Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

By Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley

What's Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast about?

Daily baseball statistical analysis and commentary

4.8

2,157 ratings

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Effectively Wild Episode 20...

09.22.2023

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Yusei Kikuchi’s (and other players’) sleep habits and the possibility of a three-way AL West tie with no tiebreaker game, then (28:28) answer listener emails about surprising team assignments in Baseball-Reference headshots, a ...

Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast episodes:

09.22.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2063: Yusei Are Getting Very Sleepy Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Yusei Kikuchi’s (and other players’) sleep habits and the possibility of a three-way AL West tie with no tiebreaker game, then (28:28) answer listener emails about surprising team assignments in Baseball-Reference headshots, a ...
09.20.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2062: Competing Padres Postmortems Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the five-year anniversary of a Twitter wager about Adalberto Mondesi and Shohei Ohtani, then compare and contrast two in-depth articles about the problems supposedly plaguing the Padres and discuss how convincing they find ...
09.19.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2061: Preseason Team Goals, Revisited Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about precedents for 50-year-old Bartolo Colon retiring as a Met, whether it’s better for a player to go out on top or be humbled a bit before the end, the ramifications of the Rays’ ...
09.16.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2060: Let’s Not Be Too Heston Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and Patreon supporter Max Harris banter about Ben’s problems remembering Orioles rookie Heston Kjerstad’s name, Baltimore’s lookalike offensive core, and Max’s history with the podcast and baseball, then (18:22) answer listener emails about seat fillers at ...
09.15.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2059: The Bloom is Off the Bloom Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the firing of Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and the extension of Nationals president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo, injuries to Max Scherzer and Sandy Alcantara and MLB’s UCL scourge, and ...
09.13.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2058: The POBO That Was Promised Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about baseball comps for the season-ending injury of quarterback Aaron Rodgers four snaps into his New York Jets career, the Rip Van Winkle-esque return of Orioles starter John Means after Tommy John surgery, the ...
09.09.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2057: Unlimited Power/Speed Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the NL wild card race and Dodgers starting pitching, then (17:24) answer listener emails about league-sanctioned spies, the best second jobs for an MLB player, a clairvoyant catcher, celebrating obscure records, switch-hitters and ...
09.08.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2056: Just-Noticeable Defense Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss listener responses to their banter about surprising Statcast throwing speeds, then (12:42) discuss Nick Ahmed’s unsung great glovework, the A’s turning out to be (slightly) less historically terrible than they initially seemed, the AL ...
09.06.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2055: No Throw Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a Statcast-standout throw by Brenton Doyle, a Statcast-standout homer by Ronald Acuña Jr., and how closely Statcast data matches the eye test in various aspects of performance, the surges or resurgences of Cole ...
09.02.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2054: The Prospect-Call-Up Countdown Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a new browser game called Homer Hindsight, where all the players placed on waivers ended up, the White Sox promoting Chris Getz and the continued comeback of the ex-player GM, Brandon Lowe’s Yankees ...
08.31.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2053: The Shohei Ohtani of Indie Rock Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s voice and the potential for an ambidextrous superstar who blends the skill sets of Shohei Ohtani and Pat Venditte, then discuss all the implications of the Angels (and a few other teams) ...
08.30.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2052: New Kids on the Block Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about classifying throws by infielders that are actually made in the outfield, imagine a multi-sport two-way Shohei Ohtani, and belatedly acknowledge Scott Cooper’s singular cycle, discuss Kyle Schwarber’s possible sub-replacement-level 40-homer season, break down ...
08.27.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2051: Bunts and Balks and Passed Balls, Oh My Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about how late it is in the season and a fan’s exuberant reaction to the only known unassisted outfield triple play in major or minor league history, answer listener emails (15:17) about Shohei Ohtani ...
08.25.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2050: Sho No Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley lament and discuss Shohei Ohtani’s UCL injury and its ramifications for the rest of his season, his two-way future, his free agency, the Angels, and the continued happiness of baseball fans and podcast co-hosts, followed ...
08.23.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2049: Seattle Slays Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s week away, Julio Rodríguez’s hot streak and the Mariners’ surge, and the White Sox firing Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn, plus a grab bag of topics that caught Ben’s attention while he ...
08.19.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2048: Calling Up All Angels Baseball Prospectus’ editor-in-chief Craig Goldstein joins the show to discuss the surging Dodgers (5:26) and what led to their recently concluded win streak, the call-ups of Masyn Winn and Nolan Schanuel (28:07), and the optimal timing of the trade deadline ...
08.18.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2047: This Podcast Now Competes in the Big Ten With Ben Lindbergh still in Sweden, FanGraphs’ Michael Baumann takes the co-host chair for a spin. He and Meg Rowley begin (2:10) by delighting in a picture of Lance Lynn and Enrique Hernández from Dodgers photo day, then take advantage ...
08.16.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2046: These Segments Are Underrated With Ben Lindbergh in Sweden on Ringer business, FanGraphs’ Ben Clemens joins Meg Rowley for a turn in the co-host chair. Ben and Meg begin (1:40) by discussing the disturbing allegations made against Rays shortstop Wander Franco over the weekend. ...
08.11.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2045: The Designated Hugger Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and Patreon supporter Samuel Giddins banter about Samuel’s baseball background and history with Effectively Wild, before (9:52) discussing a Juan Soto quote and the type of disappointing team that’s most frustrating. Then (21:35) they answer listener ...
08.10.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2044: The Catcher-Crotch Catch Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether the plight of running backs in the NFL is analogous to any data-driven developments in MLB, the benefits and drawbacks of more or fewer off days during postseason series (and the problem ...
08.09.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2043: A Fool Rushes in Where Angelos Treads Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Tim Anderson–José Ramírez fight and White Sox clubhouse culture, John Angelos benching Orioles broadcaster Kevin Brown, the Angels’ post-deadline slump (and the Mariners’ rise), the return of Gary Sánchez‘s power bat, updates ...
08.05.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2042: Pure Happenstance Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Robin Ventura truthers defending Ventura on the 30th anniversary of his brawl with Nolan Ryan, Shohei Ohtani‘s 2023 WAR matching his full-season 2021 WAR and whether this Ohtani season would’ve won him an ...
08.03.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2041: The Trade Deadline Deals, Pt. 2 After the trade-deadline dust settles, Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley break down the big deals from deadline eve and deadline day, starting with high-level trade-season takeaways (reunions, top prospects, hitters vs. pitchers, missing star power) and then zooming in on ...
08.01.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2040: The Trade Deadline Deals, Pt. 1 Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Charlie Culberson’s surprising staying power as a barely-playing big leaguer, then break down the first batch of trades preceding the trade deadline, including deals involving Max Scherzer, Jordan Montgomery, Chris Stratton, Jordan Hicks, ...
07.29.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2039: A Miles in Someone Else’s Bruise Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a silly kerfuffle involving Miles Mikolas, Willson Contreras, and Ian Happ, Triston Casas’s hot streak and previous unwritten-rules run-in, Bullet Rogan vs. Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge’s return and the Yankees’ underlying issues, the ...
07.28.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2038: The Angels Are Sho-ing for It. What Will They Have to Sho for It? Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about watching Shohei Ohtani play while they podcast, the Angels’ decision not to trade Ohtani and subsequent trade for Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López, whether the Cubs should buy or sell, the Guardians’ and ...
07.26.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2037: Ashes to Ashes, Draft to Draft Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a J.P. France postgame quote and ballplayer clichés, the death of first overall pick Mike Ivie, and how Masataka Yoshida’s debut season stacks up to the MLB rookie years of other ex-NPB stars, ...
07.22.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2036: The Shohei Ohtani Trading Game In a 21-guest salute to Shohei Ohtani trade hypotheticals, Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley are joined by a multitude of friends for a role-playing exercise in convincing the Angels to trade Ohtani to the other 20 contending (or quasi-contending) teams. ...
07.21.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2035: Hot Streaks and Cold Spells Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s strategies for coping with record heat in Phoenix, revisit an earlier conversation about whether the pitch clock has boosted MLB attendance (and reminisce about when the cause of increased game times was ...
07.19.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2034: Strand Rate Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Christian Encarnacion-Strand and whether record compound names deserve an asterisk, the appeal of a Legends Home Run Derby, the origins of (and long-ago backlash to) the trade deadline, the greatness of NPB phenom ...
07.15.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2033: Need-to-Know Bases Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the 2024 regular-season schedule, the baseball relevance of a study about humans’ hunger for useless information, and the storylines they’re most looking forward to following over the remainder of the season, then (35:58) ...
07.14.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2032: League of Legends Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s spectator experience at the All-Star Game, whether it’s good or bad that the MVP was a player as obscure as Elias Díaz, the increase in the number of All-Stars per season, other ...
07.12.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2031: No Peeking in the Press Box Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s experiences at the Futures Game, the draft, and the Home Run Derby, Derby highlights, the Derby on TV vs. in person, Elly De La Cruz’s mad dash, and the Yankees switching hitting ...
07.08.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2030: Deadline Dilemmas and Needs Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s All-Star Week plans, play “Would you rather?” with the White Sox and Cardinals, the Padres and Mets, Carlos Rodón and Alek Manoah, and the Rangers and Diamondbacks, compare the values of Pablo ...
07.06.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2029: Fallen Los Angeles Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether Mike Trout‘s injury makes the Angels more likely to trade birthday boy Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers’ rotation depth without Dustin May and Clayton Kershaw, bad news for Thairo Estrada and oldsters Nelson ...
07.04.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2028: Baseball Band Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about All-Star-roster minimums and maximums, what the Aroldis Chapman trade tells us about the how teams value prospects, Jake Diekman’s exploits with the Rays, Evan Longoria’s late-career contributions, and the same-named siblings of Carlos ...
07.01.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2027: The First Half of the Season, Summed Up Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley attempt to create a hierarchy of highlights, then (21:36) mark the midpoint of the regular season by reviewing the most salient storylines of the first half, the teams and players who’ve most underperformed or overperformed ...
06.30.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2026: Sound and Furries Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Andrew McCutchen’s latest “furries” tweet, the Pirates playing through a high AQI and the need for a safety standard, Domingo Germán’s perfect game and the state of the Yankees, Yandy Díaz turning back ...
06.28.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2025: You’ve Got a Friend in Ohtani Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the three Taylor Wards, the truth and multiple untruths about Elly De La Cruz’s twin brother, the dominance of 20-year-old Eury Pérez and the Marlins’ usage dilemma, Luis Arraez’s plate predictions, MVP odds, ...
06.24.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2024: The Old College Try Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley are joined by FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen and Michael Baumann to banter about the Phillies’ outlier legal name, Dave Martinez and the dying art of the theatrical managerial ejection, the benching of Wander Franco, whether the ...
06.22.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2023: What’s Past Blast is Prologue Ben Lindbergh addresses an interview upgrade on the preceding episode, chats with FanGraphs’ Dan Szymborski about Luis Arraez’s chances of batting .400, Stat Blasts (22:36) about extremes in team winning and losing streaks, welcomes in David Lewis (28:00) for the ...
06.21.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2022: Three Strikes, You’re Out at the New Ballgame Ben Lindbergh and Russell Carleton of Baseball Prospectus banter about the return of Joey Votto, the suddenly exciting Cincinnati Reds, the NL Central and NL West races, and more, then (25:45) discuss several of the developments chronicled in Russell’s new ...
06.17.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2021: Always Be Closing Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Shohei Ohtani’s latest exploits and career-best WAR pace, the Angels’ playoff hopes, Corbin Carroll’s physique, and Mickey Moniak’s fluky-but-fun hot streak, then (20:55) answer listener emails about how big a scandal it would ...
06.16.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2020: Boo This Manfred Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley review the most disappointing teams of 2023, ultimately anointing one team as the most disappointing and trying to identify which of the contenders for the “most disappointing” title is most likely to turn things around ...
06.14.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2019: Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Sportswriters Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Shohei Ohtani leading MLB in WAR and the number of times his hitting has leapfrogged his pitching or vice versa, the EW audience’s verdict on who won the pod’s recent 26-under-25 draft, the ...
06.11.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2018: Commissioner Correspondence Ben Lindbergh, Meg Rowley, and Patreon supporter Reggie Deal banter about Reggie’s background as a baseball fan and Effectively Wild listener, his email correspondence with MLB and Rob Manfred, accessibility issues he’s encountered while following baseball as a blind person, ...
06.10.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2017: The 26-Under-25 Draft Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Mets, the Padres, and the AL Central, Jacob deGrom’s UCL, Mike Trout’s slow (by his standards) start, and a Phillies pitch-clock controversy, then (23:32), in honor of Elly De La Cruz, draft ...
06.07.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2016: We’ve Got Good News and Bad News Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Ben’s voice, the arrival of Elly De La Cruz, the similarities between the up-and-coming Reds and Pirates, whether we need a “super-error,” Aaron Judge’s ball- and wall-smashing abilities, the plights of Alek Manoah ...
06.03.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2015: Sweeping Statement Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about whether Shohei Ohtani is throwing too many sweepers to opposite-handed hitters, the MLB debut of flamethrowing Ben Joyce, the extreme walk/strikeout stylings of George Kirby and Spencer Strider, the states of the Central ...
06.03.2023 Effectively Wild Episode 2014: Clocks and Bonds Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Meg’s 500th EW episode, the architectural concept of the “Thomasson,” a forthcoming HBO documentary about Barry Bonds, the rebound of Juan Soto, common misconceptions about WAR, the declines of Noah Syndergaard and Kris ...

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Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast

What's Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast about?

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Effectively Wild: A FanGraphs Baseball Podcast episodes:

Effectively Wild Episode 2063: Yusei Are Getting Very Sleepy

Effectively Wild Episode 2062: Competing Padres Postmortems

Effectively Wild Episode 2061: Preseason Team Goals, Revisited

Effectively Wild Episode 2060: Let’s Not Be Too Heston

Effectively Wild Episode 2059: The Bloom is Off the Bloom

Effectively Wild Episode 2058: The POBO That Was Promised

Effectively Wild Episode 2057: Unlimited Power/Speed

Effectively Wild Episode 2056: Just-Noticeable Defense

Effectively Wild Episode 2055: No Throw

Effectively Wild Episode 2054: The Prospect-Call-Up Countdown

Effectively Wild Episode 2053: The Shohei Ohtani of Indie Rock

Effectively Wild Episode 2052: New Kids on the Block

Effectively Wild Episode 2051: Bunts and Balks and Passed Balls, Oh My

Effectively Wild Episode 2050: Sho No

Effectively Wild Episode 2049: Seattle Slays

Effectively Wild Episode 2048: Calling Up All Angels

Effectively Wild Episode 2047: This Podcast Now Competes in the Big Ten

Effectively Wild Episode 2046: These Segments Are Underrated

Effectively Wild Episode 2045: The Designated Hugger

Effectively Wild Episode 2044: The Catcher-Crotch Catch

Effectively Wild Episode 2043: A Fool Rushes in Where Angelos Treads

Effectively Wild Episode 2042: Pure Happenstance

Effectively Wild Episode 2041: The Trade Deadline Deals, Pt. 2

Effectively Wild Episode 2040: The Trade Deadline Deals, Pt. 1

Effectively Wild Episode 2039: A Miles in Someone Else’s Bruise

Effectively Wild Episode 2038: The Angels Are Sho-ing for It. What Will They Have to Sho for It?

Effectively Wild Episode 2037: Ashes to Ashes, Draft to Draft

Effectively Wild Episode 2036: The Shohei Ohtani Trading Game

Effectively Wild Episode 2035: Hot Streaks and Cold Spells

Effectively Wild Episode 2034: Strand Rate

Effectively Wild Episode 2033: Need-to-Know Bases

Effectively Wild Episode 2032: League of Legends

Effectively Wild Episode 2031: No Peeking in the Press Box

Effectively Wild Episode 2030: Deadline Dilemmas and Needs

Effectively Wild Episode 2029: Fallen Los Angeles

Effectively Wild Episode 2028: Baseball Band

Effectively Wild Episode 2027: The First Half of the Season, Summed Up

Effectively Wild Episode 2026: Sound and Furries

Effectively Wild Episode 2025: You’ve Got a Friend in Ohtani

Effectively Wild Episode 2024: The Old College Try

Effectively Wild Episode 2023: What’s Past Blast is Prologue

Effectively Wild Episode 2022: Three Strikes, You’re Out at the New Ballgame

Effectively Wild Episode 2021: Always Be Closing

Effectively Wild Episode 2020: Boo This Manfred

Effectively Wild Episode 2019: Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Sportswriters

Effectively Wild Episode 2018: Commissioner Correspondence

Effectively Wild Episode 2017: The 26-Under-25 Draft

Effectively Wild Episode 2016: We’ve Got Good News and Bad News

Effectively Wild Episode 2015: Sweeping Statement

Effectively Wild Episode 2014: Clocks and Bonds

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