Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about baseball comps for the season-ending injury of quarterback Aaron Rodgers four snaps into his New York Jets career, the Rip Van Winkle-esque return of Orioles starter John Means after Tommy John surgery, the Mariners’ rough stretch, Meg’s pennant-race anxiety, and George Kirby’s comments about not being pulled earlier from a start, the Yankees’ unlikely extra-innings win and loss of Jasson Domínguez, the Mets finally hiring David Stearns to run their baseball operations department, the promotion of Pete Crow-Armstrong and why so many top prospects are coming up late in the season, what Mike Trout would bring back (if anything) on the trade market, and more, plus a few follow-ups from last week and a Future Blast (1:36:43) from 2058.

Audio intro: Alex Glossman and Ali Breneman, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Jimmy Kramer, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to The Ringer on Rodgers
Link to The Ringer on Rodgers again
Link to FB thread of baseball comps
Link to MLBTR on Means
Link to 30/30 fun fact
Link to Kirby video
Link to story on Kirby
Link to Divish tweet about Kirby
Link to Clemens tweet about Kirby
Link to Mulder tweet about Kirby
Link to McCarthy tweet about Kirby
Link to Weaver tweet about Kirby
Link to 2014 Weaver story
Link to Rob Mains on the TTOP
Link to Mains on the TTOP again
Link to Jay on Domínguez
Link to story on Yankees’ 13-inning win
Link to MLBTR on Stearns
Link to Crow-Armstrong call-up piece
Link to Sheehan on prospect promotions
Link to aging-curves research
Link to Nightengale on Trout
Link to Yamamoto no-hitter story
Link to Ben Clemens on Suzuki
Link to Lee Maye wiki
Link to Scott Radinsky wiki
Link to Edman story
Link to Rick Wilber’s website
Link to Future Blast wiki

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the NL wild card race and Dodgers starting pitching, then (17:24) answer listener emails about league-sanctioned spies, the best second jobs for an MLB player, a clairvoyant catcher, celebrating obscure records, switch-hitters and pitchers with reverse splits, existential fandom crises, selective fun-fact framing, oddly aligned MLB logos on a Dairy Queen cup, and an incredibly durable but otherwise unremarkable player, plus Stat Blasts (1:22:00) about quantifying “compilers,” superlative power-speed seasons, and long streaks of different team WAR leaders, a Future Blast (1:41:48) from 2057, and follow-ups.

Audio intro: Alex Ferrin, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Ian Phillips, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to FG playoff odds
Link to story on Lawlar’s debut
Link to MLBTR on Alcantara/Soler
Link to MLBTR on Buehler
Link to Jay on Gonsolin and TJ
Link to report about Urías
Link to Ben on MLB trade secrets
Link to Cronin podcast interview
Link to Loutos podcast interview
Link to story on mound visits
Link to story on Stallings record
Link to story about Maddon and splits
Link to more on Maddon and splits
Link to THT on pitcher-split forecasts
Link to FG info on splits
Link to Ben on matchup decisions
Link to Jay Cuda tweet
Link to Dairy Queen photo 1
Link to DQ photo 2
Link to MLB/DQ partnership
Link to Votto’s tweet
Link to Sam on Votto’s tweet
Link to listener emails database
Link to compilers spreadsheet
Link to Kenny Jackelen on Twitter
Link to power/speed spreadsheet
Link to Power/Speed Number wiki
Link to post on team WAR leaders
Link to team WAR leaders sheet
Link to Shantz EW interview
Link to Rick Wilber’s website
Link to Future Blast wiki
Link to Machado throw

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss listener responses to their banter about surprising Statcast throwing speeds, then (12:42) discuss Nick Ahmed’s unsung great glovework, the A’s turning out to be (slightly) less historically terrible than they initially seemed, the AL West race, and how the Rangers missing the playoffs would reinforce conflicting narratives about baseball. After that (57:24), they answer listener emails about Mookie Betts overtaking Mike Trout in career WAR, how to tell when a team gets good at player development, and where it would be easiest to hide a smaller base among bigger bases, plus a Future Blast (1:32:26) from 2056.

Audio intro: Josh Busman, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Ian H., “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to just-noticeable difference
Link to Ahmed DFA story
Link to FG WAR change post
Link to Lawlar call-up story
Link to study on Gold Gloves
Link to DRS leaderboard
Link to OAA leaderboard
Link to Fielding RV leaderboard
Link to Nichols’ Law
Link to Dan S. on the A’s in May
Link to Tango on the A’s in May
Link to EW on the A’s in May
Link to The Athletic on the Tigers
Link to CBS Sports on the Tigers
Link to worst run differentials
Link to BaseRuns records
Link to Fisher interview
Link to Fisher’s notepad
Link to FG playoff odds
Link to Kram on the AL West
Link to Astros HR fact 1
Link to Astros HR fact 2
Link to FG payroll ranking
Link to Ben on spending and wins
Link to highest WARs through 30
Link to those players post-30
Link to Driveline dev study 1
Link to Driveline dev study 2
Link to story on Benoit’s slider
Link to pitching lab story 1
Link to pitching lab story 2
Link to pitching lab story 3
Link to pitching lab story 4
Link to listener emails database
Link to Rick Wilber’s website
Link to Future Blast wiki
Link to visual acuity research
Link to Sam on Hamilton

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a Statcast-standout throw by Brenton Doyle, a Statcast-standout homer by Ronald Acuña Jr., and how closely Statcast data matches the eye test in various aspects of performance, the surges or resurgences of Cole Ragans, Blake Snell, and Trea Turner, a Julio Rodríguez fun fact, Royce Lewis’s grand slam streak, David Fry’s ironman position-player-pitching appearance, Kodai Senga’s strong season and Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s free agency, the second arrest (and possible second suspension) of Julio Urías (55:43), updates on Jake Diekman and Kolten Wong (1:06:06), a name for Gunnar Henderson’s non-cycle, the end of a Terrance Gore era, a study on the decreasing durability of pitchers, and more, plus (1:27:05) a Future Blast from 2055.

Audio intro: Benny and a Million Shetland Ponies, “Effectively Wild Theme (Pedantic Version)”
Audio outro: Tom Rhoads, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to story on Doyle’s throw
Link to García throw
Link to story on Acuña’s homer
Link to FG post on Ragans
Link to MLB Network video on Ragans
Link to best pitchers since 7/15
Link to Eno on Ragans
Link to best pitchers since 5/25
Link to Joe Sheehan on Snell
Link to highest single-season LOB%
Link to best hitters since 8/5
Link to pitch-type performance since 8/5
Link to BP on Turner’s fan reception
Link to ESPN on Turner’s leave
Link to story on 25-25 Julio
Link to BP on Lewis’s slams
Link to MLB.com on Lewis’s slams
Link to Lewis fun fact 1
Link to Lewis fun fact 2
Link to Lewis fun fact 3
Link to story on Fry’s outing
Link to FG post on the rookie class
Link to rookie pitcher WAR leaders
Link to MLBTR on Urías
Link to story on Wong’s changes
Link to Wong’s Triple-A homer
Link to Wong’s MLB homer
Link to Gore’s EW interview
Link to Rays signing Hamilton
Link to BJOL closing announcement
Link to Bill James pitching study
Link to FG post on Hendricks
Link to Rick Wilber’s website
Link to Future Blast wiki

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a new browser game called Homer Hindsight, where all the players placed on waivers ended up, the White Sox promoting Chris Getz and the continued comeback of the ex-player GM, Brandon Lowe’s Yankees trash talk, whether load management has diminished the grind, updates to the strike zone and pitch clock in Triple-A, and Bernie Williams’s comments about Shohei Ohtani. Then (42:42) they talk to FanGraphs lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen about the wave of top prospects that crested in August (including Noelvi Marte, Ronny Mauricio, Jordan Wicks, Masyn Winn, Jasson Domínguez, Ceddanne Rafaela, Curtis Mead, and Kyle Harrison), the Angels’ and Padres’ aggressive promotions of Nolan Schanuel and Ethan Salas, respectively, prospects who might still debut this season, and the number of prospects named Jackson, followed by (1:31:54) a Future Blast from 2054.

Audio intro: Nate Emerson, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio interstitial: The Gagnés, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Justin Peters, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Homer Hindsight
Link to Dan S. on the waiver outcomes
Link to Craig Goldstein on the Angels
Link to Patrick Dubuque on the Angels
Link to tweet about Angels payroll
Link to MLBTR on Getz
Link to Sox Machine on Getz
Link to 2017 Getz podcast
Link to Getz on Vizquel in 2019
Link to Getz on Vizquel in 2023
Link to Defector on Reinsdorf
Link to Reinsdorf Ohtani quote
Link to Lowe trash talk
Link to Russell on the grind
Link to Triple-A rules tweaks
Link to Passan’s pitch-clock tweet
Link to Bernie on Shohei
Link to Rosenthal on Ohtani’s TJ decision
Link to FG top-prospect rankings
Link to story on Mead’s background
Link to Waldrep’s Gators page
Link to story on Salas promotion
Link to Baumann on Schanuel
Link to BA on Schanuel
Link to Domínguez baseball cards story
Link to Mauricio’s first hit
Link to Domínguez’s first homer
Link to Domínguez’s number quote
Link to Yankees uni numbers story
Link to Rick Wilber’s website
Link to Future Blast wiki
Link to One Year
Link to Sports Explains the World

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s voice and the potential for an ambidextrous superstar who blends the skill sets of Shohei Ohtani and Pat Venditte, then discuss all the implications of the Angels (and a few other teams) placing prominent players on outright waivers right before the deadline for postseason eligibility. After that (44:43), they talk to Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service frontman Ben Gibbard about his beloved Mariners’ surge into first place, his relationship with this Mariners team, his thoughts on the postseason field and the new rules, his upcoming two-way-player tour featuring full performances of Transatlanticism and Give Up, and more, plus (1:31:29) a Future Blast from 2053.

Audio intro: Liz Panella, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Gabriel-Ernest, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Jon Becker’s waiver FAQ
Link to Ben Clemens on the Angels
Link to Zach Kram on the Angels
Link to outright waivers explainer
Link to The Athletic on the waiver moves
Link to The Athletic on waivers again
Link to MLBTR on the Angels
Link to Craig Goldstein on the Angels
Link to FG handedness filter
Link to “Ichiro’s Theme”
Link to Death Cabby for Cutie Day
Link to “An Arrow in the Wall”
Link to period/quarter mix-up
Link to Larry Stone article
Link to Transatlanticism
Link to Give Up
Link to Asphalt Meadows
Link to Gibbard’s album ranking
Link to “Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand”
Link to Gibbard’s two-way tour
Link to Rick Wilber’s website
Link to Future Blast wiki

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about classifying throws by infielders that are actually made in the outfield, imagine a multi-sport two-way Shohei Ohtani, and belatedly acknowledge Scott Cooper’s singular cycle, discuss Kyle Schwarber’s possible sub-replacement-level 40-homer season, break down the NL MVP race featuring Ronald Acuña Jr., Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman, pat Kyle Barraclough on the back for wearing one, note that regression has come for Mickey Moniak, and offer another hosana to Julio Rodríguez. Then they follow up on the previous episode’s mystery about why wild pitches and passed balls have declined, first (1:06:51) by interviewing Yankees quality control and catching coach Tanner Swanson about improvements in catching technique and the evolution of catcher defense, and then (1:37:13) by presenting additional data and theorizing, followed by (1:47:29) a Future Blast from 2052.

Audio intro: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Dave Armstrong and Mike Murray, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Elly’s 99.8 mph throw
Link to Elly’s 99.7 mph throw
Link to Elly’s 97.9 mph throw
Link to infield-throws leaderboard
Link to infield-throwers leaderboard
Link to Winn’s 100.5 mph throw
Link to Winn’s 99.9 mph throw
Link to arm strength leaderboard
Link to Haberstroh on two-sport players
Link to post on Cooper’s cycle
Link to Cooper’s cycle game
Link to Cooper’s cycle video
Link to Schwarber tweet
Link to sub-replacement sluggers
Link to Eli Ben-Porat on batting average
Link to Tom Tango on batting average
Link to Tango on batting average again
Link to Ben Clemens on batting average
Link to FG WAR leaders
Link to B-Ref WAR leaders
Link to Mike Petriello on MVP Mookie
Link to SB leaderboard
Link to FG post on Freeman’s baserunning
Link to story on fans and Acuña
Link to video of fans and Acuña
Link to Moniak slump stretch
Link to Posnanski on the Stargell Award
Link to MVPs w/multiple teams
Link to Mearns on Barraclough
Link to Stathead on Barraclough
Link to EW Stat Blast about WP/PB
Link to team catcher defense
Link to story on Swanson and Garver
Link to story about catching’s future
Link to Swanson MVP Machine reference
Link to story on Swanson and the Yankees
Link to Ben on Flowers
Link to Franke/Rogers catcher slides
Link to Kai Franke on Twitter
Link to Jack Rogers on Twitter
Link to team CI leaderboard
Link to EW on the CI surge
Link to Tango on interference and framing
Link to WP/PB totals
Link to Cooper on one-knee catching
Link to Cooper on one-knee catching 2
Link to Cooper on one-knee catching 3
Link to Rick Wilber’s website
Link to Future Blast wiki
Link to Tango on errors/hits
Link to Cooper on errors/hits

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about how late it is in the season and a fan’s exuberant reaction to the only known unassisted outfield triple play in major or minor league history, answer listener emails (15:17) about Shohei Ohtani 2.0 and whether “bulk guys” could stave off extinction for 300-game winners, Stat Blast (38:11) about standings-related fun facts, precedents for the Mariners rapidly erasing a 10-game deficit in the AL West, team droughts in back-to-back-to-belly homers, non-All-Star MVPs, bunting by count, this season’s uptick in balks, Gunnar Henderson and the passing-up-the-cycle club, and a wild pitch/passed ball mystery, plus a Future Blast from 2051 (1:49:48) and a few follow-ups (1:52:30).

Audio intro: Beatwriter, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Alex Ferrin, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to MLBTR on Brentz
Link to Craig on the triple play
Link to Pages From Baseball’s Past
Link to ITYSL
Link to Ringer ITYSL ranking
Link to listener emails database
Link to Sam on Ruth/Ohtani
Link to story on Ohtani MRI
Link to Ben on Yarbrough
Link to “bulk guy” origin story
Link to story on Verlander and 300
Link to Evan’s team streaks data
Link to last-place NYY/NYM
Link to thread on Yanks 10-loss streak
Link to Ben on competitive balance
Link to EW Episode 1354
Link to ALW division odds graph
Link to 1982 Braves doc
Link to team HR streaks data
Link to Ryan Nelson on Twitter
Link to Marlins 3-HR game
Link to team 4-HR streaks
Link to Ben on Padres stars
Link to non-All-Star MVPs
Link to bunt data
Link to Belt bunt attempt
Link to McGuire bunt
Link to Grisham bunt attempt
Link to Rojas bunt
Link to team balk leaders
Link to league balk totals
Link to WP/PB/balks data
Link to Rob Mains on ’88 balks
Link to ’88 article on balks
Link to 2023 article on balks
Link to skipped cycles data
Link to Henderson post
Link to Henderson video
Link to Henderson game story
Link to story on Fuld
Link to list of Gunnar games
Link to 2001 Frye story
Link to Frye tweet
Link to Foxx’s cycle game
Link to 1933 cycle citation
Link to Ben on sticky stuff
Link to WP/PB totals
Link to Cooper on one-knee catching
Link to Cooper on one-knee catching 2
Link to Cooper on one-knee catching 3
Link to WaPo on the 2022 ball
Link to game-reenactment EW email
Link to Russ Hodges call
Link to Rick Wilber’s website
Link to Future Blast wiki
Link to Strasburg salary report
Link to Passan violations tweet

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley lament and discuss Shohei Ohtani’s UCL injury and its ramifications for the rest of his season, his two-way future, his free agency, the Angels, and the continued happiness of baseball fans and podcast co-hosts, followed by conversations about Stephen Strasburg’s retirement (59:17), Wander Franco’s placement on administrative leave (1:11:30), and whether players are required to wear pants (1:21:06), plus a Future Blast from 2050 (1:31:37).

Audio intro: Ted O., “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Ian H., “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Ben’s Ohtani article
Link to Evan Drellich on Ohtani
Link to Jay Jaffe on the Angels
Link to Sam on the Angels
Link to FA class
Link to Ohtani and Elly
Link to TJS study
Link to Stat Blast on max-effort pitching
Link to Ben on pitcher roster limits
Link to WaPo report on Strasburg
Link to Drellich on Franco
Link to Jeff Passan on Franco
Link to Jay Cuda pants tweet
Link to CBA
Link to high-socks study
Link to Rick Wilber’s website
Link to Future Blast wiki

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s week away, Julio Rodríguez’s hot streak and the Mariners’ surge, and the White Sox firing Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn, plus a grab bag of topics that caught Ben’s attention while he was in Sweden: the Dodgers signing Kolten Wong; a Cubs adult-diaper ad; an oddly ricocheting Luke Raley home run; errors and official scoring, another incident that made Miles Mikolas mad; Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, and the Tigers’ rebuild; Bobby Witt Jr.’s sophomore breakout; Nationals extensions, CJ Abrams, and Joey Meneses; the similar seasons of J.D. Martinez and Justin Turner; the potential for good teams to miss the playoffs, and radical realignment; Jon Singleton returning to the Astros; Dallas Keuchel continuing to pitch; a nifty Brewers trade revisited (and Christian Yelich’s bounceback); the sale of Fogo de Chão; John Angelos’s latest groaners; preseason prediction philosophies, and more, plus a Future Blast (1:32:04) from 2049 and a few follow-ups (1:33:37).

Audio intro: Daniel Leckie, “Effectively Wild Theme”
Audio outro: Daniel Leckie, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Jay on Julio
Link to mlb.com on Julio
Link to Stark on Julio
Link to info on latest M’s win
Link to “Here Come the Warm Jets”
Link to MLBTR on White Sox firings
Link to The Athletic on Sox firings
Link to article on Sox relocation
Link to tweet about Cubs ad
Link to Reddit thread on Cubs ad
Link to Raley HR video
Link to Defector on Raley’s homer
Link to Kevin Cash quote
Link to ballpark homogenization info
Link to Stat Blast on official scoring
Link to The Athletic on official scoring
Link to Russell on official scoring
Link to story on Mikolas/Alonso/Winn
Link to more on Alonso/Winn
Link to FG post on Witt
Link to FG post on Abrams
Link to MLBTR on Greene moving
Link to MLBTR on Nats extensions
Link to FG post on Yelich
Link to Keuchel article
Link to other Keuchel article
Link to Singleton dingers
Link to Bain buying Fogo
Link to article on Escobar and Fogo
Link to Angelos interview
Link to Rob Mains on Angelos
Link to Rick Wilber’s website
Link to Future Blast wiki

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