Effectively Wild Episode 1847: We Want a Catcher, Not a Belly-Scratcher

EWFI
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Josh Naylor’s record eight RBI after the eighth inning and the hot-hitting Guardians, José Ramírez taking a hometown discount to stay in Cleveland, Rangers manager Chris Woodward’s seemingly misinterpreted joke about Yankee Stadium, the perils of interpreting text-only quotes, Mets hitting coach Eric Chávez’s theory about MLB selectively juicing the ball, another way in which life is getting harder for hitters, Josh VanMeter’s nightmare inning as an emergency catcher for the Pirates, and Rays pitcher Calvin Faucher’s rude welcome in the majors, plus a Stat Blast (1:14:26) about Sean Hjelle, Tyler Rogers, and the greatest disparities in consecutive pitchers’ release points, a note about a Bill Veeck plan to sign a “giant” hitter, and a few followups.

Audio intro: The Pooh Sticks, “Jelly on a Plate
Audio outro: The Mother Hips, “Emergency Exit

Link to Naylor highlights video
Link to story on Ramírez’s contract
Link to Ben Clemens on Ramírez’s extension
Link to Dan Szymborski on the Albies extension
Link to Craig Edwards on the Albies extension
Link to Sheryl Ring on the Albies extension
Link to RosterResource payroll page
Link to video of Torres’s homer
Link to video of White’s homer
Link to video of Woodward’s comment
Link to Levi on Woodward’s comment
Link to video of Boone’s response
Link to Yankees’ 30/30 tweet
Link to @NoContextEWPod
Link to article about Chávez’s theory
Link to article about Alonso’s theory
Link to FanGraphs on the ball’s behavior
Link to article about VanMeter
Link to VanMeter interview
Link to Knapp ejection video
Link to Russell on emergency catchers
Link to Shelley Duncan interview
Link to Ben on second-guessing
Link to EW episode on Shamsky
Link to Michael Baumann on Shamsky
Link to Stathead query on Shamsky/Naylor
Link to Stathead
Link to info on Hjelle
Link to video of Hjelle’s debut
Link to Hjelle/Rogers release points
Link to Stat Blast release-point data
Link to release-point height leaderboard
Link to league-average release point height
Link to Bill Veeck “giant” idea

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James SmithMember since 2017
3 years ago

These do not rhyme in the Midwest.