Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the response to their previous episode, whether improvements in catching or improvements in umpiring have done more to reduce the variation in framing performance among teams, a Mike Trout snub, Breyvic Valera‘s contact rate, and the latest revelations about Addison Russell’s alleged domestic abuse, then answer listener emails about Luke Voit and Yankees home-run records, Mike Clevinger and Indians strikeout records, whether it would be noticeable if baseball gradually grew twice as loud, cryogenic freezing after Tommy John surgery, and how long a fan would last as a GM, plus a Stat Blast about two surprising Royals, Ryan O’Hearn and Adalberto Mondesi.

Audio intro: The Milk Carton Kids, "Hear Them Loud"
Audio outro: The Band, "Thinkin’ Out Loud"

Link to Ben’s article on framing
Link to Melisa Reidy’s post about Russell
Link to Trout snub response

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Trevor Story’s close call, then (9:04) bring on former MLB pitcher Michael Schwimer, the founder and CEO of Big League Advance, to talk about the mechanics and morality of giving money to minor leaguers in exchange for a percentage of their future earnings if they make the majors, why the company was the subject of a now-dropped lawsuit, the dilemma of low minor-league pay, why Michael maintains that BLA is helping players, BLA’s investment model and efforts to predict pitcher injuries, and Michael’s proposed solution to the rising strikeout rate. Lastly, Ben and Jeff review the interview and offer their thoughts on BLA, minor-league pay, and injury prediction.

Audio intro: Aerosmith, "Make It"
Audio interstitial: Neil Young, "Roger and Out"
Audio outro: Spinal Tap, "Gimme Some Money"

Link to Ken Rosenthal on BLA
Link to Jack Dickey on BLA
Link to Sheryl Ring on BLA
Link to Jonathan Perrin podcast episode

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Willians Astudillo and Jacob deGrom (as usual), the perception of the Cubs vs. the reality of the Cubs, the dramatic, puzzling increase in infield shifting against Mike Trout, the checkered career of honest but pugnacious umpiring legend Tim Hurst, the future of two-way players, Joel Sherman’s column about new stats driving fans away from baseball, and the end of the American League’s interleague winning streak.

Audio intro: Sloan, "Same Old Flame"
Audio outro: Neil Young & Crazy Horse, "The Losing End (When You’re On)"

Link to Craig Wright’s newsletter
Link to Joel Sherman’s column
Link to Joe Posnanski’s response post
Link to Jeff Fletcher on the Angels’ two-way players

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Willians Astudillo going viral again, a Shohei Ohtani fun fact, J.D. Martinez, Mookie Betts, and how to gauge a player’s value to his teammates, the emergence of A’s outfielder Ramon Laureano, the impending ends to the careers of David Wright and Joe Mauer, a Kyle Freeland update, the surprising NL West race and AL wild card race, and the overlooked excellence of Jeremy Jeffress. Then (34:42) they bring on Sports Illustrated’s Emma Baccellieri to talk about her feature on the Women’s Baseball World Cup, the origins and progression of the tournament, baseball vs. softball, the slow growth of women’s baseball in the United States, why the game has grown in Japan, why women’s baseball players don’t all aspire to be big leaguers, MLB’s involvement in promoting women’s baseball, and more.

Audio intro: Jukebox the Ghost, "The Popular Thing"
Audio interstitial: Steely Dan, "Change of the Guard"
Audio outro: Jenny Lewis, "Sing a Song for Them"

Link to Ken Rosenthal on Martinez and Betts
Link to Emma’s article
Link to Christina Cauterucci on co-ed youth sports

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the unlikely championship season of the Northwest League’s Eugene Emeralds, Jacob deGrom‘s latest hard-luck loss, and maintaining perspective about the Phillies’ late-season swoon, then answer listener emails about an MLB ballpark sleepover, whether making ballparks bigger would counter the three true outcomes, Chris Davis’s strikeouts vs. batting average and the worst seasons of all time, Javier Baez and “creating chaos,” the value and cost of good and bad third-base coaches, and clutchness, Dansby Swanson, and Giancarlo Stanton, plus a Stat Blast about the odd batted-ball effects of Citi Field and a last-minute Willians Astudillo update.

Audio intro: Lord Huron, "Emerald Star"
Audio outro: Rakim, "Flow Forever"

Link to Emeralds walk-off balk
Link to Craig Edwards on Baez
Link to Russell Carleton on third-base coaches
Link to Jeff’s post on Citi Field
Link to Carson Cistulli on the best hitters in space
Link to first Astudillo video
Link to second Astudillo video

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Willians Astudillo, Jeff’s ideal afterlife, Mike Trout‘s future and what an extension for Trout might look like, the Tyler Flowers extension, Michael Kopech‘s impending Tommy John surgery and the UCL scourge, how being Tampa Bay’s “bulk guy” is affecting Ryan Yarbrough‘s WAR, Mallex Smith vs. Giancarlo Stanton, a divisive call against the Astros and the state of replay review, the Cubs and bad weather, Oakland’s incredible bullpen, John Gant’s odd batting line, a wild Triple-A ending involving Giovanny Gallegos, and more.

Audio intro: T-Bone Walker, "Stormy Monday"
Audio outro: Rilo Kiley, "Close Call"

Link to Ken Rosenthal on Trout
Link to Jay Jaffe on Tommy John surgery
Link to Yarbrough WAR article
Link to Astros-Red Sox call
Link to Jeff’s A’s bullpen post
Link to Meg Rowley on replay

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Ben Lindbergh, The Ringer’s Michael Baumann, and Tommy John surgery researcher Jon Roegele convene to discuss every aspect of the news that Shohei Ohtani will likely undergo Tommy John surgery, including how the Angels handled him and whether they bear any blame for the outcome, their recent rash of similar injuries and unusual treatments, Ohtani’s ongoing hitting heroics, whether his season was a success, the probable timing of his return as a hitter and as a pitcher, his future as a two-way player, and larger TJ trends in MLB.

Audio intro: The Smiths, "Death at One’s Elbow"
Audio outro: Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Made You Feel Better"

Link to summary of how the Angels handled Ohtani
Link to story about stem-cell treatments
Link to Jon’s Tommy John surgery database

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Dee Gordon‘s walk rate, Jonathan Villar‘s daring baserunning, how much the “opener” has contributed to the Rays’ success, and Todd Frazier’s variation on the hidden-ball trick. Then they bring on FanGraphs writer Sheryl Ring (22:02) to discuss what the MLB Players Association hiring new lead negotiator Bruce Meyer might mean for the next round of collective bargaining, whether the Mets are committing insurance fraud by delaying the activation of David Wright, and the latest examples of (and possible solutions for) teams manipulating young players’ service time. Lastly, Ben and Jeff reflect and expand on their conversation with Sheryl and the future of MLB labor relations.

Audio intro: Ben Kweller, "This is War"
Audio interstitial: Neil Young, "Union Man"
Audio outro: The Black Angels, "Manipulation"

Link to video of Orioles baserunning play
Link to video of Frazier’s “catch”
Link to Sheryl’s article about Bruce Meyer
Link to Sheryl’s article about the Mets
Link to Sheryl’s article about the right of publicity
Link to Sheryl’s article about whether catcher framing is cheating

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Trevor Story‘s improvement, Brady Feigl vs. Brady Feigl, Joe West vs. Austin Davis and an information card, a Carter Capps update, the Mariners’ clubhouse brawl, the continued dominance of Edwin Diaz, the disconcerting pitching return of Shohei Ohtani, and Kyle Schwaber’s lack of clutchness this season, then answer emails about Jack Ryan’s fantasy advice, Alex Bregman as AL MVP, attendance and home-field advantage, the value of a pitcher who always produces the minimum quality start, velocity and the three true outcomes, unexpected team results vs. unexpected player results (and Greg Bird), the effects of fatigue, baseball with headsets, and the most pitchers used in a nine-inning shutout, plus a Stat Blast about Jacob deGrom’s splits by decision and hard-luck loser Eddie Smith.

Audio intro: Jerry Garcia & David Grisman, "I Ain’t Never"
Audio outro: Koufax, "Offering Advice"

Link to Jeff’s post about Story
Link to Levi’s Feigl tweet
Link to scene from Jack Ryan
Link to updated study about velocity and pitcher results
Link to MGL’s first post about projections vs. surprising players
Link to MGL’s second post about projections vs. surprising players
Link to MGL’s third post about projections vs. surprising players
Link to MGL’s post about player fatigue
Link to Smith’s SABR bio

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Matt Chapman‘s misleading error total, Tyler White and “cheap” home runs, Danny Hultzen, Aaron Nola, and the concept of “safe” players, the latest on Shohei Ohtani and Willians Astudillo, Jacob deGrom and the NL MVP race, a conditional trade followup, Magneuris Sierra and the woeful Marlins, Mike Foltynewicz‘s spit balk, Michael Lorenzen’s confusing foul ball, the Andrew McCutchen trade to the Yankees and the state of the Giants, belief in Kyle Freeland, a road-trip addendum, and a Yusmeiro Petit quote.

Audio intro: Slothrust, "Trial & Error"
Audio outro: Death Cab for Cutie, "We Looked Like Giants"

Link to Tyler White’s walk-off
Link to video of spit balk
Link to Sam’s article about balks
Link to Jeff’s Lorenzen post
Link to Ben’s Freeland article
Link to Jeff’s Freeland post
Link to Petit article

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