Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan answer listener emails about performance in interleague games, how rising strikeout rates affect defense, the “foul pole” vs. the “fair pole,” the worst best player on a major league team, Terry Collins’ injury gag order, the best control pitcher of our era, “doubles up the middle,” strikeout terminology, the worst pitchers ever, a Barry Bonds fun fact, what makes baseball leaderboards interesting, a starter bait-and-switch, and more.

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the White Sox signing Luis Robert, the Twins’ turnaround, and small-sample successes such as Anthony Swarzak and Chad Pinder, then discuss Jonathan Lucroy’s perplexing defensive decline and the state of catcher framing in 2017.

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan follow up on a few topics from their previous episode, including allowing first career hits, defining jams and, naturally, bat-boning, then banter about the Mets and Kenley Jansen and discuss why we’re seeing fewer fastballs and Clayton Kershaw vs. Chris Sale.

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about a mid-start adjustment by Clayton Kershaw and answer listener emails about what constitutes a “jam,” pitchers who’ve allowed the most first career hits, how to analyze player problems and improvements, team abbreviations, hitters who homer and bunt, left-handed infielders, whether bats could be causing the home-run surge, and more.

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, Jason Vargas, and the evolution of Matt Albers’ save celebration,
then talk to writer Sky Kalkman about his new bullpen stat, Win Probability Added Over Replacement, the problems with Win Probability Added as a tool for reliever evaluation, and the “right” way to evaluate a bullpen pitcher.

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan follow up on two topics from the previous episode, announce an upcoming live event, banter about seven winning teams that weren’t supposed to win and Oakland’s monthly ballpark pass, and then discuss whether they’re pro- or anti-ties in baseball..

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Jeff’s day off and Ron Fowler’s comments about Jered Weaver, then answer listener emails about baseball’s arbitrary rules, David Ross’s unexpected cultural cachet, the definition of a “slugfest,” Manny Machado’s relationship with the Red Sox, the softening of the tone of sabermetric writing over the past two decades, “Three True Outcomes” percentage and overreactions to changes in the game, pitch-clock countdowns, poor performance during hitting streaks, limiting Mike Trout to one swing per plate appearance, how to root for an independent or minor league team, loaning hitters to the KBO, and more.

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan talk to 18-year-old Effectively Wild listener/pitcher Connor Watrous about his heroic accomplishment of keeping score at an 18-inning Cubs-Yankees game, banter about a besieged closer and a Matt Albers milestone, and discuss the implications of a new development in the high-home-run-rate mystery.

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Jeff’s preseason predictions, voiding contracts, and Matt Albers’ most recent close calls with his first career save, then discuss the contact-rate improvements of Aaron Judge and Joey Gallo, with an emphasis on Judge’s performance so far and potential for superstardom.

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about infield-alignment terminology and walking Bryce Harper, then answer listener emails about proper pitch usage, winning minor league championships, the minimum acceptable velocity given perfect command, improving equipment, taking batting practice seriously, Eric Thames vs. Ivan Nova, making positions be dictated by batting order, the Royals’ awful offensive month, a message from the baseball god, a WWE-style MLB team, pace of play and the playoffs, voiding contracts, and more.

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