Meg Rowley and guest co-host Ben Clemens discuss the Astros’ pitching woes, the role of starters in the postseason, Dave Roberts’ decision to have Brusdar Graterol hit in Game 5 of the NLCS, Yordan Alvarez, how a 3-2 series deficit feels for fans of the team with the upper hand, and Ben’s look at Ian Anderson‘s first-inning struggles. Then they consider Other Ben and Rob Arthur’s assessment of MLB’s rule experiments in the Atlantic and minor leagues, before answering listener emails on an unorthodox baserunning strategy, ump shows, how aliens might contextualize Mike Trout’s recent season stats, and whether we should re-think the ground rule double. Read the rest of this entry »

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Meg Rowley and guest co-host Grant Brisbee catch up on some non-postseaosn news, including Grant’s elbow injury, MLB’s decision to provide housing for minor leaguers, and Rob Arthur’s research suggesting spin rate and pitch movement have recovered after cratering in light of sticky stuff enforcement, then banter about Laz Diaz’s strike zone in Game 4 of the ALCS and the use of starting pitchers in the playoffs. Then they turn their attention to the San Francisco Giants, including the team’s wildly successful 2021 and less successful postseason run, before discussing where the Giants go from here. Finally, Grant offers some advice to the remaining playoff teams on how to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers and shares who he’s rooting for now that the Giants are out of the postseason. Read the rest of this entry »

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Meg Rowley is joined by guest co-host Mike Petriello of MLB.com. They discuss Mike’s role in the booth as a part of ESPN’s Statcast broadcasts, how what is affectionately referred to as the Nerdcast got started, how Mike prepares for games, how he balances being analytics-heavy while still appealing to a broad audience, how the Nerdcast has evolved along with Statcast, what makes for a fun booth, how he works with Jason Benetti and Eduardo Perez, and what might come next for the Nerdcast as more traditional broadcasts become more statistically savvy. Then they briefly contemplate the role of the manager in light of the news of Mike Shildt’s firing in St. Louis before turning their attention (31:19) to the Dodgers’ decision to start Corey Knebel as an opener for Game 5 of the NLDS, how the Giants might counter, what they like about Logan Webb, and what each of these teams needs to do to advance to the NLCS. Read the rest of this entry »

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Meg Rowley and guest co-host Bradford William Davis of Insider discuss his new job as an investigative features writer and what the shift from being a daily columnist has meant for how he engages with players, sources, and baseball, and the stories he’s able to tell. Then they turn their attention to the playoffs and discuss the White Sox/Astros series, how Chicago faltered and Houston triumphed, the Astros embracing their heel turn, how players and fans view guys like Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman, why Meg underestimated Boston, how the Astros and Red Sox match up, Christian Yelich, the Brewers’ rotation, the Braves’ fun lineup and bad ballpark traditions, who they expect to emerge out of tomorrow night’s NLDS Game 5 between the Dodgers and Giants, and which teams they think will square off in the World Series. Read the rest of this entry »

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Meg Rowley and guest co-host Jon Tayler of FanGraphs banter about the Boston Red Sox’s victory over the Tampa Bay Rays to advance to the American League Championship Series, including Jon’s experience of the series as a Red Sox fan, Alex Cora’s managerial style, Boston’s particular brand of chaos ball, when Jon knew Garrett Whitlock was worth watching, Enrique Hernández’s incredible playoff run, the rule that robbed Tampa of a run in Game 3, and what Jon expects from Wander Franco in the years to come. Then they catch up on the Braves/Brewers and Dodgers/Giants action, look ahead to the Championship Series, re-predict the rest of the postseason, and analyze an ill-advised playoff promo. Read the rest of this entry »

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Meg Rowley and guest co-host Mike Ferrin of MLB Network Radio discuss his recent trip to Monument Valley before recapping the weekend’s ALDS and NLDS action and looking ahead to what might come next, including thoughts on the Giants’ approach to platooning, Cody Bellinger‘s season-long slump, AJ Pollock‘s past postseason woes, the Brewers offense, Eduardo Escobar, Milwaukee’s bullpen, Atlanta’s starters, Houston’s bats, Craig Kimbrel‘s role, Wander Franco, the Rays’ young starters, J.D. Martinez and Kiké Hernández providing thump in Boston’s lineup, and Alex Cora’s strategy to contain Tampa’s offense. Then Meg and Mike listener emails on spitting, the strike zone, a robo ump compromise, a creative proposal to score series rather than games, and rookies adjusting to the big leagues. Plus, a Statblast/Meet a Major Leaguer combo on player debuts versus and for the Kansas City Royals. Read the rest of this entry »

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Meg Rowley and guest co-host Eric Longenhagen banter about Walker Buehler’s unusual approach to opening beers and their own past dental emergencies before recapping the AL Wild Card game. They consider what went wrong for the Yankees, and assess the Red Sox’s good starters, potent lineup, and shaky defense, as well as Nick Pivetta and Garrett Richards. Next they shift to the Red Sox/Rays ALDS matchup and consider the state of Tampa Bay’s pitching, the Rays’ talented hitters, and whether playoff experience (or a lack thereof) will matter for Tampa’s young starters. After that it’s on to the Astros and White Sox, featuring an embarrassment of good hitters including Kyle Tucker and Luis Robert, plus Houston’s talented pitching and Chicago’s dominant bullpen. Then they wrap up with thoughts on the NL Wild Card and play a game of stumpo with Arizona Fall League rosters. Read the rest of this entry »

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Meg Rowley and guest co-host Craig Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus recap the final weekend of regular season baseball before previewing this week’s Wild Card games. They discuss the Mariners’ decision not to promote Julio Rodríguez, their disappointment at the lack of tiebreaker games, franchise player farewells, the current playoff format, what comes next for Seattle and Toronto, and what they’re most excited to watch in October. Then they turn their attention to the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Cardinals, offering their thoughts on what each squad should feel confident and nervous about going into the play-in games. Finally, they try to solve the mystery of Hunter Renfroe’s defense. Read the rest of this entry »

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With the postseason around the corner, Meg Rowley and guest co-host Ben Clemens discuss the playoff picture, how the Seattle Mariners got where they are, which team Ben would prefer to see his Cardinals match up against in the NL Wild Card, and the biggest surprises of the season. Then they discuss Ben’s recent work assessing FanGraphs’ playoff odds, what the odds do well and less-well, what kinds of teams they tend to be too low on or overestimate, and how the model could improve. They also offer some theories about why we seem to struggle with probabilistic thinking, look back on what they’ll miss most about the 2021 regular season, and share some brief Cy Young thoughts. Read the rest of this entry »

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about what Shohei Ohtani might mean for the Mariners’ slight playoff chances and Riley O’Brien’s recent debut, before Ben shares some (good) personal news. Then (17:33) they bring on Will Leitch to discuss the St. Louis Cardinals. Will shares what it has been like to root for the team during its win streak, when he realized they were playoff bound, what has gone into this incredible run, and which Cardinals are candidates for some postseason devil magic. Plus, Will makes the case for this year’s version of the team actually being fun before predicting just how deep into October the Cardinals might play. Read the rest of this entry »

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