Eyewash: A Baseball Podcast Eyewash Podcast

Jacob and Ronak talk about Giancarlo Stanton's recent hot streak well before the recent injury he sustained that has kept him out of the Yankee lineup. Then they talk about the surprise news that Albert Pujols was released by the Angels well before the recent news that he was signed bafflingly by the Dodgers. They then talk about Mark Feinsand's recent article on MLB.com surveying MLB GMs and executives about the most surprising storylines in MLB so far this season.



Intro song: 'She Works Out Too Much' by MGMT

Outro song: 'Luna' by The Mountain Goats

Jacob and Ronak briefly discuss the controversial call from a Phillies/Mets game that arguably cost the Phillies a close game while questioning the sense behind not making all plays reviewable. They then discuss Rob Manfred's recent comments about MLB's pace of play being a favorable perk for potential gambling revenue. Finally they review the specific prediction questions they answered at the beginning of April and see how they did before answering their prediction questions for May.



Intro Song: 'Dark Days' by PUP



Outro Song: "Fuck wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')" by Dr. Dre

Jacob and Ronak briefly discuss the Phillies' start to the season before touching on the surprising start for the Kansas City Royals. They then talk about the currently low league-wide batting average and what it means for the aesthetics of baseball at large and where MLB should go from here to change the style of play. Then they discuss the resurgent San Francisco Giants riding their hot starting pitching to a surprising start before Jacob shares his experiences umpiring little league games recently and what he learned along the way.



Intro Song: "It's Working" by MGMT

Outro Song: "Instrumental" by Black Country, New Road

Jacob and Ronak start by revisiting their discussion on which qualified MLB hitter would be the last to strike out before taking a look at which players have yet to draw walks, and then they discuss the Mets' controversial win over the Phillies in which Michael Conforto seemingly leaned into a would-be strike 3 call despite the umpire ruling it a game winning hit by pitch.





Next, they discuss Jacob's experience attending a Phillies-Mets game in Philadelphia, what it felt like to be back at a baseball game after over a year of not being able to, and what stuck out about the limited capacity setup of the stadium.





They then discuss the specific idiosyncrasies of fandom before questioning the value of the home team booing their own players before hitting on James Paxton and Fernando Tatis's respective injuries and then going through the team leaderboards for WAR so far in the 2021 season.





Intro song: 'Ravestar Supreme' by Pinkshinyultrablast





Outro song: 'Let Them Win' by Jeff Rosenstock

Jacob and Ronak talk about the opening weekend of the much anticipated 2020-21 season and remark on the season's particularly unusual nature so far. They then choose their creatively titled "Thing of the Week" and choose the storyline that stood out to them the most from the weekend of baseball so far.





Afterwards, they run through the ever-dwindling list of qualified MLB hitters who have yet to strikeout (a list that loses a member during the recording itself) and discuss who they think will be the last batter to remain without a strikeout.





And finally they run through the Phillies' impressive series against the Braves and resulting increase in their playoff odds, using the odds as an example of what to take seriously and what to take seriously early in the baseball season.





Intro song: "Tibetan Pop Stars" by Hop Along





Outro Song: "The World's Best American Band" by White Reaper

NOTE: This episode was recorded shortly before news released of Francisco Lindor signing a 10 year extension with the New York Mets.





Jacob and Ronak briefly discuss the extension situations of Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa and Anthony Rizzo (1:29). They then celebrate the long awaited arrival of Opening Day 2021 by answering a few prediction-related questions about the first month of the season and what they think will happen in that time (20:00) and also discuss how they plan to approach Opening Day and the start of the season as baseball viewers (38:50).





Then finally, they participate in a 2-person fantasy draft with 15 players each with the catch that each player in the entire draft must be from a different team (44:10).





Intro song: 'Only Tomorrow' by My Bloody Valentine





Outro Song: 'Nobody's Baby Now' by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds