Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the bounceback of Chris Davis, which Statcast stats they would most want to have for the entirety of baseball history, which aspect of instant replay review most dramatically changes the game, and the new-look Josh Bell and Tommy La Stella, then (28:36) talk to FanGraphs prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen about the recent wave of MLB debuts by top prospects (including the Angels’ new two-way player Jared Walsh, Cole Tucker, Nicky Lopez, Nick Senzel, Keston Hiura, Carter Kieboom, Austin Riley, Griffin Canning, Shed Long and, soon, Brendan Rodgers), why we’ve seen so many prospect promotions, Boston’s bullpen duo of Darwinzon Hernandez and Travis Lakins, the contrasting seasons of Justus Sheffield and Casey Mize, the impending return of Luis Urias, how the new Triple-A ball has affected scouting and player development, and more, plus a preview of the best players, overall talent level, and teams with the biggest opportunities in the upcoming amateur draft.

Audio intro: Sharon Van Etten, "Comeback Kid"
Audio interstitial: Filthy Friends, "The Arrival"
Audio outro: The Replacements, "Talent Show"

Link to Petriello on Davis
Link to Jay on La Stella
Link to news about TrackMan and Hawk-Eye
Link to Rob Arthur on the transition to Hawk-Eye
Link to replay-review data
Link to Ben on today’s players being the best
Link to FanGraphs’ preseason top prospects list
Link to FanGraphs’ preason 2019 impact prospects list
Link to Eric on Hiura
Link to Eric on Rodgers
Link to Kiley on Riley
Link to Kiley on Senzel
Link to Rob on Triple-A homers
Link to latest mock draft
Link to FanGraphs prospect board
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Chris Sale’s seven-inning, 17-strikeout game and the Marlins’ ineptitude, then answer listener emails about differences in home-run distance, rooting for run differential, reimagining errors (and quality starts), whether catchers would still squat after robot umpires were implemented, when relief innings will surpass starter innings, no-hitters as team accomplishments, and the most runs scored in a game by one player who accounted for all of his team’s runs, plus a Stat Blast about hustle doubles.

Audio intro: Elton John, "Between Seventeen and Twenty"
Audio outro: Chip Taylor, "Michael’s Song"

Link to Craig’s post on Sale
Link to David Kagan’s site
Link to Pederson homer
Link to Acuña homer
Link to tall-catchers episode
Link to Ben on the opener and the 1993 A’s
Link to Sam on walk-off triples
Link to Mike’s tribute post
Link to Mike’s memorial page
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about inside-the-park homers versus over-the-fence homers, the gratifying rise of home-run robberies, and the unique career of Edwin Jackson (who’s about to have played for the most-ever MLB teams and with the most-ever MLB teammates), then discuss the convergence of starting pitching and relief pitching and play a game to guess whether randomly selected relievers are having good or bad seasons (plus some closing banter about bobblehead dolls).

Audio intro: Al Green, "Have You Been Making Out O.K."
Audio outro: Paul McCartney, "Nod Your Head"

Sam on deep flyouts
Ben on HR robberies
Link to Rob Arthur on bullpen roles
Link to Ben on saves distribution
Link to Ben on bullpenning
Link to Sam on reliever roles and performance
Link to Rob Mains on bullpens
Link to Sam’s bobblehead video
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about dogs, nieces, and nephews, their ambivalence about gambling and the future of gambling and real/fantasy baseball, the on-field and off-field excellence of Chris Paddack, the significance of Sinclair Broadcasting’s acquisition of 21 regional sports networks, the divisive Red Sox visit to the White House, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s slow start and the paucity of strikes he’s seeing, the new and improved Joey Gallo, the latter-day Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera (and lineup protection), and baseball in Avengers: Endgame.

Audio intro: Jellyfish, "I Wanna Stay Home"
Audio outro: Tonedeff, "Politics"

Link to Craig on Sinclair
Link to Sinclair interview
Link to Jay on Paddack
Link to James Holzhauer article
Link to article about the history of White House visits
Link to Craig on Vlad
Link to Ben on Trout’s 2011
Link to video of Bell’s dinger
Link to Ben on Gallo
Link to Eno on Gallo
Link to Jay on the Nats
Link to Dan on Cleveland vs. Minnesota
Link to pitcher inside-the-parker
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Shohei Ohtani’s return, Mike Fiers’ no-hitter, and the hard-luck Reds, do a Stat Blast and banter about True Wins vs. no-hitters and other standout starts, and answer listener emails about baseball and the gambler’s fallacy, umpires estimating the outcome of every batted ball (and whether pitchers, hitters, or fielders are the most dispensable players on the field from an entertainment standpoint), why we measure pitch speeds in mph rather than ft/s (and whether we should adjust the way we present spin rate), whether NL managers have it harder than AL managers, the long-term stylistic evolution of baseball, and more (plus, Lenny Harris sends his regards to Jeff).

Audio intro: Jason Falkner, "Say it’s True"
Audio outro: Wilco, "Tried and True"

Link to Simmons catch
Link to Sam on Simmons
Link to Sam on Simmons again
Link to Syndergaard bobblehead
Link to FG post about mph vs. ft/s
Link to explanation of why Sprint Speed is measured in ft/s
Link to Ben on today’s players being the best
Link to Harris video
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about the merits of True Wins vs. no-hitters, a Pablo Sandoval fun fact, whether most pitchers would prefer to be better than average with a higher ERA or worse than average with a lower ERA, and whether the running Royals are, in fact, fun, then (26:24) talk to author Joe Bonomo about his book about about The New Yorker’s Hall of Fame baseball writer Roger Angell, touching on Angell’s notes and writing process, his career arc and evolution, his facility with words, his memory and and recall, his attitude about changes in the game, his best and most overlooked pieces, his feelings about being labeled a baseball writer, the larger themes in his work, and more.

Audio intro: Smith Westerns, "Idol"
Audio interstitial: Jenny and Johnny, "New Yorker Cartoon"
Audio outro: Donovan, "Writer in the Sun (Demo)"

Link to Sam on the True Win
Link to video of Gore-Hamilton play
Link to video of Hamilton scoring from second on sac fly
Link to Roger Angell’s New Yorker archive
Link to No Place I Would Rather Be
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Noah Syndergaard‘s True Win, an 81-pitch complete game for Kyle Hendricks, the AL Central after Corey Kluber‘s injury and the Twins’ hot start to the season, Tyler Glasnow’s breakout, the Chris Archer trade in review, the impermanence of coaching success, and the latest comments about the baseball by David Price and Rob Manfred, then (28:43) talk to Jeopardy! phenom James Holzhauer about how sabermetrics influenced his future career, his history of betting on baseball, his former (and future?) aspirations of working for an MLB team, how his Jeopardy! strategy (and the backlash to his success) is analogous to baseball, the future of gambling on baseball, how other contestants treat him, how he studies baseball and follows baseball, what other game shows he’d excel at, how Jeopardy! could stop contestants like him, and more.

Audio intro: Yo La Tengo, "If it’s True"
Audio interstitial: Dan Mangan, "Jeopardy"
Audio outro: Shout Out Louds, "Too Late Too Slow"

Link to Sam on Syndergaard
Link to Ben Clemens on Glasnow
Link to Baumann on Glasnow
Link to Laurila on Glasnow
Link to article about the baseball
Link to 2015 Jeopardy! video
Link to MGL interview about betting on baseball
Link to Marc on Holzhauer
Link to cranky column about Holzhauer
Link to FiveThirtyEight on Holzhauer’s strategy
Link to FiveThirtyEight on Holzhauer vs. Jennings
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about the Hall of Famers Mike Trout just surpassed in WAR (featuring a story about Goose Goslin and Joe Cronin) and Trout’s recent improvements in plate discipline, then answer listener emails about Cody Bellinger’s extreme hot streak, whether most baseball fans notice the rising strikeout rate, a Statcast conspiracy theory, when it makes the most sense to trade Madison Bumgarner (and other players), and the level at which the best pitcher in baseball would be favored to throw a perfect game in every outing, plus a Stat Blast about pitchers hitting in high-leverage situations.

Audio intro: The Stroppies, "Better Than Before"
Audio outro: The Bees, "Hot One!"

Link to Sam on Trout’s April
Link to Adler on Trout’s April
Link to Jay on Trout compared to other Hall of Famers
Link to Sam on Trout’s 2012
Link to highest-WAR months
Link to Devan Fink on Bellinger
Link to Ben on strikeouts
Link to Sam on extra innings
Link to Dave on the cost of wins in July
Link to Dave on valuing relievers in the postseason
Link to video of Proctor’s walk-off
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Co-hosts assemble! Ben Lindbergh, Sam Miller, and Meg Rowley banter (briefly and sans spoilers) about baseball in Avengers: Endgame and follow up both about Meg’s attempt to keep track of baseball at a bachelorette party and about pricing on Cameo for Kevin Pillar and Mike Trout, then talk about baseball and happiness, comparing their picks for the World Series winner, division winners, WAR leader, rules change, baseball occurrence, and alteration in past World Series outcome that would most increase the amount of happiness in the world.

Audio intro: Spoon, "Utilitarian"
Audio outro: Buzzcocks, "Everybody’s Happy Nowadays"

Link to story about the Mets in Endgame
Link to survey on hated teams
Link to Ben on Astudillo
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Rich Hill‘s dominant rehab start, the most famous catches in history and Sam’s article about recreating Kevin Mitchell’s barehand catch, their own best baseball plays, and when it becomes objectionable to sit a player who’s pursuing a single-season record, then answer listener emails about the entertainment value of high-strikeout teams, whether rebuilding teams should try to plan for forthcoming rules changes, how fast a pitch would have to be to knock over a catcher, and the pitchers with the most one-pitch outings, plus an email-inspired Stat Blast about teams with DHs who bat toward the bottom of the order (and why apparent positional trends are sometimes spurious).

Audio intro: Billy Idol, "Catch My Fall"
Audio outro: Super Furry Animals, "Show Your Hand"

Link to story on Hill’s rehab start
Link to Sam’s tweet about famous catches
Link to Sam’s Mitchell article
Link to Galvis catch
Link to research on the value of a day off
Link to Sam on third base as a power position
Link to Dave on first base offense
Link to dying DH post
Link to Ben on why WAR always changes
Link to David Kagan’s baseball physics site
Link to Steve on unwritten-rules origins
Link to preorder The MVP Machine

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