Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s return from vacation and their podcast-producer search, then discuss the uncertain statuses of Aaron Judge, Alex Bregman, and Shohei Ohtani on the precipice of the playoffs, how similar finishes in consecutive seasons can produce extra-disappointing or surprisingly uplifting results (featuring thoughts on the Astros, Diamondbacks, and Cardinals), the Padres’ recent run, Paul Skenes pinning part of the blame for his inconsistent season on the WBC, what to call the Tigers’ rebranded ballpark, managerial moves for the Red Sox and Mets, Cade Cavalli’s extension, business updates involving the Yankees, Angels, and Dodgers, an Ichiro Suzuki sighting, and a pair of weird-lookin’ (hit by) pitches, plus a few follow-ups.

Audio intro: Cory Brent, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Audio outro: Beatwriter, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to Spokane airport expansion

Link to Boone quotes

Link to Judge’s calf explanation

Link to Judge injury update

Link to FG post on Judge

Link to soleus muscle wiki

Link to Ewing Theory explainer

Link to Bregman report

Link to post-ASB WAR

Link to Bregman clip

Link to Bregman face photo

Link to Encarnacion clip

Link to coach box enforcement

Link to Ohtani training

Link to Ohtani return update

Link to Schwarber postseason comeback

Link to “Mr. Autumn Man” article

Link to BaseRuns records

Link to Ben on the Pirates

Link to Skenes comments

Link to Ben on WBC injuries

Link to Ben on WBC pitching

Link to Tigers park renaming

Link to Episode 1639 wiki

Link to bank merger info

Link to Busytown wiki

Link to Richard Scarry wiki

Link to Beer Barrel Man wiki

Link to Red Sox management moves

Link to Mets managerial move

Link to FG post on Cavalli extension

Link to Walter suit

Link to Levine on Walter 1

Link to Levine on Walter 2

Link to Yankees PE article

Link to MLB PE article

Link to Moreno ownership article

Link to Ichiro article

Link to Ichiro video

Link to Halvorsen pitch

Link to Halvorsen pitch article

Link to 2025 Halvorsen pitch

Link to Cantillo pitch

Link to Cantillo pitch article

Link to Windbigler wiki

Link to WPBL gamer

Link to WPBL draft analysis

Link to Ben on PCA vs. Miz

Link to Nakashima wiki

Link to Nakashima stats

Link to MLB sac bunt leaders

Link to Ben on Nakashima

Link to Nakashima retirement story

Link to Nakashima retirement clip

Link to Fighters fan on Nakashima

Link to NYT on sportsbooks

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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 goes long with a few guests and segments. First, Kiri Oler of FanGraphs and Bradley Woodrum of Baseball Prospectus join to banter about how Pete Crow-Armstrong and Jacob Misiorowski illustrate the differences in modern pitcher and hitter usage and value, Sandy Alcantara as the last innings eater, two more baseball movies, Ernie Clement’s post-All-Star-Game decline, and Jefry Yan’s more muted strikeout celebrations. Then (43:34) they break down the inaugural season of the WPBL: what went right, what went wrong, the Kelsie Whitmore-Denae Benites battle, the high-offense environment, their other favorite storylines, the future of the league, and more. After that (1:33:33), Ben brings on the manager of the Pioneer League’s RedPocket Mobiles, former major leaguer Dmitri Young, along with Mobiles co-GM and Pioneer League director of operations Al Maulding, to explain how the Mobiles suffered the longest losing streak in pro baseball history, life on a traveling team, indy-ball oddities, and more. Finally (2:36:23), Ben Stat Blasts about the most times reaching base before a first career hit, players who hit their first homers off position-player pitchers, and lineups composed of players with short surnames.

Audio intro: The Gagnés, “Effectively Wild Theme 2”

Audio outro: The Shirey Brothers, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to previous Bradley appearance

Link to previous Kiri appearance

Link to FG combined WAR leaderboard

Link to Eric André meme

Link to highest-WAR offensive seasons

Link to highest-WAR pitching seasons

Link to pitching rate-stats leaders

Link to on-pace leaderboard

Link to PCA fielding chances

Link to Miz fielding chances

Link to Miz fielding stats

Link to AP on Alcantara

Link to Trueblood on Alcantara

Link to Baumann on Alcantara

Link to IP leaderboard

Link to Ben on innings eaters

Link to baseball rom-com

Link to Powell-Linklater movie

Link to Hanks movie

Link to De Niro/Lasorda movie

Link to Lasorda and son article 1

Link to Lasorda and son article 2

Link to Wahlberg/Rose movie

Link to Ben’s Rose obit

Link to Ben on Rose and the HoF

Link to worst post-ASB hitters

Link to Clement vote totals

Link to Yan’s last leap

Link to Yan’s slide

Link to Yan’s MLB strikeout pitches

Link to Yan’s Insta post

Link to Yan/Jackson Insta post

Link to WPBL standings

Link to WPBL postseason results

Link to WPBL hitting leaders

Link to WPBL pitching leaders

Link to WPBL leaguewide stats

Link to 1871 NA leaguewide stats

Link to Defector on the WPBL

Link to AP on the WPBL

Link to Kiri on WPBL predecessors

Link to other WPBL article

Link to Gladys the Goose

Link to Bradley on Benites

Link to Bradley on Lee

Link to Bradley on grand slams

Link to Bradley on the playoffs

Link to Bradley on WPBL offense

Link to Ben on mid-PA changes

Link to Kiri’s last weekly recap

Link to Kiri on the Firebells

Link to Kiri on the Queens

Link to Apgar video

Link to Apgar article

Link to Sato wiki

Link to Robin Roberts Stadium

Link to WPBL draft order

Link to WPBL run values

Link to MLB-AUSL partnership

Link to article on the WPBL’s future

Link to Women’s Baseball World Cup

Link to The 39 Steps wiki

Link to MLB partner leagues

Link to Pioneer League wiki

Link to Pioneer League standings

Link to MLB.com on the Mobiles

Link to The Athletic on the Mobiles

Link to the Mobiles on the Mobiles

Link to Stockade wiki

Link to Ben on the Stockade

Link to The Only Rule

Link to Empire State Greys wiki

Link to Mobiles announcement

Link to Mobiles YouTube videos

Link to Mobiles Twitter thread

Link to Pioneer League knockout

Link to All-Star swing-off

Link to Northern Colorado Owlz

Link to Young wiki

Link to Young card collection info

Link to Young article 1

Link to Young article 2

Link to Young article 3

Link to Young article 4

Link to Young article 5

Link to Young article 6

Link to Young article 7

Link to betting-threats story

Link to PPP HR sheet

Link to Chapman wiki

Link to Hartung wiki

Link to Iorg game

Link to LaCoss homers

Link to Lara post-homer photo

Link to scoreboard photo

Link to 1946 game

Link to 2004 game

Link to 2024 game

Link to 1956 fun fact tweet

Link to 1926 game

Link to 2025 game 1

Link to 2025 game 2

Link to listener emails database

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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

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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

Effectively Wild Wiki

Apple Podcasts Feed

Spotify Feed

YouTube Playlist

Facebook Group

Bluesky Account

Twitter Account

Get Our Merch!

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