Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s daughter’s first MLB game, and Ben briefly interviews the four-year-old Sloan about her spectator experience. Then they discuss the MVP races (with an emphasis on Pete Crow-Armstrong’s status as the NL frontrunner over Shohei Ohtani), the Nationals and Red Sox swapping Curtis Mead and Connelly Early, a Kerry Wood trick pitch, John Kruk’s Sunday Night Baseball attire, teams’ tendency to covet Tarik Skubal vs. their reluctance to trade top prospects for rental players, and the biggest pre-deadline positional strengths for non-contenders and positional weaknesses for contenders.

Audio intro: Grant Brisbee, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Jimmy Kramer, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Dodgers vs. Mets game

Link to “if baseball were different” wiki

Link to Goodnight Baseball

Link to Decoy Saves Opening Day

Link to Moana box office

Link to Maui’s nipples article 1

Link to Maui’s nipples article 2

Link to Disney nipples history

Link to Mario nipples article

Link to FG WAR leaderboard

Link to B-Ref WAR leaderboard

Link to Roberts on MVP Ohtani

Link to Ohtani pen session news

Link to top baserunners

Link to Paine on PCA

Link to Witt injury article

Link to MLBTR on the Nats-Sox trade

Link to FG on the Nats-Sox trade

Link to Red Sox HR leaders

Link to Breslow quote

Link to Friedman quote

Link to winner’s curse wiki

Link to team SP projections

Link to Mead injury article

Link to Wood Reddit post

Link to Wood tweet

Link to “what kind of move” tweet

Link to Meg’s Kruk post

Link to article on Kruk broadcast

Link to Sheehan on rentals

Link to Cooper on traded prospects

Link to Paine on deadline deals

Link to Dan S. on deadline importance

Link to irresistible force paradox

Link to Juggernaut meme

Link to replacement-level killers series

Link to FG playoff odds

Link to projected positional WAR

Link to Ben’s color-coded spreadsheet

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon.

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a Donald Trump claim about Shohei Ohtani, José Caballero’s battle with MLB about his pre-pitch routine, Yandy Díaz spurning ABS, James Wood’s impressive results with a seemingly suboptimal approach, whether the Nats would be better off if they hadn’t traded pitching prior to the season, David Rubenstein’s Orioles optimism, and Corbin Carroll’s triples pace. Then (1:04:45) they talk to EW listener Jacob Redmon, who found himself at the center of a viral video this week when he was slapped by a man who objected to his staying seated during the National Anthem, about how the incident developed, what the video didn’t show, and what he took from the experience. Finally (1:57:33), Ben talks to Kenny Lofton about his exclusion from the Hall of Fame, his Cooperstown-caliber career, and his outlook for induction.

Audio intro: Harold Walker, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Xavier LeBlanc, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Trump on Ohtani

Link to Trump on Kershaw

Link to White House visit recap

Link to EW on Trump’s baseball career

Link to Caballero video 1

Link to Caballero video 2

Link to Caballero video 3

Link to Caballero comments

Link to Caballero article 1

Link to Caballero article 2

Link to Caballero article 3

Link to Caballero article 4

Link to Caballero article 5

Link to Caballero article 6

Link to “violation” comment

Link to CloseCallSports video 1

Link to CloseCallSports video 2

Link to Stanky draft episode

Link to Crizer on Yandy

Link to Yandy article 1

Link to Santana article

Link to MLBTR on Santana

Link to Yandy article 2

Link to batting team challenges

Link to Sam on bad challenges

Link to BP piece on Wood

Link to EW on Wood in 2025

Link to Nats WAR leaders

Link to team hitting WAR

Link to team pitching WAR

Link to Rubenstein quote

Link to Rubenstein quote thread

Link to Carroll triples fact

Link to triples park factor

Link to “55 burgers” ITYSL sketch

Link to National Anthem

Link to slap video

Link to Lucy Dacus tweet

Link to Lucy Dacus shirt

Link to Wednesday concert

Link to Chavez video

Link to Cubs statement

Link to EW Episode 2189

Link to 2022 Hoerner homer

Link to “third place” wiki

Link to Ben on the Hall of Fame

Link to Lofton highlights video

Link to Lofton playoffs video

Link to CF JAWS leaders

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s ongoing jury service and meet major leaguers Zac Thornton and Tyron Guerrero, who used to be—but also never really were?—named Zach Thornton and Tayron Guerrero, respectively. Then (35:29) they attempt to diagnose Cal Raleigh’s offensive ills, check in on Patrick Bailey’s bat, examine how the Red Sox and Phillies wound up where they were supposed to be by a very roundabout route, assess the state of trade-deadline speculation, and consider where they would want a few top trade candidates to go.

Audio intro: Philip Tapley and Michael Stokes, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Luke Lillard, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Meet a Major Leaguer wiki

Link to semantic satiation wiki

Link to Newsday on Thornton

Link to Thornton’s Grand Canyon page

Link to Guerrero call-up article

Link to Cotillo’s Guerrero tweet

Link to Guerrero name pronunciation

Link to Guerrero wiki

Link to MLBTR on Guerrero

Link to The Land Before Time characters

Link to Soroka name tweet

Link to Britton name article

Link to Varland name article

Link to Lovelady name article

Link to Stanton name decision

Link to Carmona/Hernández name change

Link to Jerry Gergich wiki

Link to Raleigh batted-ball profile

Link to Sam’s Raleigh posts

Link to Raleigh’s 2025 splits

Link to Raleigh’s 2026 splits

Link to original Bailey discussion

Link to profane, offensive Ferguson

Link to hitting after IBB article 1

Link to hitting after IBB article 2

Link to hitting after IBB article 3

Link to preseason playoff odds

Link to updated playoff odds

Link to Breslow on the deadline

Link to Crizer on the Red Sox

Link to Slaten quote

Link to Dan S. on managerial firings

Link to BaseRuns standings

Link to team batting WAR

Link to team pitching WAR

Link to team 2B WAR

Link to The Athletic trade candidates

Link to ESPN trade candidates

Link to MLBTR on Arraez

Link to Goodman rumor

Link to MLBTR on the Goodman rumor

Link to MLBTR on the Angels’ deadline

Link to JKG injury article

Link to Crotchfelt signing

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Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s jury duty and his reaction to Meg and Craig’s pillow talk on the preceding episode. Then they discuss why All-Star Game pitching is overpowering, whether the Home Run Derby balls were juiced (and whether it matters), another earliest-ever Opening Day, MLB’s crackdown on teams’ boundary-pushing use of dugout iPads, Shohei Ohtani’s pitching pause, MLB app complaints, extensions for Chase Burns and Kyle Bradish, Luis Arraez as a prize of the trade deadline, and the funniest tech startups the Dodgers have seeded.

Audio intro: Kite Person, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Ian Phillips, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to EW Episode 2506

Link to Kepner on the ASG

Link to 2018 ASG box score

Link to Heyman on Harper

Link to Insta post with Harper quote

Link to MLB HRD notes

Link to longest Harper homers

Link to longest Caminero homers

Link to longest Contreras homers

Link to exit speed responsibility

Link to 2024 NBA ASG wiki

Link to 2026 NBA ASG wiki

Link to top-selling jerseys

Link to Sheehan on the lack of stars

Link to Paine on ASG philosophies

Link to 2027 MLB schedule

Link to EW season preview series wiki

Link to World Cup expansion

Link to March Madness expansion

Link to Ohtani news

Link to ulnar nerve entrapment

Link to MLB app betting odds

Link to latest FG app updates

Link to The Athletic iPads report

Link to Ben on front office encroachment

Link to Ottavino clip

Link to Dubuque on Burns

Link to Bradish on Burns

Link to MLBTR on Burns

Link to Trent’s tweet about Burns

Link to Burns pitch usage

Link to MLB pitching WAR leaders

Link to MLBTR on Bradish

Link to sweepstakes wiki

Link to sweeps week wiki

Link to MLBTR on Arraez

Link to Andrews on Arraez

Link to BZZR article 1

Link to BZZR article 2

Link to BZZR article 3

Link to BZZR article 4

Link to FOIAball post

Link to 2015 Dodgers investment news

Link to 2016 Dodgers investment news

Link to 2018 Dodgers investment news

Link to R/GA companies page

Link to Global Sports Venture Studio

Link to Elysian Park companies page

Link to 2023 Elysian Park article

Link to Elysian Park wiki

Link to Elysian Fields wiki

Link to Gilbert/Creighton interview

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon.

With Ben Lindbergh serving jury duty, Meg Rowley is joined by Baseball Prospectus editor-in-chief Craig Goldstein. The pair discuss the perils of hotel pillows and showers, then turn their attention to the 2026 All-Star Game, how the in-person experience compares to the TV one, and the challenges of making it a fun event relative to the Home Run Derby. Then Craig offers his thoughts on the CBA negotiations and Rob Manfred’s approach to communicating (38:58), before he and Meg discuss a few of the things they are looking forward to (and one thing they’re dreading) about the season’s second half, including the White Sox, good teams playing well, a potentially weird deadline, and Pete Crow-Armstrong.

Audio intro: El Warren, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Josh Busman, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to the Five and Dive episode where Craig discusses the Rays

Link to Craig on the weird deadline ahead

Link to Steven Goldman on the All-Star Game

Link to Jake Mintz on the All-Star Game Sandlot tribute

Link to Jayson Stark on the AL’s All-Star pitching dominance

Link to Andy McCullough on the All-Star Game

Link to Michael Baumann on Philly as the haters’ All-Star Game

Link to Katie Woo on Jordan Walker

Link to Ben Clemens on Dillion Dingler

Link to Davy Andrews on Pete Crow-Armstrong

Link to Ryan Blake on Lance McCullers Jr. Trade

Link to Dan Szymborski on an AL team with a losing record making the postseason

Sponsor Us on Patreon

Give a Gift Subscription

Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com

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Apple Podcasts Feed

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Get Our Merch!

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