video Link to Petriello on Trout Link to Trout’s best calendar months Link to Trout’s best 19-game spans Link to video of Vlad’s 3 homers Link to Ben on shifting against righties Link to Justin Choi on shifting against righties Link to overall shift rate by year Link to shift rate against lefties by year Link to shift rate against righties by year Link to team shift rate against lefties Link to team shift rate against righties Link to Emma Baccellieri on early-season offense Link to Manfred’s comment at Sportico Live Link to Craig Goldstein on Manfred Link to new Pioneer League rules Link to Adam’s Stat Blast data Link to career leaders in “stupid wins” Link to active leaders in “stupid wins” Link to Adam’s blog post on Opening Day starters Link to Bill Petti on creating a Retrosheet database  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the latest riveting Padres-Dodgers series, the beef between Trevor Bauer and Fernando Tatis Jr., Tatis’s fielding, the end of GM Jeff Bridich’s reign with the Rockies, Madison Bumgarner’s hitless start (but non-no-hitter?), Jacob deGrom’s dominance and starts in which pitchers produce as many hits as they allow, and John Means and the O’s stopping Oakland’s 13-game winning streak, then follow up on previous discussions about collective action by fans and replay review in cricket and provide updates on Shohei Ohtani and Willians Astudillo, plus a Stat Blast on the AL West’s “ASSHAT” standings and the most common division orders in recent seasons and a Meet a Major Leaguer on Rays pitcher Louis Head and Astros pitcher Kent Emanuel. Audio intro: Dan Bern, "Rivalry" Audio outro: Cotton Mather, "April’s Fool" Link to Tatis-Bauer beef summary Link to Nick Groke on Bridich Link to Bumgarner video Link to Jay Jaffe on Bumgarner Link to spreadsheet of starts like deGrom’s Link to ASSHAT standings image Link to most common standings 2013-20 Link to most common standings 1998-2020 Link to video of Astudillo’s dinger Link to story about Head Link to story about Emanuel Link to video of Emanuel’s debut Link to Jared Diamond on DHCMT Link to Ken Rosenthal on DHCMT Link to Fabian Ardaya on Ohtani’s outing  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley offer a few updates on the first subject of their “Meet a Major Leaguer” segment, Zach Pop, banter about Corey Dickerson’s impending 200th career double, and answer listener emails about weather-based scheduling, giving umpires the option of not making close calls and deferring to replay reviewers instead, the strange statistics of Javier Báez, enforcing parity (but also mediocrity), whether baseball fans could channel the collective action of the soccer fans who sank the Super League, bringing the chess clock to baseball and improving pace, and the easiest role on the roster in which to collect low-effort, low-pressure paychecks, plus a Stat Blast about Bill Buckner and the overrated or underrated players whose Black/Gray Ink scores differ most from their career WAR. Audio intro: Cat Stevens, "Pop Star" Audio outro: Blind Melon, "So High" Link to Kevin Goldstein on Báez Link to Michael Baumann on the Super League’s demise Link to Grant Brisbee on what makes games long Link to Ben in 2014 on the least-used players Link to B-Ref Black/Gray Ink glossary Link to giant Stat Blast spreadsheet Link to Meg on Hamels Link to video of Astudillo saying “gasolina” Link to video of Astudillo taking cover Link to video of Astudillo’s homer Link to postgame video of Astudillo  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Bryce Harper’s hot streak, the players at the top of the WAR leaderboard, the exploits of Byron Buxton and Nelson Cruz, the suddenly unbeatable Oakland A’s, Ben’s new favorite stat to track (Nick Madrigal’s K%+), pitcher hitting performance reaching a new nadir, and more. Then they debut a new recurring segment (and song), “Meet a Major Leaguer,” by introducing Marlins reliever Zach Pop and Rockies reliever Jordan Sheffield. They close by discussing an article about the obstacles facing women working for MLB teams and the latest biannual, Crasnick-esque ESPN insider survey about MLB’s burning questions. (Parental warning: This episode contains a trio of swears.) Audio intro: Tom Petty, "You and I Will Meet Again" Audio outro: Laura Marling, "Hope We Meet Again" Link to story about Lowrie’s knee Link to story about Lowrie’s sleeping Link to story about James’s sleeping Link to story about Smith’s sleeping Link to 2021 K%+ leaderboard Link to post-WWII K%+ leaderboard Link to league-wide pitcher hitting stats Link to Ben on pitcher hitting Link to B-Ref’s new debuts page Link to list of 2021 rule 5 guys Link to Joon Lee’s article Link to EW episode 1612 (with Jen Wolf) Link to 2021 ESPN season survey Link to Dan Szymborski on the Royals Link to Ben Clemens on Burnes Link to Jay Jaffe on Burnes Link to Facebook group songs section Link to “Meet a Major Leaguer” song  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the brief lifespan of the soccer Super League, the gift of the Padres-Dodgers rivalry and Blake Snell vs. Joe Musgrove, position-player-pitching overload and the pitching performance of Willians Astudillo, whether the slow-starting Yankees are really doomed, the retirement of Jay Bruce, the end of Tim Locastro’s stolen-base success streak (and the unlikely basestealing prowess of an ancient Albert Pujols), player switcheroos in the minor leagues, whether MLB would air replay review deliberations, the celebration of Jean Segura’s 200th career double, the MLB return of Sean Kazmar Jr., the possibly precedent-setting NPB debut of Carter Stewart, and more, plus a Stat Blast about the most common and uncommon combinations of fielding position and lineup position. Audio intro: Belly, "Super-Connected" Audio outro: Hippo Campus, "Way it Goes" Link to The Athletic on the Super League Link to Ingenuity helicopter news Link to Mookie catch video Link to Emma Baccellieri on position players pitching Link to video of Astudillo pitching Link to Astudillo’s Instagram post Link to video of Mercedes pitching Link to video of Locastro caught stealing Link to story about Pujols stealing third Link to Lindsey Adler on the Yankees and Yankees fans Link to Jay Jaffe on the Yankees Link to Brendan Gawlowski on Bruce’s retirement Link to video of Segura’s celebration Link to video of Santana’s celebration Link to story about Kazmar’s comeback Link to another story about Kazmar’s comeback Link to story about Stewart’s debut Link to Stat Blast data Link to 1900-2020 lineup spot chart Link to 2015-2020 lineup spot chart Link to DH era lineup spot chart GIF Link to Trout’s hard-hit homer Link to Ohtani return game story  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about why they haven’t been talking about Bryce Harper, follow up on previous points about the automatic-runner rule, optional home run trots, and player switcheroos, discuss the latest report about the Mets’ front-office culture and team president Sandy Alderson, and answer listener emails about two automatic-runner-rule variants, first base socializing (and Jackie Robinson the first baseman), catcher’s mitts the size of the strike zone, changing replay review to hide the original call, what would be in a baseball theme park, and the best positions for remembering some guys (plus a couple of reading recs). Audio intro: The Whigs, "Don’t Talk Anymore" Audio outro: The Capes, "First Base" Link to Harper player poll Link to Reddit thread on home run trots Link to Reddit thread on Canseco swaps Link to Canseco boxing story Link to Markieff/Marcus Morris story Link to latest Mets report Link to Boardwalk and Baseball Wiki Link to 2005 article about on-field chatting Link to 2007 article about on-field chatting Link to 2012 article about on-field chatting Link to 2013 article about on-field chatting Link to Robinson first base story Link to Reddit thread on backup catchers Link to Rob Arthur on the baseball Link to Ben on Beane and Cashman  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the unanticipated charms of podcast faves Willians Astudillo and Shohei Ohtani, Trevor Bauer’s (and the league’s) spin rates increasing despite MLB’s threatened foreign substance crackdown, the confounding behavior of the new, supposedly deadened baseball, and the news that the mound will be moved back and the “double hook” DH will be tested in the Atlantic League, follow up on the extra-innings automatic-runner rule and the difference between pitch framing and “slide framing,” and answer listener emails about MLB veterans being better people than players, what would happen if home run trots were optional, and whether two players could switch places without being noticed, plus a Stat Blast about the hitter-runner duos with the most runs plated. Audio intro: Ian Fisher, "One Foot" Audio outro: The Easybeats, "I’ll Find Somebody to Take Your Place" Link to latest Shohei heroics Link to Shohei shiver video Link to Willians foul pop video Link to Willians slide video Link to Ben on Astudillo Link to MLB 4-seam spin rate by year Link to MLB slider spin rate by year Link to Ben on foreign substances Link to Ben and Rob on the ball in spring training Link to Eno on the new ball so far Link to HR/FB rate by season Link to MLB.com on new Atlantic League rules Link to Jayson Stark on new Atlantic League rules Link to Ben on the starting pitcher protagonist Link to 2019 EW interview with Atlantic Leaguers Link to Ben on moving the mound back Link to Pages from Baseball’s Past on Litwhiler Link to Stat Blast data Link to Eddie Robinson autobiography passage  iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)  Sponsor Us on Patreon  Facebook Group  Effectively Wild Wiki  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch!  Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com Source