Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the hype surrounding Paul Skenes starts and how Skenes has leveled up since he was drafted, whether Kyle Tucker could finally shed his “most underrated player” label, Gunnar Henderson vs. Bobby Witt Jr. (and the Orioles’ infield/outfield future), the resurgent Royals, Jo Adell’s (maybe?) breakout, Joey Gallo’s ever-stranger stats, the Yankees’ success without Gerrit Cole, the powerhouse Phillies, Chris Sale’s bounceback, Ketel Marte’s unspectacular hitting streak (and Orlando Cabrera’s unspectacular on-base streak), disputes about pitch usage featuring Framber Valdez and Jhoan Duran, Alek Manoah’s strong starts, pitchers facing themselves via advanced pitching machines, Javy Báez tags, stripping out luck from batter WAR, and more.

Audio intro: Dave Armstrong and Mike Murray, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Xavier LeBlanc, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Longenhagen on Skenes
Link to Woodward on Skenes
Link to top 100 prospects update
Link to Baumann on Tucker
Link to combined WAR leaderboard
Link to Rome on Tucker
Link to Rosenthal on Witt/Gunnar
Link to Sheehan on shortstops
Link to Sheehan on shortstops 2
Link to Ben on Machado/Arenado
Link to EW on Freeman/Goldschmidt
Link to Holliday CF rumor
Link to Clemens on Ortiz
Link to Sheehan on the Royals
Link to BaseRuns standings
Link to Sheehan on the Phils
Link to Phillies smooches
Link to Tango on net FA spending
Link to Jaffe on Sale
Link to Jaffe on Adell
Link to Adell wall ball
Link to Cole update
Link to team framing
Link to Ben on Gallo in 2014
Link to Gallo’s Savant page
Link to Marte streak story
Link to longest 1-hit streaks
Link to Cabrera streak post
Link to tweets about Valdez
Link to story on Duran
Link to blog about Duran
Link to Duran curve xWOBA
Link to Duran pitch values
Link to team fastball %
Link to pitch sequencing post
Link to Rob Arthur on pitch usage
Link to Rob on pitch usage 2
Link to Angels pitching machines
Link to Ben on pitching machines
Link to BABIP explainer
Link to Tango on xWOBA
Link to Richard on “on deck”
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Rays running out of mound visits and various visit-related hypotheticals, then (21:00) answer listener emails about “due up” vs. “on deck,” strikes vs. pitches in the strike zone, whether focusing on wins instead of runs makes WAR less intuitive, Quinn Priester and FIP-based pitcher WAR, Ronald Acuña Jr.’s ping-ponging strikeout rate, whether the ball-strike challenge system hampers strikeout celebrations, how much infielders help control the running game, advanced pitching machines and the minors-to-majors transition, why there aren’t more major league trick plays, cathartic uniform-burning, and timeout-induced injuries.

Audio intro: Gabriel-Ernest, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Tom Rhoads, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Rays mound visit story
Link to mound visits rule
Link to story on get-back coaches
Link to OnDeck Capital wiki
Link to Birnbaum on runs vs. wins
Link to lowest K-BB%
Link to highest HR/9
Link to defense behind pitcher
Link to FG RA/9 WAR
Link to Jaffe on Acuña
Link to Dan S. on zStats
Link to Petriello on Acuña’s Ks
Link to ESPN on Báez tags
Link to BP on tags
Link to Ben on pitching machines
Link to Rosenthal on MiLB-MLB gap
Link to Ben on MLB-MiLB in 2015
Link to Skunk in the Outfield
Link to Grand Illusion play
Link to KK play
Link to Skenes gamer
Link to Fletcher story
Link to EW on equipment destruction
Link to uni-burning story
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 a fake Ronel Blanco tweet about a fake Ronel Blanco quote, Meryl Streep’s sports apps, how four expected-to-contend teams’ injury-depleted rotations are faring so far, Josh Hader’s multi-inning outings, fêting Erick Fedde, Elly De La Cruz’s pursuit of 100 stolen bases, an Austin Hedges bruise, a possible benefit of catchers crouching close to hitters, players reinjuring themselves right after returning from injury, Kyle Bradish’s non-surgical comeback, whether a Ted Williams blast really reached the red seat at Fenway, a fatal catch(?) from 1906, Connor Joe and cheat-sheet creep, Ron Washington passing the buck on a bunt, and David Fletcher’s floater future.

Audio intro: Jimmy Kramer, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Nate Emerson, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to “Mother’s Little Helper”
Link to fake Blanco tweet
Link to MLBTR on Blanco
Link to Streep photo
Link to FG team SP WAR
Link to Hader’s game log
Link to Pillar tweet
Link to active SB leaderboard
Link to Sam on Elly
Link to Passan on Elly
Link to EW on Wills
Link to Elly’s 4 SBs
Link to Hedges bruise
Link to catcher bruises story
Link to Tanner Swanson tweet
Link to Swanson on EW
Link to MLBTR on Friedl
Link to MLBTR on Manning
Link to tweet about Soler
Link to Soler video
Link to FG on Giants injuries
Link to MLBTR on Bradish
Link to story on Bradish PRP
Link to Petriello on Williams
Link to Rybarcyzk on Williams
Link to Hagerty’s Hicks tweet
Link to Hicks report 1
Link to Hicks report 2
Link to Hicks report 3
Link to Hicks report 4
Link to Hicks report 5
Link to Pitcairn wiki
Link to Pitcairn doc
Link to Davis/West story
Link to West on EW
Link to Connor Joe’s card
Link to C wristbands video
Link to Kiermaier card story
Link to Washington’s comments
Link to failed squeeze video
Link to Washington’s presser
Link to Guillorme bunts
Link to Guillorme failed bunts
Link to Tango on the squeeze play
Link to Moneyball clip
Link to Moniak’s failed squeeze
Link to Fletcher knuckler video
Link to Fletcher knuckler stats
Link to ballpark meetup forms
Link to meetup organizer form

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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

 Sponsor Us on Patreon
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