Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about a new newsletter about baseball debuts, Shohei Ohtani’s latest exploits, the pitiful state of the AL Central, the even more pitiful performance of Orioles starter Chris Tillman, pitchers’ perplexing lack of respect for the Braves’ Ronald Acuña, Ichiro’s debut as a bench coach and future in baseball, and the ongoing battle between the Yankees and Red Sox. Then (29:58) they bring on the three tallest catchers in MLB history—current Tigers catcher Grayson Greiner, former Brewers and Phillies catcher Pete Koegel, and former Red Sox catcher Don Gile—to discuss the perils of playing a smaller person’s position despite standing 6’6″, the skeptics they proved wrong, how their size affected their framing, blocking, throwing, and health, the evolution in the treatment and prevention of brain injuries, Koegel’s memories of Steve Carlton’s incredible 1972 season, and Gile’s memories of his teammate Ted Williams.

Audio intro: Passion Pit, "Let Your Love Grow Tall"
Audio interstitial: Harry Nilsson, "Jesus Christ You’re Tall"
Audio outro: Neil Young + Promise of the Real, "Stand Tall"

Link to This Week in Baseball Debuts newsletter
Link to Jeff’s post about the weak AL Central
Link to article about the Angels’ team name

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter (and answer listener emails) about podcast personas, Dylan Bundy’s bad day, players’ favorite stats and a Joc Pederson conundrum, James Paxton and the recent rash of near-no-hitters, how scoring has bounced back from its slow start, the Reds’ and Mets’ Matt Harvey trade, the Robinson Cano contract so far, and things about baseball that are harder than they look, plus a Stat Blast about switch hitters. Then they talk to 33-year-old Rays reliever Jonny Venters (46:10) about his incredible comeback from repeated Tommy John surgeries, how the game changed while he was rehabbing, his heavy workloads, his record groundball rate, the mental toll of trying to return, why he stuck with Tampa Bay, and more.

Audio intro: The Band, "Knockin’ Lost John"
Audio interstitial: John Lennon, "Dear John"
Audio outro: Men at Work, "Be Good Johnny"

Link to Anthony Castrovince’s stats article
Link to Tim Lincecum glove video
Link to Ben’s near-no-hitters article
Link to Jeff’s Shohei Ohtani pitching post
Link to Jay Jaffe’s post on the three-time Tommy John club

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan follow up on HBP rules and two of the three radical ideas they discussed last week and banter about Ichiro’s quasi-retirement, the Braves’ talented-but-overperforming offense, how Nick Markakis’s hot streak jeopardizes a career distinction, the eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano, Gerrit Cole’s latest exploits, Collin McHugh, Archie Bradley, and the Diamondbacks’ bullpen cart, combined no-hitters, another Bryan Mitchell update, the injuries to Clayton Kershaw and Yadier Molina, instances of umpires and players losing track of the count, and a pitching record set by Daniel Descalso. Then they bring on Pirates pitcher/podcaster Steven Brault (44:26) to talk about his historic streak of not striking out, the DH and pitcher hitting, being a two-way player and the only big leaguer from a school, showing interests off the field, tailoring his pitching to the Pirates’ philosophies, John Jaso, and more.

Audio intro: Death Cab for Cutie, "Monday Morning"
Audio interstitial: Alice Cooper, "Steven"
Audio outro: Glen Hansard, "Winning Streak"

Link to 1944 three-way game
Link to Ben’s post on umps and players losing track of the count
Link to Daniel Descalso pitching post
Link to Jeff’s post on Steven Brault
Link to IMHO podcast

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Ben Lindbergh, Jeff Sullivan, and ESPN’s Sam Miller banter about James Paxton’s 16-strikeout start and the elusive 21-strikeout game, why no-hitters are becoming more common but are also endangered, how to familiarize oneself with newly minted major-league relievers, and Albert Pujols’s evaporating walk rate, then discuss Sam’s radical proposals to change baseball’s playoff format, playoff structure, and schedule.

Audio intro: The Flaming Lips, "Free Radicals"
Audio outro: The Bees, "Change Can Happen"

Link to Sam’s playoffs proposal
Link to Sam’s after-the-fact-payment proposal
Link to Sam’s bidding-for-home-games proposal

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Ben Lindbergh, Jeff Sullivan, and SB Nation’s Grant Brisbee banter about Trevor Bauer, sticky substances, and spin rate, Ken Giles’s self-harming home-run reaction, the best baseball clips to rewatch, the unwritten rules of not avoiding hit by pitches, and party-hard Matt Harvey. Then they discuss Grant’s story about the record-setting 1988 Orioles, who went 0-21 to start the season, and they bring on ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian to tell stories about covering that team’s historic losing streak as a beat writer for The Baltimore Sun. (Keep listening after the outro for bonus end-of-episode banter.)

Audio intro: Ringo Starr, "Hopeless"
Audio interstitial: Ocean Colour Scene, "Beautiful Losers"
Audio outro: Superchunk, "Break the Glass"

Link to Grant’s 1988 Orioles story
Link to Little League slow-motion-run story that outdrew Grant’s 1988 Orioles story

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Steven Brault’s non-strikeout streak, the failing Wilmer Font and Kazuhisa Makita, the excellent Ozzie Albies, scouting Pablo Sandoval’s pitching, a silly Salvador Perez-Tim Anderson dust-up, the AL Central’s weakness so far, the streaking Diamondbacks, Adrian Gonzalez getting booed in San Diego, and a dead man rounding the bases, then talk to Baseball Prospectus’s Rob Mains about why ticket prices won’t go down, why player salaries have little to do with the cost of attending games, when free admission might make sense, and how baseball in 2018 does and doesn’t resemble baseball in 1968.

Audio intro 1: Mother McRee’s Uptown Jug Band Champions, "Boo Breaks"
Audio intro 2: Lord Huron, "Dead Man’s Hand"
Audio interstitial: Superchunk, "Saving My Ticket"
Audio outro: The New Pornographers, "High Ticket Attractions"

Link to Jeff’s Shohei Ohtani post
Link to Pages From Baseball’s Past newsletter
Link to Rob’s article about ticket prices
Link to Rob’s article about baseball in 1968

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan follow up on previous talk of triples, popups, and foul balls, then discuss Ronald Acuña’s big second game, the intriguing Oakland A’s, the new and maybe-improved Joey Gallo, the transformations of Didi Gregorius and Andrelton Simmons, the post-injury return of Jonny Venters, Clayton Kershaw vs. Trevor Richards and the biggest baseball upsets, Jarrod Dyson’s bases-loaded bunt, the Diamondbacks’ season-starting series winning streak, the Yankees’ ongoing dominance of the Twins, and more.

Audio intro: The Decemberists, "Make You Better"
Audio outro: Spoon, "The Underdog"

Link to thread with research about triples and homers
Link to Ben’s article on Didi and Andrelton
Link to Jeff’s Gallo post
Link to Jeff’s post about Dyson’s bunt

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about Ronald Acuña’s debut and the Braves’ pivot to position players, the history of Peter Bourjos losing his job, Eric Lauer’s less heralded/distinguished debut, Kazuhisa Makita, the Angels maxing out their mound visits, and the state of Shohei Ohtani hype, follow up on outfield bobbling and baserunner blocking, and then answer listener emails about teams forfeiting, when homers caught up to triples for good, the Aroldis Chapman-Gleyber Torres trade, the value of long plate appearances, adding an extra plate umpire, a consistently inconsistent umpire, bad pitchers with good K:BB ratios, a visiting-team hypothetical, and the deceptive Rockies offense, plus Stat Blasts on two-strike hitting, foul outs, and performance vs. relievers.

Audio intro: Joe Walsh, "Welcome to the Club"
Audio outro: Everclear, "One Hit Wonder"

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In an unwitting tribute to Brandon Belt’s 21-pitch plate appearance, Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about approximately 21 topics, including the Mariners’ awkward, self-imposed Ichiro situation, Dee Gordon’s outfield conversion, Franchy Cordero, the ineptitude of the Reds, Mike Trout leveling up (again), Sean Manaea’s no-hitter and the increasing frequency of near no-hitters, two more unwritten rules flareups, Josh Hader’s multi-inning dominance, a bad fun fact, the regression of last year’s breakout first basemen, Aaron Judge’s continued hot hitting, and more.

Audio intro: The Eagles, "Twenty-One"
Audio outro: Franz Ferdinand, "Michael"

Link to video of Brandon Belt’s 21-pitch PA
Link to video of Bartolo Colon racing Dee Gordon
Link to video of Baez blocking Lemahieu

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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the strange standings, turnover in the Reds’ dugout, the hot starts by the Red Sox and Mookie Betts, the side effects of pitchers’ increasing avoidance of the strike zone, and the struggles of the Mets’ self-described starting pitcher Matt Harvey. Then they talk to former FanGraphs writer Corinne Landrey, now a quantitative analyst for the Philadelphia Phillies, about transitioning from writing to working for a front office, how joining a team affects fandom, how the Phillies’ front office has evolved, the gap between public and private knowledge, working with Gabe Kapler, shifting from rebuilding to contending, and more.

Audio intro: Modest Mouse, "Sunspots in the House of the Late Scapegoat"
Audio interstitial: Metronomy, "Corinne"
Audio outro: Prince, "Sometimes it Snows in April"

Link to Jeff’s article about the Red Sox offense
Link to Jeff’s article about Mookie Betts
Link to Ben’s article about Matt Harvey’s first year
Link to Ben’s article about pitches out of the strike zone

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