Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

After a brief PSA about an open producer position (email wanted@fangraphs.com with the subject line “Podcast Editor 2026” to apply) Ben Lindbergh (kind of) continues his quest to temporarily resurrect a few dearly departed baseball podcasts by bringing on MLB.com’s Mike Petriello, former host of Ballpark Dimensions, to banter about a record home run trot, which “Statcast era” records they’re most confident are also all-time records, Junior Caminero’s defense and the value of small-sample defensive splits, the latest Statcast tools, Statcast WAR, predictive vs. descriptive stats, a divisive standing ovation for Pete Alonso at Citi Field, and this week’s White Sox-Guardians series. Then (58:25) Ben chats with former Astros AGM Andrew Ball and former Phillies quantitative analyst Tom Kim about Tom’s new command metric, OpenCommand, whether public baseball research still has something to teach teams, the public-private knowledge gap, and overrated secrets.

Audio intro: Philip Bergman, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio interstitial: The Spaghettis, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Justin Peters, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Ballpark Dimensions podcast archive

Link to Caminero trot

Link to Caminero LIDOM trot

Link to Langs post

Link to Tater Trot Tracker

Link to exit-speed contributions

Link to Mike’s post on Caminero’s defense

Link to Mike on the Williams homer

Link to Mike’s last EW appearance

Link to 2024 bat tracking

Link to 2025 swing tracking

Link to Nats farm system article

Link to 2026 scoops article

Link to scoops leaderboard

Link to “I’m tired, boss” meme

Link to predicted xwOBACON

Link to VAAAA

Link to Baseball Savant

Link to “last mile” wiki

Link to standing Alons-O article

Link to team 1B WAR

Link to Piazza ovation

Link to Seaver ovation

Link to Pujols ovation

Link to Pham story

Link to White Sox-Guardians gamer

Link to Peters PA article 1

Link to Peters PA article 2

Link to Davy on Jack Reacher

Link to Andrew’s baseball bio

Link to The Athletic profile on Andrew

Link to Tom’s OpenCommand thread

Link to OpenCommand account

Link to OpenCommand github

Link to The Athletic on OpenCommand

Link to OpenCommand validation

Link to OpenCommand accuracy

Link to computer vision article 1

Link to computer vision article 1

Link to pitch-tipping detection info

Link to Tom on miss distance

Link to Tango on miss distance

Link to Sam on misses

Link to Ben on COMMANDf/x

Link to The Athletic on Command+

Link to “Stuff” model command stats

Link to BP on command 1

Link to BP on command 2

Link to team targets article

Link to team targets graph

Link to command value post

Link to Tom’s post on baseball analytics

Link to Andrew’s Substack

Link to Andrew on public baseball analysis

Link to Andrew on idea value

Link to Ben on baseball secrets

Link to Andrew on idea value

Link to Andrew on draft performance

Link to Hustle+ paper

Link to Ben on hustle

Link to Andrew’s podcast post

Link to Andrew’s podcast

Link to Marvel’s Wolverine clip 1

Link to Ben’s first Wolverine pod

Link to Ben’s second Wolverine pod

Link to previous Winquest banter

Link to Gasper story

Link to Paine on position-player pitchers

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With Meg Rowley on vacation, Ben Lindbergh continues his quest to (temporarily) resurrect a few dearly departed baseball podcasts. Next Up: The Baseball Show With Rany and Joe, featuring Ben, Rany Jazayerli, and Joe Sheehan of the Joe Sheehan Newsletter. With two weeks remaining in the regular season, Ben, Rany, and Joe talk about what’s worth watching the rest of the way: playoff races, awards chases, roster reshuffling, and more. They also examine some big-picture trends pertaining to MLB’s low-average offense, pitcher usage, expansion, and popularity.

Audio intro: Garrett Krohn, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: The Gagnés, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to The Baseball Show podcast archive

Link to the Joe Sheehan Newsletter

Link to Rany’s medical practice

Link to Rany on the Royals

Link to Rany on Pitcher Abuse Points

Link to Ben on postseason usage

Link to Dan S. on 2026 playoff rosters

Link to Dan S. on the postseason crapshoot

Link to playoff randomness by sport

Link to Kiger wiki

Link to De Paula homer

Link to 2023 Cranston promo

Link to attendance-boost story

Link to article on Vlad’s homer

Link to article on Fischer’s homer

Link to the Teoscar resurgence

Link to Laurila on SP usage

Link to Ben on improving player talent

Link to Elly throw video

Link to Elly throw article

Link to Passan on expansion

Link to NBA franchise values

Link to KC ballpark update

Link to Veblen good wiki

Link to Sarris on sinkers

Link to Ben C. on expanded playoffs

Link to Dan S. on expanded playoffs

Link to FG combined WAR leaderboard

Link to Schlittler MVP article

Link to leaguewide K rates

Link to leaguewide non-pitcher K rates

Link to Ben on Ks in 2017

Link to foul-ball info

Link to Ben on pitcher limits

Link to Ben on improved defense

Link to Rany on Ben’s gaming pod

Sponsor Us on Patreon

Give a Gift Subscription

Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com

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

With Meg Rowley on vacation, Ben Lindbergh continues his quest to (temporarily) resurrect a few dearly departed baseball podcasts. Next Up: The Ringer MLB Show, featuring Ben, Michael Baumann of FanGraphs, and Bobby Wagner of Patreon and Tipping Pitches. Ben, Baumann, and Bobby banter about their old show and the absence of one member of the Ringer MLB crew, how MLB commemorated 9/11, who’s to blame for banged-up Shohei Ohtani, whether they’re buying Anthony Volpe’s power spike, and what the widespread mockery of Vivek Ramaswamy’s baseball swing says about politicans’ eagerness to invoke baseball, the danger of appearing inauthentic by faking ball knowledge, and the difficulty (relative to other sports) of not looking doofy doing baseball activities without past playing experience. Then (54:49) Ben plays “Did This Famous Figure Play College Baseball?” and they draft (1:02:38) the top 24 MLB players who are in their age-24 seasons or younger.

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

Audio outro: Alex Ferrin, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to The Ringer MLB Show feed

Link to Ringer Baseball feed

Link to Baumann’s FanGraphs archive

Link to Tipping Pitches

Link to 2021 young players ranking

Link to 2021 young players podcast

Link to 2022 young players ranking

Link to MLB’s 9/11 press release

Link to Baumann on Ohtani

Link to Woo on Ohtani

Link to Ardaya on Ohtani

Link to Ohtani comments

Link to Volpe reinvention article

Link to Triple-A wOBA leaders

Link to Triple-A xWOBA leaders

Link to Volpe gamelog

Link to Cruz vs. El-Sayed

Link to Vivek’s football jersey

Link to EW on politician sports fails

Link to Jeffries bat post

Link to Vivek’s baseball post

Link to eyewitness account

Link to Vivek’s tennis post

Link to Vivek’s bowling post

Link to Vivek’s basketball post

Link to post deletion story

Link to Vivek name article

Link to Curtis on baseball language

Link to list of Baumann games

Link to Eisenhower baseball controversy

Link to RoS ZiPS projections

Link to 2028 ZiPS projections

Link to rest-of-career ZiPS projections

Sponsor Us on Patreon

Give a Gift Subscription

Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com

Effectively Wild Subreddit

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Apple Podcasts Feed

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YouTube Playlist

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With Meg Rowley on vacation, Ben Lindbergh continues his quest to (temporarily) resurrect a few dearly departed baseball podcasts. Next Up: The Bandwagon, featuring Hannah Keyser of CNN and Zach Crizer of The Bandwagon (the ongoing newsletter). Ben, Hannah, and Zach discuss Hannah’s transition from baseball specialist to sports generalist, her visit to Driveline Baseball for velocity training, and why position-player pitchers throw so slow. Then they banter about baseball bits and bobs: the buzzer-beating, pre-postseason returns of Aaron Judge and other prominent players; the future of rehab assignments; Zach’s 2026 rebuild rankings and his and Hannah’s debate about how bad David Stearns has been for the Mets; Mickey Gasper’s hot streak and Munetaka Murakami’s slump; a possible Rockies sale; Thomas Pannone’s Triple-A perfect game; and how the challenge system has affected catcher framing and defensive value, plus postscript follow-ups.

Audio intro: Guy Russo, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to The Bandwagon podcast archive

Link to The Bandwagon newsletter

Link to Hannah’s CNN archive

Link to CNN Explains series

Link to first Bandwagon reunion pod

Link to second Bandwagon reunion pod

Link to Hannah and Lindsey appearance

Link to Marte’s cap

Link to Alcaraz vs. Shelton story

Link to Jay on position-player pitching

Link to Sam on position-player pitching

Link to underhand free throws story

Link to Episode 2372

Link to position-player velo by year

Link to late-comeback candidates

Link to Hannah and Zach on Trajekt

Link to Ben on Trajekt

Link to Dan S. on Judge

Link to Judge on his abbreviated return

Link to Judge/Jones fun fact

Link to Schwarber postseason comeback

Link to Cohen on Stearns

Link to Ben on Mets turnover

Link to team rookie batting WAR

Link to negative-run-differential division story

Link to Yankees hitting without Judge

Link to Yankees pitching without Judge

Link to Gasper/Murakami leaderboard

Link to Gasper wiki

Link to Rockies/McCarthy play

Link to Paige’s Rockies report

Link to report summary

Link to Greg Penner wiki

Link to BP on team sales

Link to Pannone story

Link to Pannone photos

Link to minor league perfectos list

Link to Jeff on framing

Link to Ben on framing in 2018

Link to team defensive challenges

Link to Tango on team challenges

Link to catcher-defensive deviation data

Link to catcher-defense deviation graph

Link to Ohtani/De Paula news

Link to catcher’s interference explainer

Link to 23 ways piece

Link to 23 ways book

Link to Nine Innings to Love trailer

Link to Nine Innings to Love premiere

Link to Tiglath-Pileser III wiki

Link to Yankees winning-season streak

Sponsor Us on Patreon

Give a Gift Subscription

Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com

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With Meg Rowley on vacation, Ben Lindbergh brings a few dearly departed baseball podcasts (briefly) back to life. First up: The Roundtable, featuring EW cofounder (and Pebble Hunting author) Sam Miller and The Athletic’s Grant Brisbee and Andy McCullough. Ben, Sam, Grant, and Andy discuss the worst and best ballpark promotions, Doug Eddings’s cap decree and bid to become MLB’s new infamous umpire, what 2026 taught us about ump importance, whether umps uphold unwritten rules, future revelations about the Astros’ banging scheme, a trivia question in a new movie about the number of ways to reach base, Ketel Marte and the mountains teams try to climb, Sam’s recent writing about the boundaries of baseball performance, Andy’s ace updates, and Shohei Ohtani’s pitching outlook.

Audio intro: Daniel Leckie, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Austin Klewan, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to The Roundtable archive

Link to Roundtable cancellation post

Link to Pebble Hunting

Link to Grant’s author archive

Link to Andy’s author archive

Link to Jelly Roll wiki

Link to Ben on baseball pizza discounts

Link to Taco Bell promotion wiki

Link to Jessica Simpson quote

Link to Zoolander clip

Link to Eddings wiki

Link to Eddings article 1

Link to Eddings article 2

Link to Eddings article 3

Link to Eddings article 4

Link to umpire retirements

Link to Ben on ABS

Link to Gattis on Kershaw

Link to banging-scheme site

Link to banging-scheme research 1

Link to banging-scheme research 2

Link to banging-scheme research 3

Link to banging-scheme research 4

Link to Noggin Boss

Link to MLB Isoblox cap

Link to “dadhat” definition

Link to The Sun Never Sets wiki

Link to Joe Swanberg wiki

Link to mumblecore wiki

Link to Fennessey on mumblecore

Link to automatic double wiki

Link to Snapple on reaching base

Link to SABR on reaching base

Link to Enders on reaching base

Link to Marte article 1

Link to Marte article 2

Link to Marte article 3

Link to Marte article 4

Link to double summit wiki

Link to Sam on bad challenges

Link to Sam on pitcher mistakes

Link to Sam on strike rates

Link to Tango on miss distance

Link to Sam on Kershaw mistakes

Link to Rob Arthur on ball variation

Link to Andy on aces

Link to Ohtani pitching update

Link to Sam on two-way Ohtani

Link to Beyond the Scrum

Link to Sportswriters Blues

Link to “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”

Sponsor Us on Patreon

Give a Gift Subscription

Email Us: podcast@fangraphs.com

Effectively Wild Subreddit

Effectively Wild Wiki

Apple Podcasts Feed

Spotify Feed

YouTube Playlist

Facebook Group

Bluesky Account

Twitter Account

Get Our Merch!

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