Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the “effectively wild” debut of Paul Skenes and the Pirates’ bases-loaded walkathon, an in-development TV series about Ippei Mizuhara, the demotion of Craig Kimbrel and possible trade dangling of Mason Miller, the continued success of Davis Schneider, the impact of replay review on the increase in catcher’s interference calls, and whether teams should go back to rearranging their rotations based on opponent quality, then (39:14) bring on Mike Petriello of MLB.com to explain and discuss the present and future of MLB’s new Statcast-based bat-tracking metrics, plus (1:27:51) a few follow-ups.

Audio intro: Guy Russo, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio interstitial: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: The Shirey Brothers, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Grandal interview
Link to Skenes gamer
Link to Skenes game box score
Link to 1959 game box score
Link to Ippei show story
Link to Uncut Gems wiki
Link to Kimbrel story 1
Link to Kimbrel story 2
Link to Sheehan on Kimbrel
Link to Rosenthal on Miller
Link to Schneider Reddit post
Link to Schneider article
Link to SIS on CI calls
Link to Craig Wright on SP opponents
Link to EW Episode 812
Link to Darius Austin on SP opponents
Link to Matt Berry saying “bat”
Link to Mike on EW in 2022
Link to Mike on new metrics
Link to bat-tracking leaderboard
Link to fastest bats
Link to team leaders
Link to Contreras story
Link to Yankees slugger stats
Link to Ohtani bat stats
Link to Passan on bat stats
Link to Eno on bat stats
Link to Matan on bat stats
Link to Ben C. on bat stats
Link to Ben C. on bat stats 2
Link to Ben on second-guessing
Link to Tango on switch-hitters
Link to Tango on predictiveness
Link to Paine on bat stats
Link to Woodward on bat stats
Link to Russell on shortening up
Link to Dril tweet
Link to KK play story
Link to EW on the KK play
Link to new fake-out catch
Link to Ryan Nelson tweet 1
Link to Ryan Nelson tweet 2
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh talks to Rays pitcher Zack Littell (4:33) about his expectation-surpassing conversion from relieving to starting and his affinity for cruise ships. Then (23:33) Ben brings on author and film critic Noah Gittell to discuss his new book about baseball movies and American culture, Baseball: The Movie, followed by six Stat Blasts with frequent Stat Blast correspondent Ryan Nelson (1:16:14).

Audio intro: Xavier LeBlanc, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Jonathan Crymes, “Effectively Wild Theme 2”

Link to Ben Clemens on Littell
Link to MLBTR on Littell
Link to underrated-Rays post
Link to Rays WAR leaders
Link to Littell pitch usage
Link to Littell cruises article
Link to Rays pitcher dev info
Link to more on Rays pitcher dev
Link to even more on Rays dev
Link to down-the-middle pitching
Link to Rays catching technique
Link to Orioles catching technique
Link to Royals catching technique
Link to Little Big League scene
Link to Little Big League wiki
Link to Baseball: The Movie
Link to Noah’s website
Link to Noah’s Substack
Link to Brad Lesley tweet
Link to Passion baseball article
Link to more Ben on baseball movies
Link to Guy Russo’s Stat Blast cover
Link to ballpark cycles sheet
Link to 1-0 losses sheet
Link to Mets perspective gamer
Link to Pirates perspective gamer
Link to Breslin’s Mets book
Link to Ks plus ER sheet
Link to post on Feller start
Link to Ryan Nelson on Twitter
Link to cLI explainer
Link to cLI sheet
Link to Kenny Jackelen on Twitter
Link to first hits allowed sheet
Link to Cox MLB.com story
Link to Cox post 1
Link to Cox post 2
Link to Blanco stat
Link to Michael Eisen on Twitter
Link to listener emails database
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Pirates calling up top pitching prospect Paul Skenes, Mookie Betts’s shortstop defense, Willson Contreras, the causes of increasingly common catcher’s interference calls, and catcher technique in an ABS world, rampant reliever shuffling, Chase Anderson as a Phiten necklace “endling,” two ways in which amateur prospects are possibly being exploited or disrupted, Ippei Mizuhara’s guilty plea, Shohei Ohtani’s WAR and two-way future, and a momentous mid-plate-appearance pitching change that never was. Then (1:16:53) they talk to The Athletic writer Andy McCullough about his new book, The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness.

Audio intro: Grant Brisbee, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio interstitial: Harold Walker, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Cory Brent, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to MLBTR on Skenes
Link to SS DRS leaders
Link to BP fielding leaderboard
Link to Petriello on Mookie’s defense
Link to Hankook commercial 1
Link to Hankook commercial 2
Link to Pedroia commercial
Link to Contreras injury video
Link to tweet about Contreras move
Link to The Athletic on Contreras catching
Link to Woodward on Contreras catching
Link to Sam on CI last year
Link to Sam on CI this year
Link to CI totals
Link to old EW on CI 1
Link to old EW on CI 2
Link to Tanner Swanson on EW
Link to Ben on moving the mound
Link to BP on disposable pitchers
Link to Russell on disposable players
Link to Ben on pitcher limits
Link to latest MiLB FA draft
Link to endling wiki
Link to story on Anderson’s Phiten
Link to Sam on Phiten
Link to escaped zebra story
Link to EW on youth baseball expense
Link to The Athletic on Perfect Game
Link to ESPN on draft evasion
Link to MLBTR on Ippei’s plea
Link to combined WAR leaderboard
Link to FG hitter projections
Link to Savant trending players image
Link to Kershaw pen session
Link to The Last of His Kind
Link to book excerpt 1
Link to book excerpt 2
Link to Woodward/Trump story
Link to Sam on Kershaw mistakes
Link to Ben on Kersh in 2013
Link to Ben on Kersh in 2020
Link to Ben on pitcher deception
Link to MLBTR on Hill
Link to Ben’s Hill cover mockup
Link to Kershaw career pitch usage
Link to Ward/Wade wiki
Link to The Atlantic on stadium subsidies
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Riley Greene’s latest pants-related wardrobe malfunction, the Padres-Marlins Luis Arraez trade, the continued scuffling of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., a C.B. Bucknor bit, and more. Then (52:30) they’re joined by Neil deMause, author of Field of Schemes, and J.C. Bradbury, author, stadium-funding researcher, and professor of economics, finance, and quantitative analysis at Kennesaw State University, to discuss the latest wave of attempts by teams to obtain public funding for ballpark projects and whether the public is belatedly pushing back, plus a follow-up postscript (1:28:29)

Audio intro: Ian H., “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio interstitial: The Gagnés, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Pedantic)”

Link to first Greene pants tear
Link to latest pants tear
Link to Greene’s mom’s quote
Link to uniforms press release
Link to Other Ben on Arraez trade
Link to DotF on the trade
Link to Rosenthal on the trade
Link to KLaw on the trade
Link to pulled prospect story
Link to Bendix on the trade
Link to Ben on Arraez
Link to Bucknor call/story
Link to EW on ump decisions
Link to Stroman and strikes story
Link to Manfred comments
Link to Neil’s first appearance
Link to Neil on Manfred’s comments
Link to Field of Schemes blog
Link to Field of Schemes book
Link to J.C.’s professor page
Link to J.C.’s social channels
Link to J.C.’s books
Link to J.C.’s research
Link to ProPublica story
Link to Guardians team shop story
Link to EW Episode 2160
Link to Ben’s House of R appearance
Link to Button Mash episodes
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a recent uptick in base stealing and why Mike Trout’s loyalty to the Angels is criticized more than it’s celebrated. Then (16:39) they’re joined by Patreon supporter Alex Levy to discuss Alex’s background as a podcast listener, baseball fan, and mail carrier and answer emails (43:49) about a Mario approach to chemistry in baseball, back-to-back homers, providing players with a destructible piece of equipment, probabilistic robo umps, umps as neutral (but not infallible) arbiters, and the correct pronunciation of “summer sausage.”

Audio intro: Jonathan Crymes, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Alex Glossman and Ali Breneman, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Woodward on SBs
Link to Jaffe on home runs
Link to first SB conversation
Link to Ben’s preseason predictions
Link to Rosenthal on Trout
Link to Calcaterra on Trout
Link to February EW on Trout
Link to MLBTR on Buxton
Link to Mario baseball game 1
Link to Mario baseball game 2
Link to “back-to-back” definition
Link to Mackenzie tweets
Link to Zimmer’s website
Link to Zimmer’s WSJ column
Link to compound stress rule
Link to Youglish clips
Link to compound stress PDF 1
Link to compound stress PDF 2
Link to Simpsons clip
Link to listener emails database
Link to Thistl
Link to MLBTR on Arraez
Link to MLBTR on Ruiz
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s unexpected experience at the bee-delayed Diamondbacks game, Shota Imanaga’s hot start, Reed Garrett and the phenomenon of pop-up relievers, Steven Kwan appreciation, how Mike Trout’s and Bryce Harper’s careers will be remembered, José Abreu being optioned to the minors, and a declined penalty in baseball, plus follow-ups about convoluted fun facts, promotion/relegation, and alternatives to “group Maddux.”

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

Link to Chase fitness club info
Link to Bee Guy article 1
Link to Bee Guy article 2
Link to Bee Guy article 3
Link to bee delay announcement
Link to Bee Guy ovation
Link to Bee Guy on scoreboard
Link to Bee Guy’s card
Link to Bailey’s Imanaga tweet
Link to Meg’s preseason projections
Link to Clemens on Garrett
Link to Kwan’s Savant page
Link to story about Guardians power
Link to Ben on Arraez
Link to MLBTR on Trout’s injury
Link to EW on Trout/Griffey
Link to Paine on Trout’s legacy
Link to B-Ref career WAR leaders
Link to MLBTR on Abreu
Link to Shildt game story
Link to Tango on Shildt
Link to Williams fun fact
Link to NOBLETIGER reddit post
Link to County Championship wiki
Link to Audubon story 1
Link to Audubon story 2
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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After a podcast preface by Ben Lindbergh about Mike Trout’s knee injury (sigh), Ben and Meg Rowley banter (4:19) about a weekend White Sox sweep, the overdue news that Nike is supposedly fixing the much-maligned MLB uniforms, follow-ups about rule rollbacks, ballplayer dirt ingestion, the “group Maddux,” and promotion/relegation, and the Twins’ summer sausage. Then (50:37) they talk to FanGraphs’ Ben Clemens about when it’s safe to evaluate changes in player performance and which hitters and pitchers have changed his mind the most (either positively or negatively) so far this season, plus a postscript (1:45:05).

Audio intro: Tom Rhoads, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio interstitial: Ted Berg, “Small Sample Size Song”
Audio outro: Dave Armstrong and Mike Murray, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to MLBTR on Trout’s knee
Link to BP Recovery Dashboard
Link to Trout baby announcement
Link to Trout hypotheticals
Link to Trout video
Link to uniform memo report
Link to The Athletic on unis
Link to Greene pants tear
Link to Drellich on MLBPA/Fanatics
Link to Ben on pitcher limits
Link to group Maddux response
Link to summer sausage wiki
Link to AP on the sausage
Link to Athletic on the sausage
Link to EW guest leaderboard
Link to signature significance info
Link to batted-ball predictiveness info
Link to Russell on hitter stats
Link to Russell on pitcher stats
Link to Carty on hitter stats
Link to Carty on pitcher stats
Link to Dolinar on sample size
Link to Russell on stability 1
Link to Russell on stability 2
Link to Ben C.’s riser picks
Link to Ben C.’s faller picks
Link to Orr on Abrams
Link to Ringer preseason predictions
Link to FG preseason top 100
Link to Clemens on Littell
Link to Clemens on Musgrove
Link to FG on Realmuto
Link to Tango on Realmuto
Link to Flaherty strikeouts story
Link to outfielder box article
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether they believe the projections that peg the White Sox as merely a run-of-the-mill terrible team, this season’s sophomore slumps (so far), and more on ballplayer dirt consumption and replay review protocol, then (30:09) answer listener emails about promotion and relegation in professional baseball, the definition of “getaway day,” the value of pitcher fielding, how hard it would be for big leaguers to be bad intentionally, whether pitchers could give away pitch selection on a pickoff throw, and recent MLB rules changes that could or should be rolled back (plus additional discussion of some injury news).

Audio intro: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Pedantic)”
Audio outro: Austin Klewan, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Dan S. on the White Sox
Link to Neil Paine on the Sox
Link to Dubuque on the Sox
Link to Dan S. on the 2023 A’s
Link to Tango on the 2023 A’s
Link to EW on the 2023 A’s
Link to MLBTR on Lee
Link to MLBTR on Pham
Link to BaseRuns standings
Link to Dubuque on sophomore slumps
Link to The Athletic on promotion/relegation
Link to ESPN on promotion/relegation
Link to NYT on the Super League
Link to Dan S. on Tides vs. Rockies
Link to Scherzer on ump relegation
Link to team P DRS range
Link to team P plays made range
Link to Episode 2030 Stat Blast
Link to Baumann on Ohtani
Link to MLB rules changes
Link to Ben on faking to third
Link to Ben on the Waxahachie Swap
Link to article on Rendon
Link to MLBTR on Rendon
Link to MLBTR on Miley
Link to MLBTR on Luzardo
Link to listener emails database
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about how much dirt MLB players ingest in a season, the second-most-encouraging stat about Mike Trout’s season, Shohei Ohtani, Earl Webb, and the single-season doubles record, Cody Bellinger and whether the Cubs should pad the walls at Wrigley Field, whether replay review should privilege the call on the field, Matt Waldron’s knuckleball, the disparate seasons of Elly De La Cruz and Oneil Cruz, Francisco Lindor’s superstar status, José Ruiz’s pursuit of Ryan Webb’s record for games finished without a save, and Tigers broadcaster Jason Benetti’s request for a baseball plus/minus stat (and whether baseball would be better with more player-interaction effects).

Audio intro: Harold Walker, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Luke Lillard, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to dirt-consumption info
Link to FG post on Trout’s running
Link to BP on Trout’s swings
Link to Trout’s pitch-type performance
Link to Trout’s plate-discipline stats
Link to Trout’s sprint speeds
Link to Posnanski on Ohtani
Link to Webb SABR bio
Link to Maris Jr. article 1
Link to Maris Jr. article 2
Link to Bellinger play
Link to Bellinger quote
Link to Bellinger IL news
Link to MLBTR on Bellinger
Link to 1991 Wrigley padding article
Link to info on the ivy
Link to info on Veeck’s role
Link to article on Reiser
Link to second Reiser article
Link to ballpark homogenization info
Link to Adell play
Link to Sheehan on replay
Link to replay review rules
Link to Waldron article
Link to BP on Waldron’s latest
Link to Waldron game highlights
Link to Thrice band wiki
Link to Ben on knuckleballs
Link to Jannis EW appearance
Link to Lindor’s big game
Link to post-2020 hitter WAR
Link to Webb/Albers wiki
Link to Webb/Ruiz leaderboard
Link to plus/minus wiki
Link to MLB defense plus/minus
Link to hockey plus/minus problems
Link to NBA plus/minus problems
Link to Russell on lineups
Link to Ben on batter vs. pitcher stats
Link to catcher ERA article
Link to more on catcher impact
Link to article on Jeter studies
Link to all-22 film info
Link to Jeff on time of possession
Link to Trial By Content pod
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Rockies (and their charter pilots) running afoul of the FAA, Jackson Holliday’s slow start, whether the Astros or Twins has hurt their division-title chances more, two embarrassing umpire incidents, offense being down relative to last season, the concept of a “combined Maddux,” Shohei Ohtani’s WAR as a DH, the Blue Jays’ self-funded ballpark renovations, new research on Tommy John surgeries in Japan, and more.

Audio intro: Jonathan Crymes, “Effectively Wild Theme 2”
Audio outro: Philip Bergman, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Rockies plane video
Link to AP on the Rockies
Link to new flight deck rule
Link to Blum on Holliday
Link to O’s prospects joke
Link to Animorphs meme
Link to white guys selfie meme
Link to article on Scott
Link to story on Mays start
Link to story on Mantle start
Link to change in division odds
Link to García injury update
Link to RP fWAR
Link to Dan S. on the Astros
Link to Boone ejection video
Link to EW on ump-heckling
Link to CNN on Boone ejection
Link to SI on Boone ejection
Link to KBO ABS incident
Link to offense through 4/22
Link to Joe Sheehan on offense
Link to BallparkPal thread
Link to “Maddux” glossary entry
Link to “combined Maddux” mention
Link to WAR leaderboard
Link to Jaffe on the Dodgers
Link to Cardinals funding post
Link to more on Cards request
Link to article on Jays funding
Link to Diamondbacks statement
Link to Jim Allen TJ research
Link to archived version
Link to SABR on Tippy’s pickoffs
Link to Tippy video
Link to Tippy call
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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