Effectively Wild Episode 1697: Don’t Blame the Batters

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Shohei Ohtani stalker cam on Japanese telecasts of Angels games, the Low-A Palm Beach Cardinals facing Jacob deGrom, why this season’s no-hitters have all been so dominant, and why it doesn’t make sense to hold hitters responsible for strikeouts and low batting averages. Then they do a Meet a Major Leaguer segment on the Cubs’ Tommy Nance and P.J. Higgins and close by discussing the exciting NL West race, the Cubs’ lackluster rotation, some clubs failing to reach the 85 percent vaccination threshold, and whether MLB’s COVID-testing protocols should be changed for vaccinated players.

Audio intro: The Pillows, "Stalker"
Audio outro: Yusuf / Cat Stevens, "Don’t Blame Them"

Link to thread about the Ohtani cam
Link to story about deGrom’s rehab start
Link to Ben on no-hitters
Link to McClung’s video
Link to 2008-21 plate discipline stats
Link to story about foreign substances
Link to story about Nance
Link to Bleacher Nation on Nance
Link to Eric Longenhagen on Nance
Link to story on the Cubs and seam-shifted wake
Link to Hoyer on vaccinations
Link to Scherzer’s comments
Link to story on perfect game losses
Link to listener email question database

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