Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Bryce Harper’s hot streak, the players at the top of the WAR leaderboard, the exploits of Byron Buxton and Nelson Cruz, the suddenly unbeatable Oakland A’s, Ben’s new favorite stat to track (Nick Madrigal’s K%+), pitcher hitting performance reaching a new nadir, and more. Then they debut a new recurring segment (and song), “Meet a Major Leaguer,” by introducing Marlins reliever Zach Pop and Rockies reliever Jordan Sheffield. They close by discussing an article about the obstacles facing women working for MLB teams and the latest biannual, Crasnick-esque ESPN insider survey about MLB’s burning questions. (Parental warning: This episode contains a trio of swears.)

Audio outro: Laura Marling, "Hope We Meet Again"

Link to story about Lowrie’s knee

Link to story about Lowrie’s sleeping

Link to story about James’s sleeping

Link to story about Smith’s sleeping

Link to 2021 K%+ leaderboard

Link to post-WWII K%+ leaderboard

Link to league-wide pitcher hitting stats

Link to Ben on pitcher hitting

Link to B-Ref’s new debuts page

Link to list of 2021 rule 5 guys

Link to Joon Lee’s article

Link to EW episode 1612 (with Jen Wolf)

Link to 2021 ESPN season survey

Link to Dan Szymborski on the Royals

Link to Ben Clemens on Burnes

Link to Jay Jaffe on Burnes

Link to Facebook group songs section

Link to “Meet a Major Leaguer” song

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