Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the stretch run, the “championship season,” the surprising solidity of the playoff picture, and how the playoff field could change before the end of the season. They also discuss the turnarounds of Jeff McNeil and Corbin Carroll, the return on the Rangers’ pitching blueprint, and whether A’s fans should consider supporting other MLB teams. Then (1:02:30) they Stat Blast about hitters who hogged pitches in an inning, Kris Bryant’s Colorado decline, and a claim about catchers and infield hits, with diversions into whether HR-reliant lineups are inconsistent scorers, whether Bryant or Anthony Rendon has been the bigger disappointment, and why broadcasters say the darndest things.

Audio intro: Grant Brisbee, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Josh Busman, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to “championship season”
Link to FG playoff odds
Link to BaseRuns standings
Link to Baumann on the M’s
Link to O’s hydration station
Link to Clemens on Carroll
Link to JJH episode
Link to Stat Blast song cover
Link to Russell on HR reliance
Link to Ryan Nelson’s Twitter
Link to pitch-count % data
Link to Rockies/Bryant data
Link to Blum on Bryant
Link to FB Bryant/Rendon post
Link to Sam’s Bryant tweet
Link to Casali play
Link to Krukow clip
Link to Jason Bernard’s Twitter
Link to sprint speed table
Link to study on bad-team hitters
Link to Ben on hustle singles
Link to Ben on catcher fatigue
Link to Tim Kniker on catcher fatigue
Link to 2023 C IFH total
Link to all IFH% early
Link to all IFH% late
Link to C IFH% early
Link to C IFH% late
Link to non-C IFH% early
Link to non-C IFH% late
Link to Casali IFH% early
Link to Casali IFH% late
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether the custom-painted bats featured during Players’ Weekend should be usable all season, Alex Verdugo’s batting-glove allergy, Rich Hill’s predictable-yet-curious choice of team, where the Rookie of the Year races stand, how the Pirates should handle Paul Skenes down the stretch, the magnitude of the Skenes Day attendance boost, the active player who possibly best embodies replacement level, a (slightly) better proposal to promote pitcher’s duels, the unsung skills of Carlos Santana and José Soriano, the pros and cons of this season’s post-superteam standings, and more, plus a postscript.

Audio intro: Jonathan Crymes, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Cory Brent, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to custom bats roundup
Link to another bats roundup
Link to bat company article
Link to Players’ Weekend explainer
Link to Players’ Weekend wiki
Link to Verdugo article
Link to compression neuropathy
Link to Trumbo bathtub post
Link to Ringer on Caped Crusader
Link to MLBTR on Hill
Link to Episode 1780 Stat Blast
Link to rookie hitter WAR leaders
Link to rookie pitcher WAR leaders
Link to pitcher WAR since 5/11
Link to Dunne’s Skenes cosplay
Link to Rosenthal on Skenes
Link to Skubal usage info
Link to team SP WAR
Link to Ben on pitcher draws
Link to FG on Merrill
Link to MLBTR on McKinney
Link to Tango on Bloomquist
Link to Jeff on Bloomquist
Link to ESPN on six-inning starts
Link to Sheehan on six-inning starts
Link to Sheehan on pitcher’s duels
Link to Santana’s Savant page
Link to 1B OAA leaders
Link to end of end of Pujols SB streak
Link to projected team wins
Link to Neil’s Substack
Link to Passan’s tweet
Link to Jaffe on struggling top teams
Link to MLBTR on Freeman
Link to MLBTR on Riley
Link to prior plaque talk
Link to Beltré Rangers event
Link to Wade/Ward wiki
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the White Sox walking Juan Soto to face Aaron Judge, how Judge’s season could’ve been even better, the world’s untapped baseball talent, Shohei Ohtani’s run at a 50-50 season, ways to discourage intentional walks, a proposal to mandate six-inning outings for starting pitchers, a changing of the guard atop the FanGraphs farm system rankings, the extraordinary defense of Austin Hedges, and the nature vs. nurture debate about MLB fathers and sons. Then (1:10:07) they meet major leaguers Daniel Robert, Yilber Diaz, and Michael Petersen, plus (1:34:35) several postscript updates.

Audio intro: Gabriel-Ernest, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Judge/Soto article 1
Link to Judge/Soto article 2
Link to Judge/Soto article 3
Link to Davy Andrews on the IBB
Link to Judge mechanical changes
Link to Ben/Sam on global talent
Link to Ohtani splits by month
Link to Ohtani pitching progress
Link to listener emails database
Link to six-inning-starts article
Link to tweet about six-inning starts
Link to would-be-disqualified starts
Link to Ben on bullpenning
Link to Ben on pitcher roster limits
Link to FG farm rankings
Link to Pipeline farm rankings
Link to Baez homer
Link to Trueblood on Hedges
Link to Hedges BP player card
Link to BP catcher defense leaderboard
Link to “framing chances” definition
Link to Hedges PitchCom article
Link to Ben on Hedges in 2015
Link to BP C defense since 2015
Link to Molina framing montage
Link to Yadi running-game graph
Link to Ben on framing improvements
Link to fathers/sons data
Link to LaRoche retrospective
Link to B-Ref new debuts
Link to Kenny Jackelen’s Twitter
Link to Robert article 1
Link to Robert article 2
Link to Diaz article 1
Link to Diaz article 2
Link to Diaz strawberries photo
Link to Petersen article 1
Link to Petersen article 2
Link to Petersen debut game log
Link to Petersen interview clip
Link to Petersen UK tweet
Link to MLBTR on Hill
Link to EW 1780 Stat Blast
Link to Hill on EW
Link to Hill/Anthony tweet
Link to Fitzgerald play
Link to Fitzgerald/Bonds stat
Link to Fitzgerald article 1
Link to Fitzgerald article 2
Link to Fitzgerald plays data
Link to RE charts
Link to Melvin clip
Link to Ben C. on the play
Link to Ben C. on bunt math
Link to Rob Mains on zombie bunts
Link to Rob on bunts again
Link to The Sandlot audio clip
Link to The Sandlot video clip
Link to Space Jam clip
Link to The Benchwarmers video clip
Link to 1955 newspaper clip
Link to Torgeson vs. Spahn
Link to Wade/Ward wiki
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about how Jorge López has done since his release from the Mets, Juan Soto‘s underrated dominance, George Springer’s post-replay rage, whether the Rangers are a candidate for Angels-esque August waiver shenanigans, whether Dodgers pitchers are particularly prone to Tommy John surgeries, and the divisive value of Salvador Perez. Then (41:56) they welcome high-school student Bailey Hall, who won an award for the best poster presentation at SABR 52, for a guest Stat Blast about scoring after leadoff walks vs. leadoff singles, followed by (1:10:19) a postscript on recent team TJ totals.

Audio intro: Justin Peters, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Beatwriter, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Lopez EW episode
Link to Lopez ERA leaderboard
Link to team RP WAR
Link to Judge on Soto
Link to best post-Bonds seasons
Link to WAR through age 25
Link to Springer clip
Link to MLB.com on Springer
Link to BP piece on HBP replays
Link to Becker on the Rangers
Link to Rosenthal on the Rangers
Link to MLBTR on Ryan
Link to Dodgers thread
Link to TJ data
Link to Baumann on Perez
Link to Jaffe on Perez
Link to Perez Reddit post
Link to Ben on HoF framing
Link to Stat Blast song cover
Link to SABR 52 info
Link to SABR post on Bailey
Link to Bailey’s poster
Link to tweet about Bailey
Link to Tango on Bailey
Link to past research 1
Link to past research 2
Link to past research 3
Link to past research 4
Link to past research 5
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the 30th anniversary of the 1994 strike and how nice it is not to have the season end in August, the unusual extension of Victor Robles, Tanner Rainey, Patrick Corbin, and the remnants of the 2019 Nationals, Will Wagner and whether the debuts of sons of big leaguers make us feel old partly because big leaguers have kids earlier than average, how MLB could accommodate the 2028 Olympics, changes in BBWAA awards voting patterns and the suddenly competitive MVP races, the return of Mookie Betts, whether the end of pitcher hitting affects pitcher pitching, Seth Lugo vs. Tarik Skubal, Jarren Duran’s suspension, his heckler, and how well one could hit a baseball with a tennis racket, and listener-suggested additions to the Hierarchy of Versatility.

Audio intro: Ian H., “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Grant Brisbee, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Craig C. on the strike
Link to Rosenthal on Robles
Link to MLBTR on Robles
Link to Robles mic’d up
Link to FG on Rainey
Link to Sam on Corbin
Link to Wagner debut video
Link to Craig on Wagner
Link to MLB father/son data
Link to story on eldest sons
Link to dad age 1
Link to dad age 2
Link to dad age 3
Link to dad age 4
Link to dad age 5
Link to dad age 6
Link to dad age 7
Link to dad age 8
Link to ESPN on the Olympics
Link to Passan tweet
Link to WNBA break
Link to NHL break
Link to World Cup of Hockey
Link to Olympics transportation
Link to Ben on the WBC
Link to Mookie HR
Link to Dan S. on MVP races
Link to FIP-based WAR leaderboard
Link to RA/9-based WAR leaderboard
Link to Lugo comments
Link to DH and HBP research
Link to Duran story
Link to more on Duran
Link to heckle
Link to Heart & Hustle Award
Link to tennis racket question
Link to tennis baseball video
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the appeal of deflected balls caught on the fly, the lack of variety in MLB.TV highlights, Aaron Judge’s bases-empty intentional walks, the Braves falling out of playoff position (for now), and the surprising team with a trio of young, above-average, qualified hitters. Then (40:44) they rank the types of baseball versatility and Stat Blast (56:18) about the decline of switch-hitting, Maury Wills and switch-hitter slumps, how often managers are fired following a loss, and whether intra-division trades are getting more common.

Audio intro: Moon Hound, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Ted O., “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Rockies-Mets play
Link to Bogaerts/Kelly play
Link to Stark on Judge
Link to Tango on Judge
Link to Jaffe on the Braves
Link to Ben C. on depth
Link to Ben C. on depth 2
Link to Ben C. on depth on EW
Link to preseason playoff odds
Link to BP IL Ledger
Link to young hitters query
Link to query without minimums
Link to Ben on Twins.com
Link to Twins.com sale news
Link to Venditte rule article
Link to Mike Temple Stat Blast cover
Link to Athletic SH article
Link to Fox Sports SH article
Link to WSJ SH article
Link to LAT SH article
Link to youth sports specialization
Link to switch-hitting data
Link to SH graph 1
Link to SH graph 2
Link to Ben on bad switch-hitters
Link to FG on bad switch-hitters
Link to Mullins article 1
Link to Mullins article 2
Link to Mullins article 3
Link to Victorino article 1
Link to Victorino article 2
Link to Victorino article 3
Link to Ryan Nelson’s Twitter
Link to Steiner/Wills clip
Link to Wills SH OPS graph
Link to switch-hitter correlations
Link to stat stabilization points
Link to Dr. Dog album
Link to Ferguson SABR bio
Link to Ferguson wiki
Link to “Death to Flying Things”
Link to “Death to Flying Things” 2
Link to SH origin story 1
Link to SH origin story 2
Link to previous SH Stat Blast
Link to 2024 switch-hitters
Link to Twins Daily on SH
Link to Crashfish Boxes on SH
Link to 1985 LAT article on SH
Link to Year of the Balk article
Link to Berkman/Jones SH quotes
Link to MLB Showalter ad
Link to Ben on caliber of play
Link to managerial firings data
Link to manager data by decade
Link to managers fired after Ws
Link to trades data
Link to interleague trades data
Link to interleague trading history
Link to trades graph 1
Link to trades graph 2
Link to Betances injury article
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the White Sox and the etiquette and timing of firing the manager of one of the worst teams of all time, Logan O’Hoppe and performance anxiety, Brusdar Graterol and the most demoralizing kind of injury, the return of Anthony Gose, next season’s scheduled game at Bristol Motor Speedway, other unorthodox potential locations for MLB games, and why baseball fields are deepest in center, Aroldis Chapman’s freakish velocity and durability, Craig Kimbrel, Grayson Rodriguez, and the outlook for the Orioles’ rotation, the recent performances of Jackson Holliday, Jackson Chourio, and Jackson Merrill, what Bobby Witt Jr.’s progression says about the aging curve, and more.

Audio intro: Austin Klewan, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Jimmy Kramer, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Fegan on the Grifol firing
Link to MLBTR on the firing
Link to Grifol record tweet
Link to McCloskey wiki
Link to O’Hoppe tweet
Link to O’Hoppe article
Link to Abreu article
Link to Graterol injury story
Link to Senga injury story
Link to MLBTR on Marquez
Link to Fowler injury article
Link to Yount wiki
Link to BP IL Ledger
Link to article on Gose’s return
Link to Motor Speedway game
Link to aircraft carrier HR derby
Link to Carrier Classic wiki
Link to outdoor NHL games
Link to Reddit thread on deeper CF
Link to sidespin/spray graph
Link to Polo Grounds wiki
Link to track cycling wiki
Link to velodrome wiki
Link to Chapman velo article
Link to pitcher aging curves
Link to Sheehan on Kimbrel
Link to MLBTR on Rodriguez
Link to Holliday leaderboard
Link to Sawchik on Holliday
Link to EW preseason predictions
Link to leaderboard since 6/1
Link to Holliday HR streak
Link to B-Ref Jacksons tweet
Link to Jacksons HR highlights
Link to best age-20 seasons
Link to best rookie age-20 seasons
Link to FG combined WAR leaderboard
Link to aging curve article
Link to aging curve article 2
Link to Ohio Cup wiki
Link to Be the Match website
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Jesús Sánchez and the (perhaps) surprising longest-homer hitters of the Statcast era, the hot hitting of Victor Robles, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Tyler Fitzgerald, the competitive race for the (nonexistent) utility player of the year award, what lessons should be learned from the 2024 Padres’ clutchness correction, whether the Guardians have a clutchness correction coming too, whether we could have seen this White Sox season coming (and the mood of Miguel Vargas), follow-ups on team rivalry trophies and Mike Trout’s durability, and a question about ways to disrupt a Patreon pattern.

Audio intro: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Dave Armstrong and Mike Murray, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Sánchez homer
Link to Marlins salaries
Link to HR distance leaderboard
Link to Mazara record HR
Link to signature significance article
Link to study on single batted ball
Link to Statcast park factors
Link to BP piece on Robles
Link to wRC+ since 6/5
Link to wRC+ since 6/20
Link to Kikuchi changes article
Link to Rogers O’s tweet
Link to Castro positions tweet
Link to Rafaela positions tweet
Link to Ben on positional versatility
Link to Russell on switching positions
Link to wRC+ since 5/1
Link to wOBA-xWOBA since 6/20
Link to team wRC+ since 7/1
Link to World Series odds
Link to BaseRuns records
Link to Ben on the 2023 Padres
Link to EW on Padres postmortems
Link to Padres postmortem 1
Link to Padres postmortem 2
Link to FG Clutch stat
Link to Russell on one-run records
Link to Rob on one-run records
Link to Rob on one-run records 2
Link to Neil on the Guardians
Link to Vargas clip
Link to preseason win projections
Link to EW Sox team preview
Link to playoff odds changes
Link to Dan S. on the Sox
Link to Lone Star Series wiki
Link to Silver Boot press release
Link to Crosstown Cup Trophy wiki
Link to Pearson Cup wiki
Link to more on Pearson Cup
Link to Bay Bridge Series wiki
Link to MLBTR on Bean
Link to Bean EW episode
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Mike Trout’s latest season-ending injury, the Orioles’ latest top-prospect promotion, and a tweak to the postseason schedule, and answer listener emails (24:20) about ex-player umpires, eavesdropping on pitchers’ thoughts between pitches, whether and how they’d reintroduce baseball to a world without it, awarding belts or trophies for team rivalries, the viability of a pitcher who can’t field, how a player could win MVP in both leagues in the same season, how MLB would work if it were Patreon-supported, how international soccer’s transfer system would apply to MLB, and referring to a type of player by saying “a [player name]”, plus (1:29:48) a few follow-ups.

Audio intro: Ian Phillips, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Kite Person, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Jim Downey meme
Link to The Athletic on Trout
Link to MLB.com on Trout
Link to Trout’s tweet
Link to SuperPretzel EW episode
Link to EW Trout hypotheticals
Link to MLBTR on Mayo
Link to postseason schedule
Link to ex-player umps
Link to Scully movie clip
Link to mic’d up Manoah
Link to Ben on Yesterday
Link to Vedder Cup article
Link to Mayor’s Trophy wiki
Link to Babe Ruth Award wiki
Link to Gary’s Old Towne Tavern
Link to Sam on playing in a game
Link to listener emails database
Link to Snell quote
Link to White Sox streak tweet
Link to playoff ratios tweet
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the end of a historic Clayton Kershaw streak, pitcher errors and unearned runs, the lack of top prospects traded at the deadline, the short-handed Marlins vs. the stripped-down Rays, the latest sign of the White Sox apocalypse, the resurgent Blake Snell, Brett Phillips the full-time pitcher, and whether the percentage of pulled homers is increasing. Then (52:11) they talk to Sports Reference software developer (and primary developer of Baseball-Reference.com) Kenny Jackelen about the possibility that catcher Danny Jansen could break B-Ref by having played for both the Blue Jays and Red Sox in a single game, how Kenny might prevent that problem, and other anomalies that B-Ref has had to adjust for, followed by (1:23:36) a few postscript updates.

Audio intro: Tom Rhoads, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio interstitial: Justin Peters, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: El Warren, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Kershaw K streak story 1
Link to Kershaw K streak story 2
Link to no-K Kershaw game
Link to BA on traded prospects
Link to Marlins salaries
Link to Grifol tweet
Link to Rub-a-dub-dub
Link to lowest team OBPs
Link to farm system rankings
Link to Snell leaderboard
Link to Kirby knuckler
Link to Fletcher game log
Link to Phillips clip
Link to Phillips TikTok
Link to Dubuque on homers
Link to pulled FB %
Link to pulled barreled FB%
Link to FB HR pulled %
Link to Ben Clemens on Paredes
Link to Tango on spray angle
Link to Sam on homer highlights
Link to Ohtani Houston HR
Link to Ohtani L.A. HR
Link to ScoringChanges Jansen thread
Link to Boston Herald on Jansen
Link to suspended game story
Link to 2024 MLB rules
Link to reentry rule
Link to post on Holman
Link to AAA/NBA tweet
Link to courtesy runners page
Link to Ben on the 60-game season
Link to Soto suspended game HR
Link to JDM Silver Sluggers
Link to B-Ref newsletter
Link to B-Ref job listing 1
Link to B-Ref job listing 2
Link to Trout news story
Link to Mauer plaque
Link to plaque video 1
Link to plaque video 2
Link to plaque video 3
Link to Trout news story
Link to Cruz play 1
Link to Cruz play 2
Link to EW 2145
Link to Grant’s Haas tweet
Link to “Du Hast”
Link to “Box Elder”
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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