Eyewash: A Baseball Podcast

Jacob and Ronak talk about Giancarlo Stanton's recent hot streak well before the recent injury he sustained that has kept him out of the Yankee lineup. Then they talk about the surprise news that Albert Pujols was released by the Angels well before the recent news that he was signed bafflingly by the Dodgers. They then talk about Mark Feinsand's recent article on MLB.com surveying MLB GMs and executives about the most surprising storylines in MLB so far this season.

Intro song: 'She Works Out Too Much' by MGMT

Outro song: 'Luna' by The Mountain Goats

Jacob and Ronak briefly discuss the controversial call from a Phillies/Mets game that arguably cost the Phillies a close game while questioning the sense behind not making all plays reviewable. They then discuss Rob Manfred's recent comments about MLB's pace of play being a favorable perk for potential gambling revenue. Finally they review the specific prediction questions they answered at the beginning of April and see how they did before answering their prediction questions for May.

Intro Song: 'Dark Days' by PUP

Outro Song: "Fuck wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')" by Dr. Dre

Jacob and Ronak briefly discuss the Phillies' start to the season before touching on the surprising start for the Kansas City Royals. They then talk about the currently low league-wide batting average and what it means for the aesthetics of baseball at large and where MLB should go from here to change the style of play. Then they discuss the resurgent San Francisco Giants riding their hot starting pitching to a surprising start before Jacob shares his experiences umpiring little league games recently and what he learned along the way.

Intro Song: "It's Working" by MGMT

Outro Song: "Instrumental" by Black Country, New Road

Jacob and Ronak start by revisiting their discussion on which qualified MLB hitter would be the last to strike out before taking a look at which players have yet to draw walks, and then they discuss the Mets' controversial win over the Phillies in which Michael Conforto seemingly leaned into a would-be strike 3 call despite the umpire ruling it a game winning hit by pitch.

Next, they discuss Jacob's experience attending a Phillies-Mets game in Philadelphia, what it felt like to be back at a baseball game after over a year of not being able to, and what stuck out about the limited capacity setup of the stadium.

They then discuss the specific idiosyncrasies of fandom before questioning the value of the home team booing their own players before hitting on James Paxton and Fernando Tatis's respective injuries and then going through the team leaderboards for WAR so far in the 2021 season.

Intro song: 'Ravestar Supreme' by Pinkshinyultrablast

Outro song: 'Let Them Win' by Jeff Rosenstock

Jacob and Ronak talk about the opening weekend of the much anticipated 2020-21 season and remark on the season's particularly unusual nature so far. They then choose their creatively titled "Thing of the Week" and choose the storyline that stood out to them the most from the weekend of baseball so far.

Afterwards, they run through the ever-dwindling list of qualified MLB hitters who have yet to strikeout (a list that loses a member during the recording itself) and discuss who they think will be the last batter to remain without a strikeout.

And finally they run through the Phillies' impressive series against the Braves and resulting increase in their playoff odds, using the odds as an example of what to take seriously and what to take seriously early in the baseball season.

Intro song: "Tibetan Pop Stars" by Hop Along

Outro Song: "The World's Best American Band" by White Reaper

NOTE: This episode was recorded shortly before news released of Francisco Lindor signing a 10 year extension with the New York Mets.

Jacob and Ronak briefly discuss the extension situations of Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa and Anthony Rizzo (1:29). They then celebrate the long awaited arrival of Opening Day 2021 by answering a few prediction-related questions about the first month of the season and what they think will happen in that time (20:00) and also discuss how they plan to approach Opening Day and the start of the season as baseball viewers (38:50).

Then finally, they participate in a 2-person fantasy draft with 15 players each with the catch that each player in the entire draft must be from a different team (44:10).

Intro song: 'Only Tomorrow' by My Bloody Valentine

Outro Song: 'Nobody's Baby Now' by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds

Jacob and Ronak conclude their season preview with the NL West beginning with whether or not they believe the Padres and Dodgers will be able to form a legitimate rivalry (0:44) before touching on the rest of the division including The San Francisco Giants (21:32), the Arizona Diamondbacks (29:20), and the Colorado Rockies (34:13).

They then play a round of 'Join the Club' (39:00).

They then draft their favorite random/specific/nonsensical quirks that they would want a player to have (47:28) and then they project the order of the division (1:03:54).

*NOTE: This podcast was recorded earlier in March so apologies if some news is a bit dated.

Intro song: 'Lakers' by Freddie Gibbs and Madlib

Outro song: 'Luau' by Drive like Jehu

Jacob and Ronak preview the NL Central teams starting with The Chicago Cubs (1:37), The Milwaukee Brewers (15:39), The St. Louis Cardinals (22:27), The Cincinnati Reds (27:24), and the Pittsburgh Pirates (33:02).

They then lament the eccentricities of the order in which teams are presented on DraftKings for pre-season bets (yeah, seriously) before playing a round of 'Join the Club' (41:52) and projecting the order of the division (56:30).

*NOTE: This podcast was recorded earlier in March so apologies if some news is a bit dated.

Intro song: 'Jealous Guy' by Donny Hathaway

Outro song: 'Add it Up' by Violent Femmes

Jacob and Ronak preview the NL East team by team starting with the New York Mets, the Atlanta Braves, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Washington Nationals, and the Miami Marlins.

They then choose which living former MLB players could credibly make a return to baseball before playing a round of 'Join the Club' and sharing which jerseys they own from their respective favorite teams.

*NOTE: This podcast was recorded earlier in March so apologies if some news is a bit dated.

Intro song: 'New York I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down' by LCD Soundsystem

Outro song: 'Banana Clipper' by Run the Jewels ft. Big Boi

Jacob and Ronak preview the 2020 season for the American League West team by team starting with The Houston Astros (1:14), The Los Angeles Angels (10:35), The Oakland Athletics (15:52), The Texas Rangers (21:19), and The Seattle Mariners (25:25).

Then Jacob shares a story about Ed Yost and his short and unceremonious managerial career before talking about the longest managerial tenures in baseball history without a single win (30:15).

They then play a round of 'Join the Club' (42:00) before predicting the order the teams will finish in the division (56:28).

*NOTE: This podcast was recorded earlier in March so apologies if some news is a bit dated.

Intro song: 'Mind Playing Tricks on Me' by Geto Boys

Outro song: 'Los Ageless' by St. Vincent