Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley
  • 4.7 (2.6K)
  • Baseball
  • Updated Daily

Daily baseball statistical analysis and commentary

  1. 13h ago

    Effectively Wild Episode 2530: The Top 24 Players 24 or Younger

    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! var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source

  2. 2d ago

    Effectively Wild Episode 2529: The Bandwagon Re-Reunion

    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  Effectively Wild Subreddit  Effectively Wild Wiki  Apple Podcasts Feed   Spotify Feed  YouTube Playlist  Facebook Group  Bluesky Account  Twitter Account  Get Our Merch! var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source

  3. 3d ago

    Effectively Wild Episode 2528: The Roundtable Reunion

    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! var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source

  4. Sep 4

    Effectively Wild Episode 2527: Feels Like the First Time

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon. Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about duplicate episode titles and the Angels being slightly less bad than previously indicated, Stat Blast about extended team droughts between multi-hit MLB debuts, and discuss the arrival and role of Padres prospect Ethan Salas, a (deep breath) Cubs-produced, TikTok-based, baseball-themed, microdrama rom-com, whether they have any interest in VR baseball broadcasts, and an apparent change in Minor League Baseball’s ball, followed by additional Blasting about a Jordan Walker fact that may or may not be fun, catcher hot-swaps, center fielders on the mound, and all-win/loss days for divisions. Audio intro: Jimmy Kramer, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Gabriel-Ernest, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to duplicate episode titles Link to Episode 1240 Link to Episode 1573 Link to Paine on Moreno/Kroenke Link to Kroenke’s land ownership Link to Langs post 1 Link to Langs post 2 Link to debutant dingers article Link to gaps between debuts Link to Close Encounters scene Link to Montes debut article Link to Ichiro rookie hits record Link to Ichiro video Link to Montes video Link to Ben on debutant batters Link to proj. strength of schedule Link to M’s rookie batting WAR Link to BP on Jenkins Link to BP on Salas Link to ESPN on Salas Link to New Yorker on microdramas Link to Quibi wiki Link to Variety on Nine Innings to Love Link to Nine Innings to Love trailer Link to The Notebook scene Link to VR broadcasts article Link to Jake/Jordan broadcast info Link to Ben’s plot hole video Link to Cooper on the MiLB ball Link to Cooper on college homers Link to Ben on the MiLB-to-MLB gap Link to Clay on the MiLB-to-MLB gap Link to FG on MiLB ball construction Link to Walker alleged fun fact Link to ITYSL meme Link to Williams vs. Wood post Link to catchers data Link to The Onion on Gillette Link to wild 1902 game Link to Garver EW episode Link to all-loss division days Link to all-win division days Link to listener emails database  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! var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source

  5. Sep 3

    Effectively Wild Episode 2526: How Ballpark Sound Got Both Better and Worse

    Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley announce an upcoming livestream and then react to the semi-surprising sale of the Angels by Arte Moreno to Stan Kroenke, considering the significance of the sale price, the outlook for the franchise, the legacies of Moreno and Mike Trout, and what the sale might portend for CBA talks. Then (43:14), in the wake of recent reporting and discussion about the volume level at games, they talk to stadium acoustics expert Jack Wrightson of design firm WJHW about how stadium sound systems are simulated and constructed, how they’ve evolved, the sonic environments of baseball and other sports, how team preferences and practices vary, fan noise vs. PA noise, sound on the field vs. sound in the stands, why ballparks are sometimes too loud, and much more, plus (1:37:57) a few postscript follow-ups. Audio intro: Harold Walker, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio interstitial: Grant Brisbee, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Xavier LeBlanc, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to Patreon registration Link to FG on the Angels sale Link to The Athletic sale article 1 Link to The Athletic sale article 2 Link to Trout quotes Link to mayor quotes Link to 2023 attendance Link to 2026 attendance Link to Moreno on fan preferences Link to Kroenke wiki Link to Moreno wiki Link to Paine on Moreno Link to new Angels park item Link to froyo fraud article Link to sale-price bubble analysis Link to WJHW “about” page Link to WJHW ballparks page Link to Jack’s WJHW bio Link to latest loudness article Link to loudness article 2 Link to loudness article 3 Link to loudness article 4 Link to loudness article 5 Link to sound level meter wiki Link to loudness wars wiki Link to SIS on Cowser Link to Langs post 1 Link to Langs post 2 Link to EW on Yandy and ABS Link to Tango on Yandy Link to Tango on the Rays Link to more Tango on the Rays Link to Jade on Skubal Link to new Plot Hole or Not Hole  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! var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source

  6. Sep 1

    Effectively Wild Episode 2525: Espresso Written Consent

    Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the research Meg saw on her trip to Saber Seminar, a vintage Max Scherzer start, Tarik Skubal’s espresso-machine maneuver, a Kevin McGonigle double and rule 9.06(f), an international signing scandal (or in truth, two), MLB’s proposals for reworking offseason signings and roster rules, legal wrangling regarding prediction markets, WPBL difficulties, a Chris Sale gem, a costly FARTBAT, outfield additions, whether Shohei Ohtani will pitch again, the first team eliminated from division-title contention, and more. Audio intro: Philip Tapley and Michael Stokes, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Luke Lillard, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to Saber Seminar site Link to Scherzer start Link to espresso article 1 Link to espresso article 2 Link to article on player frugality Link to McGonigle hit article Link to @ScoringChanges explanation Link to Posnanski post Link to old EW on automatic singles Link to ESPN report on signing scandal Link to MLB proposal article 1 Link to MLB proposal article 2 Link to Baumann on MLB proposals Link to NHL holiday roster freeze Link to MLB prediction-market deals Link to latest legal decision Link to prediction-markets piece 1 Link to prediction-markets piece 2 Link to WPBL standings Link to WPBL article 1 Link to WPBL article 2 Link to Sale article 1 Link to Sale article 2 Link to Sale game page Link to Baldwin game precedents Link to FARTBAT article Link to FARTBAT wiki Link to MLBTR on Pham Link to Pham vs. Myers spat Link to MLBTR on Cave Link to MLBTR on Robert Jr. Link to Ohtani update Link to Reddit Rockies post Link to Curt’s Bluesky post Link to Cowser catch clip Link to Cowser catch article Link to The Sun Never Sets  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! var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source

  7. Aug 28

    Effectively Wild Episode 2524: Take This Cup From Me

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, please visit our Patreon. Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a baseball reference in summer sci-fi flick The End of Oak Street and new reporting on players’ unwillingness to wear cups, then (32:30) discuss career years for Pete Alonso and Gabriel Moreno, Mason Miller’s changeup, Cal Raleigh’s swing change, and whether MLB will follow other leagues’ leads in establishing a tournament or trophy apart from the playoffs, before Stat Blasting (1:17:47) about the worst/least-experienced lineups ever, the most prolifically .500 teams, and the hierarchy of double-play frequency. Audio intro: Kite Person, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Ian Phillips, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to The End of Oak Street wiki Link to David Robert Mitchell wiki Link to Detroit references in movie Link to Parrish 1982 gamelog Link to Doctor Strange Tigers reference Link to protective cups article Link to Luke 22:42-44 Link to Chisholm article Link to Forbes article on JKG Link to Time article on JKG Link to best hitters in August Link to on-pace leaderboard Link to pitch run values since 2025 Link to Miller’s changeup count Link to Cruz homer clip Link to Miller article 1 Link to Miller article 2 Link to game theory meme Link to Cal swing article Link to Neil on alternate champions Link to Neil on the NBA Cup Link to Knicks NBA Cup decision Link to regular-season-champion article Link to regular-season-champion episode Link to Yankees’ six-run win Link to Stat Blast wiki Link to Giants loss article 1 Link to Giants loss article 2 Link to Giants unfun fact Link to Sam post 1 Link to Sam post 2 Link to 2022 White Sox .500 records Link to Rochester Hop Bitters info Link to Preston’s FB post Link to “9 to 5” video Link to double-play data Link to Hembekides clip Link to Hembekides graph Link to Molina 3-2-8 double play Link to Nootbaar play  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! var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source

  8. Aug 27

    Effectively Wild Episode 2523: Upon Further Review

    Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about takeaways from ESPN’s 30 for 30 podcast on Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara, disappointing parity (46:41), the latest public-funding ballpark boondoggles in Kansas City and Tampa (52:22), and which AL wild card contender most deserves to squeak into October (1:12:58). Audio intro: El Warren, “Effectively Wild Theme” Audio outro: Josh Busman, “Effectively Wild Theme” Link to The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani Link to Passan video on the Dodgers Link to Passan tweets on the Dodgers Link to EW episode on Ippei Link to criminal complaint Link to Starz show update Link to 2024 Shohei/Ippei clip Link to deMause/Bradbury EW episode Link to KC ballpark update Link to Tampa ballpark update Link to more on Tampa ballpark Link to Field of Schemes book Link to Field of Schemes post 1 Link to Field of Schemes post 2 Link to Field of Schemes post 3 Link to TIF wiki Link to This One Will Be Different Link to deMause Bluesky post Link to Hurtak Bluesky post Link to Nippon Ham wiki Link to Fighters wiki Link to fruit of the poisonous tree Link to Chinese wall wiki Link to national debt news Link to Alou brothers game Link to all-Alou-outfield article  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! var SERVER_DATA = Object.assign(SERVER_DATA || {}); Source

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