Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Elly De La Cruz’s unspectacular start to the season, the firing of Brandon Hyde and what it would take for them to blame a manager for a team’s disappointing season, the hubbub about Juan Soto’s hustle, MLB’s announcement about Rivalry Weekend’s success, Kyle Schwarber and the lineage of non-Hall-of-Fame hitters who’ve appeared to have a chance at “magic number” milestones, MLB’s attempt to define the swing, the overwhelming array of Statcast stats, the latest call for Shohei Ohtani to specialize, and more.

Audio outro: Jonathan Crymes 2, “Effectively Wild Theme”

Link to FG on the O’s

Link to FG playoff odds

Link to BaseRuns standings

Link to Girardi firing article

Link to ESPN on Valentine

Link to FG on the Twins

Link to Soto flight confusion

Link to Ben on Jeter vs. Cano

Link to Soto in-game interview info

Link to Ben on in-game interviews

Link to Soto plays

Link to Mendoza quote

Link to MLB press release

Link to Vedder Cup story

Link to Schwarber HR stat

Link to Stathead query

Link to most HR since 2022

Link to swings article 1

Link to swings article 2

Link to new Savant leaderboard

Link to article on new metrics

Link to FG on Royals pitching

Link to Ohtani strikeout

Link to Pereda ball

Link to Ohtani article

Link to Sam on Ohtani

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