Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the Rays’ combined seven-inning hitless game, knuckleballer Mickey Jannis as a secret weapon in MLB The Show, Jacob deGrom and the near-impossibility of breaking the ERA record, Billy Hamilton and players with the highest highlight-to-value ratios, a six-man outfield against Joey Gallo, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the retelling […]

Effectively Wild Episode 1717: The Bad Hatters

Daily baseball statistical analysis and commentary

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Baseball

Amid a wave of pitcher injuries, Ben Lindbergh talks to Dr. Rich Nye (4:20), a former major leaguer whose career-ending injury became a career-beginning injury when he decided to become an exotic-animal veterinarian (among other occupations). Then (1:07:09) Ben talks to prolific TV creators/writers/producers Tom Fontana and Julie Martin about what might have been for […]

Effectively Wild Episode 2154: Sliding Doors and Sliding Home

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Carlos Correa’s nerdiness, the Pirates pulling phenom Jared Jones after 59 effective pitches, the zombie runner, what Jontay Porter’s lifetime NBA ban portends for MLB, Shohei/Ippei conspiracy theories and Shohei Ohtani’s hitting and tax loophole, Michael Busch and the Dodgers’ outfield offense, the legacy of Whitey Herzog’s “Whiteyball,” […]

Effectively Wild Episode 2153: Whoops it Up

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about MLB jerseys as Fremen stillsuits, an update on Blake Snell the self-perceived strike-thrower, Brent Suter and being the “best teammate,” which MLB team is last in the league in vibes, the struggling Marlins demoting the not-struggling Max Meyer, whether teams are working minor league pitchers (such as Paul […]

Effectively Wild Episode 2152: The Worst Vibes in Baseball

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the lack of an uptick in stolen bases this season, which of the teams that are off to surprisingly hot or cold starts has changed their minds the most, analogs to baseball’s epidemic of UCL tears in tennis and women’s soccer, whether MLB would/should allow a hypothetical UCL-strengthening […]

Effectively Wild Episode 2151: The MLB Reboot

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley react to news about Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara being charged with bank fraud, discuss the revelations in the government’s stunning, detailed complaint, and assess the implications for Ohtani and MLB. Then (1:06:58) they banter about Jordan Montgomery changing agencies after his offseason Boras debacle, a Juan Soto fan-pandering […]

Effectively Wild Episode 1717: The Bad Hatters

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